#17: Shirley Temple
“What?! Kotone’s your little sister, Kurosu-san?!”
“More or less.”
Meiji Stationery, conference room.
The day after her first outside-the-shop victory. Sent off from the hotel with a “have a good day” kiss, Mikoto nursed her pounding head through a brainstorm session with Rinko. Somewhere in the middle of the chatter, Rinko seemed to have pieced together the truth about Kotone.
“I love Kotone! I heard she’s got the lead in a movie coming up, I’m so excited!”
“Huh.”
“Oh, that’s it! If the new project goes well, what about having her do a commercial for it?!”
Against Kotone’s already-confirmed lead role in a film, Mikoto’s new project remained essentially a blank page. She’d gotten as far as “target young women, combine pencils with aromatherapy” — but what to actually make of that combination still hadn’t come to her. Between that and the hangover, her head throbbed all the more.
“That kid’s rates are apparently pretty steep. Like, this much.”
She held up two fingers. Rinko let out an impressed “ohh.”
“But two million-ish, maybe we could swing that?”
“You’re missing a zero.”
“…Ugh. Celebrities are kind of unfair, huh.”
Kotone earned, in under a day of filming, what amounted to years of Mikoto’s own income. Taken in isolation, that was plenty enviable — but Mikoto also knew exactly how much struggle had gone into getting Kotone to that position in the first place.
“She’s worked hard for it.”
Letting Rinko’s characteristically vague remark slide, Mikoto scrambled together a presentation draft. Determined not to let another company steal the credit this time, she jotted “Meiji Stationery’s strengths and know-how” in her notebook — just as the conference room door opened.
Meiji Stationery’s sales division. Aomi Shiina stood there, looking thoroughly displeased.
“Kurosu. Lend me your body tomorrow. I’m going out on a sales call.”
Aomi Shiina shot Rinko a brief glance, then slapped a document down on the table. It was the one Mikoto had handed off before — Project One, the digital notepad.
“If it’s your project, it’s only right you’re the one presenting it.”
“I thought I’d handed that off to sales.”
“Not my problem. I got dragged into this project too, you know.”
Mikoto silently resented the managing director. The project had three members, herself included — and, of all people, the third turned out to be a fellow same-year hire, Aomi Shiina, who never missed a chance to lord something over her.
“Right, right. I’ll pull the materials together and email them over.”
“Don’t bother. Unlike you, I’m actually busy — no time to sit around reading through it. I’m coming along to the client tomorrow, but you’re handling basically everything. Count on it.”
Slamming the door shut behind her, Shiina left. Clearly disliked, but at least there was some relief in not having to tiptoe around hidden motives with her.
Still, Mikoto would now have to start giving Shiina instructions too. Just imagining wrangling someone practically incarnate with condescension was enough to draw out a sigh.
“Aomi-san’s pretty harsh, huh — she’s not like that with me, though.”
“Right after she joined, someone told her not to get full of herself just for being pretty. She’s been like that ever since.”
“Guess there’s struggles that come with being pretty too, huh.”
An odd bit of consolation, coming from Rinko. Not sure how to respond, Mikoto settled on a vague, noncommittal expression.
“Feel free to talk to me about anything, by the way. I’m still curious about that whole ‘sweet orange scent’ woman you mentioned before, too!”
Talking with her more, Mikoto had come to realize Rinko pushed fairly hard when she wanted something. Unlike Shandy, who circled around behind you and cut off your escape route, Rinko came straight at you, face-to-face.
“That was just a hypothetical example. Already settled, nothing more to it.”
“Oh, good, glad to hear it.”
Laughing it off breezily, Rinko went back to her usual clerical work.
Left alone, Mikoto too returned to her own work, trying to wrangle together both an internal and external presentation. But that last “glad to hear it” of Rinko’s stuck stubbornly in the back of her mind, refusing to let go.
＊
“Welcome, big sister Mikoto.”
“Big sister…?”
