RECORDING
Chapter Fourteen
Fire and Ice
"We have to hang out after the concert!" Yui declared cheerfully, swinging hers and Azusa's hands back and forth. She was accompanying the kouhai to her first period geometry class.
"Just the two of us?" the pigtailed girl queried.
Yui nodded exuberantly. She beamed in anticipation of Azusa saying yes.
Azusa almost did say yes. She opened her mouth to affirm; she ended up saying, "I can't."
The senpai's face fell, though she hadn't stopped skipping. "Why not?"
"I have a root canal the day after." Azusa said it blankly, as though she was just now realizing. Preoccupation with their game had diluted her worry about the root canal. She continued, "I hear it's really painful, so I want to be well-rested for it."
"What's a root canal?" Yui inquired. She halted once she felt the tug of her girlfriend's hand; they had arrived at her teacher's door.
Azusa leaned against the wall, her head tipped back. "It's when they drill open your tooth to remove infected nerves from the roots —"
"Aaaa!" Yui moaned in horror, her hands over her mouth. She raised her shoulders to her ears and jumped up and down a bit. "That's horrible! Ugh! You have to have that done to you, Azu-nyan?"
The kouhai nodded and glared aside, grumbling, "The worst part is I'm getting a gold or silver crown afterwards. I'm gonna look like a ranch-hand hill-billy."
Yui stared at Azusa sadly, realizing just how extremely dreadful this whole root canal thing was. Her mind scrambled barrenly, her thoughts whirling uselessly in a disorganized flurry. This was how her mind worked. Once she seemed to have a sensible thought, something would blow it out into chaos. Sort of like raking leaves on a windy day.
"I'll bring you a cake, Azu-nyan!" the senpai blurted. That was the first thing she could think of.
Azusa sighed despondently, her lean shoulders slumping. "I don't think I can eat solid food after the procedure, Yui-senpai." You'd probably snarf it all anyway, she added mentally. She smiled weakly. "Thanks, anyway…for the, uh, consideration."
Oh wow, she looks at me differently! This thought may have been blown away by Yui's intellectual gale, but the amorous feelings for the diligent younger girl still lingered. While most girls' hearts melted from the heat waves of love, Yui's heart smoldered in the core of its blaze. Whereas other girls would walk about in a dream-like haze, Yui positively radiated jollity and energy. No one else's optimism could match up with hers, and having Azusa with her intensified these glowing feelings.
"Azu-nyaaan!" she gushed, snatching up the pigtailed girl in a formidable bear hug. Azusa's brain, which had been calmly turning over thoughts of the root canal, now had to make the rude transition to the present situation. Yui's face was lunging in close for a kiss. Gasping, Azusa shot her hands out, grasping her head, restraining her. 'Restraint' not being Yui's byword, she strained against her girlfriend's tiny hands, whining, "Azu-nyan…"
"Not here!" she hissed.
"You always face these problems so calmly," Yui argued, "but they really freak you out! I can help you relax!"
"We can't kiss in public!" Azusa insisted. "It attracts gawkers!" That Yui was holding her by her waist was conspicuous enough. The kouhai shot her signature black stare at a few first years who had stopped to observe them.
"Just one kiss?" Yui pleaded. "I have to go to sociology soon, and then I won't get to see you until seventh period."
Azusa locked her copper eyes with her girlfriend's chestnut ones. She wanted to, she really did. Friday night had truly been a more heavenly experience than her sixteen-year-old heart could grasp. Memories of Yui's soft lips and the taste of her tongue overflowed the younger girl's head. Most of all she remembered Yui's smell — a sweet aroma, cool, flowery, almost outdoorsy. There's an experience I wouldn't mind reliving, Azusa thought with a smile. She relaxed her hands. Already the gaping first years seemed light years away from the two lovers as Yui's fire met Azusa's ice in a passionate liplock.
