#62: Preview
“Perhaps it’s time you woke up, Mikoto.”
A bell-like whisper tore through the haze of sleep. When she opened her eyes, Shandy was sitting beside the bed, smiling down at her with an exasperated look.
Morning had come to Kyōdō. Mikoto checked the time on the smartphone beside her pillow.
1 p.m.
“Am I horrendously late!? Why didn’t you wake me!?”
She hurriedly sat up, grabbed Shandy by the shoulders and shook her. Her head bobbed about like a bobblehead doll, and the scent of orange wafted through the air. Mikoto reached for her phone, intending to call Rinko at the Meiji Stationery office and have her unexcused absence changed to paid leave, before finally remembering.
“Oh, right. I quit already…”
“Fufu. You certainly slept soundly.”
April. Wednesday, a little after one in the afternoon.
Having agreed to leave Meiji Stationery by voluntary resignation, Mikoto was now using up her remaining paid leave until the end of the month. Normally, she woke up in the morning without even needing an alarm, but apparently, once she realised she no longer had a job, even her body clock had decided to resign from it.
There was a strange sort of guilt in waking up in the early afternoon on a weekday. With her head still foggy from oversleeping, Mikoto wandered into the living room, where a familiar voice was coming from the audio speakers.
It was Kotone’s.
“Cheer Up, hosted by Kurosu Kotone, is broadcast every Wednesday nationwide on thirty-three stations, with FM Minato as our key station!”
The only job Kotone still had during the shutdown was radio. She was the Wednesday personality on a four-hour weekday afternoon programme, broadcasting from one until five. Even with requested songs, news and traffic reports interspersed throughout, she had to keep talking throughout the afternoon without leaving so much as six seconds of silence.
“Your little sister is working properly while her big sister is being utterly useless, hmm?”
“I got fired, so what can I do? Besides, this is my first time listening to Kotone’s radio show.”
“Fufu. She certainly does know how to be an actress. Doesn’t she get tired?”
Munching on Shandy’s special toast, which could have been breakfast or lunch for all she knew, Mikoto listened to Kotone’s voice. It was completely different from the real Kotone, a pristine, virtuous façade. An absolute performance built on a mountain of lies. Mikoto wondered if Kotone was still performing that ritual she had devised, the one that separated her true self from her actress persona, with her manager.
“Kotone’s a completely different person on and off the clock…”
“Meow.”
“Exactly. She’s an incredible cat. The fact that she can keep it up without anyone noticing is quite something.”
As if responding to Shandy’s imitation of a cat, Mimosa let out a little “meow” of her own. Having finished her lunch, Her Majesty curled up in her usual place, on Mikoto’s lap.
“Mimosa is a naughty girl, aren’t you? Going after your master’s woman like that.”
“Maybe that’s why she won’t take to you, if you’re jealous even of a cat.”
“Ooh, good girl,” Mikoto murmured, stroking Mimosa around the ears as she finished eating. Ever since moving to Kyōdō, her pyjamas had been covered in fur. Perhaps Mimosa, like her owner, simply liked pyjamas.
“Meow.”
Once again, Shandy imitated a cat. Sitting at the low table in the living room, Mikoto watched as she crept towards her on all fours.
“Well, there’s certainly an awfully large cat here.”
“Yes. Shall I eat you, my beautiful little bunny?”
Shandy’s amber eyes glittered provocatively. The way she licked her lips made her intentions painfully obvious. Having satisfied her need for sleep and food, there was only one appetite left to satisfy.
“It’s, um, still the middle of the day…”
“What’s wrong with that? Neither of us has anything else to do, do we? Sleep as much as you like, eat as much as you like, and love each other as much as you like. Like beasts.”
Ever since that incident, Shandy had become dramatically more forward. It was almost as though Mikoto telling her that she believed her had removed some kind of limiter. She kept coming on to Mikoto with relentless enthusiasm. Whenever Mikoto was caught by that beautiful face staring into her eyes, she had no choice but to reach beyond herself in return…
“T-this is certainly a bold proposal. But I think it would have rather more atmosphere if we waited until after dark…”
“Today, I’m a leopard. Words don’t work on beasts, Mikoto. Grrrr!”
