Yay! I'm glad to see somebody's still around!
At long last, here's finally the next chapter in the
Days of Our Berryz Lives... Err, I mean Berry Beautiful. And this chapter deals with much that is Berry Beautiful indeed. I seemed to have gotten over-flowery with much of my language, so I hope you guys appreciate it.
Anyway, yoi.... staato!
Chapter 35Saki wasn’t sure what time it was when she crept silently into their hotel, but it was nearly completely quiet in the lobby. No one was even stationed at the desk, though she knew someone would come if called. Outside along the way there had only been the few stray late night partiers walking the long way home from karaoke or some such since it was far too late for the trains to be running. She almost wondered why they didn’t just wait the extra time until they’d start their schedule for the new day.
The silence was what she preferred right now though, as it let her completely clear her head of troubling thoughts. It was long since she had finished crying, but she knew her eyes would still be swollen from it, as well as the lack of sleep the night before. Plus, she wasn’t sure she had many more tears to shed. What was done was done.
When she reached her floor, she got off and wandered slowly down the hall past the other rooms, pausing just before…
hers. She’d heard that Risako was to move in tonight, and she wasn’t sure that she liked the thought of that more than Momoko being in there or not. Risako was
her best friend though, so perhaps it was best to leave them to each other… to love each other perhaps? All along Saki had known of the relationship between the two, except of course for some obviously vital facts, but she had thought that somehow Miyabi still could really love just her…
She laid her fingertips lightly on the door, leaning near to it and closing her eyes. Keeping completely still, she thought she could almost hear the breathing of the sleeping girls within. She didn’t know how, but she knew she was in there. She pulled away. That was no longer her concern.
She continued on down to her own room and opened the door quietly. She maybe had the chance to get a few hours sleep before needing to be up for work again. She wondered idly if Momo would be out of the hospital and back again – tomorrow a photo shoot including the whole group this time was planned for their new single. She had been looking forward to hearing about it, as she always did with a new single, so it should have been a joyous day…
As she lay down in her bed, not bothering to change out of her clothes, she thought about the past twenty-four hours. They began with a thing she thought was so wonderful coming to an end, and the period itself had ended with an experience that could have been even worse, all having consequences that could affect the rest of her life.
“Saki, what is this?” he asked as they sat on his couch just like they had when they last parted.
She looked up at him, though her eyes felt hollow. “I just want…” she said softly, and crawled into his lap, leaning up to kiss him.
Before she made contact though, his hands on her shoulders pushed her gently away. “This is not what you want,” he said, looking at her sternly. She stared back, at a loss.
He looked back carefully into her eyes as if trying to read her thoughts. “Look,” he began, “I don’t know what’s happened, but this isn’t right.”
“Is…” she said, about to cry again, “Isn’t this what you want? Am I not good enough for you anymore either?”
She felt his hands tighten on her shoulders as if considering the temptation, and anxiety over what she was giving herself over to washed over her body once again.
“Why are you saying that?” he said in a tight voice. “You’re more than good enough for anyone. Too good, if anything. Too good for me, for one…”
Despite her burgeoning tears, she nearly broke a laugh at that. “Too good?” she repeated. “If you only knew how ‘good’ I was…”
She broke off as she felt his finger lift her chin slightly to meet his eyes again. She hadn’t realized she was avoiding them. “You asked if this is what I want. Yes, I wanted you. I wanted you so badly… but that’s exactly the thing. I wanted you.
And I needed you to want me, something to make me different from all the other guys that look at you day in and day out.” She wanted to look away from his eyes that seemed to be staring straight into her, those eyes she had thought she was in love with, but he wouldn’t let her. “You want something now, but it’s not me.”
“Yes it is—” she protested, but he cut her off again.
“No,” he repeated. “When you were my girlfriend, I knew it was about you and me, not some cheap fling. It was my own fault that I couldn’t handle the role you needed me for, as well as the image you have to portray. This… what you’re doing now… This is completely different. But it’s another role I can’t handle… and I know you couldn’t either. I don’t know what’s driven you to it, what’s happened since I…” he looked down, finally breaking her gaze.
