November Project₪₪ “You sure are one crazy kitten.” Reina mumbled, carefully going up the small hill, mindful of the damp browning leaves slowly decomposing under her feet while keeping her eyes peeled for the small orange striped fur ball pouncing on anything it deemed interesting. Despite the lack of lighting on their part of the park Reina could still make out the kittens small form a little ahead of her. Silently she thanked whoever God was looking down on her for the guidance of the moon’s rays. Grabbing the nearest branch she hauled herself up. She gasped as her foot slipped on a protruding branch, one she didn’t see due to the pile of dead leaves on top of it, and swung her arm over the tree she was using as support.
Reina muttered a curse under her breath. She leaned against the sturdy bark a hand going up to rest against her chest, feeling the hard pounding of her heart from the near slip. Why did she let the kitten out again? It wasn’t like it needed to take a walk like it’s bigger- and crazier if you’d ask Reina- counterpart, though Reina was having second thoughts about this one. It’s tail twitched, front lowering onto the ground before it darted forward, once again putting a wide gap between them.
Why did she let it out?
Because you jumped at the very first excuse you could think of to get out of the house and the kitten just happened to be there, her mind answered for her.
Another argument had broken out that night, and not surprisingly for her it was about her grades. She had gotten another D in her math quiz “For the millionth time!” her father, the one who always told her not to exaggerate- how ironic- seethed as he slammed the crumpled sheet that was once her math quiz onto the dining table.
“How hard is it to understand numbers?”
‘Throw in ‘x’ and it might as well be alien language to me. As far as I’m concerned ‘x’ can go find its way to hell and screw over some other sad sap.’ She wanted to say but wisely held her tongue, settling to glaring at the placemat before her.
“I force myself to go to work every day, rain or shine…” Reina rolled her eyes in exasperation, already knowing where their conversation was heading. Her father stopped for a second, sending her a warning glare before continuing “So that I can give you kids a good education. Least you can do is do well in school and listen to class instead of hanging around those no good-“
“Don’t!” Reina heard herself say. She wasn’t staring at the placemats anymore and instead steadily met her father’s glare with her own. “They’re a good crowd.”
“You failing in class don’t make them good in my book.”
“Me failing in math doesn’t have anything to do with-“
“I’ve heard enough, Reina! I don’t want you hanging around them any longer!”
“They’re not-“ she began, slowly rising up from the chair.
“I said enough! I don’t want you anywhere near them. In fact, starting monday you are to come back here as soon as classes end and study.”
Reina gritted her teeth, forcing herself to look away from the disappointed look her father was giving her. It wasn’t that it affected her, she had seen him wear that look enough times to grow immune to the guilty effect it had, but it was getting old and she had rather ignore the annoying gaze. As long as she did that her father was least likely to make another comment and rub more salt into the wound, taking her silence as a form of surrender.
Unfortunately for Reina it had seemed that her father was in a rather talkative mood that night and he continued “Why can’t you do better? Your little brother is doing great with his classes. A’s and B’s! Why can’t you be like him?”
In the living room Reina could see her little brother’s head shrinking behind the couch at the mention of his name, wise enough not to say anything or call attention to himself. She didn’t know if he was being thoughtful of her or whether he just didn’t want the attention, but either way she was glad. One less headache to worry about.
“It’s just math! You use it every day. What is so hard about it?”
“Then why don’t you answer my quizzes.” Reina mumbled bitterly, only catching her tongue after the words left her lips.
“Would you like to repeat that Reina.” It was a command. Reina could hear the anger laced with the words. Her fingers clenched around the edge of her school uniform, trying to contain her own growing anger.
“I didn’t say anything.” She stood up, catching sight of the orange kitten she had taken home a few weeks prior, playing with a roll of yarn. Without sparing her father another glance she headed towards the door, deaf to all the angry words her father was shouting at her, gently picking the kitten up on her way.
“Reina? Where are you going?” A soft voice asked. It was her mother.
Slipping on a pair of sneakers she readjusted her hold on the kitten, holding it closer to her chest. She reached for the doorknob.
“Reina”
“Out. I’m taking the kitten for a walk.” Before anyone can say another word Reina stepped out to the cold night, closing the door behind her with a slam.
That was a few minutes ago. She didn’t exactly know how long she had been out, but judging from the way her stomach grumbled it was safe to assume that it was diner time, or a little past that. She rubbed her stomach, willing it to quieten with the promise of food in a while longer.
