#66: Blue Bird / ep.1
On the way home from the Kyōdō Walk Game.
Kurosu Mikoto was waiting outside a nearby Chinese restaurant for an order of takeaway meat gyoza, with the vegetables left out, to finish cooking when she noticed that her LINE notifications had piled up. It was Kotone. The moment she tried to reply, a call came through.
“What’s up?”
“Finally got through. Didn’t I text you to stay home?”
Kotone sounded distinctly displeased. There was enough exasperation and irritation in her voice to make Mikoto want to give her little sister a piece of her mind.
“Then you could’ve told me beforehand or something…”
“Just come home already. We’ve got a serious problem!”
“What?!”
And with that, Kotone hung up. Busy or not, what a spoilt little sister. Wondering what she had wanted, Mikoto checked LINE again, and her fingers stopped.
“Eh? Aoi-chan…?”
“Aoi? Your cousin, you mean?”
“Yes. But this…”
Mikoto showed the LINE messages to Shandy, who was sitting on one of the chairs provided for takeaway customers. As she scrolled through the barrage of stickers sent with what amounted to “notice this already”, she finally understood why Kotone had contacted her.
“We should probably order more gyoza.”
Shandy placed an additional order for four people with the proprietor of the gyoza shop, whom she apparently knew rather well, then narrowed her amber eyes into crescent moons. Her smile was hidden behind her mask, making it even harder than usual for Mikoto to tell what she was really thinking.
＊
“Whoa! Big sis Miko’s place is huge! And there’s a cat too!”
“Hissss!”
Kyōdō, Shandy’s home.
The two-bedroom flat was spacious for one person and just right for two, but with six women crammed into it, it was hopelessly cramped. Her Majesty Mimosa, the Russian Blue and undisputed queen of this castle, stood atop the cat tower with her long tail pointing straight into the air. She could hardly be blamed for being on guard.
“Would you care to explain yourself, Kotone-san?”
The moment they returned home, Shandy had settled in for an early evening meal of gyoza and beer. Her face wore a smile, but when Mimosa was wary, the true feelings of her owner tended to look much the same.
“Um, well, I just wanted to tell you that I hired Rin-chan today.”
“That isn’t what I meant, is it?”
Still wearing a smile plastered across her entire face, Shandy pointedly turned her gaze towards Aoi, who was still engaged in a staring contest with Mimosa. Perhaps finally admitting defeat, Kotone hung her head in surrender and began to explain.
According to Kotone, she had gone to Roppongi for a television recording and decided to check on antiqua while she was there, only to run into Aoi by chance. Aoi had burst into tears and clung to her, so Kotone had had no choice but to take her along to the studio.
Once Kotone had finished explaining that much, Aoi interrupted.
“Big sis Miko, listen! Sis Kotone was gonna leave me at the TV station! But I found her car, so I hailed a taxi and told the driver, ‘Follow that car!’”
“Really?”
Of everyone gathered at Shandy’s home besides Kotone and Aoi, there was Rinko, newly appointed as Kotone’s manager, and Saikawa Hifumi, the singer-songwriter who had helped them during the Werewolf Game. Of all of them, Mikoto turned to the most trustworthy person present, Rinko, who answered with some reluctance.
“I told Kotone she should take Aoi home, didn’t I?”
“Don’t betray me, Rin-chan! You said you didn’t want to live with me!”
“I said I didn’t want to live with you either!”
“Wait. You two are living together?”
Judging from the way Rinko averted her eyes, apparently they were.
Mikoto could easily imagine the truth behind the Five Promises she had been sent: Kotone had somehow talked Rinko around, or simply conned her into it.
Which meant Kotone had unleashed the full force of her spoilt-little-sister nature.
“Look… Just don’t cause Rinko-san any trouble, okay?”
“Mm. No worries there. I’m grateful for everything Rin-chan does for me. Like the flying knee and stuff.”
“Don’t…”
Mikoto had no real idea what a manager’s job entailed, but if she dug any deeper, it felt like she would be venturing into the realm of “family-friendly dirty jokes”, so she decided to stop asking questions.
