“I think I’ll order something different today.”
“Huh?” Ena looked over, accidentally meeting Mafuyu’s gaze. Oh, right, swapped seats today. Turning slightly, she's greeted with a rather intense Kanade, although it wasn't nearly as cool as it was whenever that energy was directed at a soundboard rather than a menu. Ena mentally snapped a picture of that. "Is there something wrong with the usual?"
"No, no." Kanade's gaze softened. "I just think it'd be nice. To try something new out." Only Kanade could speak so softly yet earnestly about ordering something new. Mafuyu seemed to think the same- or something similar, it was hard to tell - as she also turned to silently stare at the girl. "A-ah, I say that but I just never stopped to read everything again ever since we first came here, so…"
"Did you just memorize your usual order?" Mafuyu deadpaned.
"Maybe…" She smiled sheepishly. "It has been a while since we last met up, too. It feels right to change it up."
"Right. Since Mafuyu's mom…" They really shouldn't bring it up so much, but it was a constant worry– and annoyance– that her mom would even dare to restrict Mafuyu more. Like, seriously! She can take care of herself. But nonetheless, there wasn’t much Ena could do without directly interfering with the situation. Which while was an idea that crossed her mind briefly, she wouldn’t do more than show her concern. And show she did. Mafuyu blinked at the attention given by both girls, but her outward expression remained impassive.
"..." Mafuyu shifted, maybe in discomfort, maybe just absentmindedly. "Then you can't have tea." And with that, the subject was changed.
"What?" Ena and Kanade blinked.
"No fries either."
"... Hm." Kanade turned to the menu, realization hitting her like a truck.
"Burgers are out of the question."
"Ngh."
"Noodles too."
"Urgh…" Ouch.
"And also-"
"W-wait!" Ena exclaimed. "At this point, there won't be anything left!"
"There will." Mafuyu looked down at her menu again. "Cake."
"Cake?"
"Cake."
A beat.
That… didn't sound too bad? Kanade was still a little shaken after having a good part of her options get cut down that easily, but she didn't look opposed to the idea. Although…
"... I'm pretty sure we ordered that before." Ena crossed her arms.
"You did, Kanade didn't. Nor did she eat it."
"Ah," Kanade exclaimed, eyes widening. "That is true, I just tried the ones Mizuki brought from other places so it doesn't count." Mafuyu nodded.
Ena sighed. She could get the logic but it was such a flimsy one she couldn’t help but question it. Oh well, they both looked relaxed, so Ena guessed there was nothing really that wrong with it.
They needed this. So much had changed since they first began to come together as a group, since they decided to bare their art to the world, sharing their honest feelings to an audience that couldn't even dream of who they were. It was an elusive position, to give up your very own self to become a part of a whole that bears no name. To Ena, who dreamt of burning her signature onto the tip of the tongues of everyone that mattered, it should be senseless.
And yet, the nights spent sketching, laughing, and screaming herself out of frustration finally had meaning. Ena could finally see a goal - a tangible goal! - to it all. In the same vein Kanade bloodied her hands until a wrenched melody threatened to pull her heartstrings out and entangle her along with it, Ena wanted to paint her tiny corner of the world like a disease and spread it so none would be able to deny that Ena indeed was there, that she did belong there, even if she didn't yet know how.
And that was the frustrating part, wasn't it? What her father liked to call "lack of talent" used to not make any sense to her - it still doesn't, not intrinsically, at least - but Ena supposed that by seeing people like those right in front of her, she could begin to see some sort of gap.
It used to be easily dismissed, their music and her art were equals but separated in the actual process. Ena could gape and gush over that week's song, but it didn't change that she was the artist there, that only she could do the things she did. But in the end, that was her once again using reasonable justifications only to spiral them into a fragile hanging thread.
So yeah, Ena noticed that little sparkle. She wasn’t dumb, there was something different in the way they would be able to pinpoint the same issues that people from her art class mentioned just before, just as it was otherworldly how they could just create a masterpiece with nothing more than an emotion. Ena though…
For all that she did feel, the right words hardly got out.
"Good evening! We would like… was it chocolate cake, Kanade?"