“W-wait a moment…!”
And so the bunny was hunted by the leopard.
Mikoto found herself on her back on the soft carpet, both arms pinned beneath Shandy. Looking down at her with crescent-moon eyes, Shandy wore a sensual yet blissful smile. Realising that this expression was reserved for her alone, Mikoto could only feel relieved.
“My, my. Despite putting up such a protest, you look awfully happy.”
“E-even if I protested, you’d attack me anyway, wouldn’t you, Shandy?”
“If you really don’t want me to, that’s fine. If you want to wait until tonight, I will.”
“W-waiting until…”
“Until what? What is it, I wonder? Fufu.”
This too was part of the game Shandy was playing. She attacked Mikoto and put her in the perfect position to receive her advances, only to pull the ladder away completely. It was a terrifying game, possible only because Shandy understood Mikoto’s nature so perfectly.
“I’d really like to know. What is it you want, Mikoto?”
“Ggh…”
“Don’t be shy. Tell me. What would you like me to do?”
Shandy wanted her to say it. To say it aloud herself.
Still wearing the expression of a leopard, she slowly licked her lips. Even without make-up, those pale pink lips were beautiful, glossy as though naturally coated in lip gloss. Mikoto couldn’t tear her eyes away.
But she couldn’t always lose to Shandy, either. If she wanted to beat her, she had to charge in knowing she might blow herself up. Mikoto played the most embarrassing card she could think of.
“I-I wonder…”
“I wonder what?”
“Perhaps you should… ask my body?”
Two full moons rose in broad daylight.
Shandy’s amber eyes widened. Mikoto had caught her completely off guard.
But then…
“Oh dear. Now I’m even more tempted to tease you.”
“What? Wait… ah!?”
It had had precisely the opposite effect. Mikoto’s desperate gamble had merely encouraged Shandy. She was pushed down again, and Shandy gently nipped at her ear, already thoroughly trained to respond to her touch.
Whether there was any atmosphere or not no longer mattered.
Those eyes. That provocative voice. The faint scent of her body mingling with orange. The sensation of their lips touching, the taste of their tongues entwined. Once all five senses were stimulated, Mikoto was finished.
“It’s time for some quality time at home. Almost all my filming and stage work has been cancelled too, so lately I’ve been trying my hand at cooking at home. Recently I’ve been really into cooking rice in a donabe. I wonder if everyone knows the saying, ‘First a gentle simmer…’”
Kotone’s harmless voice slipped straight through Mikoto’s ears. She couldn’t care less about the radio. She was captivated by Shandy, desperate to be loved by her.
And yet Shandy continued to pull the ladder away. How cruel.
“What does it feel like being teased while listening to your little sister’s voice?”
“Don’t listen…”
“To the radio?”
“N-no, not that…”
Her weakness when it came to the woman she loved was a happy problem. The moment her furry pyjama top was lifted and she felt lips against her navel, Mikoto’s reason was blown away.
“Fufu. Your face has turned into a maraschino cherry, my adorable little bunny.”
“Ugh…”
“Since we’re at it, why not really become a bunny and let me keep you? Give up looking for a job and take permanent employment with me.”
Shandy’s face was faintly flushed, and Mikoto found it unbearably dear. Through the haze of her melting consciousness, even the tiny remnant of her desire to work, her wish to remain Shandy’s equal, seemed in danger of dissolving away.
An angel and a devil were fighting inside Mikoto.
The angel, sounding rather like Rinko, cried, “Weren’t you going to become equals!?”
The devil, sounding rather like Toko, replied, “There’s nothing wrong with devoting your life to the person you love!”
“Shandy… you’re a devil…”
“Yes. The leopard has become a devil. A terribly cute, terribly wicked woman who wants to lead Mikoto astray. Go ahead and fall.”
“It’s not… falling. I…”
“You’re not very honest, are you? Shall we ask your body?”
The sweet whisper of the devil, enough to melt even her reason and desire to work, was about to carry Mikoto’s consciousness away when—
“Major announcement!”