In reality it was a brief kiss, maybe three seconds, but it felt like a whole generation had come and gone in this moment. Lilacs, Azusa realized, breathing Yui's scent in deep as their lips separated. She smells like lilacs. She nuzzled Yui's cheek, taking as much of the smell in her lungs as she could. She would need it to carry her through the day. Lilacs have always been my favorite.
"Do you wear perfume?" she murmured as they broke their embrace.
"No. Why? Do I smell good?" Yui hitched the collar of her blazer up to her nose, sniffing.
"Yeah, you do," the kouhai sighed with a gentle smile. How could someone smell so, so good without perfume? The peal of the warning bell buoyed Azusa back up to the surface. She realized the hallways were clearing. "Five minute warning. You better hurry to sociology."
"Ah! You're right!" Yui's burning tenderness had been blown away in light of this new preoccupation. "See you in drawing media!" She waved and hurried off.
Azusa remained there a minute before heading into her classroom. Yui's heart was on fire with love, and Azusa's was melting in its heat waves.
With their concert only in four days, Afterschool Tea Time's boredom from having to rehearse the same tunes over and over turned into a sort of confidence. They were ready for the concert. Bring it on! Mugi was probably the eagerest, despite the fact she hadn't received a performance time in the solo contest yet.
As usual, the six of them took their tea. Today's special was milk tea with buttery, flaky madeleines. The ever-observant Sawako was privy to the subtle changes that permeated Music Room 3. For one, the seating arrangement at the table had changed. Light Music Club members and their sponsor were arranged more in pairs than a whole group. If the table were viewed overhead, clockwise the order would go such: Sawako, Mugi, Yui, Azusa, Mio, and Ritsu.
Azusa had sparked an engrossing convo about rock history and phenomena, and everybody was very eagerly engaged. Sawako glanced aside at Mugi. The ojou, who was more familiar with the world of classical music, soaked in everything she could. Verbally, she was conversing with her bandmates. But she had her body more aligned with Sawako. This was another observation of hers: how everyone seemed to physically communicate with each other. Mio scolded Ritsu for suggesting Courtney Love killed Kurt Cobain, but under the table Sawako could see the bassist's ankles hugging Ritsu's right leg.
"Mugi-senpai," Azusa spoke up. "Why did you bring that other keyboard?" She pointed at the Yamaha keyboard propped up against the farthest wall.
Yui's jaw fell and she gasped. There was a soft slap as her hands came to her cheeks. "You're not replacing Korgy-chan, are you?"
"Nice name," Ritsu commented.
"I could never!" Mugi blurted, turning her body away from Sawako momentarily. Embarrassed by her outburst, she apologized and sighed, "It's an impulse purchase my father made."
"Gum is an impulse purchase." Ritsu was agog with disbelief. "That is more than just gum!" How rich is she, anyway?
"I have to figure out what to do with it." Mugi looked at the Yamaha as a teacher would a problem-child: something you want the best for, but really, you just want it to disappear.
"In the meantime..." Sawako set down her cup decisively. "...I have to get y'all out to Yokohama to get this concert scheduled. Y'all available tonight?"
"We're not," replied Azusa, gesturing at Yui and herself.
"I'm not," Mio spoke, and Ritsu jumped in with, "Ditto."
Sawako turned toward Mugi to ask about her availability, but the keyboardist's rueful expression answered her. The sensei blinked and glared about the table. "None of you? Y'all 'ready made plans?"
Four heads nodded en masse. Mugi murmured something about her solo contest.
"Azusa-chan." Without warning, the sensei turned on the wee kouhai, who squeaked in surprise. The late afternoon sunlight played upon Sawako's glasses. "Since when do you speak for Yui-chan?" She grinned. "Have you made plans with her?"
Azusa's mouth wagged open, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything. Yui, on the other hand, could. "We did make plans," she responded cheerily. "We're going to this sushi bar that opened up by that restaurant Balzac." Next to her, the pigtailed girl sighed in defeat. She knew she couldn't have it both ways — they'd already kissed in public. It was time to make their relationship official and known.