"Hm. No, I think I'll pick the coconut one, it's probably softer on my tongue."
"Heheh, that sounds just like you, Kanade." Mafuyu giggled, causing the waitress (Ena swore those people jump at the slightest shift of a menu, how the heck did she come by so fast?!) to smile as she wrote down Kanade's order.
"And you, Ena?" Mafuyu asked, voice dripping with sickly sweet.
"Strawberry." She said instinctively and instantly regretted it. Damn it, that was so generic. Could she take it back now? Probably. "Yeah, sure, strawberry," Ena said with the same energy as someone who had just woken up. She handed over her menu, both Mafuyu and Kanade following suit.
"Ena," Kanade piped up after the waitress had finally left. "You're frowning."
“Just– Well, this week, Mizuki dragged me to this kind of underground cafe.” Kanade nodded. Ena almost felt instantly rejuvenated. “It wasn’t bad, actually, the ambience was great but the food was so sweet…”
Ena grimaced at the memory. She had to spend extra on water bottles just to get rid of the aftertaste, all meanwhile Mizuki was stuck in a loop of desperately trying to suppress their laughter and offering apologies. “I just wasn’t expecting to relive that so soon, that’s all.” She tried to sound a little more lighthearted at the end, hopefully to reassure Kanade. It was a really minor thing either way.
“You could’ve just picked something else, then.” Mafuyu said, typing away in her phone. A brief look at her screen told Ena that she was probably on Nightcord.
Speaking to Mizuki. Probably. Ena doesn’t know why the thought of the their group's editor brought her slight anxiety.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t.” Mafuyu looked up, simply staring at her with her head tilted to the left. “I don’t need to explain myself every time.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
“Then, why-?!”
“Maybe it was by association?” Kanade piped up, unbothered by their bickering with a patience Ena couldn’t help but admire. Not that she was, at the moment. It was just a general thing that she thought. “You probably were thinking of the cafe you went and it just slipped out?”
“Probably? Now that you say it, it makes a little more sense…”
“But if it gets to be too much, we could share a bit with each other.”
“Haha, I would appreciate that a lot. But if it’s too intense for me, it would just-” Kill her? Kanade wouldn’t die to that… Right? Then- “... feel like torture to you.”
“Hm. I guess I’m not that used to these things. I can take sweet treats but usually I try to keep it down. It wouldn’t mix well with my energy drinks, I think.”
“Kanade… remind me to ransack your fridge if I ever go to your house.”
“It isn’t that bad,” Kanade pleaded, earning a raised eyebrow from both of her friends, to which she deflated. “Sometimes, the demo isn’t turning out as well as I’d like but it’s hard to figure what’s wrong if I’m feeling tired so I drink a bit. If needed.”
“We could help you, y’know.” Ena offered, but she could already tell what the answer would be.
“This… usually happens when everyone is already logged out.”
“So, 3 AM to 5 AM.” Mafuyu deduced as her screen lit up a little. Seemed like Mizuki sent her a selfie? Ena can’t tell too well, but it brought some mirth to Kanade’s eyes.
“Y… yes…” She smiled bashfully, pulling her sleeves and letting her absurdly long hair cascade over her shoulders. It would seem like she’s trying to disappear, but by the way Mafuyu had tilted her phone to the other’s direction, she may just be trying to take a better look at Mizuki’s antics.
“That’s unhealthy, Kanade.” Understatement of the year, Mafuyu.
“Hah, that’s true,” Kanade typed something before giving it back to Mafuyu. “I didn’t want to worry you all. I just feel like I can’t stop even if I wanted to whenever I’m not satisfied with my songs. And when Mizuki sends me their storyboards, I-”
“Wait, they knew?! Mizuki knew about it?!”
“Ah… they’ve caught me in the VC a few times. They’re usually too tired to brainstorm so we go over the storyboards.”
“I knew too.” Mafuyu raised her hand noncommittally. “I’ve seen you in the voice chat alone sometimes,” She side-eyed Kanade. “I wasn’t aware of the energy drink part though.”
“How come I never saw that?”
“Erm, luck?”