Kotone’s absurdly bright voice rang out from the radio.
“Oh, a major announcement.”
Shandy seized the opportunity to tease her. She adored her little sister well enough, but when Kotone interrupted her at a moment like this, she found herself resenting her.
“R-right now… I want you to…”
“My, my. What a naughty little bunny, making requests like that.”
Shandy stroked her head with a smile. The affection soaked through every inch of Mikoto’s body. She really had no right to laugh at Toko, Mikoto thought, wanting to curl up and hide from herself.
Only then did the radio’s contents finally begin to reach her ears.
“Today, I have something important to tell all my listeners! And that is! I, Kurosu Kotone…”
“What’s she building up to?”
“Probably her debut single. She secretly gave me a recording.”
“Actress, model, DJ and singer? There’s no stopping a popular girl, is there?”
A drum roll played over the radio, presumably one of the staff’s little jokes. After dragging out the suspense, Kotone announced in an echoing voice:
“I’d like to introduce my new manager!”
“Oh. It wasn’t that. Well, a fake-out is one of the oldest comedy tricks.”
More than Shandy’s comment, Mikoto was interested in the matter of Kotone’s manager. Introducing a new manager meant the previous one had left.
“Did Chatan-san quit…?”
“Chatan?”
“Kotone’s manager from Okinawa. I think they’d been together since her debut.”
The manager, Chatan Midori Kitaya, was someone Mikoto had met several times.
Born and raised in Okinawa, she was a casually friendly woman with sun-browned skin and an effortlessly cool straight hairstyle that suited her big-sisterly personality. When Mikoto met her last summer at a live radio recording at a beach house in Enoshima, she had been happily enjoying bottled spirits and yakisoba even while recording, much to the exasperation of the actress-mode Kotone.
Mikoto’s reason finally returned to her, and she listened carefully to Kotone’s voice.
“And here she is. My new manager, Shirai Rinko!”
“What!?”
Mikoto and Shandy spoke at exactly the same moment, their expressions mirroring each other.
It had come completely out of nowhere. Neither of them had the slightest idea what was going on.
“Rinko-san knows a lot about aromatherapy, so she always smells wonderful. Don’t you think? Hmm, maybe she doesn’t want to talk. Looks like she’s shy. Hellooo, Rinko-san? …Ahaha. She’s outside the studio shaking her head like crazy. How cute.”
At first Mikoto wondered if it might simply be someone with the same name. But if she knew a lot about aromatherapy, that changed things. It was almost certainly the Shirai Rinko they both knew.
“Did you know anything about this, Mikoto?”
“No, nothing… Ah!”
Mikoto suddenly remembered the strange photograph Rinko had sent her a few days earlier. She had ignored it without asking for an explanation. It was a photograph of five promises written on the back of a flyer. The fourth promise was ridiculously detailed, but words like “paid leave” and “social insurance” were things Mikoto herself would have sold her soul for.
“Rinko-san became Kotone’s manager…”
“So this is her public execution on live radio? My, my. You really should have checked properly, you silly thing. Fufu.”
Shandy giggled happily. Mikoto, meanwhile, was in no mood for amusement. The thought of Rinko having to deal with that troublesome little sister of hers from now on honestly made her feel terrible.
“Today’s email theme is ‘something you’ve recently started’. And we’re also accepting messages of encouragement for our shy manager, Rinko. The programme email address is kotone at—”
“We should send her a message of encouragement.”
“No, no. That’s Kotone bullying her. Don’t.”
“I already did. Toko-san just messaged me to say she sent one too. Apparently she listens to this programme regularly.”
Shandy’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Do you think they’ll read my email?”
Mikoto let out a single sigh of exasperation and affection as she watched her.
She felt guilty about Rinko, but at the same time, she couldn’t help wondering what kind of reaction Rinko would have if she actually went on air. Pure curiosity.
Forgetting all about Shandy’s sweet temptation from moments before, Mikoto decided to concentrate on the radio, using Shandy’s lap as a pillow.
＊
This was a disaster.