“You know, I’m not gonna chase after you the whole night. Come on, it’s getting cold.” As if making a point a cool breeze hit her, her exposed skin breaking out in Goosebumps. Hugging her arms to herself she continued trudging after the kitten, her pace, still careful of her footing, increasing in the slightest.
Finally the kitten stopped in its tracks, opting to stare up at something invisible, its tail moving in a lazy rhythm. Careful not to spook the kitten, and risk going into another round of chase, Reina lightly tiptoed towards the unmoving fur ball, scooping it up in her arms as soon as she had it within her grasp and cradling it against her chest.
“You crazy little thing.” She murmured, playfully poking its pink nose with her index finger.” If this is your way of making me feel better you better think again.”
The kitten mewled, paws up trying to swat at Reina’s finger. A soft smile came to her lips, whatever tension left from her earlier dispute with her father easing out of her body at the cute sight. She chuckled lightly, wriggling her finger some more.
A familiar chime, accompanied by a vibration in her pocket, caught her attention. Shifting the kitten in her arm she reached for her cell phone, flicking it open with a fluid motion and began reading the text message.
‘You busy tonight?’ – Ai-chan
Home or Ai-chan? She mused as she played with the center button.
‘Not really. Why?’ she replied, her fingers quickly going through the small buttons and lastly pressing the sned button. She waited for the reply.
‘Good. Come.’ – Ai-chan
She rolled her eyes. Typical Ai. Always making short- sometimes to the point of cryptic- messages.
‘Is Gaki-san with you?’
‘Yes.’ – Ai-chan
‘Gaki-san, mind elaborating what Ai-chan’s trying to tell me?’
‘She said she wanted to go over the latest song for our next performance. It’s alright if you’re busy tonight, it was suddenly decided out of the blue.’ – Gaki-san
‘No, I’m free tonight. Where?’
‘Great. Room 2, usual place. See you then.’ – Gaki-san
₪₪ Her father was still fuming when she arrived, waiting for her in the living room. As soon as she stepped into the house he exploded. She had tried to keep her responses short, if not none at all. She was boiling inside, her hands clenched tightly at her side, her nails digging into her palm, taking whatever verbal abuse she could knowing fighting back was futile and could only complicate and prolong the shouting. It took a while with her just standing at the front step, glaring down at her feet waiting for the storm to calm and finally her father ran out of steam and ordered her to go to her room.
It had taken her a while to sneak back out, her clothes changed to a comfortable shirt, jeans and jacket and her guitar bag securely on her back. She had snacked on a piece of jerky, emergency rations she had kept hidden in her room since going to the kitchen for food was out of the question. It had satiated her hunger, for now, she could worry about getting more later.
She stuck to the wall, ears perked for any sound of movement. After making sure that her brother was in his room she moved onto her parent’s room. They weren’t present, so that meant her parents were downstairs and that made sneaking out a lot more troublesome. Tip toeing down the stairs she kept to the shadows, her body tense as she slowly made her way to the base. The tv was on in the living room and there was the sound of running water on the other side, in the kitchen. She checked the living room first, seeing the top of her father’s head resting against the couch and a can of beer on the small table next to it. The Hawks were playing today which meant her father wouldn’t be budging from that seat anytime soon. She checked in the kitchen. Her mother had her back to her, engrossed in cleaning the dirty dishes. Sucking up a breath she slinked towards the front door. Halfway to safety she felt the hair at the back of her neck stand. The little kitten, seeing her owner trotted towards her mewing as it did.
Panicking inside Reina picked the kitten up and hurriedly made her way out the door, quickly slipping on her shoes on the way. Once outside she took off in a run, fearing her parents might have heard the kitten and seen her sneaking out. She didn’t stop running until a few blocks after, her heart beating wildly in her chest. She took a couple of deep breaths before regarding the kitten in her arms.
“Do you know what you did? I almost got caught because of you.” She flicked her finger on its nose, getting a small mew in return. She sighed, deflating. “Why am I talking to you in the first place? Ah~ maybe that person really is rubbing off on me…”
Shifting the kitten to a comfortable and safe position she turned her head this way and that, searching for the next turn she should take. She tried to sketch out a map in her head, visualizing the dark empty streets to what it was supposed to look like in the light of the sun. Chuck it to her lack of geographical sense but the night time road always seemed different to her somehow, foreign. There had been multiple counts of her mistaking one street from another wherein she had to double back or ended up elsewhere.