“Kanade!” She tried to sound as exasperated as possible.
“I’m sorry.” To her credit, Kanade did sound sincere.
“You say that but you’ll still do it again!”
“... Maybe.”
Ena groaned at the same time as Mafuyu’s phone pinged again. "We'll talk about that later," Her heart broke at Kanade's guilty expression. She turned to Mafuyu. "And please tell Mizuki that if they have time to text you, they have time to hurry up!"
"They went to school today, apparently." She nodded regardless.
"Pretty sure none of us don't even have classes today." Ena paused. "Not right now, at least."
"They went to meet up with a classmate, she promised to dye their hair." Mafuyu raised her phone to reveal a whole slurry of photos, each showing Mizuki and another girl (Ena remembered her, was it An?) posing together in front of their school, and then inside a store, holding sprays and colored tablets, and then a single photo of Mizuki, hair wet. The girl was there too, but in the background and a bit out of frame, from the corner of the picture, she could see a plastic bag beside her.
She doesn't realize she's staring more intently at the next picture. The wild smile on Mizuki’s flushed face, it's closer now, a proper selfie. They're holding up some curls timidly, giving them the center stage for the picture and one could easily figure out why: the soft pink now ends partway through their hair and a bright, stronger hue takes its place.
'It looks good', is what the faint voice of Kanade said. Ena nodded, it really did.
"Damn, I'm late for just a few minutes and you're all fine and dandy with coordinating your orders like that?" Mizuki said. "What's next? Matching bracelets?"
They're all walking together. They spent the entire afternoon together but it wasn't enough for Mizuki. They whined the whole way out about anything they could think of, which Ena took it as the other being in a good mood. Too good, actually, Ena bristled to herself, they couldn’t even bother to act a little ashamed.
"We were texting you, though?" Kanade said.
"Yeah, but only to react to my pictures. No mention of food or anything, so mean."
"I liked it, if it helps."
"A little." Mizuki pouted. "You're sounding like Mafuyu though, were you the one typing?"
"No, we just thought the same thing." She looked at Mafuyu, who gave them a nod. Mizuki whistled.
"Wow, so just one style change and I already succeeded into melting the cold walls around your heart."
"Mizuki, I have eyes. I can tell when something is nice. Don't you agree?" Mafuyu's tone was even but even Ena could tell there was an edge to it.
"Uh, feeling really threatened in this house tonight." Mizuki loudly mumbled.
"Hm? Why?" Mafuyu tilted her head. "I mean it, you look good. Even Ena agrees."
"Don't drag me into this."
"So you were indifferently staring at their pictures?" Oh, screw you too, then.
"Huh! Didn’t know I had so many admirers." Mizuki grinned, although one could easily tell they were trying to hide the slight blush on their cheeks. One could, Ena did. She didn't feel like calling it out though, considering her irritation towards Mafuyu hadn't simmered.
"It's not really admiring you, that'd be weird." Not that everything up until then hasn't been weird. Mostly moderately strange. One she could manage if given time. Time she had elected to share with Mizuki. Ena's rambling. Forget it. "... is this, like, a permanent thing?"
"Hm? Oh, no way." They play with their hair, hand coming out heavily pigmented. "Don't get me wrong, I liked it but I can't just dye my hair on a whim."
"You did just do exactly that, I must point out." Kanade walked a little faster at the sight of the entrance to the underground pathway. "I thought it was the whole point?"
"Yeah, there was an impulsive aspect to it, just not to the whole…" They gesture wildly to nothing in particular. "Immediate and sorrowful regret part."
"That's a thing?"
"I think I'd cry if I dyed my hair green during a crisis." They paused. "Or cut it. Though that's also not permanent."
"I doubt you'd do that." Kanade sighed in relief when a shadow was cast over her. Ena thought it was cute yet worrying considering it was evening by then.
"I'd like to think I have that sort of common sense, but who knows! Didn't have my moment yet."
"I did." Ena said and raised her hand as if she was being forced to. "Middle school. Airi warned me that it was a terrible idea. I didn't believe her. The internet said it was cool enough." God, the memories were flooding back, how desperately Ena wanted to push them away. Despite herself, a fond smile soon showed itself on her face.