"You told me you weren't dating!" Sawako exclaimed.
"We are now," Azusa smiled. She kept her head down. From under her obsidian brows, her garnet eyes peeped and flickered about the table, assessing her friends' reactions. Sawako had her hands gripping the table's edge, a look of satisfied confirmation on her face. Mugi appeared to be barely able to contain herself; her hands were clasped, as if in prayer, and her blue eyes swam and shone in wonder. To Mugi, Yui and Azusa's relationship was like the second coming. Mio had an eyebrow raised, and her eyes drifted from Yui to Azusa, as if trying to match them up as a couple. Ritsu's expression was one of quiet surprise before she grinned and turned to Sawako.
"Give it a rest. If they're dating, they're dating. We shouldn't judge them, least of all you, Sawa-chan-sensei. Still haven't found a boyfriend, eh?"
"Uhh, Ritsu-chan," Mugi spoke up, but her voice was too soft to be heard amidst the argument that now broke out betwixt teacher and drummer.
"I see you've found someone," Sawako retorted, "or has she found you?"
"Don't drag Mio into this!" Ritsu yelled, witdrawing her leg sharply from her girlfriend's grasp. "You're just jealous because everyone here's found the right person for them, and you're still alone!"
"That's not true," Mugi squeaked, but she was drowned out by her girlfriend's furious reply.
"You're eighteen! What do you know about love?"
"A helluva lot more than you. Who's the single one here?"
Mugi had had enough. Here Ritsu was, insulting her beloved Sawako, and the sensei was just taking it. What was Sawako cow-towing to Ritsu for? She was a teacher! Mugi pinched her lower lip into her front teeth and a piercing whistle of nigh canine frequencies stopped the spat. The keyboardist stared sorrily at Mio, Azusa, and Yui, who had their ears covered, before addressing Ritsu and Sawako.
"Stop fighting already!...please," she added feebly. She never had believed in lashing out to get a point across. "Ritsu-chan, what you're saying to Sawa-chan is horrible. She shouldn't have to be in a relationship to get your respect. Being that she's a teacher, she should get your respect regardless."
Ritsu blinked her topaz eyes wide. If the wolf-whistle wasn't shocking enough, soft-spoken Mugi was actually reprimanding her. And in Sawako's defense, to boot.
"Further," Mugi continued, "she's not single."
Mio saw the jolt on her girlfriend's face; she was similarly thunderstruck. There was only one appropriate was to respond to this statement, but Mugi's gentle chastisement had the drummer beaten into submission.
Mio said, "Mugi-chan...It's not that I want to fight or argue with you...but how do you know that Sawako-sensei's not single?"
Hot blood tingled in Mugi's cheeks and an electric zap shot along her flank. She simpered and giggled, causing more amorous energy to bubble up in her extremities. She was now reduced to a heartsick first year. When she spoke, her voice was a trilling sing-song used only by girls who are deeply in love. "I know because Sawa-chan and I are not single for each other." She scooted her chair closer to Sawako. The ojou's hands grasped the sensei's right hand as she kissed Sawako warmly on the cheek.
I thought so. Mio couldn't help but smile for the two of them. They weren't clingy or gross like most couples were. But the bassist could tell just how devoted they were to each other. And really, it couldn't have happened to nicer people. They were, after all, her inspiration for Light and Fluffy Time.
"Sensei, why do you look so shell-shocked?" Azusa queried.
"Well, it's...Nothing. Moot point." She waved aside the issue. Telling them about Tokudaiji wouldn't help matters any.
Ritsu leaned her elbows on the table. "So...what? Everybody fell in love with each other on Halloween?"
"Looks like it," Mio affirmed.