Still, there was another reason she could not wholeheartedly celebrate Rinko’s new employment. For one thing, Mikoto herself had been receiving rejection after rejection.
And then there was Aoi.
“I heard from Auntie. Your job offer got withdrawn, didn’t it, Aoi-chan?”
“Exactly!”
Aoi clung to her in full force of her native Iyo dialect, looking like an affectionate puppy. Mikoto had not seen her in more than a decade, so she had no idea what sort of distance to keep between them, while Aoi seemed to have retained the same sense of familiarity they had shared as children. She had apparently grown up straight and healthy in the gentle atmosphere of Matsuyama, Ehime.
“So let me stay here until I find a job! I don’t care whether it’s with you or Sis Kotone!”
Mikoto clutched her head. Aoi’s personality could have grown up without becoming quite so brazen.
Seeing Mikoto at a loss for words, Kotone flatly rejected the request in her place.
“Neither of us is letting you stay. I’m not telling you to give up on finding a job, but why don’t you go back to the countryside for now? Interviews are online these days anyway.”
“No! I can’t go back! Mum told me not to come home because of the virus!”
“Why?”
“Because rural areas don’t have healthcare systems as well equipped as the cities. People who come back from the cities get treated pretty badly, so I’ve been told not to force the issue and come home either.”
Rinko spoke with a sigh. She too was from outside the capital, Hamamatsu in Shizuoka. There must be a particular atmosphere in the countryside that Mikoto, a born-and-bred Tokyoite, could not quite understand.
Which meant that, until Aoi could support herself, she would at minimum need somewhere to live, food and clothing, and enough money to get by.
“So let me stay here, Big sis Miko! You’re nicer than Sis Kotone, right?”
“I understand the situation, but this isn’t really my house…”
Mikoto glanced sideways at Shandy.
The hand pouring a second can of Yona Yona Ale into a tumbler suddenly stopped.
“Kurosu Aoi-san, was it? Would you care to play a Game with me?”
Her amber eyes were shining brightly.
And no wonder. To Shandy, a Game was something you used to test people. Everyone present except Aoi and Hifumi could understand that Shandy intended to decide Aoi’s fate based on the result.
A tension reminiscent of antiqua itself swept through the Kyōdō flat. Seated on the carpeted floor, Shandy and Aoi faced one another across the low table.
“Big sis Miko, who’s this foreigner?”
“I’m the person you’ll be talking to. You may call me Shandy.”
“Whoa…”
Shandy forcibly created a one-on-one space between herself and Aoi. Nobody had the slightest idea what kind of Game she intended to play. All Mikoto and the rest of Team Celebrity could do was watch from a little distance away.
“I’m going to ask you several questions, Aoi-san. If you reach plus five points, you win. If you reach minus five points, it’s X.Y.Z..”
“Big sis Miko, what’s with this lady? What’s she talking about?”
“Minus one point. When the lady of the house tells you something, you should listen politely. Rinko-san, keep score.”
“Why me? Fine…”
Rinko pulled out her work tablet and displayed a large −1. If the number reached −5, it would be X.Y.Z., in other words, Aoi would be banned from the premises. Which meant that if she reached +5, Shandy might be willing to take care of her.
“Now then, shall we begin the Game? Are you ready, Aoi-san?”
“I suppose I don’t have much choice…”
“Minus one point.”
Rinko changed the display on her tablet to −2.
As the whole X.Y.Z. incident had demonstrated, Shandy was fundamentally kind, but she was merciless towards people who lacked basic courtesy. If Aoi continued responding with that dissatisfied attitude, her negative score would pile up and she would inevitably lose the Game.
Mikoto could not imagine what Shandy would do then.
She was almost afraid to imagine it.
“Why is it that you want to come to Tokyo and find a job?”
“Because I hate the countryside!”
“Plus one point. I like honest girls. Hehe.”
“Yes!”
Aoi pumped her fist in triumph. Rinko’s display went back to −1.
She had not reached the required score yet, though. The contest was still underway. Shandy continued asking questions with a smile on her face.
“Then please tell me what kind of work you would like to do.”
“I don’t care about that! Anything’s fine as long as I can work in Tokyo!”