Roppongi’s back alley, the girls’ bar Antiqua. Shandy, in her usual white jacket, greeted Mikoto with a name other than her usual one.
Tonight’s only other customer sat in the seat beside her — a single female patron. Probably because someone else was present, Shandy said nothing about the previous night’s events, only smiling with her amber eyes curved into a waxing crescent.
“Is tonight’s concept the little-sister bar?”
“Yes, I found myself a little jealous of Kotone-san. Getting to call you ‘big sister,’ Mikoto-san — how enviable.”
“It’s not really that great a thing, being someone’s big sister.”
“Just wanting what I can’t have, that’s all. Don’t mind me.”
Mikoto’s mind drifted back to what she’d heard in that private room the night before. If Alice’s story really was fact, then Shandy had no siblings — no family at all, in fact.
But what stuck with her was—
“Come to think of it, what kind of person was the Cheshire Cat, Shandy-san?”
“Whatever do you mean?”
Shandy smiled, sealing off the question entirely. Part of Mikoto wanted to pry it out of her, but poking clumsily at last night’s events now might only stir up trouble.
She still didn’t have the resolve to love Shandy.
She wanted to answer. She just didn’t have the confidence that she could.
“…I’ll ask about that another time. Sorry — could I order?”
“Yes. Your first drink tonight is a gift, from the customer beside you.”
“Beside me?”
Shandy’s LED light swept over toward the neighboring seat. A painfully familiar face floated up out of Antiqua’s dim glow.
“Heyyy sis, what a coincidence.”
“Why are you even here, Kotone…”
Wearing a deadpan flat enough to make you doubt she was an actress at all, Kotone smiled with an air of pure mischief.
“Heard about it yesterday. Figured I’d swing by and check on you before heading out.”
“Filming again?”
“America, a bit over a month.”
Kotone had started blowing up recently. Public recognition was still fairly low, but sooner or later, she’d probably become the kind of star who racks up fans like Rinko in droves.
Watching this exchange out of the corner of her eye, Shandy set a glass down on the coaster.
“Tonight’s cocktail: a Shirley Temple. Wishing Kotone-san, off to America, great success as an actress.”
Shirley Temple.
A cocktail named for the famous Hollywood child star who eventually went on to become an ambassador. Grenadine and Shandy’s beloved ginger ale, mixed into a short drink. A lemon slice and a maraschino cherry floated inside the glass.
But if Mikoto’s memory served correctly—
“Wait, this is non-alcoholic. Kotone’s idea of a prank?”
“Oh my. Turning down your own sister’s thoughtful gesture — how ungrateful.”
Shandy laughed softly and swept the LED light back over to Kotone’s face. Kotone was fidgeting with the ends of her short-cropped hair — a telltale habit whenever things got inconvenient for her.
“She came all the way here just to warn me to give you an alcohol-free day now and then. Isn’t that right, Kotone-san?”
“You’d be in trouble too if sis couldn’t drink anymore, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes, very much so. So tonight, why don’t you get drunk on me instead of the cocktail?”
“…I guess that works.”
Drinking on her little sister’s dime felt a little off, but realistically, said little sister earned vastly more than she did. Deciding it was fine, Mikoto obediently pressed her lips to the glass.
The deep sweetness of grenadine and the crisp bite of ginger ale spread through her mouth. Not too sweet, exactly to Mikoto’s taste. Almost a shame it wasn’t the kind of cocktail that could actually get her drunk.
“Delicious, Shandy-san. Even more so knowing it’s free.”
“Ha, quite right. Drinking on someone else’s dime is a spice all its own, isn’t it?”
“So drinking on my dime, that means—”
“Yes, exactly that.”
Mikoto caught, instantly, the shift in both their voices — Kotone’s and Shandy’s alike. A mischievous, childlike lilt. She realized, too late, she’d walked straight into a trap.
“Wait a second. What are you two plotting…?”
“Oh, c’mon. Wanted to see how you two go at it normally. Good acting-study material too.”
