#61: Yokohama / ep.2
Rinko stepped into Kotone’s flat.
It was her fourth visit to the place, all told, and it was as starkly tidy as ever. The dutiful little robot vacuum that presumably kept everything so spotless had run out of battery and collapsed where it stood.
From their exchange at Ōsanbashi, through the drive, and all the way here, Kotone had not said a single word.
Since Kotone was not speaking, neither was Rinko.
An empty silence hung over the sofa where, at the end of last month, six people plus an extra had played Werewolf.
Sitting beside Rinko, Kotone quietly leaned her shoulder against hers.
Rinko considered shoving her away, but decided she might as well lend her the shoulder.
“…Wasn’t this supposed to be contact refusal?”
“If you want me to refuse contact, I’ll refuse. That’s what the Game was, right? I’m not supposed to fall in love with you, was it?”
Kotone fell silent.
From that reaction, Rinko understood what she really meant.
“…You like me, don’t you?”
“…………”
“You wanted to tease the girl you liked until she finally noticed you?”
“…………”
“Aren’t you a little old to be having a childish romance like this? What you’re doing is exactly what an elementary-school boy would do.”
“Shut up! It can’t be helped!”
Apparently she had hit the nail on the head.
Kotone buried her face in Rinko’s lap.
Through the flared skirt, Rinko could feel Kotone’s warmth. Her long, dark red hair, spread out like the feathers of a peacock and seen countless times in commercials, spilled over Rinko’s legs and onto the floor.
Kotone was hopeless at romance.
Perhaps because her extraordinary beauty meant she had always been surrounded by people eager to approach her, her own methods of making advances had apparently not progressed since elementary school.
In a different direction from her indecisive, universally charming older sister, perhaps this woman too had spent her life being rather clumsy about it.
“…It was love at first sight.”
Even Rinko’s heart skipped a beat at those words.
But the emotion that rose next was not happiness or embarrassment.
It was emptiness.
The person Kotone had fallen for was Rin-chan.
A false existence, a woman of the night who sold nothing but fleeting dreams.
That was not Shirai Rinko.
Kotone had never seen Rinko herself.
“A famous actress like you really shouldn’t get involved with an escort girl.”
“You’re not anymore. You got yourself cleaned up so you could confess to my sister, remember?”
“It didn’t work, though.”
“Then settle for me.”
Even if she was Mikoto’s little sister, she was still Rinko’s favourite.
Kotone was not someone Rinko could possibly call a compromise.
And she did not want her favourite to use a word like settle.
She was not a woman worthy of standing alongside Kotone.
“I can’t. You’re my favourite. And I can’t date someone as a compromise.”
“Then what am I supposed to do? Weren’t you going to help me!?”
Kotone wrapped her arms around Rinko without lifting her head from Rinko’s thigh.
Her voice was high and trembling.
A tearful plea.
But that would not move Rinko’s heart.
“I’ll listen to you. But I can’t return your feelings.”
“…Because you still love Sis?”
Rinko could not yet say with complete confidence that it was not.
She still could not clearly determine whether what she felt for Mikoto was romantic love or friendship.
But the more she thought about Mikoto, the more Shandy appeared in her mind.
Shandy smiling happily with a soft “Hee hee”.
And Akutagawa Alice, four years ago.
Mikoto belonged to Shandy now.
She would not be beside Rinko.
It was lonely.
It hurt.
But…
“The person Mikoto-san decided she wanted to make happy was that woman.”
Mikoto had chosen Shandy.
She had sworn to love her without asking a single question about her past.
That was already a powerful kind of love.
Even if Shandy had deceived her, it was still strong.
They had nurtured their love until Shandy had gone somewhere so far away that Rinko could no longer reach her.
“You’re blessing them?”
“It pisses me off, but if it’s what Mikoto-san chose, I want to support her. That’s what a best friend does.”
The moment she let those feelings out, Rinko felt some of the weight lift from her shoulders.
She had not moved on.
And if she were capable of giving up that easily, she would never have been able to love one person this much in the first place.
What mattered more was that she could still love Mikoto even after confessing and being rejected.
That she was allowed to continue loving her.
