I jumped, nearly dropping the pile of dishes I was carrying, as my cell phone went off yet again. Growling, I put the dishes in the sink, prepared to give the person some lip once I flipped open my phone…
“HEY y-“
The dull tone met my ears.
Again.
“Dammit! That’s the fifth time this morning!” Like all the times before, I tried to check the number, but it was hidden. I snapped the phone closed, putting it back in my apron as I returned to the dishes. Though I knew no one was home to hear me, I mumbled, “If you’re stalking me, don’t be so obvious about it, I mean seriously. Prank calls should only go so far. And if I find out it’s someone I know and they’re getting a kick out of ticking me off…”
I wrung out the sponge, accidentally tearing it in half, like I wanted to do to whoever kept making my phone vibrate.
“And damn that Yoshitaka for making this material so thin... and the apron pockets so close to…”
I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. These dishes probably cost some eighteen thousand yen each or something. If I broke any… especially when I was technically just doing this for room and board…
“There should be a limit to how long a landlord can act stupid and petty…”
“Nee-chan? Where are you?”
I looked up at the familiar voice, coming from far, far down the hall most likely. Pressing the intercom button with a soapy finger, I answered, “Ah, Mitsuki? I’m in the kitchen. Washing dishes.”
A few minutes later, I heard Mitsuki enter the room. “Reira-chan can handle this much, can’t she? When Goshujin-sama isn’t home.”
“Don’t call him that!” I winced as I jerked my hand right off the plate and against the side of the sink in the process of whipping around to glare at my sister. “Don’t… He’s not our master anymore.”
Mitsuki grinned as she propped her elbows on the counter, seemingly content to watch me. “But you’re still doing maid work.”
“Force of habit!” I growled, trying to rein in my temper some. “It’s mindless work. And Reira-chan went out to bring back some groceries. We ran out of milk, among other things.”
“Ehhhh… So that’s how it is, hmm…?”
I glared half-heartedly at her. She had that smile on her face again. That ‘let’s make things more interesting by making life hard on my older sister’ smile. I sighed, already giving into her whims. “What are you thinking?”
“Yoshitaka-kun is in Kyoto on business, right?”
“Yes.”
“He told you to watch the house while he ‘bonded’ with Emi-chan, right?”
I nearly broke the dish I was holding. “Yes. What’s your point?”
“You aren’t really doing anything today, are you. For your other job as an idol.”
“I’m not an idol anymore. I’m a… a…” I stopped and looked at her, already knowing she was grinning as she watched my cheeks grow redder. “Argh! You know! You’re my manager after all!”
“I’m still amazed you can’t even say what your occupation is, after three years working at it… What do you tell people on the streets?”
“I don’t tell people on the streets!” I knew my face was bright red by now, but I plowed on. “That’s the thing with enduring Yoshitaka for so long- I can walk the walk but I can’t talk the talk.”
“Isn’t it normally the other way around?”
“It’s all his fault! He reverses reality to his own liking!” I trailed off, grumbling curses about whatever else chose to come to mind then.
After a few minutes passed in silence, I blinked out of my trance and looked at Mitsuki. She had brought out her laptop and pulled up some documents and pictures. I leaned over, knowing but hoping against all odds that I was wrong, and looked.
I was right. I hate being right.
“Oh, Nee-chan, look! Your website popularity went up again! Isn’t it gre-“
“It’s NOT great!” Fully dissolving into a puddle of embarrassment as I finished washing the last dish, I grumbled, “It’s one thing to wear it and get paid for it; it’s another to know just how many perverts like watching me…”
Thinking of being watched reminded me of the prank calls.
“Hey, Mitsuki?” I took out my phone and held it out to her. “I’ve been getting these really annoying calls all morning. But the caller ID won’t work. Could you figure out who it is?”
“I could…” Mitsuki looked at the phone in my hand, and I could just see the balance in her head weighing the odds of whether or not it was fun enough to be worth her time. Eventually deciding it was, she took the phone and started playing with it. “Okay, let’s see what we have here…”
Leaving it to her, I decided to dry the dishes as well and put them away. God, why am I so bored?
Somewhere high above, on a fluffy pink cloud, Pochi’s Godfather and hamster mistress played cricket.
“Nee-chan, you were sent a text message from probably the same person. Want me to read it to you?”
I looked up, seeing that she had already read it. Sighing, I nodded. “Better than hanging up on me at least. Go for it.”
“’No matter what anyone else says, I want to be by your side. Can we meet at the café across from your lingerie shop?’”
“How many times do I have to say it?! It’s not MY shop!” But that first part sounds familiar… where have I heard it before?
Mitsuki giggled as I huffed, turning away. She would find this amusing… “Want me to accept?”
“What?! Why?!” There is no one in their right mind who would meet their stalker so abruptly like this. Especially after such a creepy text message. Do they watch me while I work…? I shuddered at the thought. “I don’t want to pummel a complete stranger in a public place.”
“Oh, so you want the stalker to come here? Okay, sending-“
“Wait!”
Mitsuki giggled. “Already sent.”
I groaned, cursing Mitsuki’s ability to text at the speed of light. At least the dishes were away now. No more chances to break things.
“Aw, they’re afraid of coming to the mansion… and they’d like to take you out for a meal.”
“I don’t take food from strangers.” Why on Earth would I have ever needed to, with Yoshitaka paying for all the food expenses here? I left the kitchen to go back to my room, and Mitsuki followed me.
“They insist they’re not a stranger. Just… embarrassed.”