"It is a pretty odd coincidence," Mugi nodded, still holding Sawako's hand, "but, you know, the moon did wax full on October 31st. That might have some astrological explanation." It wasn't an explanation that would satisfy her father, though. Mugi was suddenly wondering how she would tell Holt about this one. Knowing Holt, though, he was liable to disregard or completely forget that she loved a woman. The teacher thing might ruffle his feathers. And what about Veronique?
Ritsu impetuously sat up, her face bright and animated. "I know what you can do with that Yamaha keyboard!" Gesturing excitedly, she posed her suggestion. It was a good idea to her, amazing even. Definitely legendary. Lots of rock stars did this to their instruments. Jimi Hendrix did this to his guitar...Or was it somebody else?...Maybe it was definitely Jimi Hendrix.
"That's insane!" Mio and Azusa blurted simultaneously. "She can't do that!" Mio added.
Ritsu shrugged. She leaned back and clasped her fingers behind her head, as her father did when he made an offer. "Just a suggestion. Take it or leave it."
"I...don't know." Fidgeting, Mugi gave the Yamaha her problem-child stare. "It seems...a little cruel..."
Yui nodded in fervent empathy. "How could anyone do that? I could never do Gitah like that!"
"It shows utter disrespect for the instrument," Azusa chimed, arms crossed.
"I think it sounds friggin' awesome!" Sawako exclaimed. "Though I can't see Mugi-chan doing it, I think she totally should!"
Mugi's cerulean eyes widened as she looked at the teacher. Now that she thought about it, Ritsu's idea sounded like something Sawako would do. She wondered if her girlfriend would admire her for doing such a thing to the Yamaha. The blonde girl murmured, "Well...Perhaps I could..."
Azusa was flabbergasted. "What? Now that Sawako-sensei approves of it, it's no longer cruel?"
"It's not that," said Mugi defensively. "I agree with Yui-chan. However, Gitah's not the same as that Yamaha. Gitah is more in the same league as Korgy. I could never do that to Korgy, but to the Yamaha..." She shrugged.
"Yea-hah!" Sawako laughed. "Wait'll I tell Asumi-neesan about that! This concert's gonna rock ultimate!"
The next Light Music Club meeting found the band not in Music Room 3, or even in that town. It found them on the collegiate Kobucha Street outside the tinted doors of Hair, the lesbian cosplay bar owned by Sawako's cousin. Kobucha Street was the busiest avenue on Yoko Uni's campus. It was also the biggest, spanning from one end of Yokohama to the other. It compassed several bars, restaurants, and cafes — Murphy's was a popular Friday night hang-out for the university students — and on the corner of Kobucha and Ujicha stood the enormous Yokohama University Bookstore, where in its windows countless amounts of orange and blue paraphenelia were displayed.
I wonder why all the streets are named after tea? Mugi thought, glancing about.
Behind them, on the narrow street, a bus rumbled by, igniting Yui's excitement further. She bounced up and down, whining, "When are we gonna go iiiinnnnn?"
"Stop behaving so childishly," Azusa scolded.
"This is our venue! This is where we're performing in three days! Aren't you excited?"
"Well..." The kouhai gave in and let the huge smile she had been surpressing show up full on her young face. It wasn't Budoukan or Top of the Pops or Pitchfork. But it was a step in the right direction. Her parents in their youth started out performing in the dingy jazz house where they had gotten their guitar lessons (as had Azusa in primary school). "Yeah. I can't believe we're finally performing to people who aren't our classmates!"
Sawako grinned and grabbed the doorknob. "We've stood here gawking at this place long enough. Let's go in!"
The sensei shoved the door open as noisily as she could. Framed by the blinding light of the real world outside, she sang, "Hey, this is not Sawa-neesan!"
"Sawako, you old nut!" Ritsu blinked in the wan light of the musty bar, and saw the silhouette of a very short woman behind the bar. "Last time we saw each other I did tai chi and you were a metalhead!"
"Well, one of us had to change..."