Just as Rinko was about to change the tablet to −2, Mikoto caught it.
But Shandy neither awarded nor deducted a point. Instead, she continued with another question.
“Anything at all? There are so many different kinds of work in the world, you know. Have you heard of Hello Work for Thirteen-Year-Olds?”
“Never heard of it, but I’m pretty versatile, so I’ll be fine with anything!”
“Hehe. Youthful confidence. Plus one point.”
Shandy’s vicious streak was beginning to show in her judgement. This was starting to look ominous.
The display now read ±0. The contest was back at square one.
It was hardly a Game at all. It was basically a job interview.
“Then why not simply apply at random through a job magazine or employment website right now?”
“I thought about that, but would I really find a job that’s perfect for me that way?”
“What makes you say that?”
“I’m versatile, right? And I’m pretty too, even if I’m not as pretty as Big sis Miko or Sis Kotone! So there’ve gotta be some nice jobs where I can make good money without having to work too hard.”
“Hehe.”
Despite having nothing to do with her own job hunt, Mikoto was beginning to worry about Aoi’s prospects. Kotone caught her eye and seemed to be feeling exactly the same way, shrugging her shoulders with a resigned, “This is a problem.”
Shandy continued letting Aoi talk herself into a corner.
“What would your ideal working lifestyle look like, Aoi-san?”
“I want somewhere I can wear my own clothes to work! Then I wanna have lunch at an open-air café near the office! And I don’t want overtime! Somewhere without nasty bosses either! And somewhere that pays really well but the work’s easy!”
“Then perhaps an office lady in Marunouchi would suit you. Would you like to stride through a sophisticated office district with a Starbucks cup in your hand, cutting a dash as a career woman?”
“That sounds great! I totally idolise career women! I’d love to work somewhere like Hibiya Trading, the company Sis Kotone does commercials for!”
Aoi had just said something terrifying.
Of course, Mikoto had no idea what Aoi was actually capable of. There was still a possibility that she was genuinely competent enough to thrive even at a company like that.
But hearing Hibiya’s name inevitably brought Sanae to mind. It was fundamentally wrong to compare the two in the first place, but Mikoto had seen that ruthless workaholic in action, and there was nothing she could say.
“Hehe. Then how about something in show business? Television and radio, magazines and films, the theatre, and now the internet as well. It’s all so glamorous, isn’t it?”
“That sounds good too! Could I make my debut as an actress because I’m Sis Kotone’s cousin? Manager-san!”
Aoi’s sparkling eyes bored into Rinko, but Rinko raised the tablet she was holding to block her gaze. It was the mature response of an adult who refused to give someone false hope.
Mikoto understood the feeling all too well.
“Being an actress is wonderful, you know? You get to give dreams to countless people and give them the strength to live another day. It’s a magnificent profession.”
Rinko’s eyes widened at Shandy’s words. As Kotone’s manager, she presumably had her own thoughts on the matter.
“Yeah, yeah! I’m jealous of how fans fawn over you! All you have to do is act a little and sing a little, right?”
“Hehe. Is that so?”
“And there’s the other thing, right? If you tell people what you want, your fans and people at the company will send it to you! Has Sis Kotone ever gotten anything?”
“Getting things sounds nice, but once you do, it’s exhausting. And I can’t even say what I actually want because of sponsor relationships.”
“Really?”
Kotone appeared in commercials for shampoo, soft drinks, an insurance company, and Hibiya Trading, but she herself did not use the products she advertised. The products she genuinely used, including competing brands, were something she could never mention publicly because of her sponsorship agreements. It was simply one of the unwritten rules of the industry.
Apparently failing to grasp what Kotone meant, Aoi merely filled the air around her with question marks.
“All right. Aoi-san, plus five points.”
“What?!”
Rinko’s voice rang out.
Everyone present seemed to share her bewilderment. None of them had the faintest idea what Shandy had actually approved of.
“Shandy-san. Does that mean…”
“I’m sorry, Mikoto. Our little honeymoon for two will have to wait. I’ve rather taken a liking to this girl. I want to raise her.”
“So I won? That means you’ll let me stay here?!”