"I really wanted to look like an eccentric artist, right?" The others nodded. "So I spent my whole allowance on those fake tattoos you'd get from gum, and when I couldn't anymore, I got stickers. And just put it all over me. Took weeks to get all of it off."
They burst out laughing at that. Well, Kanade and Mizuki did. But Mafuyu’s face looked softer so that was a win in Ena’s eyes.
"Okay, wait, wait." Mizuki said in-between laughter. "What did you do with all that gum?"
"Ate it, of course." Ena grinned. "Except the mint ones, I have no idea how they managed to make it taste so bad. It was mint!"
"So you just threw it away?!"
"No. I gave some to Airi because she's a supportive saint and some to Akito because he's a pest."
“Do people usually eat their gum? I usually just chewed mine.” Kanade frowned.
“I worded it wrong, but you got it, right?” Ena ignored Mizuki’s giggle at that. Kanade nodded.
“Yeah, it was just weird.”
“It didn’t sound like much of a crisis.” Mafuyu said.
“Resources are scarce, maybe if little Ena had more money, those tattoos would never have left.” Mizuki smirked.
“I see, then I never had one of these.”
“I’d consider creating a whole world based around your feelings to be a great contender.” Ena elbowed Mafuyu softly.
“I don't remember putting paint on any part of my body while doing so."
"That's- That's not a prerequisite!"
"You're just built differently, Mafuyu." Mizuki said.
"Hm." Mafuyu put her hand where Ena's elbow had just hit her. It didn't hurt, Ena made sure of it. "In that case, Rin mentioned you were bringing her dresses again. Were you dressing up the figures of my crisis, Mizuki?"
"Oh, uhm, well, would you look at that!" Mizuki ran up ahead. "The station!"
"We're still going to share one ride before separating, Mizuki."
"Oh, yeah, true." They blinked. "Wanna sit with me to see the kinds of dresses I'll use on Rin next?"
"Sure."
True to their word. The two chatted quietly as soon as they entered the train, now taking the lead and leaving her and Kanade (!!) to pick between being active listeners in the conversation or starting one of their own.
Of course, Ena would choose the later. It was pleasant to talk to Kanade, who always would listen and understand. And she was itching to talk to the girl, not because of the recently acquired knowledge of Kanade's late-night escapades, but simply something as little as the fact they weren't able to meet up for their weekly exercises.
It was funny how she was spending less and less time inside her room, feeling sorry for herself like it'd help her artistic slumps. Running with Kanade, doing art classes with Futaba, shopping with Mizuki and sometimes getting to hang out with Airi and Akito made her mind feel refreshed.
It was only natural she wanted more!
She risked a glance at Mafuyu. Ena hoped they'd get to do something soon.
She took an even riskier glance at Mizuki. She thought back on their conversation and the look of elation on their face in the pictures. She thought even further back on her own memory as a stupid kid, so happy to get those drawings all over herself.
Her mom took pictures, right? Maybe she still had them. No. She definitely did. Her face burned. Akito may be a pest but he's a way better person than she is for never threatening to use that for blackmail.
"Ena?" Kanade piped up.
"Hm? What's up, Kanade?"
"Oh, nothing. I just," She looked down. "Thought you looked like you wanted to talk." Kanade looked at her. "But you've been staring for a while so maybe you just wanted to listen to them?"
"Ah." She shook her head. Then paused to see if the other two had noticed. If they did, they didn't care as their eyes hadn't drifted from Mizuki’s phone. "No," Ena shook her head again, more to herself than Kanade. "I was just thinking."
"Hm. Yeah, that makes sense."
"Did you want to talk?"
"Yes, I actually wanted to ask you something. Do you-" She brushed her long hair, surprisingly with no knots to stop her. "Want to dye it too?"
"Huh?!"
"I mean, I don't think I ever did something like any of you did." She laughed. "Definitely not like Mafuyu. But I digress." Kanade straightened her back. "You looked happy when you told us your story, and you have been staring a lot, so."
