#40: Kamikaze / ep.1
“Kurosu-san! This photograph!”
“Please, not that…”
At the Meiji Stationery office, the moment Mikoto passed her attendance IC card over the reader, Rinko excitedly thrust her phone towards her. The sweet, soft expression she usually wore was nowhere to be found. The way she presented the evidence looked like a member of the press at a press conference.
“Why are you a bunny girl!? No, that is not what I mean, I am not saying bunnies are strange. I have worn one myself, and I like them! But that is beside the point.”
“Shirai-san, you are too loud. The other employees will hear…”
“But it was on the news this morning.”
“What!?”
At Shandy’s Kyodo home, television simply was not part of their routine. Her home was almost completely cut off from worldly news and gossip, with either silence or internet-radio jazz and classical music as its only soundtrack.
“Oh! Good morning, Kurosu-san! This is perfect timing!”
Tsuzuki, the kindly old executive director, called out to the office employees, breathless with excitement despite his age. The Meiji Stationery office had the unmistakable atmosphere of a Showa-era staff room, and its reception area contained a television. Tsuzuki switched it on and worked the remote at speed.
“Director, what are you…”
“One of our employees is on television! Come, everyone, let us watch Kurosu-san’s splendid moment!”
“W-wait…!”
At his call, employees streamed into the reception area. Apart from Tsuzuki, who looked as excited as a child as he said, “It will be on any moment!”, Mikoto’s colleagues were all glued to the television. It was a morning variety show, its former-comedian host commenting on entertainment news.
And on the screen was unmistakably—
“When you see the photograph of the sisters side by side, she really does look exactly like Kotone-san. What do you think, Nikaido-san?”
“Yes! Even as a woman, she is so wonderful I could fall for her! And look at their hair! They lean together, their hair tangling up, and that is basically se—”
“All right, Nikaido-san, this is a live morning broadcast.”
Every employee in the reception area turned to look at Mikoto. When the television moved from the selfie with Kotone to the bunny-girl photograph, everyone turned back to the screen and let out a low murmur of admiration.
She wanted to die of embarrassment.
“Does this not require the person’s permission…?”
“Wait, you did not give permission? I assumed…”
Rinko’s unfinished thought made it click.
Kotone had given permission. Kotone, who had insisted the scandal-defusing stunt needed impact, would never have let the chance for a nationwide broadcast slip past. And so Mikoto’s bunny-girl appearance had spread across Japan.
“Congratulations on your television debut, Kurosu-san!”
Executive Director Tsuzuki clapped with utterly innocent delight. Then her colleagues followed, filling the room with thunderous applause and cries of “Congratulations!”
What, exactly, was congratulatory about this? Humiliated on nationwide television, Mikoto crouched at her desk, wanting nothing more than to disappear.
“I-it is all right! It suits you, Kurosu-san! You are cute and beautiful and sexy, and I really like you! I love you!”
“Uwaaaaaah…!”
Whether Rinko’s words were meant as sympathy or a confession slipped in amid the chaos, they did not reach Mikoto at all. In the end, she could not focus on work for the entire day.
“Welcome home, Mikoto-san. You have visitors.”
“For me?”
Here on the outskirts of Roppongi was antiqua, the girls’ bar that occasionally had customers specifically seeking Mikoto.
Shandy answered only, “Yes,” then took Mikoto’s spring coat. As Mikoto passed through the darkness near the entrance, she saw the silhouettes of two women, one small and one large, beside the preferred seat by the wall. She could not tell who they were in the dim light. Only once Shandy led her to her usual seat did she realise their identities.
“Good evening, Kurosu-san.”
“Ah. Sanae-san and Toko-san. Has something happened?”
“Yes! We came to hear how the romance between you two is progressing! Right, Sanae?”
“Please disregard Toko.”
“Oh. I see…”
Mikoto could not help glancing at Shandy. With one hand over her lips, Shandy smiled quietly. She had permitted the Yanase wives, whom Shandy had once called “X-Y-Z”, into the bar because they would give her material to play with Mikoto. The face of a wicked bartender peeked through.
“You allowed them in, Shandy-san?”
“She brought her wive, so I made an exception. I thought learning what a household of two women is like would be useful for our future.”
“Then who proposed to whom!?”
“No one has proposed!”
Toko’s eyes fell in disappointment for a moment, then lit back up at once. “Then is it about to happen!?” Mikoto held her head, and Sanae finally spoke.
“I saw the news. I know little about the entertainment industry, but the matter has caused an uproar within Hibiya as well.”
“Could we please not discuss that!? It is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me!”
“The issue is not you, but your sister.”
“Kotone?”
Sanae took out her phone and played a video.
Kotone walked through a large warehouse. Against narration, she spotted robots moving about and gantry cranes, then smiled shyly with the expression everyone imagined a pure, innocent young woman ought to wear. At the end, Hibiya’s logo appeared, alongside the corporate slogan:
Hibiya Group: The Strength That Supports.