Sawako's cousin hummed reflectively a bit as her hand dragged a rag slowly across the top of the bar. Once the band members' eyes adjusted to the light, they could see her better. She was short and stocky with spikey shoulder-length brown hair with blonde high-lights. She wore plastic frame glasses and had a lip piercing. She wore a low-cut black T-shirt baring inches of tantilizing cleavage and simple flare-leg blue jeans.
"...Hey, wait a minute!" she exclaimed. "You were making fun of me, weren't you?"
"Nailed it! Took ya long enough!" Her cousin puffed up and Sawako laughed. Gesturing at the five Light Music Club members, she explained, "This is the opening band I got for your New Order show: Afterschool Tea Time. Hirasawa Yui, Tainaka Ritsu, Akiyama Mio, Kotobuki Mugi, and Nakano Azusa. This is my cousin, Yamanaka Asumi."
"Hi," Ritsu greeted. "Are you as bat-crap nuts as Sawa-chan-sensei?"
"Well met, Ritsu-neesan," Asumi said flatly, narrowing her eyes at the drummer. Addressing Sawako, she inquired, "Which one did you say was the...how did you put it?...the 'impertinent runt with the forehead of doom'?"
"Runt!" the drummer squawked. There was an insult she hadn't heard in ten years. In primary school she was known as Runtsu. "Look who's talkin'," she muttered angrily.
Asumi's hazel eyes drifted from Ritsu to Mio standing directly behind her and they lit up instantly. "Weh-hell...Who ordered the late night entertainment?"
Mio blinked. "Nani?"
Asumi stepped out from behind the bar and pranced up to the bassist. Getting a good gander at the raven-haired girl, she remarked sarcastically, "Lay off the cookie dough once in a while, aneesan. Look at that body — it's disgusting!"
A virtual shadow fell over Mio's eyes, which were now hooded by her bangs. She self-consciously brought a hand to her middle. Am I really getting fat?
Asumi giggled and elbowed Mio in the ribs. "Just kidding, Mio-neesan." Then the bartender was back to ogling. Mio squeaked in alarm as Asumi reached from behind to cup her breasts through her uniform. "I could create a new drink named after your knockers!" She called out to the kitchen help: "Konoka-san! Make me a Stacked Bass Player and hold the cantaloupes!"
POW!
The hit came not from Mio, but Ritsu. "Hands off," she yelled as Asumi sank to the floor with a pulsing head-lump.
"Understood..." the bartender muttered dizzily. "I'll just look...Y'know, kinda like being a diabetic in Baskin Robbins..."
"More like a crackbrain in a padded room with a rubber duck! I take back what I said earlier — you're worse than Sawa-chan-sensei!"
Moments later Asumi was back on her feet, regarding Mio with a huge grin. "I sure hope you're the frontwoman of this band. The girls here'll love you!"
"I'm not," Mio said quickly. This was becoming a realization of one of her worst nightmares. "She is." She pointed at Yui.
Azusa pressed closer to Yui, giving Asumi her warning stare as the bartender approached the senpai. Asumi paced a slow circle around the couple. "Well...You're no Mio-neesan, but you've got some appeal of your own...Do you ski?"
"No," Yui responded, her head and eyes following Asumi's path.
"You should try it. You got the legs for it."
Azusa hugged Yui's arm, growling a little. She didn't like this. They were a band that was going to play at Asumi's bar and as such the bartender should've been judging them based on their music. Rather, Asumi was assessing their looks and sex appeal, as if they were strippers auditioning for Amateur Night.
"So, aneesan," Asumi cooed, sidling up to Mio, "what's your favorite sex position?"
Outraged, Ritsu grabbed a salt shaker and hurled it at the lecherous bartender. Her aim was off, though, way off. It soared toward the kitchen entrance from which emerged a cute girl — a little younger than Azusa — with long brown hair, shelf bangs, and a raspberry-colored school uniform. She blinked in surprise. The salt shaker nearly clocked the poor girl when —
PSHING!
