Doll HouseRisa hummed along to the music playing on the radio as she set up a framed photo at the head of the bed, as part of a small personal campaign to add touches of herself to Ai's living space.
The changes weren't large. Since there was only one bedroom, they had ended up having to share closet space; inconvenient, as Ai had a surprising amount of clothes in there. The attempts to clear a space were usually put off by Ai's busy schedule, so Risa was still pretty much living out of her suitcase for the most part.
Her next project had been to put up photos of the two of them around the house, which was easier said than done, as Risa had found out once she had started. Trying to find any picture of Ai that was not from a magazine proved to be quite a challenge. In fact, before she started, there was not even a single picture put up for display in the house, save for a small family shot out in the hall, and even that one seemed rather aged.
The picture Risa managed to dig out of her own collection was hardly the most recent either. They were still adolescents back then, and both looked somewhat different by now. Risa resolved to get Ai to take a picture with her soon. It was somehow unseemly that they didn't have a good couple shot...
Wandering over to Ai's side of the room, she helped to tidy up a little, knowing that Ai preferred to have her things neat. Without exactly intending to, she bumped into a small stack of magazines, sending them cascading into a pile on the floor. Muttering to herself, she knelt down to pick them up, intending to pile them back exactly where they used to be, then she stopped.
Quite a few of the magazines were your usual geek fare, given Ai's hobbies. That didn't surprise her. Neither did those issues of assorted fashion magazines where Ai had been featured either on the cover or within. It seemed perfectly natural for her to have kept copies of those.
What drew a frown onto her face though, were the ones with that rude girl she had met the other day. Tanaka Reina, the name seemed to leap off the page to hit her in the face. On further perusal, she also noted quite a few issues where Ai and Reina had been featured together. Some of those were dated quite a few years back, and neither of the two seemed to have changed all that much.
Well, they are in the same line... Risa reassured herself with that thought, idly stacking the scattered magazines back into a neat pile.
Pushing them closer to the corner, she spotted a shoebox behind where the pile had originally been. Curiously, she pulled it out. It was not dusty, so it couldn't have been there for very long. Reasoning that it wouldn't hurt to just take a quick peek at the contents, Risa opened the shoebox.
The music that came from the radio was the only source of sound for the next few moments, even as Risa stared at the contents of the box on her lap.
Pictures. A
lot of pictures. Dozens of purikura, even more Polaroids, and assorted other shots. All were rather neatly organized in bundles, even conveniently arranged and dated.
Risa picked up the most recent photo on top. Ai was reading something on the couch in this one; the person who had snuck this shot was right next to her, expertly self-photographing to capture both herself and Ai.
Truth to be told, it was a very innocent picture...if one discounted the fact that both girls were only about half dressed. Ai was wearing nothing but an oversized shirt that barely covered her thighs, while her companion was in just a skimpy top and hot pants.
Putting that aside, Risa went after one of the older bundles of photos. Both girls in the shots were visibly younger, not that it differed that much from how they looked now. The younger Ai seemed more reluctant to be photographed, matching Risa's own memories of the Ai she knew, but evidently the enthusiastic youngster beside Ai in those pictures had been more persistent in getting her to pose.
The earlier photos were very adorable, that much Risa would admit. More often than not, her Ai-chan would be glowering at the camera, especially if it had caught her off guard. The pair shots with that annoying brat (as Risa was beginning to think of Reina) seemed to coax more relaxed smiles from Ai, and she even threw peace signs!
Feeling a growing sense of irritation with each happy, smiling photo, Risa was tempted to put them away and not continue to torture herself, but some perverse need compelled her to keep looking. She did not know what she was looking for, but in the process, she seemed to be finding out what she had missed while not being at Ai's side in the intervening years.
There were many casual shots depicting the pair. From ordinary shots of the two together at some restaurant, to more domestic scenes of them in the kitchen having what seemed like a food fight, it was evident from the pictures alone that the two were very close, if not best friends. The other alternative explanation to the pair's obvious chemistry was just as evident, but for even more obvious reasons, was completely unacceptable to Risa, so she refused to even consider it.
Putting away yet another comic shot where Reina had evidently tried to take a picture of Ai brushing her teeth (
What was she doing with a camera in the bathroom? Risa couldn't help but wonder), with the older girl shoving her hand in the camera, resulting in a very lopsided shot of the mirror reflecting their grinning faces, Risa continued rummaging through the shoebox with single-minded purpose, as if trying to look for a picture that had no Reina involvement.