"..." Ena had no idea how to answer. She couldn’t call out Kanade's bluntness, and it would be a silly thing to even attempt to do so. "Maybe." She tightened her grip on the hen of her skirt, picking the threads absent-mindedly. "It seemed like- well- y'know."
"I don’t, I'm sorry." Kanade shook her head. "But you could ask them."
Enanan: Hey
Amia: Hiii, u already home? K hasn't replied to me yet ( `ε´ )
Enanan: Dw, she just went to get dinner
Enanan: Had to remind her to eat sooner, like, really!
Enanan: She can be so aloof sometimes… worse than Yuki, even
Amia: Harsh
Amia: But true, good on ya for that
Amia: Speaking of yuki, she's also good
Enanan: She told you?
Amia: Nah, saw her status flicking on for a sec
Enanan: Ah, got it, ty for the heads up
Enanan: heads-up
Amia: Pfft, u really worrying about a -
Enanan: Well, now that we got that out of the way
Enanan: Shush, I was just posting a thing, u know good grammar looks good
Amia: Do I
Enanan: you do!
Enanan: anyways, here, low caps
Enanan: wanted to ask you smth, about your
Enanan: hair
Amia: Oho, go on… ヾ( `ー´)シφ__
Enanan: whats that
Amia: Taking notes!
Enanan: sigh, okay
Enanan: Okay
Enanan: can you teach me how to do it?
Enanan: dying your hair, I mean
“So! What does the great Ena think of my secret lair?” Mizuki finally spoke up, snapping Ena back to reality. “Whoops, sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt whatever you were thinking about.” They laughed to themselves and Ena felt a surge of irritation building up.
“Isn’t it rude to mock your guests?” Ena sighed, probably the first of many for this afternoon.
“Dunno, is it rude to stare at someone’s room for so long?”
“Tsk, I was just… taking it all in.”
“Oh? Did it pass the Enarel test?!”
“Enare- Actually, no, I’m not commenting on that.” To that, Mizuki pouted. Honestly, Ena couldn’t take it seriously even if she tried. It was so reminiscent of the times Akito was losing yet another pointless argument between the two of them when both were young and very much stupid. She smiled.
“That’s so mean! And here I was, just trying to see if you noticed my special Ena-only decor."
"You… your what?" Ena narrowed her eyes, trying to spot anything that wouldn't quite belong with what she considered to match Mizuki in any way, which probably shouldn't be hard considering they had a knack for pinks and soft colors. "There's nothing here?"
"You wound me." They pull out an inconspicuous bottle, raising it like they were about to advertise it to the next person who asked. "Here it is! Our very special guest for today's Akiyama beautification! The subject? You, of course!"
"Well, someone's excited…" She snorted. "No wonder you're friends with that… theater troupe? Park entertainers?" Clowns? Okay, she couldn’t do that to Emu. Although she probably wouldn't mind like Mizuki sure didn't, judging by the way they covered their mouth in an honestly shitty fake shock expression. "Don't look at me like that! I'm just forgetting the term."
"So you called them clowns?"
"Wait, did I?!"
"Nah, but it felt like you wanted to." They winked. "No worries, bet they'd even feel honored."
"Then-"
"Now, if we're speaking of what I think." They cut her off, making sure to make their dramatics even more pointed. "I think you're just really harsh to unconventional passions but nonetheless valid ways of self-expression and work! I thought you were an influencer, but guess this line of work got way too mainstream for the new generation to relate to any of these struggles.”
"Why are you lecturing me on something I DIDN'T EVEN SAY?" Mizuki smile grew wider.
"God, you're making me want to apologize despite being so wrong in so many ways."
"Really? And here I thought I had pulled a good social studies freshman impression."
"You're 16."
"Hey, it's never too early! Plus, my sis showed me some of her papers. I'd say that is a great point of reference."
"Isn't she studying design? Or was it fashion…?"
"Details, details! Maybe I'm the one who's going to be the social studies major of the family. Not like you ever thought to ask me what my college aspirations are."
"More like you never thought to mention it!" Ena moved her hand in a half attempt to pinch her temple before stopping."And do you honestly expect me to play along when there's a mannequin right behind me?"