Rinko was desperately suppressing her anger as she stared at Kotone, who was smiling and waving at her from behind the studio glass.
FM Minato, Studio One, control room.
This was where Kotone worked on Cheer Up, a live weekday afternoon programme broadcast nationwide.
“Kurosu-san, coming out of the commercial. Three, two…”
Kotone was seated before the microphone inside the studio. Outside, in the control room, there was a sound-effects engineer sitting before a machine covered in buttons and sliders, an AD holding a stopwatch and giving cues, and a director overseeing the broadcast.
And then there was Shirai Rinko, the brand-new manager who had merely accompanied Kotone here and now had no idea what to do except watch the work of a radio studio unfold before her.
Even a studio that embodied everything about the dreaded Three Cs could not stop radio broadcasting. To Rinko, it felt like the sad fate of those involved in broadcasting, but also the pride of staff who saw conveying information as their duty.
It all went back to a few days earlier, the day Rinko had somehow inherited the title of Kotone’s manager.
Kotone’s work had been postponed again and again during the stay-at-home period. Rinko had assumed that, since there was practically nothing for Kotone to do, the radio programme would be cancelled too.
But the airwaves did not stop.
They were continuing the live broadcast with thorough infection-control measures.
And Kotone hadn’t told her until the night before.
“Huh? But I thought you knew.”
Kotone had said it without the slightest hint of remorse, and Rinko had been furious.
It was like a primary-school child casually telling their parents the night before, “Oh, tomorrow’s a packed-lunch day.”
As a result, Rinko had gone to Kotone’s agency, Ambush, first thing in the morning, introduced herself to the president and staff, been given the bare minimum of instructions on working as a manager, and entrusted with business cards bearing the company name.
Meiji Stationery, no more.
Entertainment agency Ambush. Exclusive manager to Kurosu Kotone.
That was Rinko’s new title.
Except—
Nobody told me I was going on the radio!
The introduction of Rinko as Kotone’s new manager had not been in the script. It was an improvised addition.
The control-room staff had been caught off guard by the sudden ad-lib, but once Kotone had taken the opportunity to turn the segment into an encouragement campaign for the reluctant Rinko, they were clearly enjoying themselves.
They were egging her on.
“Kurosu-san, we have an encouragement email for your manager.”
“Wait…”
The male AD’s voice apparently reached Kotone through her studio headphones. Kotone responded with a glance through the glass, then began reading an email from the tablet in front of her.
“We have an encouragement email for Rinko-san. Sabuerana-san from Kawasaki City writes: ‘Good luck, Rinko-san! I’m looking forward to seeing Kotone-san and Rinko-san as a couple from now on! Kotorin forever!’ It says we’re a couple. How embarrassing, huh?”
Kotone smiled gently at her through the glass.
The smile of her favourite actress, Kurosu Kotone, nearly pierced straight through Rinko’s heart.
Recognition refused.
Rinko vigorously shook her head in response.
Who the hell was this Sabuerana from Kawasaki City, using the guise of an encouragement message to send suggestive couple-bait onto the public airwaves? Rinko wanted to track her down and give her a good thrashing.
“Rinko-san still looks shy, so let’s have another one. Shandy Gaff-san from Setagaya Ward. …Ahaha. I think I might get along with this person. Fufu.”
Stop helping, Charlotte!
“‘This is my first time writing in. Good luck, Rinko-san. My partner and I are cheering you on together.’”
“That last sentence was necessary? Are you bragging? Well, congratulations. So, Rinko-san, will you come out and join us?”
There was no chance.
Rinko glared at Kotone with all the anger she could muster.
Strictly speaking, as a radio programme convention, she probably ought to go into the studio and say something by now. But Rinko had absolutely no intention of playing along. If necessary, she would simply get through it by saying, “It’s my first day as a manager, so I don’t know anything about the industry.”
But Kotone kept throwing out ad-libs, changing tactics every time.