She was at a loss for words. ‘…what’s driven you to it,’ he’d said. Was she really at that low a state? Were things truly that horrible? Yes she’d just lost the girl she loved… but was that the end? She hadn’t even given a chance to anything that could come after, and she had almost…
“Please…” she said again, and she felt him tense, perhaps thinking she was pressing on despite his words, and perhaps losing some of his own resistance. After all, it was basically part of her job to make people want her, to make them keep coming back time and again. “Just hold me?” She sighed, curling up tightly into a ball and hugging the pillow to her chest. He’d held her, but not for long, and then she’d left, hardly able to even look at him as she did so. Did it take him to show her how stupid she was being? It would have been so easy for him to… Well, it was over now, and she was back in her bed alone, the morning due to dawn in just a few short hours, after which she would do her best to see how she could start her life over again.
…
Miyabi woke to the darkness of the too-early morning, her body still feeling as if it was being carried along the wind. She had been flying, and it was a remarkable experience. Beneath the bright, pale moon she had her arms spread as the wind carried her onward to nowhere in particular. She could see the cities beneath her with all their lights and some sounds drifting upward, but she was free. She was alone, and she was free.
As her body reoriented itself though, she felt only the softness of the bed and the lightly perfumed scent of the sheets.
Perfumed? Hotel sheets weren’t perfumed…
She opened her eyes, and as they adjusted, she felt the warmth of the girl lying next to her as she breathed slowly in her own sleep. Risako’s face was barely centimeters away, her hands resting just beneath her chin as she likely viewed dreams of her own.
Miyabi smiled. She didn’t know why she had dreams about being alone – she didn’t even like sleeping alone, a preference that had become even stronger lately since she always had someone there whenever she needed that intimacy.
Her smile faded slightly. That someone was not this girl. Yet, this was who she had, someone she now thought she could always count on. She hadn’t even told her yet about all that happened between her and Saki – at least, apparently not when she would remember it – yet the girl let her into her bed… as friends? She wondered. Had she and Risako ever really been
just friends?
She reached out slowly to touch the girl’s hands, and when she made contact, Risako began muttering something in her sleep and moving slightly. Miyabi froze.
“Miya…” she could make out among the mumbling, and the named girl’s heart leapt up into her throat, beating forcefully. The younger moved closer to her and slid her arms around her back as if snuggling with a giant teddy bear. She burrowed her face into Miyabi’s neck before coming to a rest in an apparently comfortable position.
“I love you…” she heard the girl mumble, and this time her heart nearly stopped.
Not even daring to breathe for a minute, she felt only what her hyperaware senses told her about the girl that had wrapped herself around her.
She’s sleeping… Miyabi thought.
She’s dreaming… She doesn’t know what she’s saying. But then if that was the case, why was she dreaming that she loved her? Despite herself, Miyabi blushed even though there was no one conscious to see it.
“…Risako?” she whispered, wanting to make sure the girl was asleep. There was no response.
Well, she wasn’t sure whether she was comfortable with the position she was currently in after all that happened, but she decided there was nothing to do about it. She didn’t want to wake the girl. After all, it wasn’t like she was doing something to hurt her. In fact, feeling someone hold her like this after all that happened felt… good.
“This dream of you holding me…” she murmured, thinking of one of the many songs she’d learned, then almost laughed. This wasn’t a dream – for her at least – and she also wasn’t a great artist, though she tried.
Completely giving up, she wrapped her own arms around the younger girl, snuggling in as well in an attempt to return to her own dreams. Perhaps she would no longer be flying alone. Before falling asleep much more quickly than she expected, she had a vision of a faint smile on the lips of the girl in her arms.
…
When she opened her eyes again it was morning, but she realized she was alone. The space next to her was vacant, the blankets pulled down at the corner, and her arm draped across the bed where the other girl had been. The events from the middle of the night drifted ethereally through her memory, and she wondered if all of it had been a dream. Blinking her eyes, she took account once again of her being alone. Had she even dreamed going to bed with the girl? A soft scent of perfume wafting past her nose made her look down at the pinkness of the blankets that covered her, and she couldn’t help but smile. No, that at least was no dream.