“I’m not a show, you know. Shandy-san, feel free to turn her down if she’s a bother.”
“Not a bother at all. She might, after all, one day become my own little sister-in-law.”
“Sister-in-law…”
Her amber eyes had already caught her. The game had already started.
“Tonight’s game: reminiscing about last night’s date. Simple rule — whoever gets embarrassed first loses.”
“Guess I’ll just watch, then. Good luck, you two.”
Cackling, Kotone shifted over to the next seat. All that remained in Mikoto’s line of sight now was Shandy, smiling in the dim light.
“I’m sorry, Shandy-san — mind if I kick my sister out? Having her here puts me at a serious disadvantage.”
“Oh my, but by that logic, wasn’t I the one at a disadvantage yesterday? And I still ended up losing, didn’t I.”
“No, well, that was…”
“Do try putting on that same cool, composed front you managed at dinner last night. Ha.”
Shandy wore a smile, but it was immediately obvious she was burning to win. If anything, there was even a faint edge of something like anger underneath it.
Being seen putting on airs in front of family — worse, in front of her own little sister — was mortifying beyond words. But embarrassment, once spent, could be discarded.
Mikoto summoned every last drop of her own inner actress. If Kotone could do it, there was no reason she couldn’t. Telling herself firmly that no little sister could ever outdo her own big sister, she drew a breath.
“…Did you enjoy last night’s date, then?”
“Yes, of course. Congratulations on finally landing your first win, Mikoto-san.”
“I’ll be winning again tonight too. I’d love to see that lovely, blushing face of yours.”
The muffled sound of stifled laughter from the peanut gallery reached her ears. Even managing to force the line out at all made her own teeth practically ache.
Naturally, Shandy pressed the attack, having anticipated exactly this.
“How does it feel, performing in front of your own real little sister?”
“If I got embarrassed over something this small, the game wouldn’t be much of a game, would it?”
“Then let’s pretend it’s just the two of us here, same as last night at the bar. I do hope it doesn’t turn out quite the same way.”
Shandy landed a small, deliberate jab. Putting off her confession, throwing back a Martini, and ending up staying the night at the hotel — there was no forgetting what happened that night, no matter how much she wished she could.
Shandy continued.
“Now then — first, that fortune-telling shop, wasn’t it? Resorting to such underhanded tricks even had me at a loss. If you’d simply asked me honestly, I’d have told you.”
“My apologies. In that case, may I ask now? What’s your real name, Shandy-san?”
“Shirley Temple, of course.”
She clearly had no intention of actually answering. Putting the mystery she’d supposedly shed the night before right back on again, Shandy’s true intentions slipped out of reach once more.
“Let me rephrase, then. What show did you like as a kid?”
“We never had a television at home.”
“Any story from your school textbooks that stuck with you? Something like Swimmy, maybe.”
“I Am a Cat. At the end, he drinks alcohol and dies. Did you know that?”1
“Then what’s your zodiac sign, Shandy-san?”
“Meow.”
Doing an impression of a cat’s meow, Shandy dodged every single question with a smile, the very picture of someone toying with her.
Mikoto changed tack.
“By the way, you saw through Kotone’s acting awfully fast, didn’t you?”
“Genuinely impressive work, hers was. I very nearly stabbed her to death over it.”
“That would be a problem. I’d rather not lose two people I love in one go.”
“Then which do you love more — me, or Kotone-san?”
“Different kinds of love entirely. There’s no comparing them.”
“True enough. What you feel for Kotone-san is sisterly, family love. Then what about me?”
Every time either of them spoke, the peanut gallery snickered, breaking her focus. Even so, Mikoto forced her mouth to keep moving.
“What I feel for you, Shandy-san, can’t be captured by some tired old word like ‘love.’”
“Falling back on a cliché the moment things get difficult, are we? Honestly, wherever did you borrow that line from?”
“Call it poetic, please.”
“Ha. In that case — about my own loss, from yesterday.”