In a rush of cold steel, the salt shaker was bisected. Salt exploded from its former container like early snow. Ritsu regretted throwing the shaker when she found herself face-to-face with the business end of a nodachi. She stared down its great length right into the slanted jet eyes of another girl in similar attire as the first girl. This girl had shoulder-length obsidian hair gathered in an edgy ponytail on the right side of her head.
"I will destroy anyone who brings danger to Konoka-ojousama!" she declared. Her voice was a terrifyingly deep alto roar.
Ritsu's trembling hands flew up. "Hey, cool your jets there. I didn't mean to hit your friend, I swear I didn't!" she gulped.
The samurai's short eyebrows lifted slightly as she reconsidered decapitating Ritsu. She's friendly, the drummer realized. "I meant for the salt shaker to hit Asumi-aho. She had her hands all over my Mio!"
The girl's face softened and she lowered her sword away from Ritsu's face. Sheathing it, she muttered darkly, "When Asumi-san put her hand up Konoka-ojousama's skirt I wanted to kill her."
The other girl, with the shelf bangs, pouted. "I just got you to stop calling me ojousama, Secchan!"
The girl with the sword blushed. "U-uh, sorry about that, ojousama — I mean...!"
Asumi laughed and detached herself from Mio. "I see you've met Konoka-san and Setsuna-san. They just recently started working here."
Mio shuddered. She felt deep sympathy for anyone who had to work under Asumi.
"Konoka-san..." the bartender gestured at the girl with the shelf bangs. "...could easily work her way up to manager with her mad culinary skills. And Setsuna-san..." she gestured at the girl with the nodachi. "...insists she has no skills, but she makes a mean tequila sunset. Knocks everybody out, so it does."
"I wish it wouldn't," Setsuna murmured shyly. "I'm trying to fix it so it doesn't knock people out."
"Ahh, if it ain't broke, why fix it?"
"But—"
"Stop beatin' yourself up, get behind that bar, and fix up six tequila sunsets!" Turning her palms toward the ceiling, Setsuna complied. Asumi faced the Light Music Club and declared, "First round's on me!"
"But," Azusa spoke up, "we're underage. Most of us."
"She's got middle schoolers working in a bar," said Sawako. "Legality is the last thing on her mind."
"Would you like something to eat?" Konoka offered, producing six menus. "The soup du jour is a Chinese sweet and sour sort. I highly recommend it."
"Sold," Mugi smiled. Konoka got everyone's orders in a memo book, then hurried into the kitchen.
Asumi brought the band and her cousin to a cozy padded booth and sat with them. Yui liked booths before, but now that she could sit so close to Azusa, she loved them. They had just gotten settled when Konoka breezed out of the kitchen on roller blades, balancing a tray loaded with piping hot delicious food. The sweet and sour soup Mugi ordered never once spilled over the rim of the bowl.
"That was fast," Sawako commented as Konoka set out the food. "You're like Speedy Gonzolas."
"That's what she said," Asumi winked. "'She' in this case would be Setsuna-san, eh, Konoka-san?"
The brune ojou stood simpering a moment or two before the joke dawned on her. Blushing slightly, she giggled, "Secchan and I haven't gone that far yet."
"Right. Take your time. You're both young."
It was then that Setsuna brought six tequila sunsets to their table. Konoka leaned a gentle hand on her girlfriend's shoulder and nuzzled her neck. Swiftly serving up the drinks, Setsuna murmured, "Compliments of Asumi-san. I tried to put less tequila in it. Enjoy." She bowed and followed Konoka into the kitchen.
"They're cute together," Yui commented with a giggle.
Asumi nodded assent. "That they are, Yui-neesan. Oh, that was so a Lucky Star reference! Score!"
To say that the Light Music Club was bombed was an understatement. Inhibitions had been shed and everyone's true colors were showing. Everyone, that is, save for Azusa. The kittenish kouhai was hit especially hard by the tequila sunset due to her size. Setsuna had indeed worked her magic (no pun intended): Nakano Azusa was out like a light.