Double checking the street names she turned to her right and followed the name plates, unconsciously naming them as she passed them by. It didn’t take her long to find the shopping district after that and she sighed in relief as soon as she saw the familiar lighted signs. It was one thing to get lost in the neighbourhood, this was different. Morning, afternoon, evening, even if the whole place was covered in snow she’d still be able to find and name each store.
They were to meet at MusicBox, it was a small studio situated at the far back of the district. Just a handful knows of it, usually small time band members and people who are looking to learn how to play musical instruments hands on. With soundproof rooms and the owner nuts about privacy it was a great place to practice. Plus they had a special discount since one of their members was the favourite cousin of the owner.
As soon as she opened the door a head of short brown hair popped out from behind the front desk. The person was mumbling something, going through a bunch of papers in their hand, back to her. With a grin Reina silently crept towards the desk. Reaching out she grabbed the person’s shoulder instantly breaking their concentration. The person yelped and swivelled around, papers dropping to the floor. It took all of Reina’s concentration not to laugh at the normally cool and composed female stare at her like the cops had just pulled out a bag of weed from her bag.
“Yo! Been a while Yoshizawa-san.” Reina greeted holding her hand up, a sly grin on her face.
“Fuck me! Reina you sonnuvabitch! Don’t do that!” Yossie gave her an annoyed look before ducking down the front desk to pick up the papers scattered on the floor.
“Sorry. I don’t really see you so out of it and I just couldn’t let the opportunity pass.”
Yossie straightened back up. Placing the papers on the table she met Reina’s gaze, earlier irritation gone. “Well, I guess I had that one coming, though I didn’t think it would come from one of my cousin’s friends... Okay, I’ll let this one slide, in one condition. This never happened.” She paused, staring at Reina, attempting to intimidate her. “You copy?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She grinned. “Okay then. They’re in room 2. Tell my favourite cousin that I expect to have front row seats for the next gig...” She stopped, her eyes narrowing as she saw the orange kitten. “Reina that’s not what I think it is, is it?”
“Uh…” she stared down at the kitten then back up to the older woman. “I uh… had a little trouble back home… She won’t be any trouble, I promise.” She had a fleeting thought of going on her knees to beg further but quickly put the thought away. “Please… just this once.” She pleaded, looking up at the taller woman as innocently as she possibly could.
Yossie stared at her, her brows drawn in a hard scowl and that with the obvious height difference made her seem all the more menacing. Reina held her breath. Yossie was cool with a lot of things, but there are times when she just had to put her foot down and if that happens there was no way to persuade her to change her mind. Reina had just hoped she was in a fairly good mood that day.
“Okay. Just one time.”
Reina sighed feeling a big grin coming along. “Yes! Thank you! I promise she’ll be good.”
“Alright already. Get going before someone sees you.” She said, jutting her thumb out to point to the door leading to the rooms. Reina immediately set her directions there, power walking towards the door and slipping in quickly. “Don’t forget about the tickets!” she heard Yossie call out right before the door shut close behind her.
The door had led to a narrow hallway that was dimly lit and it took Reina a while to adjust to the lighting. The hall leads to three doors. Two of them were soundproof booths where bands could practice with privacy while last one, the one at the end of the hall was the recording studio often dubbed as “the room”. Reina had never step foot in “the room”, hell none of her group mates had, and she often wondered what it was like being there, but that could wait till later. It doesn’t dampen her mood, instead it excites her, thinking of the experience and the fun she would have on the way. Soon she’d be able to see the inside but now, now was the time to sharpen her skills.
She tears her gaze away from the third door, checking the side of the door she’s in front of where the number 2 was placed on top of a whiteboard and under it was the name of her band. There was a small light that had the words in use, cueing her that her friends were already inside, probably practicing, lazing around or goofing off. She shakes her head from the thought and pushes the door open.
“Oh, finally! Took you long enough, Tanakacchi.” Risa grinned, looking up from her music sheet. Behind her Ai looked up from her languid position on the couch, her guitar pressed against her chest as her left hand reached for the silver knobs to tune her guitar. She raised her right hand up for a hello, her thumb and index pinched together, the tip of the white pick peeking out, but it doesn’t go all the way up since she was using her elbow to keep the lower half of the guitar in place. “Hayo.”
“Osu! Is it just us?” Reina asks.
“Sayu’s nearly here. Kame might take a while longer, unless Sayu went to get her.” Risa answers before her eyes stopped at the small orange ball curled up in Reina’s arm. She blinked exaggeratedly, her eyes darting from Reina’s face to the fur ball. “Reina?”