That warmed something inside her, just a little.
“…Sis really is an idiot. Not choosing a girl this good and all.”
“Compliment me all you like. I still won’t fall for you.”
“Tch.”
There was no room to let her guard down around Kotone.
Still, there was something amusing about how she tried to make a pass at Rinko whenever the slightest opening appeared, and Rinko found herself smiling.
“…Fine. You don’t have to fall in love with me. Just stroke my head.”
“Contact refusal.”
“Bit late for that.”
With an enormous sigh, Rinko ran her fingers through Kotone’s smooth hair.
It was not quite as silky as the hair Kotone showed off in shampoo commercials, but it was still wonderfully smooth beneath her fingers.
Rinko’s own hair never felt like this.
Presumably Kotone did not actually use the same commercial shampoo Rinko did.
“Right, I’m going home. I need to start preparing for the move and looking for a job.”
The moment Rinko tried to pull away, Kotone clung to her as though determined not to let her leave.
It was less like a lover chasing after someone who had broken up with her and more like the behaviour of a spoiled, clingy little sister.
After all, Kotone had grown up being raised by that indecisive older sister.
Rinko could understand how she had ended up like this.
She too was a younger sister, with a brother three years her senior.
“Let go.”
“…Do you have any money?”
“That’s why I’m looking for work. Unlike you, I only make three million yen a year.”
“How much do you need?”
The words were nostalgic for Rinko.
Back when she worked at Aromatic, she had been asked something similar countless times by regular customers.
She had turned every one of them down.
Every last one was the kind of person she had no desire to meet in private.
“No amount of money will buy me.”
“…A million yen bought you before.”
“That was after I’d already quit. Besides, Aromatic doesn’t have any buyout system. You can leave whenever you want.”
“Then I’ll lend it to you. I don’t want to lose touch with you, Rinko-chan.”
“I want to cut ties with you immediately.”
“Can you really do that? If you cut ties with me, you’ll lose your connection to Sis too.”
That hit a sore spot.
If Mikoto asked Sanae at Hibiya, she could probably find another job without too much trouble.
Unlike Rinko, who could not seem to get a foot in anywhere.
If they found jobs at different companies, they would inevitably drift apart.
Their schedules might stop lining up too.
“…I have a good job for you.”
Kotone looked up at her with eyes swollen from crying.
Rinko had seen that tearful expression in films and dramas before, but she could tell this time that it was not acting.
“Permanent employment, full rent subsidy, private car transport to and from work, flexible working hours. Naturally, 120 days off a year plus a month of annual paid leave. Six million yen a year plus performance bonuses.”
“Ugh…”
If Rinko took Kotone at her word, these were such good conditions that Meiji Stationery could not even compare.
With Rinko’s career history and skills alone, she would never have found a workplace offering anything like this.
“Oh? That reaction means you’re interested?”
Kotone immediately revealed her usual rough-edged personality and cackled.
She was taking advantage of Rinko’s desperation, but there was no harm in asking.
“So, just out of curiosity. What kind of job?”
“My manager!”
Rinko immediately stood up to leave, but Kotone clung to her and would not let her move.
Worse, Kotone flipped her around and pinned her beneath her, straddling her in a complete reversal of the situation.
Kotone grinned down at her, silhouetted against the light.
“Let go of me!? I’m calling the police!”
“Wouldn’t you be the one in trouble if the police got involved?”
“Stop saying incomprehensible things!?”
“If I commit a crime and can’t continue being an actress, you’d be upset, right?”
“You’re not my favourite anymore!”
“Really?”
Kotone questioned her from above.
Rinko looked up and met her gaze.
She had said it at Ōsanbashi in the heat of the moment, but there was no way she could simply throw away her favourite.
Just as she could not give up on Mikoto, she could not simply throw away her feelings for her favourite either.
Kotone continued.
A wickedly innocent smile, unmistakably the real Kotone’s, turned towards Rinko.
“I can call the police and turn myself in, you know? We could make it, ‘Actress Kurosu Kotone arrested for raping an ordinary woman.’”
“Are you insane!?”
“You won’t listen to me otherwise.”