She heard the sound of water running from the washroom, and a moment later a girl wearing an overlarge t-shirt and similarly baggy boxer shorts emerged, giving a glance in her direction. “Morning,” she mumbled before walking groggily toward her luggage. Risako was definitely not a morning person.
“Good morning,” Miyabi responded, watching the girl as she dug into her bag, still not moving from her prone waking position.
Risako cast an eye askance back at her. “Are you going to get up?” she asked. “They might not have expected you at the photo shoot today, but that’ll change once I tell them you spent the night here.”
Miyabi continued smiling at her as she turned back to rifling through her luggage. “You wouldn’t do that to your best friend, would you?
Ijiwaru…”
Risako spared another glance back to stick her tongue out at her before pulling out some clothes and tossing them on the bed. “Well, I’m not going to change until you get up, so if you stay there you’ll have my lateness on your head too.” Then she sat stubbornly on the bed next to her clothes, crossing her arms.
“All right, all right,” Miyabi said, groaning while sitting up as if it required extreme effort. “I wouldn’t want to be responsible for the princess missing her photo-op…”
“Hmph,” Risako grumbled, arms still crossed. “Yeah, you’d do well not to forget that about me being a princess. All that bowing and stuff. Being this pretty is quite a responsibility after all, and should be respected.”
“Could you
be more full of yourself,
your highness?” Miyabi teased, and the girl turned to give her a mock stricken look.
“Well I…!” Risako began, turning more fully toward her now, but Miyabi thought it was time to take advantage of the opportunity she was presented with. Suddenly seeming quite awake and spry, she lunged toward the other girl and tackled her to the bed, tickling her in all the right spots to get her giggling in a very un-princess-like way indeed.
When Miyabi’s hands tired she stopped, but still hovered above the younger girl, whose shirt had been shifted above her belly button during the struggle. They looked into each others’ eyes a minute before Miyabi broke the tension with a smile.
“I missed these times together,” she said honestly.
“Me too,” Risako replied simply.
“It’s a good thing you got rid of that loser boyfriend of yours. The Ebiru duo can rise again!!”
Risako giggled a little again and playfully slapped Miyabi’s arm. “He was not a loser,” she said. “He just wasn’t
right for me at this time…”
“Right…” Miyabi said, not bothering to conceal her heavy sarcasm. She coughed.
“Loser…” she said, and quickly coughed again.
“Psht…” Risako protested again.
“Oh my god…” came another voice from the doorway, and both girls turned to stare as Chinami’s eyes nearly bugged out at them in return.
“Chii!” Risako greeted warmly, but the other girl spun quickly and nearly ran out, the door swinging shut behind her.
“Shit…” Miyabi growled, and pulled up, looking down at Risako’s halfway hiked up shirt and her own legs still nestled comfortably beneath the pink blankets.
“What?” Risako asked, looking at her in bewilderment. “What’s the matter?”
“I have to run after her before…” Miyabi responded shortly, nearly jumping out of the bed.
“Before what?” Risako asked, but Miyabi in her hurry didn’t respond again.
A moment later saw her running down the hall, a leg half-raised as she pulled a pair of sweats on the rest of the way, looking wildly all around her for a sign of where the untimely interrupting girl had gone.
“If I were Chii-chan, where would I be…?” she mumbled to herself in thought, and having successfully donned her sweats, leaned close to a door to listen inside. She could hear nothing, so she continued on down the hall. Oddly, she found the girl just standing at the elevator, nervously tapping her leg as she looked up impatiently at the floor indicator.
“Chii-chan!” Miyabi half-shouted, and the girl spun to face her before quickly turning back to the elevator and mashing the down button in an of course unsuccessful attempt to make it arrive faster.
“Hey, why are you running away?” Miyabi asked as she ran up to the girl herself, though stopping before getting too close.