Before she could say anymore Reina lifted the kitten for her to see. The reaction was instantaneous, as she had expected from the bean faced girl, and she could feel the kitten tensing up in her hand.
“Oh my God!” she shrieked, quickly clamping onto her mouth, momentarily forgetting that they were in a soundproof room, as she stared wide eyed at her “You! And the kitten! No way! No freaking way! You! You! Why? Why? No way! Wa-Why did you bring a kitten in here?! Yoshizawa-san is going to kill you! We are so dead! We- We gotta hide it! But where? Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh holy-“
“Relax, Gaki-san. She knows. I met her at the front and asked” or rather pleaded, her thoughts corrected “for her permission. I’m not as irresponsible as you think I am.” She mentally gave herself a pat in the back as Risa’s body slowly relaxes at the information.
She placed the kitten down simultaneously sliding the guitar bag’s strap down her arm. As soon as the kitten’s paws found ground it made a mad dash for the drum set, tripped over itself and, as if it just couldn’t be bothered standing back up, rolled over onto its back to swat at the air. Reina rolled her eyes at the action, absently pulling her guitar out, dumping the bag somewhere to the side, and making her way to the couch where Ai was.
“Oh and Ai-chan, Yoshizawa-san says to remind her ‘favourite cousin’ to get her tickets for our next gig.” She said as she snatched the tuning device clamped on Ai’s guitar, much to the older girl’s exasperation, and sat on the couch opposite from where Ai was sitting and started tuning her own guitar.
“Noted, and I’m her only cousin so could you guys stop that joke.” She turned to Reina and gave her a pointed look. Reina just shrugs her shoulder, not even bothering to look at the older girl as she threw all her concentration on her current task.
“So the song.” Risa started. She held up the music sheet and waved them a bit, the rustling catching the two guitarist’s attention. “Or did you already forget the purpose of why we’re here.”
“Oh yeah, that reminds me.” Reina bit her bottom lip, just managing to catch herself from laughing, and covered her mouth with the back of her hand not to seem too obvious; else she was sure the glare directed at Ai would turn to her.
Ai pushed off the couch and nearly tumbled back hadn’t Risa acted fast enough to steady her. Ai smiled at the younger, nodding in thanks before adjusting the strap of her guitar. “Listen.”
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, a sort of ritual she does right before playing, whether they were practicing or out doing a gig. Her left fingers went to their respective positions over the thin strings, her right, pick held firmly in between her fingers, hovered a few millimetres in front of her. Then she began to play, deft fingers switching from fret to fret smoothly, the soft ring of the chords creating a familiar melody. Reina sat back, her mind following along with the rhythm adding in her riffs and fills along with the lyrics. But then, half way through the verse, the melody suddenly switched to a different tune and Reina’s brows knitted together.
Ai continued to play for a while longer, Reina closely following the positioning of her fingers with a surprised though interested look while Risa continued to stare silently from her spot. When Ai finally transitioned back to the original notes her tempo slowed until finally she stopped playing altogether letting the soft ring fade out.
“What do you think?” she asked expectantly, nervously biting her bottom lip.
Reina looked to Risa’s direction, noting humorously the awestruck face she had on slowly transitioning to a bright approving smile. “That was- Ai-chan, that was amazing!” she finally said raising her hands up to start clapping, a little too late. Reina chocked down a laugh and decided to clap along, nodding her head approvingly. Ai grinned, her cheeks blushed in a faint pink at the attention they were giving her.
Not surprisingly, when the other two arrived and after Ai, with accompanied teasing provided by Reina, once again went through the altered version, was immediately met with claps and various forms of verbal approval from the group. A moment later a flushed Ai finally called for silence and began writing down the new chords on the whiteboard. The three other girls, Risa already had hers out, quickly dug around their bag for their music sheet.
They were given fifteen minutes to go over the rhythm and practice, each individual going to their respective corners to silently practice on their own. Five minutes into it Ai slid next to Reina on the couch, quickly catching the guitarist attention.
“So? Whacha think?” Ai asked. Reina had to pause to mull over what the older meant. “I mean, think you can put in a few fills in there?”
“Ah, you shoulda started with that.” Ai shrugged her shoulders, leaning back to get comfortable on the seat. Reina rolled her eyes before good-naturedly bumping her knees with Ai’s. “I don’t know… You really surprised me with the sudden change, and after all the time we’ve put in to memorizing and practicing, especially this close to the next gig…” she trailed, pretending to be busy with her guitar while watching Ai’s face through her peripherals turn pale and contort to a horrified expression within seconds.
