About this Story - Next Chapter
Chapter 3
It wasn’t that Mayu didn’t enjoy being in the company of others but, in the end, she usually preferred doing things on her own, like shopping or going out for a drive. Having an e-mail friend was something very rare for her, that only happened during her moves from troupe with this or that person, and they had always ended up losing contact. The days in Takarazuka were too intense to simply answer emails on her cell phone right after receiving them, or to remember to answer them later. So, even when she did engage in written conversation with people, it wasn’t weird that one took days to reply the other, if they ever did.
Nonetheless, she had been exchanging emails with Ryuu Masaki for almost two weeks. The same girl who was at least five years younger, from a different troupe and with a really different way of seeing things. The same girl who had drunkenly given her a love confession in front of their employees, only to later kiss Mayu by surprise. Of course, she had still been drunk then, and had profusely apologized ever since.
What Mayu couldn’t understand was her own self. It was normal for you to go and intervene in favor of a junior who got in trouble, especially when your name had been part of the mess. She could even say it had been partially due to seeing how concerned had looked the new member of her troupe, Asumi Rio, one of the days they met after the party. But this had just been her being herself. That urge to reply the emails as soon as she got them was what actually had been worrying her.
Was she just feeling self-conscious? It was still about that weird confession, which Masaki hadn’t even confirmed, right? Well, it couldn’t be helped that Mayu needed to know whether girl was still fine. Even though Masaki looked so eager to rehearse for a musical she wouldn't be able to present, a breakdown could follow any time soon. The younger girl could actually be sincere about wishing to go on, while accepting the penalty but there are still certain losses you only notice as time goes by.
Mayu had felt it in her skin. She’d been so overjoyed for becoming top, only to be on the verge of depression after noticing she had lost all that had at last been conquered inside the Cosmos Troupe. It had taken her approximately a year to really gain everyone’s trust and for her to find her place again in the Flower Troupe. It could take really long to realize how bad things are, and she wanted to be there for Masaki if that ever happened.
But how could it be known simply by emails? Such uncertainty had been bothering her. Maybe she could use her next break to visit her, Mayu thought with a grin but soon dismissed it. It would be awkward to stand face to face, just like the last time. Masaki hadn’t shown any sign of feeling that way, and instead, the girl had kept describing excitedly her tactics for learning the musical’s steps and instructions. All the while, Mayu had just stood there, staring, fearing the time the topic would end and she herself would have to come up with something new. It hadn’t happened then, but going to Kansai just for that was still exaggerated.
However, a new message notice from her phone made her change her mind all over again.
---
After trying to sing once more, Masaki sighed in despair. Even though it sounded so normal to her during the time she was singing, every time the recording of her own voice came from the cell phone, she would cringe. Something was wrong and she couldn’t figure out what. Maybe she should try something different from the teacher’s instructions to Rurika, who had taken her role as Bill.
She was messing with her hair, trying to find a solution, when she heard a knock on the door. During the weeks she had been banished to that room, no one had ever really come there except for some friends from the Moon Troupe during breaks. But they never knocked.
“Masaki-chan?” The door slid very slowly to reveal Mayu standing there and looking just like a charming prince wearing a white hat and clear colored clothes.
Trying to breathe again, Masaki turned to the newcomer and bowed deeper than expected to. Upon noticing the blunder, she ended up bowing again.
“It seems you are fine, I’m glad,” Mayu said, still standing in front of the door.
“Yes, thank you!” She was probably showing more teeth now than she would to the dentist but she couldn’t help the way her heart fluttered in the presence of such woman.
“So, let’s go!”
Masaki let her mouth fall slightly, trying to understand the other’s obvious sign to follow her. She ended up doing so anyway, despite tilting her head.
“You’ve been stuck in that room for days, right? Let’s go for a ride today.”
A ride? With Mayu? Wait, with Mayu driving? Hot! That would have to be so hot! Masaki felt her heart thumping and now she couldn’t compare herself anymore with girls going kya in shoujo manga, she was closer to guys going moe.
---
Trying not to babble, Masaki kept staring out the car window as the city of Takarazuka started changing in a more rural landscape. The European-like buildings downtown turned into rustic Japanese houses, and the gardens into ponds and fields. Despite that spring feeling chillier than usual, colorful flowers ornamented their way. Not that they looked as interesting as the one blossom sitting on her right side.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be there in a few minutes,” Mayu said, maybe reacting to her giddiness. “It’s just somewhere nearby that came to me while going from the shinkansen station to the theater. Nothing much.”
“The road is already worth every second, Mayu-san.” Masaki giggled in an effort to cover how yearningly she was looking at the other woman. Well, she had been honest, but it was surely not understood what she had really referred to.
She stared at Mayu’s beautiful hands and wished she could hold them. No. Time to put a break on the excitement and just be patient, Masaki repeated to herself until the car was parked.