Shandy propped her elbow on the counter. Amber eyes closed the distance. Mikoto forced down her self-loathing and pressed forward into the match.
“Before that. Might I share my own feelings first?”
“Yes, go ahead. I’ll do my best to respond—”
Shandy’s lips sealed hers, and Kotone let out an impressed “ohh.”
Brief, barely more than a touch. But even that alone was enough to bring last night’s memory of her vividly back to life in Mikoto’s mind.
“How does it feel, showing your girl-in-love face in front of your own little sister?”
“…The worst.”
“I feel wonderful, myself. Getting to show it off. Though I would’ve preferred doing this in front of the Peach Lady, honestly.”
“There’s nothing going on with her. I’m devoted to you and only you, Shandy-san.”
“Then perhaps I’ll ask for proof? If it’s only me, you should be able to manage a deep, proper kiss, shouldn’t you — even in front of your little sister.”
“I— I don’t mind that. As long as I win the game first.”
“Ha. Then let’s go ahead and settle this.”
Shandy smiled, alluring, and leaned in close. Not another kiss — instead, she whispered, breath brushing Mikoto’s ear.
“…I’ve decided to wait for you, Mikoto-san.”
“Wha—?”
Mikoto was the one in the position of making Shandy wait for her decision. But flip that around, and it also meant Shandy would never be the one to make the first move. However many times she threw her love at Mikoto, the choice was never actually hers to make.
Same as that time with Yes and No — whether Shandy and Mikoto would love each other was, in the end, entirely up to Mikoto, and no one else.
The ball had always been in Mikoto’s court. Which meant—
“The confession of love will have to come from you, Mikoto-san. Do try imagining it.”
If Mikoto’s resolve ever settled, it would fall to her to declare her feelings first. To admit, with total sincerity, that she liked Shandy — and to strip away, once and for all, the front she’d been putting up this whole time.
She couldn’t help imagining it.
What had happened in the elevator, after dinner. A kiss so long and deep it had nearly buckled her knees, nearly swept her consciousness away entirely. If it came to an actual confession, she’d have to go further than that — and initiate it herself, no less.
“…I— I lose…”
The imagined scenario was simply too mortifying. Mikoto pressed her face into the wall and collapsed forward — a desperate, last-ditch attempt to hide her expression from both Shandy and Kotone. Naturally, it fooled neither of them.
“Sis is way too easy. Oh right, what’d she actually say to you at the end there?”
“Might I tell her, Mikoto-san?”
“Ab— absolutely not, don’t you dare!”
“There you have it,” Shandy said with a laugh, shutting the inquiry down entirely. Kotone let out a dissatisfied noise, but seemed to settle for it once handed her own Shirley Temple.
“Got it, so that’s how you two usually go at it. So, what’s the penalty game for losing?”
“A deep, proper kiss, from Mikoto-san to me — wasn’t that the agreement? In front of Kotone-san, no less.”
Leaving no room to argue, Shandy puckered her lips forward, waiting. She’d kissed her more times than she could count by now, and yet the thought of doing it in front of someone — of all people, her own sister — sent a fresh wave of tension through her.
But there’d be no ending this without the kiss. The game couldn’t close until a reward was either given or received.
“Hurry up, sis. Wooo, go on.”
“I already told you, I’m not a show!”
“Come now, my lips are waiting. Mikoto-san?”
“Ugh… aaaaahh…!”
Mikoto sealed Shandy’s lips with her own. And, exactly as promised, their tongues tangled together inside the joined kiss. Humiliating defeat, right on the heels of victory — and in front of her own little sister, no less, for maximum mortification.
“Ahaha, congrats, you two.”
“Ha. Thank you, Kotone-san.”
Mikoto slumped against the counter, utterly spent.
—Tonight’s game of love: total defeat for Mikoto.
-
I Am a Cat is a real Natsume Sōseki novel (the same author referenced back in Ep. 3’s moon line). ↩