She laughed freely this time, moving towards Ai to playfully swat at her arm. “Reina’s kidding. Yeah I already thought about it. I’m still trying to figure out which would sound better but I think I’ll get this done in a few.”
Her words seem to give Ai little comfort. It was still plainly visible how worried she was about the sudden change she had made without prior notice, though Reina thought it was pretty weird not to think of how everyone else would react about it, but this was Ai she was dealing with and wouldn’t be quite her if she did think it through. Reina felt compelled to squash any more ill thoughts from the older girl’s mind, mainly because she had been the one to put it there in the first place. She grimaced.
“Don’t over think it. They- We love the change you did. It definitely sounds better than the original- not that I’m saying the original sucked or anything... point is, believe in us. We can totally do this.” Reina said. When she saw the hesitance in Ai’s expression she motioned with an open palm towards the rest of their group. “See for yourself.” Ai followed with her eyes, slowly but surely the creases on her forehead vanishing at the sight of the girls in their own world.
“Everyone’s doing their best. I’m sure we can pull it off.”
Ai smiled. It was a small smile, but a smile none the less. Then a low chuckle vibrated from the back of her throat, her gaze going back to Reina. “You’re sounding a lot like Gaki-san.”
Reina scoffed, her back plunging back to the comforts of the couch, her butt slowly dragging down the seat until she was practically lying down, her legs spread out in front of her. “Don’t get used to it. It’s just this one time.”
“Of course.” Ai nodded her head. Reina looked back at the older, but it had seemed that Ai wasn’t entirely there anymore, if the distant stare was any suggestion. A scream though quickly fixed that and the two guitarists snapped their head towards the source. Sayu was hiding behind Eri, clinging desperately on her arm while the confused girl stared at her, then towards the keyboard Sayu had abandoned, then back to Sayu. Slowly she lowered her bass, before slinging her arm over her friend trying to comfort, though albeit awkwardly, the terrified girl.
“What’s wrong?” Risa asked worriedly as she rounded the drum set, peering curiously at the vacated spot on her way to the two girls. Reina struggled to get up on her feet, her guitar and her position on the soft couch not the best combination. Ai had already gotten up by that time, torn between checking out what had freaked Sayu and going to comfort her friend instead.
“Something’s there!” Sayu squeaked, shakily she pointed at the direction of the keyboard. “Something’s there.” She repeated, tears slowly running down her pale cheeks. Risa immediately held the spooked girl in her arms, hand soothingly running down Sayu’s back.
Ai hurriedly ran to Sayu’s spot, quickly checking the immediate surroundings. “There’s nothing here.”
“There is so!” Sayu cried.
Finally getting herself upright Reina left her guitar to lean on the wall, quickly joining up with Ai, already having an idea of what Sayu was talking about. Before Ai could repeat her sentence Reina spoke up. “It’s nothing to get freak out about that much.”
“But there really is something there! I felt it brush against my leg!” Sayu insisted, her voice raising a pitch in frustration.
“I never said there wasn’t anything there.” Reina shot back, smirking, catching the two clueless girl’s attention and a look of realization from the older two.
₪₪ After a short explanation, and the two girls cooing over the kitten- overlooking the glares Sayu sent Reina’s way- was cut short by the ever responsible Risa pointing out the time, they finally gotten into actually practicing. It didn’t go perfectly well with everyone still adjusting to the new rhythm, they took it slowly, stopping to correct whatever needed correcting or throwing out an input on what they think would sound better. Before they knew it an hour and a half had already passed, and though it was a Saturday the next day they couldn’t expect the trains to wait for them to finish up. Slowly the group began to pack, purposely dragging on what would have been a minute of rearranging their things in their bags to chatter about nonsensical stuff, and for the case of one sleepy eyed girl to crash on the couch and play with the little bundle of feline cuteness.
“So we’ll see everyone here tomorrow, bright and early! 8 o’clock.” Risa announced, earning a couple of grumbling and whining, the loudest one coming from Eri.
“Can’t we postpone it to 10?” she asked half-heartedly, her mouth set into a small pout as she stared upside-down at a smirking Risa.
“8 o’clock, Eri.” Risa repeated sternly.
“Eh? But- but 8… it’s still so… so…” she moaned balefully indicating that it was too early “ Right nyan-nyan?” she lifted the kitten up to her face, tilting it back and forth gently making it seem as if it agrees with her.