"Can't we all have our own hobbies?"
“Sure we can, but call me a skeptic if I think it’s pedantic to argue about this when you have your very own space for sewing in and outside of your home because of how much you do it."
"Okay, but-"
"And work in a boutique. And have a certain obsession with hitting me up for clothing alterations.”
If anyone thought that just because they were alone it would somehow make their bickering any less frequent for whatever reason, that person must be sobbing right now. “Wait, isn’t that the exact same bow you…”
“Ah, haha, yeah, forgot I had it there for display.” That seemed to snap them out of their trickster streak. Ena could see Mizuki’s gaze turning to the same direction as hers.
Right on their bed, laid an inoffensive white bow, its center sparkled minisculely with fake jewels surrounded by equally faux-pearls. It was unassuming, Ena usually wouldn’t have had caught such thing but considering the pink aura Mizuki’s room just oozes with (and the fact it was luckily on top of the pink part of their bed, that sure helped a lot) it… stood out. For some reason. Ena wasn’t sure how she was even certain that it was the very same Mizuki had sent her a link of from some random fashion page. They had sent that last week, right? Along with thousand of others. Maybe it was just a good guess on her part.
“I, uhm, couldn’t find it anywhere, and honestly it was so cute I couldn’t help but find totally unfair that no store had that design. So, I just made it myself?”
“Is that so?” Ena walked forward, momentarily looking back and motioning towards their bed. With the owner’s permission, she picked it up. The material was soft, maybe it was made with silk? And the adornments looked well glued together. In fact, one could barely tell it even was glued in. “It looks good. Not half-bad for a “social studies” student.”
“Right? Even I get scared of my skills sometimes. Maybe I should pursue a career in that or whatever.” That last part was said a little lower, almost to a mutter.
“Really.”
“Really! Thanks for the encouragement, Ena~nan~.”
Ena was alone now. Still stuck inside that adorably pink incarceration chamber. It wa a joke, obviously, but there was hardly any other way to describe the wild feeling of getting a glimpse into what Mizuki saw every time they woke up and shortly before they fell asleep.
It was cozy, she supposed. Brimmed with personality - And also with excess of income but Ena was not going to be bitter about that. She barely had the energy for school in any case.
If she were to focus, however, she could hear the heavy thumps that she could only assume was Mizuki walking around the house. No, wait, that was too heavy- were they- skipping? Is their house that big?
Ena hadn't looked at it from the outside. Sekai ruled. Good for easy teleportation if you're hard pressed, just had the unfortunate side effect of bureaucracy. Getting convinced by Mizuki, then trying to convince Miku, then finding out she didn't know how, then going around to find someone who did, and then bumping into Meiko and Rin having a spat, and them solving it only to find out that Meiko did know, and then convincing her.
Ena liked to think of herself as fairly patient, all things considered (it was part of the job), but even she needed to decompress afterwards.
She plopped down on the bed, right beside the bow she had meticulously analyzed before. It was so small, she was afraid she'd accidentally ruin it. Her feet dangled, barely touching the ground despite sitting on the edge of the thing. Thankfully, Mizuki and her seemed to share a liking for minimal light in their rooms, just enough that it wasn't only illuminated by the computer at their desk, but not to make her aching head worse.
Speaking of, the computer was receiving notifications non-stop. Squinting her eyes, she could see Nightcord open on a split screen fourways. Right beside it had a web page with fairly few tabs. The one on display was an transparent PNG, matching one of the other screens, which had what seemed to be their editing program. And then, beside it, was another web page, this one full of tabs, and seemed to be the one that was generating to many notifications, various social media websites, as well as miscellaneous - and frankly nonsensical - researches.
Ena raised an eyebrow. At least they tried to stay organized. Ena still saw it as a mess.
Another one popped-up. This one was from their editing program. It said they hadn't saved in… 72 hours?!
So many memories of arduous hours of work going down the drain flashed in her mind. Her own pulse almost snapping under the duress of drawing over and over again, all lost. And Mizuki was deciding to just risk it all? Well, sure, their choice. But Ena couldn't help but get up and begrudgingly go ahead and save it herself. Maybe as a thank you for the work her friend was about to do, but also for her own peace of mind.