“How could you!?” Chinami cried after turning to look her in the face. Miyabi fell back slightly. “After Captain…” she stuttered, “And you… and me…”
“Let me explain!” Miyabi insisted. “Wait, and you? What does…? Nevermind. It wasn’t what you think.”
“What I think?” Chinami said exasperatedly, not seeming to notice the elevator open behind her. A suited salaryman frowned out at them in annoyance when it became obvious they wouldn’t be boarding the elevator, but at a glare from Miyabi he only quickly pushed the button to close the door.
“What I think…!?” Chinami spluttered again, brandishing a dangerous-looking finger at her. Then she looked around them as if she didn’t want anyone to hear what she had to say next. Then she began to whisper, in increasing pitch, “Even though you’re dating Captain, who is one of the most wonderful, kind, caring, sensitive people in the world, it looked like you were just in bed with someone else. And not just someone else! Our baby!” Then she even leaned forward and sniffed at Miyabi. “And her smell… it’s all over you!” Miyabi stared with increasing worry at the finger that was wagging at her, self-consciously sniffing slightly at her own shoulder. Well, she wouldn’t need perfume today…
“Did you…” the girl stuttered again. “Did you…?” She widened her eyes and gestured to Miyabi with both her face and hands as if expecting her to know what she was talking about and prodding her to finish for her.
“Did I what?” Miyabi asked through clenched teeth, wanting the girl to say what was on her mind.
“You know!” Chinami burst out, the finger waggling again. Obviously she wasn’t going to say any more.
Miyabi took a deep breath to gather her thoughts before responding. “First of all,” she said in a tight voice, holding up a hand and ticking off a finger with the other thumb. “Saki and I broke up, so I’m free to do whatever the hell I want to do.”
“’Captain’!” Chinami hissed in a quick correction, but Miyabi ignored her.
“Whatever,” was all Miyabi replied. “Second, we did not. We just share a room, and it is not rare to share a bed. We do it all the time.”
“But—” the girl protested again, but Miyabi shushed her with a finger to her lips, making the other girl appear taken aback now as well.
“But nothing. We’re best friends. There’s nothing unnatural anywhere.”
She removed the finger, and Chinami lowered her eyes finally, toeing the floor beneath. “I still think it’s not fair to Captain. Whatever might have been the case before, things are different now, you know.” She shot a warning glance up at Miyabi. “This is the kind of thing we were afraid of. Any of us dating at all is troublesome, but dating each other can cause all kinds of problems… like this.”
“Like what?” Miyabi asked calmly, holding Chinami’s gaze strongly. “I don’t see a problem here.”
Chinami was quiet a second. “We’re loyal to our Captain,” she said finally in a low voice, her own eyes with determined and sincere strength within them. This time it was Miyabi’s turn for silence.
“Are you now?” came a voice from down the hall, and Miyabi turned smoothly to see Saki walking toward them, smiling brightly at this early hour in the morning. “Now that’s some good news to hear first thing in the morning.” She arrived to wrap an arm around Chinami’s neck and squeeze it gently. “Glad to see I’m so loved,” she said, turning her gaze to Miyabi.
“Of course you are…” Chinami mumbled, a little thrown off at the peppy appearance of their Captain despite everything she’d learned.
Miyabi though couldn’t look away from the dark eyes gazing up at her from the small girl. True she was smiling brightly and had a spring to her step and voice, but her eyes told a completely different story. Her eyes seemed almost completely empty, and there were even light red rings around them that Miyabi tried not to think about too hard.
She felt pangs of regret and guilt for a moment before she remembered that none of this was only her fault. She had most definitely not wanted to break up with the girl either. Those things that Chinami said were very true; in her opinion as well Captain was the most wonderful, caring, kind, and sensitive person she knew, and she would add even more superlatives such as immensely loving, warm, compassionate, generous… She could go on and on. There was a reason she had fallen in love with the girl, and facing the possibility of a future without her was one of the hardest things she thought she could do.
As she thought of all that, her own face became hardened into stone, and she tried not to let those eyes get to her. Apparently she was expected to say something, but her mouth seemed sealed shut tight. Eventually though the Captain broke the silence again.