“8 o’clock. And if you aren’t here by then I’ll personally pay a visit to your house. I’ll drag you here if I have to.” Risa warned, waving her drumsticks towards Eri’s direction. Her lips were quirked in a smirk when the lazy girl shot up to stare incredulously at her, the kitten clinging desperately onto her shirt. Eri whined one last time but nodded her head knowing she was beat before her head crashed back to the couch. Languidly her hands ran over soft fur, easily calming the frazzled puff ball.
“Don’t worry Eri, I’ll help you out!” Sayu chirped, skipping over to her best friend’s side. Raising Eri’s legs she slipped onto the couch before letting them drop to rest on her lap, patting them reassuringly. “I’ll keep calling you until you wake up.”
Eri managed to make a half smile, half grimace and thanked Sayu for her kind offer while everyone else grinned. Eri had, on multiple occasions, complained about her blaring ring tone shocking her to wakefulness. The unfortunate girl didn’t know how to change her ringtone and everyone else continued to play clueless with her whenever she asked for help on the matter, knowing it was the only way to get her up in the morning of a non-school day.
Finally Ai clapped her hands, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Alright, so it’s settled then. Everyone be here at 8 tomorrow morning. I hope you could practice a bit at home tonight. Anyway we better get going before Yossie comes charging in here. Check your things, make sure you don’t forget anything.”
Reina rose up from her position, fixing the strap of her guitar bag over her shoulder. She nodded her head when she noticed Ai trying to catch her attention and raised her hand up, silently promising to go over her parts later that night if she can. Ai grinned, quickly slinging her guitar bag over her shoulder and catch up to the drummer who was waiting patiently for her by the door. But before she could reach her friend Sayu half tackled the poor girl, catching her off guard planted a quick kiss right by her lip. Ai backpedalled, her face contorted in shock before she grimaced and playfully pushed the grinning girl’s shoulder while Risa laughed at the exchange.
Reina shook her head, chuckling lightly as she made her way to the couch where the lounging Bassist was, like the kitten in her arms, staring blankly into an empty space. For a second Reina deliberated between pulling the girl out of her dreamland via pulling at her feet or taking a picture first before doing so. In the end she wasn’t able to do either.
The kitten, catching sight of its master, began shuffling around Eri’s hold, slowly crawling its way towards Reina. Quickly, gently, Reina lifted the kitten, cradling it against her chest. She looked back to the bassist’s face, slightly shocked to see the dark eyes trained at her, curious and attentive- though a little hazy. Reina felt heat rising up to her face and forced herself to tear her gaze away.
She took a calming breath, lightly shaking her head wondering what had gotten into her. “Come on sleepyhead, time to go.”
“Carry me.” Eri replied, lazily putting her arms out, but then no more than a second passed when her arms fell onto opposite sides, crossing over her face and unintentionally hitting her nose. She groaned, but didn’t move her arms away.
Reina rolled her eyes at the action. “No way, carry your own weight. Reina’s got enough to worry about.”
“Aw.. where’s the love?” Eri whined as she slowly got up. Slinging her guitar bag over her shoulder she sluggishly followed after Reina, grinning lazily at the other three waiting for them at the door. Sayu lifted her left arm up, inviting the sleepy girl into her embrace. Within seconds Eri was by her side, flinging her arms over Sayu’s shoulder and leaning most of her weight onto the taller girl. Sayu grunted but surprisingly held up the additional weight with little problem.
Locking the door after them they set on towards the small lobby, bidding Yossie their good bye as they passed her on their way out. They chattered amiably, huddled together in an attempt to share their warmth with each other. Their warm breaths mixing with the cool temperature, making a thin white smoke floating in front of them, one Eri constantly giggled at much to the amusement of the others.
They arrived at the train station not long after, the PA announcing the arrival of the trains. Almost instantly Eri’s face fell as the familiarity and warmth around her slowly faded as the three other girls moved to head to the entrance. Quick to catch the change Risa reached to fondly pat the top of the bassist’s head. “It’s okay Eri. Go to sleep, before you know it it’ll be tomorrow and we’ll see each other again.”
“Eririn~ I’ll text you as soon as I get home. Cheer up okay?” Sayu added, smiling cheerily as she pulled her friend for a goodbye hug.
“Don’t fall asleep on your way home.” Risa joked. Eri cracked a smile at that, lightly shoving the older away from her.