“This is our company’s television commercial, due to air from next month. As you can see, Kurosu Kotone is the lead. There are three more adverts with similar concepts. Would you like to see them?”
“I have had enough Kotone. More importantly, what does this have to do with the advert?”
“There are voices in Public Relations asking whether Kurosu Kotone should be removed from Hibiya’s advertising.”
“Eh…”
Thinking about it, Kotone had suddenly uploaded photographs of herself dressed as a bunny girl, then revealed it was a prank. In a sense, she was a celebrity who had caused a public stir. For a major company like Hibiya, using her might seem risky.
“No, there was a proper reason…”
“We came tonight to ask about that reason. The Head of Public Relations asked me to investigate your sister’s true intentions.”
Trying to coax the truth from Mikoto with sweet things, Sanae held out an assorted tin of biscuits. Even while fighting in the Secretarial Section, she apparently continued her work as General Affairs’ all-purpose fixer.
“Why not tell them, Mikoto-san? With plenty of resentment that your public humiliation was their company’s fault.”
“Hibiya’s fault?”
“Well…”
Just as she had explained to Kotone the other day, Mikoto described Kurumi’s blackmail. Naturally, she cut out the part about bowing to the floor because she did not want Shandy to worry.
Sanae’s expression clouded as she listened, and by the time Mikoto finished, she had her head in her hands.
“…Once again, our company, or rather Akazawa. She intended to claim those photographs of the two of you were Kotone’s and manufacture a scandal.”
“Yes. Shandy-san and Kotone helped me. They said impact was important if we wanted to crush the scandal…”
“It definitely had impact! I thought, I wish I could make the person I love wear something like that too!”
Sanae visibly closed her mouth at Toko’s remark. The thought of Sanae, who might pass for a schoolgirl in uniform, wearing that outfit had a decidedly abnormal air about it.
“…In any case, your sister’s quick thinking destroyed Akazawa’s scheme.”
“More than that, it protected Hibiya’s reputation too. You would be in trouble if the advert were withdrawn because of a scandal, would you not? Perhaps you ought to overlook a small prank.”
“I understand. I will report that Kurosu Kotone is not a problem. We have caused you trouble, Kurosu-san. We will be going.”
As Sanae rose to leave, Toko protested. Sanae had likely come only to see Mikoto for work, but Toko’s purpose was clearly different.
“No, Sanae, we still have not heard any romance talk! And we have not had a drink.”
“Toko. You promised me that you would only come along as company.”
“Girls are fickle!”
“Are you really an age to call yourself a girl…?”
“No matter how old we get, girls are girls. And girls love romance talk, alcohol, and the people they love!”
“Underage drinking is prohibited.”
antiqua’s classical music was overwritten by a lovers’ quarrel between newlywed wives. When Mikoto looked to Shandy for help, Shandy had slumped her shoulders with a wry smile. Her eyes were gentle as a mother’s as she watched the two, faintly exasperated but affectionate, and Mikoto’s heart was drawn towards her.
“We should become close enough to have lovers’ quarrels soon, should we not?”
“I could never win an argument against you, Shandy-san.”
“Oh? Then we should try it in tonight’s game. Hehe.”
With that, Shandy stepped between the Yanase wives. A single “Please be quiet” showed the dignity of antiqua’s bartender, and then she proposed a game.
“Tonight’s game will be a team contest including the two of you. What do you think, Sanae-san, Toko-san?”
“…What do you mean, a game?”
“One of Shandy-san’s pranks. It is best not to indulge her.”
“Oh? I was thinking the winners could have a drink on the house.”
“Let us do it, Sanae!”
At Toko’s deciding word, Sanae sat back down at the counter. Even the capable “hound of General Affairs” who raced through the company at work seemed weak when it came to Toko’s insistence. In the unusually troubled face of the normally stony Sanae, happiness shone through despite the expression.
“So, Shandy-san. What are the rules?”
Shandy’s amber eyes sparkled.
“Last time, we took turns saying what we liked about each other. So tonight, why not take turns saying what we would like our partners to change? The first person to make her partner cry wins.”
“Another ridiculous prank…”
“I am going home.”
Toko firmly held onto Sanae’s hand as she tried to stand again. She seemed determined to make them participate.
“What are you thinking? We will only embarrass ourselves.”
“No, let us do it. You have things you want to say too, right, Sanae? Besides, it is our chance to establish whether it is Sha-Miko or Miko-Sha!”
“The thing I would like you to change is that interpretation! We established it is Sha-Miko!”
“Mi-ko-Sha!”
“What is wrong with these wives…”
“Indeed.”
To silence the two women enthusiastically discussing them before their faces, Shandy clapped her hands. Then she named Toko to go first, leaning her cheek against her hand on the counter. Her eyes shone brightly. The game had begun.
“Then let us start with Toko-san. Please speak your heart.”
“Sanae never consults me! She has been like that ever since we were senior and junior at Hibiya, trying to solve absolutely everything by herself! Rely on me a little too!”