Her eyes peered over to Nightcord. A DM from Yuki and three more from K. Ena was curious but she avoided snooping. Instead, she whipped out her own phone.
Enanan: hey, just a heads-up: amia and I are together rn, we'll be probably busy for a while
Yuki: :thumbs_up:
K: :thumbsup
K: ah
Enanan: i don't know which is worse here
She heard a giggle somewhat close to her, and approaching rapidly.
“You know I can read these, right?” Mizuki opened the door, one arm holding a towel.
“Yeah, yeah.” Ena leaned onto the desk. She wouldn’t sit on it but her laziness was palpable.
Mizuki seems to catch onto that. They smile playfully.
“Getting a look at my darkest secrets while I’m gone?”
“If by dark you mean…’HTML Color codes’, then yes. And also, I wasn't trying to go through your internet history or anything. You forgot to save your own work and with the deadline so close anyways."
"You did what.” The smile dropped instantly and they scurried to the table. "Did you at least check if it went into the right file? If I have to check into every single one to find it…"
"How many files could you possibly–"
"Many." They side-eyed her. "What, you just dump everything into one thing?"
"Well, yeah?" She tilted her head. "I just go by their names. Like an organized person."
"How can you remember all that when you barely have a sleep schedule?!"
"Said the person staying up at ungodly hours to keep Kanade company!"
"So you'd leave Kanade all alone? Oh, shame on you!"
"I would not!" Her face flushed at that. "You're just setting a bad precedent by not coaxing her to rest."
"How can I set something if I came after it?! It's like saying I ruined an entire system by refusing to, like, pay for a dying streaming service or something." That does not make sense and Mizuki knew it. They had to. "Which is what you did, by the way, except you did ruin my whole system. Maybe set us back two weeks."
"Okay, okay! I'll help you look for it." Ena rolled her eyes. "But you would pay for any kind of streaming service if it had what you wanted."
"Fair. But only to pirate it. Some guys put really obscure stuff behind a pay wall." Mizuki giggled, leaning back and straightening their back. "And thanks but no need, I was looking for it while we were talking." Their smile then got a lot smaller, softer, even. The glow of the room accentuated the expression even more and made her think of cherry blossoms and abandoned schools. "And sorry for all that, I didn’t want you to feel guilty or anything. Thank you for the help."
Ena didn’t even get the chance to be mad.
"So! With that out of the way, the readily made Amia hair salon is ready for customers!"
As it turned out, the hair salon was nothing more than a tiny lavatory. According to Mizuki, the house was fit to comfortably cater to a family of four so of course there were proper bathrooms at other points in the house. The lavatory was mostly in cases of guests who'd stay in their living room.
The set-up was like this: it used to be one big living room, but their parents saw no need for such space so they divided it in a way that created the main place where people would usually stay and contain the typical furniture you'd expect - couches, a TV, a dining table and such - and a smaller section to store pictures, prizes, vases and other pretty things that wouldn’t make sense to be there other than aesthetic.
It was in this little in-between space that the lavatory would be placed.
She was guided through the highway and down the stairs as Mizuki explained this. They remarked on their sister's various awards in her debate club, as well as their own achievements, which were more of a mixed bag, from sports to academic medals. The only thing both siblings shared was a childhood tradition of trading handmade clay statues and storing it for each prize the other would get. A cute thing, really, it reminded her of the times she attempted to make toys to Akito but a kid wouldn't be that good at craftsmanship. Akito liked them, at least. Ena knew. She had taken a mental picture of it before she even realized.
She wondered where were they nowadays. Had he thrown them all away? Maybe. Like Mizuki and their sister, they were too old for this.
The sweets and plushies he got for her sometimes were nice enough.
Despite Mizuki's words, once they were actually there, she saw no pictures and those that were present were flipped. When questioned on this, Mizuki simply shrugged.
"Figured it'd be embarrassing to leave baby pictures around."
"Awwn, now you made me curious."