“Of course I won’t, Gaki-san! I can’t stand the cold.” Her response was met with merry laughter, brightening up the gloom in the bassist’s face.
The PA boomed again, last warning for the departure of their train. Ai walked forward, tapping the other two’s shoulder to catch their attention. “We better get going or the train’s going to leave without us.” She turned to Eri and Reina, raising her hand in a good bye. “Careful on your way home.”
Sayu pulled Eri into a hug, mumbling something to her ear and getting a giggle in response before pulling away and giving Reina a parting tongue stick, one Reina readily responded with one of her own. Risa grinned reaching up to pat Reina’s head, the younger rolling her eyes but did not try to pull away, and pinched Eri’s cheeks.
“Tomorrow at 8.” Risa reminded once more before turning to follow Ai and Sayu into the train station.
“Well, looks like we better get going.” Reina finally said as she turned to head back home. A moment later she felt Eri’s arm wrap around her free hand, clinging to her to share their warmth. Reina’s lip hitched into a smile as she continued on her way, making sure her pace was the same as the girl next to her.
They were quite for a moment, Eri staring off into space while Reina just didn’t feel like talking. Halfway out of the district Reina stopped in her tracks, Eri nearly stumbling from the abrupt pause in their walking. She sniffed the air catching a whiff of the scent of coffee. She turned to the café to her left and almost immediately her mouth started salivating, stomach growling. The jerky hadn’t been enough, she needed food and her body made sure to let her know.
A giggling to her right reminded her of her companion and her face lit up in embarrassment. Wildly shaking her head she was about to move on when Eri spoke. “Let’s grab something to eat, my treat.”
Reina paused, the line sounding familiar to her, then it hit her. She turned to Eri, her left brow raised up in doubt. The last time she said that Risa ended up paying for them since she conveniently forgot her wallet back home. Seeming to catching on with her thoughts Eri pulled her wallet from her back pocket. “I swear I’ve got it this time.” Reina laughed as Eri smiled sheepishly at her.
Eri had gone inside to order; Reina didn’t mind what she bought for her so she volunteered to stay behind. Taking Eri’s bass with her she made her way to one of the small tables outside. She placed their instruments against the wall, making sure they won’t slide down. Afterwards she placed the snoozing kitten on her lap, lightly running her hand against the soft fur as she waited for her companion, and more importantly, food.
Eri came out a few minutes later with, to Reina’s stomach’s disappointment, a number card. She grinned as soon as she saw Reina and hurriedly made her way to her friend. Placing the number card on its holder she slipped onto the empty chair opposite of where Reina was and propped her elbows on the table to rest her head on her hands. “I ordered a club sandwich and hot choco. I know it’s a bit past 9 but your parents won’t mind you coming home a little late right?”
Reina grinned warily. “Reina’s sure they won’t mind.” They don’t know I’m out of the house anyway.
Eri nodded at her response, smiling her carefree smile. After a while she started to hum softly, something Reina quickly identified as their song, the one they were practicing earlier. Her fingers were pressed onto her palm in a complicated looking position before quickly transitioning into another position, her feet tapping on the ground in rhythm with her humming. To others she would look like she was checking her nails or was bored out of her mind or just plain crazy, but for their band mates they knew that wasn’t the case. She was playing with the bass, or rather an imaginary one. When they first started they thought she was just overly excited about the band, but months later she was still doing it. It didn’t matter if she had her bass with her or not but when she felt like playing something her fingers would start curling into her palm, changing ever so often to the rhythm in her mind. There was method to her madness, though. Soon they realized that she had gotten better, faster at changing chords. Her random finger curling had made them limber.
“Number 4?” a voice asked.
“That’s us!” Eri said. Her hand shot up, nearly hitting the poor waiter who had come up behind her with their order in hand. Reina bit down a laugh when she saw that Eri didn’t notice what her abrupt action had nearly done and was instead nearly jumping out of her seat for the orders to be placed down the table. As soon as the waiter left Eri’s hand reached out for the warm mug, her fingers curling around in search of warmth. Pretty soon she had the mug up to her lip carefully blowing the steam away. Reina followed the action, sighing in content as the warm concoction did what it was supposed to do.
The club sandwich was larger than they had expected. Reina had to stretch her fingers just to get a firm hold of both ends and she wondered, how is it that they don’t go bankrupt with how much they pile on their sandwich? How do they expect me to fit all of this in my mouth in the first place?