“Oh, I’ve been here! It’s Nishitani!” she noticed enthusiastically. “They sell so many delicious vegetables, but I never come here often.”
Mayu smiled slightly but frowned.
“I’m sorry for not being a new place for you.”
“What are you apologizing for?” Masaki chuckled and started to lead the way into the gift shop outside the small building ahead.
---
Mayu observed as Masaki started getting drifting away from her once more, and smiled. It was undeniable that the fact she could never keep up with that girl’s pace had a lot to do with her own age, but the main point was more about how Masaki obviously felt in her element. That was the reason Mayu thought it would be a good idea to climb a mountain after all. But she was really just delaying the hike, wasn’t she?
After buying some souvenirs, she had breathed really deep and was ready to happily give Masaki the news she had brought all the way from Tokyo when she noticed the girl was excitedly talking to a group of old ladies.
“They invited us to some cooking session, and we get to eat what we prepare!” Masaki said, with her large eyes shining bright. “It seems their number is too large for one only group and too little for two.”
It was right when Mayu was thinking how cute she was acting like a little girl who had just seen a new ride in a park that it became clear to her. Why hadn’t she told everything in that room in the theater? She had planned this trip to celebrate the good news but decided to hold it in instead. Why?
Even before they had put on the aprons, the reason lay clear before her eyes. She feared Masaki would just go off on her own and not even stay in the theater room long enough to listen to her invitation. So, now that the girl looked captured, Mayu should just tell her. However, what if Masaki got angry? She could be doing better things other than cooking with a group whose average age was double hers. And how would Mayu answer the inevitable question that would ensue: “why didn’t you say it earlier?”
That her suspension had been lifted off.
“Mayu-san, do you prefer to rest a little?” Masaki’s question brought her back to the path up the mountain of Nishitani.
“No, don’t worry. I think I just put on the wrong shoes.”
“I’m glad you told me not to change before coming; you can’t imagine the heels I was wearing today!” She chuckled. “So, we’re still going up? Like, ‘R’ising!!?” Again, she laughed. “This was silly even for me, sorry.”
“No. No!” Then, Mayu started laughing as well. She had been so distracted she hadn’t noticed the pun with her own concert name until Masaki explicated it.
When she stopped, the other one was again many steps away. Mayu hurried to follow the girl. Was Masaki skipping? Now it was Mayu’s turn to giggle.
‘Oh...’ Mayu thought, halting in the middle of the way. This time, she did it so abruptly, Masaki ended up noticing and coming back.
“After all, let’s rest!” she said. “We’ve just eaten all that delicious food in that Plaza place.”
Mayu shook her head a couple of times.
“It’s not it, Masaki-chan. I’m sorry”.
“Is something wrong?” The girl got closer, frowning more by the second.
“Yes. There’s something I came to tell you, and I should have done it since the beginning. I’m sorry.”
“You apologized again...” Masaki bit her lower lip and continued to stare at her.
“Don’t make that face. It’s actually good news. It’s that I heard you are free. From the suspension thing.”
“What?” Masaki stepped back and looked thoughtful for a while. “I’m sorry, Mayu-san, but how would you know?”
“Eritan did it. Even though I tried to talk the people in charge many times, Eritan was the one who could finally dissuade them.”
The girl still looked puzzled while listening.
“Sou-san?”
“Well, we were all trying.”
“I had no idea that you and Sou-san were going to such lengths. And for me…”
“She messaged me last night; it seems the notice of your recovery will be up any time today. I’m sorry, I should have said it earlier and not bring you all the way here for that.”
Masaki nodded once but her look was so vague she didn’t seem to be agreeing with what she had heard. maybe she was still dueling on how to react.
“Wow, that’s great. Wow,” the girl finally said, putting a hand through her hair. “You know, that’s really great! Wow, Mayu-san, you came here just to surprise me?”
Discreetly, Mayu gulped.
“And I was starting to think they would invite me to retire. You know, quietly go away from their sights. But Sou-san and you were working so hard for my sake all that time. I’m not even sure of how to feel.”
Mayu tried to show a smile to the girl, but Masaki turned back to the path and continued:
“Now we have to reach the top! Let’s go, Mayu-san!” And took her wrist, while pulling her for a few meters only to abruptly let it go.
Puzzled, Mayu stared at the spot on her skin touched by the other.
“Sorry!” Masaki lowered her head slightly before continuing to hike. “I got totally carried away. I don’t know how you can still be out with such a rude junior like me. I’ve been meaning to ask if I should send you less emails, you know? I probably annoy you a lot replying every day, or every hour sometimes.”
“You shouldn’t think like that.”
“Oh, look!” Masaki looked up and pointed ahead. They had finally reached the small wooden construction on the top of the mountain.
To be continued…
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