It was a threat based entirely on one fact:
Rinko was her fan.
As a fan, Rinko absolutely did not want Kotone to cause a scandal and be driven out of the industry.
She had no choice but to nod.
“That’s cheating!”
“I can only do childish romance anyway. Hello, police?”
“You’re acting, aren’t you!?”
“See?”
Kotone held up her smartphone.
The screen displayed the number 110.
Rinko’s blood ran cold.
She immediately hammered the cancel button.
“Are you an idiot!?”
“I am! I’m calling them until you agree to be my manager!”
“Stop!”
“I won’t!”
Call, cancel.
Call, cancel.
Again and again.
Kotone was just as desperate as Rinko.
They wrestled over the phone, each trying to seize it from the other.
Still sprawled across the sofa, they struggled for some time. Kotone’s elbow slammed into Rinko’s solar plexus, making her double over in pain, but Rinko retaliated by reversing their positions, pinning Kotone down and snatching the phone away.
After repeating this ridiculous, antisocial nonsense again and again, Rinko finally made up her mind.
She snatched the phone from Kotone and threw it aside, then wrapped her arms around Kotone and held her down.
“Wasn’t this supposed to be contact refusal!?”
“Shut up!”
“Then why not kiss me to shut me up!?”
“Not falling for that!”
“Help! I’m being groped!”
“Will you stop it already!?”
Rinko’s hands were occupied holding the struggling Kotone down.
There was only one way left to silence her screaming.
Rinko reluctantly covered Kotone’s lips with her own.
The instant Kotone’s tongue slipped inside, Rinko bit down hard.
“Ah…!”
Rinko pressed her lips against Kotone’s with enough force to steal even the words of protest from her.
She kept kissing her until Kotone finally fell silent.
Rinko could only hope their neighbour Saikawa had not heard.
They continued kissing for a while.
At last, silence returned to the room.
The robot vacuum, having finished charging, emitted a light electronic chime and began moving.
Rinko slowly pulled her lips away.
Under the white ceiling light, Kotone’s face was redder than Rinko had ever seen it in any film or drama.
Exactly the same reaction Mikoto had when embarrassed.
“…Your face is bright red. You look just like your sister.”
“D-don’t compare me to her! More importantly, are you going to be my manager!?”
“No.”
“Then I’m going to fight back! And I’m not joking this time, Rinko-chan. I’ll rape you!”
“God, you’re impossible…”
She was far too selfish.
Why on earth was someone like this her favourite?
Rinko was thoroughly exhausted.
She had run out of fuel to keep feeding her anger, so she straightened her clothes and stood up.
“Don’t leave!”
“I’m just thirsty. Can I have some water? Do you want some too?”
“I do!”
Kotone’s water dispenser was the same model as the one in the waiting area at Aromatic.
Rinko knew exactly how to operate the tap.
By the time she returned with two glasses of water, Kotone was holding the discarded smartphone again.
One press of the call button and she could make the report.
Kotone’s face was bright red with anger, her expression utterly serious.
Her beautiful hair was dishevelled, and she was breathing heavily.
She was almost alluring in appearance, like the aftermath of some passionate lovemaking.
“Rinko-chan, you’ve got two choices. Become my manager, or your favourite disappears.”
Rinko silently reached for the phone.
Kotone knocked her hand away.
Rinko drained her water in one go and spoke.
“Then I have a condition too.”
“No!”
“I’m making the biggest concession possible here! And just so we’re clear, I’m becoming your manager not for your sake, but for Mikoto-san’s!”
“Why does Sis have to get dragged into this!?”
“Your sister is in a difficult situation. What are you going to do, wandering around causing trouble!? If you cause Mikoto-san any trouble, I will never forgive you!”
Rinko was sick of listening to Kotone continue complaining like a spoiled child.
She had absolutely no idea how to persuade this wilful little sister.
Even imagining what Mikoto would do got her nowhere.
Mikoto had probably indulged most of Kotone’s selfish demands.
If Mikoto was no good at handling her, then who could get this woman to behave?
A face flashed through Rinko’s mind.
That thoroughly unpleasant woman.
“Fine! Then this is a Game!”