“I hope you two are as eager to hear about the new single as I am. Although you know I’m not the biggest fan of photo shoots…” She blushed slightly. “I keep wondering when they’ll realize how unphotogenic I am.” She glanced between the two other girls. “Not that you guys have ever had something like that to worry about.”
“Are you kidding?” Chinami asked softly, apparently still a little flustered at the unexpected direction of the conversation. “When Berryz started I hated having my picture taken. I felt like I was so awkward all the time.” She looked at the stares that greeted her. “…Not that it’s any different now!”
“Oh come on,” Miyabi said, somehow distracted from those eyes. “You were the cutest thing back then, and still are. The kiddies can’t get enough of you.” Chinami blushed fiercely.
Miyabi turned back to Saki to see her watching her calmly with those eyes, which somehow didn’t seem as lost as just a moment ago. “But I thought
I was the cutest thing?” the captain said in her sweetest voice. “Or were all those compliments concerning my height just to make me feel better?” Both girls stared back at her now, flabbergasted. Miyabi for one had no idea how to respond to that.
“Well, I’ll see you and the rest at the photo shoot, ne?” Saki continued, releasing Chinami and walking smoothly into the elevator that had just happened to open up right at that time. “I have some things to do before then, including picking up Momo from the hospital. Oh yeah!” she said, hurrying her speech before the door closed. “I didn’t tell you! I just received a mail from her this morning saying she’ll be at the shoot. Berryz will finally be whole again!” At that, her time ran out, and the door shut her off from her two kouhai.
Miyabi stared at the door for she couldn’t tell how long, and after with a jolt realizing what she was doing, she glanced over at Chinami to see she had been doing the same thing. The other girl looked back at her with a blank expression, and Miyabi smiled and shrugged.
“That’s our Captain…” she said in a
‘what else would you expect?’ sort of way.
Chinami just stared back at her. “Yeah…” she said, making the word long and drawn out. “I… I need to check on Kumai-chan…” And with that, she walked back down the hallway, swaying slightly. If Miyabi didn’t know better she would have thought the girl was drunk.
Then the last thing Saki said hit her. She had better head back to Risako as well for what more small comfort she might be able to take. Like Saki, but for quite a different reason, she was now also not looking forward to this photo shoot.
…
Later in the day found Miyabi leaning through somewhat of a cubby hole to watch Saki pose for her shots. The girl hadn’t paid much attention to her all day, but at least she wasn’t completely ignored. After the strange encounter in the morning, she’d seemingly gone back to her usual self as their Captain, with all the smiles and support of them all that entailed. Still, at times such as now, Miyabi noticed that the emotion wasn’t completely gone from her eyes. Still, the girl did an extremely good job of turning it into only an expression of her beauty.
Miyabi sighed. She missed her so much – it wasn’t like she never saw her or anything since they still worked together, and somehow seemingly normally now, but she missed the girl being
hers. Well, life was full of changes, wasn’t it? Still, she wondered how things would go in the future. She and Risako were now getting along extremely well again, but she wasn’t sure how Saki would react if they became a pair.
“Stop staring at her butt!” Chinami whispered exasperatedly into her ear. She ignored her and continued staring. It was really quite nice actually, especially in the form-fitting white dresses they all wore today.
Their new single they’d learned was to be called
Tsukiatteru no ni Kataomoi. It seemed quite an energetic number, and the crew had done a good job making them look like Greek goddesses or something. She wondered exactly what part of Greek culture they were supposed to be portraying…
She felt a tug on her wrist again as the cameras flashed a few more shots of Saki. “Stop it, Chii,” she whispered behind her shoulder, but her glance caught someone else there, and she quickly pulled back out of the cubby hole.
“Ha!” Chinami said triumphantly, and leaned in to take her place. Giving the back of the girl’s head a glare, Miyabi turned to Risako.
“You made me lose my spot!” she complained to the younger ebiru.