“Indeed. You may use Mikoto’s room. Mikoto can sleep in my bedroom.”
“Seriously, Shandy-nee…”
“…You really intend to look after her?”
At Rinko’s question, Shandy answered simply:
“Yes.”
“And while I’m at it, I thought I might arrange a job for her too.”
“Yay! I’m gonna be a city girl now! Hey, can I have some gyoza too?”
“Eat as much as you like. And have some beer.”
While Aoi bounced around in celebration of her victory, Shandy wore an eerie smile despite having lost the very Game she had devised.
＊
Later that same day, Kyōdō.
Still unable to work out what Shandy was thinking, Kotone and the others returned to Yokohama, leaving Aoi behind.
Aoi had already opened her suitcase in Mikoto’s room and transformed it into her own little space.
“Big sis Miko, I’m borrowing your shower!”
“Yeah, yeah…”
After watching Aoi disappear into the bathroom humming happily to herself, Mikoto collapsed onto the sofa in the living room. With her head resting on Shandy’s pale thigh, all she could do was gaze blankly at the depressing news on public television.
They would not be able to have this sort of intimate contact while Aoi was around.
“Oh my, oh my. Are you lonely because it’s no longer just the two of us?”
“Well… yeah…”
“You don’t have to worry about it, you know. We could simply put on a show for her. The walls are rather thin.”
That was exactly the sort of thing that counted as “family dirty talk”, and it made Mikoto feel painfully self-conscious. She did not want Aoi hearing any of it.
“…Absolutely not. More importantly, what did you mean by arranging a job for her?”
“Oh, that. I actually contacted Sanae-san. I asked her to take Aoi-san on as an intern, with you accompanying her.”
“You’re going to let her see how Sanae-san works…?”
“Indeed. I thought she would be the ultimate role model for a career woman.”
Shandy giggled, her laughter light and musical.
Mikoto immediately caught the slight hint of poison in her tone.
“You were letting Aoi-chan talk herself into trouble the whole time, weren’t you? I thought she was pretty sheltered too, but people that age are all like that, aren’t they?”
“That is precisely why. Work can be enjoyable, but it can also be difficult. With that attitude, sooner or later it would break her.”
“So you’re going to break her first?”
Still lying with her head on Shandy’s lap, Mikoto looked up at her.
An eerie smile rested on that porcelain face.
But Mikoto thought this too was probably just Shandy’s way of hiding her embarrassment.
“…Really, you want to show Aoi-chan all sorts of different jobs so she can find one she genuinely wants to do?”
“I’m hardly a saint, you know? I’m actually quite irritated that she’s interrupted our life together.”
Mimosa let out another sharp “Hiss!” from Mikoto’s lap.
Even so, Shandy continued to behave like the consummate adult.
Mikoto could only feel guilty for making her shoulder the burden not only of Mikoto herself, but of her family as well.
“Besides, Aoi-san is rather like you are now, Mikoto. Aoi-san is overconfident, whereas you’re selling yourself short, so there is a significant difference there. But neither of you has decided what kind of work you actually want to do. I couldn’t simply abandon her.”
“That makes you plenty saintly. You’re like a goddess.”
“By all means, worship me to your heart’s content. A kiss will do nicely as an offering.”
Mikoto lifted her head and wrapped her arms around Shandy’s slender body.
She could smell the garlic from the gyoza, but they were not going to see anyone else anyway, so she did not care.
She kissed Shandy deeply.
The more Mikoto allowed herself to depend on Shandy, the more Shandy would indulge her. For someone as unsteady on her own feet as Mikoto was now, that was both deeply comforting and deeply appreciated.
But at the same time, she did not want to place a burden on Shandy.
Even if keeping Mikoto was what Shandy wanted, Mikoto still wanted them to stand as equals.
Not simply by comparing the size of their incomes, but in the same way she had once stood shoulder to shoulder with her work, fighting for planning projects at Meiji Stationery.
Mikoto broke the kiss.
The amber eyes gazing at her from such close range were soft, watching her like moonlight that enveloped everything.
“Planning, huh…”
“Hehe. I hope you find something, then.”