"I'm jealous," Yui half-whined, mostly-slurred. "She gets to sleep!"
She gets to sleep. Mio found that wildly funny. She was slumped back in her seat and nearly sank to the floor in laughter. Hauling herself back up, she gasped, "Do you...heeheehee...Do you want to sleep, Yui?"
"Yeah, I do..."
"Eheheheh. Well, then...Go to sleep!" Yui stared blankly ahead of her, only dimly aware of Mio's shoe flying past her head. The bassist blinked her bleary gray eyes, aggravated. "How'd I miss? Your...your 'ead was right there."
Sawako was completely oblivious to Yui and Mio's drunken exchange. Contrary to most people's impressions of her, the teacher was actually dead silent when she was drunk. It wasn't something she knew how to explain. She definitely didn't feel inhibited. She...just didn't feel the need to speak.
To her left, Mugi was tugging at her sleeve. Sawako turned to face her girlfriend, whose face was flushed with tequila and whose eyes swirled and shone brightly.
"Sawa-chaaaan," she sighed, letting her head drop heavily on the sensei's shoulder. "The room is...moving...Gosh, no wonder Holt likes doing this..."
Sawako blinked, dimly surprised that Mugi had so rudely called her father by name. She opened her mouth to acknowledge this point. She ended up closing it, deciding that speaking took more effort than she was willing to put out.
Mio was laughing again, this time at Ritsu. The drummer was also floored by the power of tequila (which only the power of gin can compete with), but not to the point of passing out. She was trying to dig through Mio's pockets...if she could find Mio's pockets.
"Stop movin', Mio-chuan!" Ritsu protested in the loudest voice anyone had ever heard her use. Girls occupying nearby tables turned to look at them.
The bassist was practically breathless with laughter. 'I'm not, you drunken slut!"
"Hey, hey!" Ritsu wagged a finger in Mio's face. "I won' argue the slut part for now...but I'll be damned if I'm drunk!"
"Then I guess you're goin' a hell! Hahaha!"
"Bitch, please." Ritsu hiccuped, laying her head down on the table. "I 'as doomed to go to hell as soon as I crawled outta the womb...Li'l thin' called predestination!"
Yui raised her weighted glass which swayed in her weighted arm. "I don' know wha' that is, but I believe in it! To predewhatever!"
"yeah!" Ritsu shrieked, smacking her glass against Yui's. "We'll star' our own church! I'll be the priest 'n you c'n be the Mother Superior!"
"Guys...? Guys, guys, guys!" Mugi threw her hands up and Mio giggled. "I...have something really important to say!" The keyboardist stood up, nearly falling over in the process. Mio was rocking helplessly with laughter at Mugi's determined expression. The blonde girl raised her right hand, as if to make a vow, then brought it to her heart, turned her Romanesque nose upward, and closed her eyes. "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of Political Corruption and Hopelessly Eternal Debt—"
"Okay, sit down! No political statements!" Ritsu yanked Mugi's blazer, forcing the ojou to sit down.
Tsumugi wasn't finished, though. "Why doesn't Holt get involved in international politics?" she babbled. "He could save Americaaaa!"
Chuckling, Mio withdrew her hand from her blazer pocket. She was holding her digital camera. Ritsu sat up and exclaimed, "That's wha' I was lookin' for earlier!...I think."
"These are precious moments, you guys," Mio slurred, snapping a picture of the unconscious Azusa. "We nee' to preserve them...'cause...'cause I'm gonna miss you guys..."
Tears bulged from Yui's brown eyes. "Mio-chan...I'm gonna miss you, too..."
"Stop being so morbid," Ritsu ordered, laying her head back down on the table. "No one's dying or anything."