“Oh?” Risako said, raising an eyebrow. She also looked quite pretty today… definitely not really like her age. “Do you think I regret stopping you from being able to stare at her?”
“I wasn’t…” Miyabi began.
“What? Staring at her?” Risako asked, the cute little pout forming on her lips. “You’ve only been leaned over there for a good five minutes and hardly moving otherwise… It was time you gave someone else a chance.”
“You’re mean,” Miyabi said, poking the other’s shoulder.
In response, Risako leaned in close, pulling her a bit further away from Chinami. “What’s mean is gawking at someone else like that after this morning while you’re looking as beautiful as you are now,” the girl said in a low voice so no one else could hear, and Miyabi could detect a trace of a blush.
“After this morning?” Miyabi asked carefully. The girl didn’t remember, did she? “What exactly happened this morning that would make that a problem?” Then she unconsciously began twirling a finger in her hair, having become distracted. “You think I look beautiful?” she asked idly, feeling like blushing herself.”
“Of course you are,” Risako said in an even quieter voice, not at all able to meet Miyabi’s eyes. “You look so grown up and mature… I only wish I could look half as good…”
Half as good? The girl was being ridiculous. First off, she was not…
Well, Miyabi thought, glancing to the side to a mirror that had been set up for them, and smiled.
I guess I could look a lot worse… She shook the thoughts from her head. That wasn’t the point! She always wished she was even near as pretty as Risako, or even Saki… She lifted her face a little and stroked her chin. Then she heard giggling from in front of her and blinked.
“And everyone thinks
I’m vain!” Risako teased, her eyes sparkling as she now seemed not bashful at all in meeting Miyabi’s. “All it takes is one compliment, and we lose you from the world…”
Miyabi was about to prepare some sort of retort before something caught the corner of her eye and she turned to find another girl staring between the two of them with slightly buggy and curious eyes. Miyabi nearly jumped back in surprise. “Momo…” she said without thinking.
“Hey Momo!” Risako chirped. “How’s the day back at work going?”
“It’s going quite well, thank you,” the small girl responded, smiling up at Risako. Miyabi was a bit confused at what she saw in her eyes. They were full of pride and caring toward the youngest of them. Of course, there was nothing too strange about that – they were all friendly with each other of course, and the rest were most definitely concerned with their baby princess, but Miyabi saw something different in this girl’s eyes that went beyond normal consideration. It was almost… motherly.
“Your shoot is after Captain’s, right?” Risako asked.
Momoko nodded. “I just got out of makeup. What do you think?” She twirled a little circle on the spot. “I’m just awe-inspiringly beautiful, aren’t I?”
Risako giggled. “At least they did a good job covering up the bruise,” she said, but then quickly shut her mouth, looking nervously at Miyabi.
“Ah yes,” Momoko responded. “I was wondering how that would work out.” She turned toward Miyabi. “I really must be more careful walking home late at night.”
Miyabi, ignoring the girl as best she could for the moment, was looking into Risako’s eyes. Somehow the girl knew. If she lost some of her memory, why couldn’t it have been of more convenient things like that? Perhaps she just knew Miyabi too well. Either way, the girl now was looking at her with a mix of emotions.
“Excuse me,” Risako said, bowing slightly to the both of them. “I need to prepare for my own shoot. I don’t think all my makeup is quite right…” she explained, patting her cheek slightly before walking away.
Why? Miyabi thought, looking after her.
It’s perfect…Finally, as the girl disappeared through a door, she turned back to see the other girl still standing there watching her quietly, and she nearly jumped again. “Geez Momo…” she breathed in her surprise. “Don’t do that!”
“Don’t do what?” she responded. “I’m just standing here.”
“…Nevermind,” Miyabi said, composing herself. There was just something about Momoko these days. Ever since…
“So how are things?” Momoko asked.
Miyabi hadn’t really gotten the chance to talk to the girl yet today. Sure she’d seen her when she rejoined the others, who were quite happy to see her; some had been happy to see Miyabi too thinking she’d be gone for some reason. She wondered idly how adept Kuromi must be at her work to have been quite that successful with getting everyone around here on the same page about her “condition”. However, she’d not had time alone with the girl she’d punched out just a couple nights earlier, and really, the girl didn’t seem to regard her especially at all… until now. Then again, she could just be acting friendly as she generally used to toward her, especially before the train accident. It was a rather neutral question, after all.