“A Game…?”
At last, Kotone fell silent.
Rinko was astonished by the sheer power of that word.
But if she was going to propose a Game, she needed rules that guaranteed she would win.
Rinko put her normally underused brain into overdrive.
“If you want me as your manager, then keep your promises. If you break one, I quit. And you have to keep being an actress.”
“That’s not fair!”
“It’s perfectly fair! You love Games too, don’t you!?”
“I can’t just say ‘okay’ before I even hear the terms!”
“You don’t have the right to refuse. I’m making concessions to accommodate your selfishness. I’m the one with the upper hand!”
“Would you really be okay with me quitting acting, Rinko-chan?”
“If you don’t stop this nonsense, I really will hate you.”
Kotone realised that Rinko was not joking.
She swallowed whatever she had been about to say and sulked resentfully.
“Fine…”
Kotone had suddenly become so meek because she was genuinely afraid of being hated by Rinko.
Rinko thought there was something rather cute about that.
She ignored the affection being directed at her and began thinking about what promises to demand.
They had to be conditions that guaranteed her the upper hand, naturally, drawing on The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, Kotone’s first stage performance, and the impossible demands made of the suitors seeking Kaguya-hime’s hand.
“First: Do not cause a scandal under any circumstances. No stupid affair scandals, no visiting sex establishments, no tax evasion. If you touch drugs, I will genuinely despise you.”
“I’m not doing drugs!”
“Second.”
“There’s a second!?”
“One isn’t enough when you have such terrible behaviour! I’ll write them down, so remember them.”
The first condition was do not cause a scandal.
If Rinko was going to become Kotone’s manager and Kotone was going to continue as an actress, that was only natural.
Rinko picked up a pen and began writing on the back of a leaflet lying on the table, thinking up conditions as she went.
“Second: Do not destroy the image of Kurosu Kotone. It’s already destroyed in my eyes, but hide the real you from everyone else. Seal away your actual personality.”
“But I told you if I keep doing that, I’ll never be able to come back.”
“I told you I’d be your lighthouse! I’ll perform that ridiculous ritual as many times as you want!”
Kotone’s eyes widened.
The lighthouse they had discussed at Ōsanbashi was the guidepost that would prevent Kotone from becoming lost.
And then there was that embarrassingly silly ritual performed backstage at the ballroom party, the ritual that allowed Kotone to become Kotone again.
Just remembering it made Rinko want to die of embarrassment.
But she had no choice.
“Third: Use your money responsibly. You spend far too much. You make your living from popularity, so save for the future. Consult me before buying anything expensive.”
“What are you, my mum…?”
“Got a problem!?”
“Yeah, yeah…”
Rinko wrote the third condition on the back of the leaflet and continued.
“Fourth… is about working conditions. I don’t know much about this industry, but a proper five-day working week. Give me Saturdays and Sundays off. And make me use all my paid leave. I’m already making a concession by not asking for menstrual leave, you know? And Golden Week, Obon, New Year, even Silver Week, make sure I get all the major holiday periods off. And employee benefits. Especially those travel and cinema discounts. I’ve always wanted those. And cover moving expenses too. Housing allowance is non-negotiable. Don’t worry, I won’t live somewhere outrageously expensive. Oh, that’s another concession. And as for working hours, absolutely no more than forty hours a week. Follow the 36 Agreement. Basically no overtime, and if overtime looks likely, tell me in advance and pay overtime at 1.2 times my base wage. Don’t forget late-night allowances, either. Oh, and I have qualifications in aromatherapy and as a vegetable sommelier, so I want qualification allowances. Social insurance goes without saying. And if I’m going everywhere with you, I’ll need to wear makeup too, so cover my cosmetics and clothing costs, as well as food, accommodation, and all the other expenses at location shoots, and then…”
“Ah, enough! Fine! I’ll cover everything!”
“Really? Can I buy high-end brands instead of budget stuff? And when we travel by Shinkansen or plane, I want Green Car or business class rather than standard seating.”
“Which one of us is the extravagant one here…?”
“Necessary expenses!”
Rinko inwardly smirked.
Negotiating really did have its advantages.