Another stack, bound in white paper, had the words
Doll's House, 2004 written on it in English, with
First Leading Role! scribbled under it in Japanese. Curiously, Risa opened up the bundle of photos. This time, it did not raise any hackles...right at first, anyway.
The assorted pictures were mostly taken with fellow actors and actresses who had been in the same play, as well as with the production crew. Each time, Ai had skilfully marginalized her presence in each shot, as if embarrassed to be on camera when it wasn't her turn to be in the spotlight.
The last one, obviously a Polaroid, was different however. Risa had not been expecting another Reina picture in this series; but then again, given the high concentration of her involvement with most, if not all of the photos she had seen thus far, she probably should have seen it coming.
Reina and Ai were shoulder to shoulder, their arms thrown around each other. Ai had already changed to casual clothing and shed her stage makeup, looking totally relaxed next to an impishly grinning Reina. Someone else had obviously taken the shot for them, since Reina's hand was not outstretched in her usual way for self-photography.
It was a very "just friends" sort of picture, but somehow it really irritated Risa. Maybe it was the way they both looked so at ease with the physical contact. Maybe it was the way Ai seemed totally unguarded and happy with Reina.
More than likely it was the scribbled words below that got her attention. It was in English characters, spelling out the names of the pair, surrounded by a heart shape. That was not all, though. On either side of the heart, Reina's and Ai's names were scrawled in Japanese, making it look thus:
Rei ♥ AiRisa didn't know what to think. It probably didn't mean anything...or it could. All the pictorial evidence seemed to suggest otherwise, but it could also mean that Reina and Ai were simply close friends. And if the photos could be trusted, it seemed that they often stayed over at each other's houses, given that Ai had quite meticulously labelled most of the photos.
Still lost in her own thoughts, Risa was given a jolt when a loud ringing pierced through the merry music from the radio. Nearly spilling the contents of the shoebox in her haste to get up, Risa managed to scramble to the phone and answered it, feeling oddly guilty for having been proverbially "caught" in the act, even if no one had actually seen her poking through Ai's things.
"Moshi moshi?"
"Gaki-san?"It was Ai. Risa tried not to feel
too guilty, or even worse,
sound guilty as she replied in the affirmative. Ai's voice sounded appropriately exhausted, not that Risa blamed her for it. She knew that her girlfriend had not gotten more than 4 hours of sleep the night before, having had to wake up incredibly early in order to head to work.
"I don't think I'll be able to come back tonight. The management's treating us to supper after we wrap up the shoot and it's going to run late, so I'll stay over at a friend's house that's nearer to work. Don't wait up for me, ok?""Oh." Inner conflict raged inside of Risa. After having seen those photos, she was very tempted to ask Ai about them. Right now though, she just wanted to ask just
who Ai was staying over with. Even without asking though, she had a feeling she already knew the answer.
"I'm really sorry Gaki-san, but it's better this way. I'll be back tomorrow."The line went dead right after Risa replied with a hollow "ok", Ai evidently having to rush off to work again. It was with a heavy heart as Risa put down her phone, her head involuntarily turning back to regard the stacks of photos piled within the abandoned shoebox.
I shouldn't suspect her, right?~*~*~
Reina looked infinitely amused as Ai ended her call with an expression of obvious relief. The older girl gave her a pointed look, as if daring the younger to say something. Which Reina obviously did.
"You know, I only live 5 minutes away from you. How is that any nearer to work?"
"Nearer is nearer. Your place is that much closer to the train station anyway." Ai replied loftily as they walked back down the corridor.
"Yeah, 5 minutes worth." They snorted quietly, sharing a quick chuckle. As they passed a small group of young models, the obviously younger (and blushing) girls stared at the passing pair, or more specifically, at Ai. Reina, not one to miss such things, remarked after they had turned a corner.
"
Friends of yours?"
Ai laughed at the implied meaning in Reina's tone, but did not deny the accusation. Reina raised an eyebrow; those girls they had just walked past could not have been older than 15.
"How many?"
Ai's expression grew thoughtful. "Five out of..."
"Five." Reina finished. She slapped Ai playfully on the shoulder. "You menace!"
Ai smirked. "If it helps, I didn't really go all the way?"
"Still..."
They shared a look, before bursting out in laughter again. The staff walking by barely blinked.
Just another day at the office.
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Tralalala.
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Topic: Nanchatte Renai [25/7 - Bonus Ending: Full Circle] (Read 63796 times)