“I cannot share work matters—”
“This is a game for expressing what you feel. No arguing back, Sanae-san.”
Sanae looked displeased beside the genuinely angry Toko. Shandy, meanwhile, wore the thoroughly malicious smile of a wicked woman. The maternal Shandy of moments ago had transformed into a full-on sadist. Merely imagining being on the receiving end of her made Mikoto’s back straighten by itself. She felt like a frog caught beneath a snake’s stare.
“Now, Mikoto-san. What would you like me to change?”
“Th-this is difficult, is it not? I love you too much to find anything I would like you to change. You are perfect, after all.”
“Do not think you can escape alone. Tonight I am a bad woman. Even if you flee, I will chase you to the ends of hell.”
Showing the edge of her canine tooth, Shandy smiled. She would show no mercy tonight. Even if Mikoto fled, Shandy looked intent on the kind of pursuit with which a lion tore out its prey’s throat.
Had Mikoto done something to anger her? She went back through the last few days, but the only thing she could think of was keeping the matter with Kurumi from her.
“Then… perhaps the way you do not tell me your true feelings? I would like you to be a little more honest, if possible…”
“Oh? I thought I whispered love to you quite honestly. Do you prefer a woman who is more adorably needy?”
“Yes. Be honest with me. Come here, needy little kitten.”
“Hehe. Meow.”
“See? Miko-Sha.”
“No. She is only making me say it.”
Mikoto’s line, delivered while tickling beneath Shandy’s chin, was immediately appraised by the Yanase wives. Even Mikoto, who was not especially familiar with that world, vaguely understood what the Sha-Miko and Miko-Sha debate implied.
They were supposed to be discussing what they wanted their partners to change, so why was she somehow suffering embarrassment she had not needed to suffer? Mikoto turned towards the wall, trying to hide her expression, but the next turn passed to Sanae regardless.
“What I would like Toko to change is her recklessness. You constantly place yourself in danger. Even when you can clearly see danger ahead, you optimistically think things will work out somehow, then fall into a quagmire. And it has happened more than once or twice.”
“But Sanae saved me every time. Oh, that is right. Do you want to know what Sanae said when she proposed?”
“It is my turn! That is not something to tell other people—”
“Please tell us. Mikoto-san agrees, does she not? We must study it carefully and put it to use.”
“Oh, I am genuinely curious about that…”
At Mikoto’s thoughtless admission, Sanae shot her a glare full of hostility. Her normally dubious eyes, which always seemed to look nowhere in particular, darted about. Her agitation was unmistakable.
“Sanae’s proposal was: ‘It seems that I am in love with you, Senpai.’ Cute, is it not?”
“T-Toko…”
The words were unlike the blunt Sanae, and Mikoto could not stop her lips from curling into a smile. Shandy seemed no different, watching Sanae’s face with eyes curved into mocking crescents.
“And what did you say in reply, Toko-san?”
“I told her, ‘You must not fall for someone like me,’ but Sanae would not yield. So we began dating, then various things happened. And, you know? In the end, she said, ‘I wish to devote my life to you.’ Hehe.”
“My, my. Sanae-chan said something like that?”
The malicious Shandy was like a fish in water. Teased through barely restrained laughter, Sanae slumped over the counter. Mikoto did sympathise with her secret being exposed, but it was too striking a new side of the tense Sanae. Asking her not to laugh would have been unreasonable.
“It feels absolutely dreadful to be shot in the back by an ally…”
“I am sorry, Sanae. I just wanted to show off my adorable wife!”
“…Enough. If Toko were someone who could change merely by being told what to change, I would never have fallen for her in the first place.”
“You looked after a troublesome girl, and before you knew it, fell in love?”
“Yes. Is that a problem?”
Perhaps she had decided to own it. Sanae raised her head and glared at Shandy, revenge burning in her eyes.
“Now it is your turn. Tell Kurosu-san what you would like her to change.”
“Hehe. My turn has finally come. I have been waiting, wanting to say it so badly.”
Shandy smiled broadly and fixed her eyes on Mikoto.
The rule of tonight’s game was that the first person to make her partner cry won. Shandy would undoubtedly trade in her verbal bullets for something far more lethal. She saw through nearly everything about Mikoto, including the places Mikoto did not want touched. And because she understood those places, she could usually treat Mikoto with such gentleness.
Which meant that if Shandy shone a light on the thing she normally overlooked, it would surely tear into Mikoto’s heart.
“Please go easy on me.”
“Hehe. I wonder if I will.”
Mikoto said it, but Shandy’s spirited eyes said far more. She meant to make Mikoto cry, certainly.
Mikoto braced herself. Preparing to take the blow, she tried to guess what Shandy would point out: the way she was forever stretching herself, the weakness that emerged when she was cornered, her shyness. Or perhaps her childish heart, which could never quite make a decision.
“Well then. This may take a little while, but please listen to what I have to say.”
With that preface, Shandy smiled mischievously.