If her annual income was going to double, she would already have more room in her budget.
But if she could put things down as expenses, it was an even sweeter deal.
And finally.
Drawing on the impossible demands Kaguya-hime had presented to her five suitors, Rinko delivered her fifth condition.
“Fifth: Do not fall in love with me.”
This was the one condition that made Kotone howl.
“That’s impossible! I want you, Rinko-chan!”
“I don’t want your love!”
“Why do you reject me that completely…?”
The moment she howled, she deflated.
It looked just like Rinko herself when she had approached Mikoto.
Rinko’s heart gave a faint twinge.
No matter how much affection someone showed you, if you did not feel the same way, there was nothing you could do.
“Fine. That’s enough for now. Don’t you dare lose this memo, okay? And don’t alter it. Actually, I’ll take a photo of the evidence and send it to Mikoto-san.”
“Why Sis? I can’t defy her…”
“That’s precisely why.”
Rinko took a photo and sent it to Mikoto.
The message was marked read immediately, but Mikoto responded with nothing more than a confused question-mark sticker.
Explaining was too much effort, so Rinko left it at that.
She looked over the five completed promises and felt some satisfaction.
She had managed to tide herself over her immediate predicament.
And it was far better than having her self-worth beaten down by job sites and Hello Work until she became mentally unwell.
If anything, she had managed to realise her ideal working conditions.
This was what work-style reform looked like.
As long as she could overlook Kotone’s existence.
Rinko returned to the persona of Rin-chan and put on the warm, friendly smile that had made people take to her.
“Well then, I look forward to working with you, Kotone-san!”
“Then can I give you your first assignment?”
“Today’s business is finished! Manager Rinko is heading straight home!”
“Hey! Get back here!”
Kotone grabbed the hand Rinko had been trying to use to make a quick exit.
Rinko glared at her, her entire face displaying her displeasure.
Kotone, meanwhile, was bright red.
So red that Rinko wondered whether she had a fever.
Her eyes darted around.
“What is it? What’s the job?”
“…It’s…”
“What? I can’t hear you.”
Rinko leaned closer to Kotone’s mouth.
Kotone whispered.
“…Sleep with me.”
Rinko wondered if she had heard correctly.
She studied Kotone’s face to make sure.
Kotone was looking away, her cheeks flushed.
And Rinko remembered what she had said earlier.
I fired my manager because she fell in love with me even though I told her not to.
That meant her manager had developed romantic feelings for her.
Which meant there must have been something Kotone did that caused a woman in that position to misunderstand her intentions.
“…Sorry, wait a second. Your manager’s job is checking your schedule and doing that ridiculous ritual, isn’t it?”
Kotone shook her head.
“…Taking care of my sexual needs is part of a manager’s job too.”
“WHAT!? No! Absolutely not!”
Rinko immediately rejected the idea.
But Kotone no longer seemed capable of holding herself back.
So much for social distancing.
Rinko was driven backwards until her back hit the wall.
Kotone’s breath against her ear was frighteningly hot.
“And you made your manager do that!? What is wrong with your sense of ethics!?”
“I can’t go out normally, I can’t have relationships, I’m constantly being stalked by paparazzi and living in fear! And on top of that, I have to kill off my real self and keep showing the respectable image society wants! Do you have any idea how much stress that kind of life builds up!?”
Kotone crowded her relentlessly.
She nipped at the back of Rinko’s neck.
Rinko’s knees nearly gave way.
She was weak around the neck.
Kotone remembered what had happened that night before.
She had not forgotten.
“W-wait! You don’t need me, do you? Just call an escort!”
“I’m not allowed to cause a scandal, remember!?”
“Ugh…!”
Kotone turned Rinko’s own conditions against her and pressed closer.
“And if I call an escort, I’ll ruin my image, right? The image of the girl who comes over!”
“Wait! That’s not what I meant…”
“I have to use money responsibly, don’t I? In that respect, taking care of me is included in Rinko-chan’s salary. Which means it’s free.”
“You never said that! No!”
“And I’ll accept all your working conditions! We took a photo and sent it to Sis, remember!? Does it say anything about not providing services?”