“Wow, Rinko-san is glaring at me. Okay, then. Let’s ask our listeners to send in suggestions for how I can make up with Rinko-san. Can the listeners’ messages open Rinko-san’s Ama-no-Iwato cave? What do you think? And now, here’s Hifumi Saikawa with Strobe Stride…”
Up-tempo electronic music burst from the speakers, and Kotone lowered the lever in front of her, the cough switch. With that, her microphone was no longer broadcasting.
Across the country, people listening to the radio were now hearing Hifumi’s song while they worked, did housework or simply rested.
The male director running the programme smiled.
“Kurosu-san, we’re getting quite a lot of emails today. Using the manager as the thread running through the show was a great choice!”
“Thank you. It’s all thanks to Rinko-san giving me such a good opening.”
Kotone’s voice echoed from the studio into the control room. Rinko hurriedly protested.
“No, that’s not it! I didn’t mean anything like that! It’s my first day!”
“Knowing the rhythm of radio on your first day is impressive! The listeners’ expectations are getting pretty high too, so come into the studio when the time is right.”
“No, no, no, absolutely not! I don’t want to go in!”
“It’s all right, Rinko-san. Just leave it to me.”
Kotone’s voice echoed through the control room.
Rinko’s answer was an all-out glare filled with the resentment of this is all your fault.
The problem was that the person she was glaring at was her favourite actress, Kotone.
Kotone’s elegant, gentle presence, like that of a sheltered young lady. Kind, pure and soft-spoken, the sort of woman Rinko had admired and wanted to keep watching forever.
Speaking to the whole country on a national broadcast, with Mikoto almost certainly listening, was terrifying enough. But just having Kotone there was enough to make Rinko’s heart feel ready to explode.
“You’re such a cheat!”
“You really hate it that much, Rinko-san?”
“I don’t want to go on! I love Kotone, and I love this radio show. She’s my favourite! So there’s absolutely no way I’m going on air with her!”
Rinko let out the truth with all her might.
For a moment, the air in the control room and studio froze.
Then everyone burst out laughing.
The male director and AD, the female sound-effects engineer, and of course Kotone herself were all howling.
“Ha ha ha…! Kurosu-san, your new manager is fantastic too!”
“I know, right? She’s like my lighthouse.”
“Let’s keep the manager bit going until the end of the programme! If this gets a good reaction, we could even continue it next week.”
“I’m not doing it! I won’t come out! Kotone…san, you refuse too!”
“Just shout out how much you love the programme again and you’ll be fine.”
“No, no, no, no, no!”
“Kurosu-san, the song’s almost finished. Five… four…”
“Looking forward to working with you, Rinko-san.”
“Eeeeeeeeeek!?”
Kotone made the next song introduction in time with the outro.
After that, the radio programme continued without incident.
Kotone performed her job flawlessly as a radio DJ, and the warm, almost homely atmosphere among the staff had completely disarmed Rinko. All she could do was lie down on the sofa in the control room.
＊
Meanwhile, Setagaya Ward, Kyōdō.
“Mikoto! They read my email! That’s the first time I’ve ever had an email read out on the radio!”
Shandy was so delighted that she was bouncing up and down.
Her radio name was Shandy Gaff.
There could hardly have been a more transparent choice.
Mikoto could only bury her face in her hands.
It wasn’t Shandy’s delight that bothered her. It was the fact that Kotone’s mischief had gone into full swing, despite her wearing the actress’s public façade.
To everyone else, it would simply look like playful banter between an actress and her manager.
Mikoto knew the reality better than anyone.
She probably likes her. Romantically.
That was almost certainly why Kotone had made Rinko her manager.
She was making an absolute mess of things without the slightest thought for Rinko’s feelings.
“Come on, Mikoto! What do you think? Amazing, isn’t it!?”
“That’s… good for you…”
“Fufufu! I wonder when they’ll send me the programme’s special novelty sticker! I’m so excited!”
As Shandy happily began calling Toko, Mikoto lay limply on the carpet and stared at the ceiling.
She stroked Mimosa, who had climbed onto her the moment an opening appeared, and murmured:
“I’ll have to apologise to Rinko-san later… Tell her I’m sorry my little sister’s causing her trouble…”