Reina looked over the monstrosity to Eri. She was staring in earnest at her half of the sandwich. Reina could imagine the gears in her mind working overtime, trying to figure out how to eat the damn sandwich. After a while she finally decided to peel of the top bun and started picking out the ham and bacon, eating them separately before munching down on the bread.
She paused when she noticed that Reina hadn’t taken the initiative to eat her half, completely oblivious to the stare and grin. “Aren’t you hungry? If you don’t eat that soon aliens just might swoop down and take it away from you.”
Reina scoffed. “The only alien here is you, and I’m sure you would want to watch your waistline. I think you’re getting a little too lazy recently.”
Eri pouted at the implication. “Hey! I’m a growing girl, and growing girls need nutrition and lots of sleep.” Then she smirked. “Reina how much have you grown recently?”
Just as she expected the shorter girl bristled. Putting on the best glare she could Reina took half of the sandwich and bit down on it with purpose.
Within minutes they were done with their late night snack and were calmly sipping the last few ounce of their drink. Reina was completely satisfied and, though it was embarrassing, she was glad her stomach had rumbled at that moment. When she put down her cup she found Eri, once again, staring into space, her mouth slightly open in that cute way of hers. She smiled softly and without thinking she reach over to Eri’s hand, snapping the girl out of her thoughts. Eri blinked curiously at her then her lips pulled into a goofy grin. Reina chuckled and shook her head in amusement.
“Thanks.” She said. “For the meal.” She quickly added when Eri’s expression turned into a questioning one.
“Oh, you’re welcome.” She paused. “We should get going.”
Reina nodded her head as she slowly got up, once again fixing the sleeping kitten in her arms to make sure it doesn’t fall off accidentally. Slinging her bag over her shoulder she stepped out of her seat, offering her arm to Eri as soon as she got to her side. The bassist was more than happy to accept the offer and quickly wrapped her arms around Reina’s.
“Okay! To home we go!” she cheered.
₪₪ Reina slowly let out a breath as she softly let her door click shut behind her. When she arrived at the front door she was taken by surprise when she heard the sound of the pretzel commercial blaring from the living room. She had thought that by then the baseball game would have been long over and was unprepared to hear her father’s footsteps approaching the foyer. Acting fast she let her guitar slip off her shoulder and left it out on the porch along with her jacket and slipped off her shoes, putting the kitten down somewhere along the way. When her father saw her his body immediately stiffen, the tell-tale sign that he was angry. Before he could explode however she had managed to construct a good lie, telling him about hearing something strange from outside and going out to check, as for the pants she just picked out the one from the laundry. Her father fortunately didn’t ask anymore, grumbling that it was too late to blow off his top and told her to get back up her room. She had just gotten back from retrieving her things from the porch and was glad that everyone decided that it was too late to check outside for teens sneaking around.
Placing her guitar to the side she flopped unceremoniously on her bed, stomach down. She was too tired to change into comfortable clothes and the meal she had was starting to make her drowsy. She yawned, stretching leisurely, wondering if this was what cats felt when they decide that getting up was too much of a waste of energy. Snuggling into the warmth of her blankets she was about to doze off when a vibration in her pocket pulled her back to awareness. Grumbling she pulled her phone out of her pocket, checking the message with squinted eyes.
‘Are you home? Have you fallen asleep?’
It was Eri. Reina had walked her home earlier, it was a bit out of her way but she figured the longer she stayed out the better her chances were to sneak back in undetected. Of course that didn’t exactly turn out the way she wanted but at least she managed to get away scot-free. She didn’t mind anyway, she liked the carefree atmosphere of her goofy friend had about her, even though right now she was mentally cursing the idiot for texting just when she was about to fall asleep.
‘Yes, and no, not anymore.’
‘Oops. Did I wake you?’ – Eri
‘Go to sleep Aho Kame.’
‘O~kay! Good night Rei~na! (=^x^=) <- look I made a kitty!’ - Eri
“That idiot.” Reina grumbled, smiling. Rolling on her back she keyed in her last message for the day and pressed the send button. After that was done she let her hand fall down to her side, phone slipping out of her fingers. There was still a smile on her face as the world around her slowly blurred through her half closed eyes.
“Sleep tight, Aho.”
-o-o-o-o-o-o-
If anyone is wondering why the title doesn't seem to have anything to do with the story... well it's not supposed to. I couldn't really think of a proper title for this.
This was made in response to the Writer's Block? Prompt Time here ->
http://forum.jphip.com/index.php?topic=36508.0Does the ending seem kinda forced?