Yaya didn't notice it at first, until the bartender pointed it out to her one night. Then having been told where to look, she eventually learned to identify Tsubomi's profile. At every performance, the younger girl sat at the same table near the exit. By the time Yaya would finish signing her autographs though, the pink-haired girl would be gone. Yaya brought it up when she and Tsubomi had coffee again two weeks later. "You attend all of my performances." Tsubomi looked carefully at the older woman, but Yaya's expression was neutral. "Do you mind? Or does it seem...stalker-ish?" Yaya smiled. "Not at all. At least, not coming from you. I just wondered why you do it. School can't leave you that much free time." Tsubomi took a sip from her coffee, then looked at Yaya. "I love listening to you sing. I always have. Only now, it's better because you're solo all the time. Besides..." She looked away. "All artists need a muse." Yaya laughed, embarrassed but touched by the younger woman's candid admission. "How come you always leave before I'm completely free then?" Tsubomi smiled. "Come on, Yaya-senpai. Staying until the end would really qualify as stalker-ish." Both women laughed. "Seriously, Tsubomi-chan, we could walk home together...at least part of the way or something." Yaya added, suddenly remembering that she didn't know where Tsubomi actually lived. "You walk home? Every night?" Tsubomi raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "That can't be safe." "The people in the area know me, so it's not that dangerous. Besides, the bar's only a 15 minute walk to my apartment." "In that case, I'll definitely stay until your gig's over. I can give you a ride home on my scooter." "Oooh. As if that doesn't qualify as stalker-ish." The look of glee on Yaya's face then made Tsubomi's heart skip a beat; the older woman had looked so much like her younger self. Never mind if she was back to teasing Tsubomi.
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