"Well, we all...die eventually, Ricchan," Mio argued, swaying slightly. She lifted her glass to her mouth, then realized it was empty. "Tha's all our goals'n'dreams come down to...eventual death..." She began laughing again, leaning against the table's edge. "Ohohoho...Why's tha' funny? Hahahaha!"
"Because you're...technologically retarded...?"
Still guffawing, Mio swung her fist out at Ritsu's head, but missed and hit the table. Azusa, amazingly, kept snoozing, seeming neither to hear the slam of fist on wood nor feel its shock. Mio cussed a blue streak as she shook out her sore, tingling hand.
"Gahh, Ricchan, why's your 'ead made outta wood?...'Cause you're druuuuunnnnnk!"
"I'm not drunk!"
"Well, I do certainly hope you're drunk," said Asumi, approaching their booth. "Because if you're sober, there's something very wrong with you." This made Mio howl with laughter. Addressing the whole table, Asumi offered, "'Nother round, ladies? Though Azusa-nekochan doesn't look fit to take another."
Yui queried, "If I take another drink...will I...be able to sleep? Like Azu-nyan?"
"Probably."
"Then I'll take another..."
Asumi nodded. "Anyone else?...Sawa-neesan?" she inquired as Sawako wordlessly raised her hand. "Right. Two tequila sunsets comin' right up." As the bartender made her way to the kitchen, it dawned on her that she'd seen hair nor hide of Konoka or Setsuna. For the past hour Asumi had been behind the bar, zoning out; business at Hair never picked up until around 20:00.
She poked her head in the kitchen entrance. Konoka and Setsuna were cuddled up on the floor with their backs against a tall cabinet. As they swapped the nearly empty Jose Cuervo bottle back and forth, Setsuna flipped through an old yearbook from their first year in middle school.
"Y'know," Setsuna slurred. Her face was pinkish and she wore a silly grin on her face. "I look back on those years...when I couldn't speak to you...'n I just laaaaaaugh."
"I don't," Konoka exclaimed, stung. With an effort, she sat up. "You really...hur' me, Secchan..."
Setsuna blinked in amazement. The healer passed her the bottle, and the samurai finished it off. Setting the bottle and the yearbook aside, she faced Konoka. "I'm sooooo sorry 'bout that."
Konoka grinned and waved her hand. "'S okay. Really."
"No. It's...gonna be diff'rent from...now on, Kono-chan..." Setsuna let her head, heavy with inebriation, drop to Konoka's shoulder. "We're gon' talk about deep'n'heavy stuff...alla time!...Soooo...Wha' deep'n'heavy things you wan' talk about?"
Sighing, Konoka leaned her head against her girlfriend's. She traced her fingers along the path of Setsuna's hair, right to where it was bound on the right side of her head. Her brown eyes drifted about in search of something intense to talk about. They settled on the Jose Cuervo bottle. She beamed. "Tequila!"
"Really?" Setsuna mumbled.
"No," Konoka laughed. "JK. Uhh..." Still shaking with mirth, she looked up at the ceiling. Finding nothing there, she faced Setsuna again. "I'll let you in on a secret..."
The samurai lifted her short eyebrows in interest.
"I always..." The healer paused to giggle. She ran her fingers delicately along Setsuna's thin lips. "I always...thought you were kinda hot..."
"H-huh?" Had she been sober, Setsuna would have torn herself away, babbled a convenient excuse, and ran off. But the booze had her limbs anchored and her inhibitions down. She remained seated as she was, allowing Konoka to trace her hands along her angular face, down the porcelain skin of her throat.
"Those bike shorts you wear drive me crazy," the healer purred. She undid Setsuna's necktie. The silken tie slid out from under her collar smoothly and swiftly. "Everytime a convenient wind blows your skirt up...I just lose my mind..." Setsuna slid backwards a little until she was reclined flat on her back. Konoka mounted her and unhooked the buttons on her blazer.
Asumi turned and left the kitchen then. There was no reason for her to stay. Crazier things have happened in that kitchen.