“That wasn’t explained beforehand! Besides, that’s sexual harassment! Instant dismissal!”
“If I get dismissed, I’ll be driven out of the industry. You okay with that?”
“AAAAAAARGH!?”
She had been completely outplayed.
This was what happened when she tried her hand at a Game she was not accustomed to.
Rinko wanted to curse the version of herself from several minutes ago.
She also wanted to murder the hallucination of that bartender, smiling “Hee hee” like the whisper of a devil.
That woman would definitely say:
My, my. You didn’t check the terms properly, silly girl. Hee hee.
“Don’t worry. As long as Rinko-chan keeps quiet, it’s fine. Besides, even if we have sex as many times as we want, all I have to do is not fall in love with you, right?”
Kotone cackled.
Rinko had designed the rules specifically to give herself the advantage.
And yet Kotone had found the loophole.
“You really are the worst!”
“Mhm. That’s what your favourite is really like. And I’m warning you, there’s no going back now. Prepare yourself.”
You did not need love to do something like that.
Even less so if it was your job.
The only reason Rinko was rejecting it was because of who the other person was.
Kotone’s personality was impossible to praise, but Rinko did not dislike the woman beneath the persona.
Quite the opposite.
She was exactly Rinko’s type.
Even so, Kotone was her favourite.
An actress Rinko practically worshipped.
She was not someone Rinko, a woman with her own sordid past, should be touching.
It would taint the thing that had been her emotional support.
“…Give me a little time before I do that job.”
“Breaking your promise, Rinko-chan?”
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t. But…”
Just as she had made herself clean before confessing to Mikoto, if she was going to touch her favourite, she needed to be at least that clean.
Rinko could not touch Kotone as the person she was now.
“…Sorry.”
Kotone’s palm stroked Rinko’s head.
Her hand was cold.
The coolness soothed Rinko’s overheated mind, which felt ready to explode from confusion.
“That’s okay. I’ll wait until you’re ready to let me. But in return…”
Their lips met.
The tongue that slipped inside was hot, the exact opposite of Kotone’s cool palm.
If this was the price of her patience, Rinko could accept it for now.
She accepted a kiss from the favourite she was supposed to refuse all recognition and contact from, letting their tongues meet.
She felt her heartbeat quicken.
She recognised that she found it pleasurable.
This was not love.
It was the illusion of Rin-chan that she had created for work.
The work persona that pretended to fall in love with people in order to make things go smoothly.
That was what caused this reaction.
The fact that she was feeling something almost like warmth in front of Kurosu Kotone was not her true feeling.
That was what Rinko desperately told herself.
It was all she could do.
“Right. Let me ask you again properly, then. Rinko-chan.”
“…………”
Rinko could no longer remain standing.
Her body slid down the wall.
She sat with her back against it and looked up at Kotone, whose warped nature was betrayed by her crooked little smirk.
Rinko felt embarrassed.
And angry.
She began repeatedly punching Kotone in the shin as hard as she could.
The face was off-limits.
The shin was fair game.
“Ahaha, those punches you use to hide your embarrassment really hurt.”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up! It’s not your face, so who cares!?”
“Fine, but don’t leave bruises, okay? I’m an important commercial asset.”
With that, Kotone began calling her agency.
From the conversation, Rinko could tell that she was informing them she had hired a new manager.
The agency appeared to be unhappy with some of the employment conditions, but Kotone refused to budge and managed to force through every one of Rinko’s demands.
With that, Rinko’s miserable job hunt was over.
Thinking about Kotone made her feel exhausted, but when she weighed that against having job sites tear apart her market value, she arrived at the conclusion that, by the narrowest of margins, being Kotone’s manager was the better option.
Her relief lasted only a moment.
Kotone then told the person on the phone something outrageous.
“Oh, right. I’m going to live with my new manager. Yep, live-in.”
“What!?”
Kotone turned towards Rinko and grinned.
“I’ll pay the rent. Which means it’s a full housing subsidy.”
Job hunting was a crossroads in life.
Always check the terms properly beforehand.
Rinko realised, far too late, that she had forgotten even something that obvious, something written right there on the front page of every job-hunting information site.