“I’m all right,” she said, wondering if the girl could read her mind and discern how untrue that actually was.
No thanks to you… she thought, rather hoping Momoko would hear that little snippet of her thoughts.
“That’s good to hear!” the girl replied, apparently oblivious. Well, that perhaps was one of Miyabi’s concerns she could rest easily on. Momoko then also glanced over to where Risako had disappeared. “You two seem to be getting along well.”
“Yeah,” Miyabi said neutrally. “It’s been a long time since we were roommates. It’s been a good time for… catching up.”
“True, true…” Momoko replied, still staring off away from Miyabi. “It’s a good start for what you owe her.”
Miyabi hesitated a second. Owe her? What was she talking about? “If you mean when I turned her into a mouse, I’ve tried to apologize time and again for it… and besides, she was such a darn cute mouse I’m not sure her regular form is necessarily that much of an improvement…”
“Oh yes,” Momoko said as if just remembering the event. “That.” She turned back to Miyabi. “Did I ever thank you for bringing me back to life?”
Miyabi’s eyebrows furrowed. That question was unexpected. “You mentioned something about owing me big.”
“But no thanks, huh?” Momoko asked, smiling, and raised a hand toward her eye. “I suppose if I owe you so much, this really isn’t too big a deal, is it?” Miyabi stayed silent. “By the way, with how close you and Rii-chan seem to be today, do you think that’s right considering you and Captain?”
This time Miyabi opened her mouth, but no sound came out. That was right, the girl didn’t really know, did she? She’d been knocked out because of it, but she didn’t know… Now she was making the same comment Chinami had just given her not long ago. “There is no ‘me and Captain’,” she said in a low voice. How many times would she have to explain this today? It wasn’t exactly her favorite thing to do.
“Eh?” Momoko replied, looking confused. “How could there not be?”
Miyabi felt her fists clench almost reflexively. Suddenly she wanted to hit the girl again, but felt like it was a bad idea in their present environment, with Chinami still close by hanging through the cubby hole for a look at the shoot. “There just isn’t, okay? We had a fight and… and that’s it.”
“Oh…” Momoko said, staring off past Miyabi. “I see. Well that explains some things.” She looked up at Miyabi. “But you and Rii-chan are getting along well, right? I suppose I don’t have to warn you to be careful. You know how fragile she is… like porcelain,” she said, grinning.
“Fragile…” Miyabi agreed noncommittally, no real coherent thought going through her head right then.
“Excuse me,” Momoko said. “I think they’re calling me for my shoot.” She headed off around the corner toward the set.
As Miyabi stood there, trying to sort out what was currently in her head, Chinami walked up to her. “Captain’s so beautiful, isn’t she?” the girl said, smiling giddily. “Oh…” she said quickly, her smile fading slightly. “I’m sorry.”
Miyabi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “No, it’s all right,” she said. “It’s not like I can go on from now and avoid hearing things like that. She is, isn’t she?” she asked, a wistful smile of her own coming to her face. However, it didn’t reach her eyes.
She caught sight of Momoko through the cubbyhole as she passed Saki while they exchanged spots for their respective shoots. She caught the Captain’s arm and whispered something into her ear. Saki nodded, smiling, and as she broke away Momoko turned to smile cheerfully at Miyabi.
She couldn’t very well go on like this, could she? The girl had basically told her to take care of Risako. Perhaps it was time she listened to her for once. After all, despite what she still felt in her heart, Saki was no longer hers to take care of, was she? Plus, the girl generally seemed to get along quite well by herself. Miyabi didn’t think she knew anyone stronger. She would be fine… She nodded to herself, causing Chinami’s brows to knit in confusion. They all would be fine… in time.
Topic: Berry Beautiful [Volume 2] (Read 113249 times)