“Name?”
Mitsuki grinned as she sat on the bed. “What fun would it be if I told you?”
“So you already know.”
“I knew even before you asked me.”
“So you’re calling me stupid.”
“When have I ever called you stupid, Nee-chan?”
I chose not to answer that. Sighing, I muttered, “Mitsuki, do you think I should see them?”
“It might be fun.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s not what I asked.”
“That’s what I heard.”
Maybe if I was silent long enough, she would answer me honestly.
“Oh, she says it’s important. You shouldn’t keep her waiting then.”
She…?
One person, one blast from the past memory, jolted me up to a sitting position.
It can’t be…
I stared at Mitsuki, and she was still grinning at me. I grabbed the phone.
But I have her number… I was sure I put it in…
The screen was blank. I checked the text inbox. None received, none sent.
I glared at Mitsuki. She’s been toying with me the whole time…?!
She grinned at me. One word. “Gotcha.”
I nearly threw my phone at her, but that would have hurt. I couldn’t hurt my little sister, no matter how annoying she could get. So I threw my pillow at her instead. She caught it.
“But I wasn’t lying about knowing who it was or knowing they needed to talk to you, Nee-chan. Maybe if you go to the café, you’ll find them anyway.”
“Why would they- she be at the café?” What is that girl doing these days anyway…? Now that I think about it… I haven’t heard from her in a while now…
Mitsuki just continued to grin. I won’t be blamed if it freezes that way. “Even if you don’t, isn’t it a nice day to go for a walk to the café?”
I looked out the window instinctively. It was a nice day…“But that doesn’t mean I want to meet my stalker!”
Mitsuki suddenly whipped out a sheet from her bag. “Would you feel better if I told you you were requested at the shop for later this afternoon…?”
I grabbed the sheet, looking over the fax. After the stunt she had just pulled, I wasn’t sure if this wasn’t a hoax too.
“I’m not kidding, this time, Nee-chan.” But she was still grinning a little. “They said a frequent shopper that kept missing you wanted to see you…”
“The stalker?”
She shrugged, closing her eyes briefly in the motion. “I doubt they’d know the difference, Nee-chan.”
Reluctantly, I let the sheet fall to the bed and stood up. “Fine. You coming?”
Mitsuki only grinned brighter. “I’ll keep an eye on Reira-chan after she comes back.”
“In other words, you’re planning on me bumping into my stalker alone?”
“At least it’s not a dark alley.”
“Thanks. That makes me feel so much better.”
As I sifted through my wardrobe, trying to find things Yoshitaka hadn’t made perversely short, Mitsuki suggested, “If you dress like it’s a date, she might even throw in a free movie.”
If there was another pillow nearby, I would have thrown that at her, too. “I have no interest in dating a female stalker!”
“Oh, so a male stalker is fine?”
“No!”
“Then you prefer female stalkers?”
“No! I don’t prefer any stalkers!”
“But it’s fine, if it’s female then, as long as they aren’t stalkers?”
“Stop twisting my words around!”
Why does this feel so familiar…?
I eventually did choose something resembling date clothing. But only because there was nothing else that fit the weather and was moderately flattering without being too revealing.
Mitsuki wished me luck as I left the mansion, and secretly I wondered what way she meant for me to be lucky in. She wasn’t a thirteen year old innocent anymore after all.
But… is it really her? I haven’t seen her in so long…
I smiled, not truly aware of why.
It’d be nice to see her… maybe, after this, I’ll give her a call. I’ve been so busy lately it kept slipping my mind…
The phone remained still the entire trip to the nearby café. It even stayed silent as I ordered some light sandwiches and some tea.
Just to be safe, I set the phone on the table in front of me. Away from my body.
I was sipping my tea when it finally went off, startling me even worse than before in my moment of lowered defenses.
I’d forgotten how horribly loud vibrating phones sounded on solid surfaces.
Still, I gingerly picked it up, trying to keep my voice calm. Maybe the reason they’d been scared off before was because I sounded mad. Well, not sounded. I had been mad.
“Moshi moshi?” Keep it simple… simple…
“A-ah… If it’s all right with you, could I join you at your table?”
I turned my head every which way, trying to figure out where she was. The voice was too soft for me to clearly recognize it, but it was definitely female. “I… is this Anna-chan?”
The other end went silent.
Not wanting to scare her off, I added quickly, “If it is, I don’t mind at all. Please do.”
“… Thank you.” The phone went dead in my hand. Sighing, I hung up. Looking at the mess I had made almost spitting out the tea, I at least tried to clean up the spot nearest me with a napkin. Stupid maid habits.
I nearly jumped to the point of short circuiting from lack of energy when two all too familiar arms embraced me at seven o’clock (South-west of direction being faced, in other words).
My hands unconsciously went over to cover the hands wrapped around me… and I took in that familiar scent that I’ll never forget… but that I’ll never admit aloud to remembering…
It is her…
I smiled, trying to return the hug as best as I could. “Long time no see, Anna-chan.”
It could have just been me, but I swear I felt a small tear wet my shoulder right then.
A/N: And so ends a second chapter! .n.n. Little things you probably already know:
Goshujin-sama Master
Nee-chan Older sis
Moshi Moshi Standard phone greeting. Equivalent to “Hello?”
Izumi’s current job personal lingerie model for a certain lingerie shop, for the sake of discounts without consulting Yoshitaka about it. Also does odd jobs here and there as Mitsuki finds them for her.
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