"I'll show you if you show me the ones with your tattoos." Ena scoffed. "Yeah, thought so. No cute baby me today, then." Mizuki said, opening the door to the lavatory.
It could barely fit two people with the chair propped up near the sink, as well as the wheeled shelves with spray cans and and a full palette of what Ena gathered was hair chalk. Right below there were non-labelled bottles. Maybe it was for washing? There was even a hair dryer and brushes.
"Someone packed well."
"Thanks! It's not everyday I get to show-off my abilities. "
"Well." She grunted as she sat down. "I'm at your mercy."
"Well, I never said I was feeling merciful today."
"Mizuki. What did you do to my hair."
"Nothing I can't fix, promise!" They raised their hands in defense. Not that Ena could see it that well, they were barely in her peripheral vision. They both had just started testing what colors would better fit Ena, or so Mizuki wanted to claim, but Ena suspected they wanted to extend their time.
"Right, I'm getting up." She raised her head from the sink, the back of her neck likely red from the pressure. "Before I turn around, give me a scale of how bad it is."
"Ena-"
"I know nothing about martial arts. My stamina is frankly below the levels of a toddler." Ena said, plainly. "But trust me, Mizuki. You're the one stuck in here with me and not the opposite."
"... It’s a 4."
"Meaning?"
"Turns out gray isn't the best of colors for this!"
"WHAT?!" She turned in a second. Sure enough, the spray had done its job. "Why did you- How– Gray wouldn't even work like that! You could do it in strands! We're dyeing the tip!"
"You'd look like a tiger like that, y’know."
"Not if you did just a few!"
"Then I'll do it right now!"
"Urgh, never mind, this shade isn't even that good."
"I got it, I got it, I'll wash it." Mizuki said. "We're still on the experimental stage, no need to get that worked up."
"It's not that." She grumbled as she went back to her previous position. "We could've at least started with a nicer tone…"
"Maybe it'd fit better with lighter hair colors?" Water splashed from behind her and soon she felt fingers massaging her head. "Hm… no, wait, maybe Mafuyu could rock it! Heheh, it's a pity neither she nor Kanade will be interested though…"
"Actually…" Ena had closed her eyes by then, relaxing to the touch. "Maybe you'd have more luck asking Kanade?"
"Possibly. But I sorta don't want to pressure her to it."
"Fair point. You wouldn't be able to use the gray spray anyways."
"No, but we have other options!" They stopped for a second, turning to their shelves and taking a can. "Like this one! Hold it for me, won't ya?"
"Okay." She raised it to her eye level. "Light blue? Well, it does fit." She giggled. "Maybe you could pick a red hue? A light coral, or rose vale? Cordovan could be good but not with her outfits…"
"Hah, Ena is expecting so much color variation for spray cans! At this point, I'll have to settle for buying wall paint without telling you."
"No, you would not. But you're right, I just got too excited."
"Just a dog with its treat, although this one would be hard to get to Ena."
"Don't call me a dog." She sighed.
"I bet it'd double your followers!" They say as soon as they begin spraying away. "Cats would still be your number one enemy, but that's just thematic consistency at this point."
"I don't have anything against cats, they're just unreasonably popular." She places the can on her lap (thankfully it still had the cap on, no ruined clothes for now) and fiddled with her phone, opening an app. "See that?" She lifted her phone towards Mizuki. "Barely got into this thing and cats are already invading my feed!"
"And you're mad about that?!" They seemingly gasped. "All mine has are divine temptations…" Mizuki whined, the echo that did inside the room gave her a headache. "Sweets, expensive clothes, pirating links that give my malware scanner a field day…" A pause. "Oh, and Ena, I guess."
"I never signed up to this kind of treatment. if I knew, I'd have just went ahead and tried my hand on my own."
"Awn, just as I got done with my second attempt of the day…" That caught Ena's attention. "How'd you feel with walking around in indigo?"
The afternoon went on exactly like that. An attempt, a bit of a conversation, hence and repeat.
Indigo was a nice color. It brought Ena up in a way that'd perfectly match some of her blander clothing. The one's you'd typically see a tired college student in; Ena vowed to not be one of those, but she knew better than to completely discard the possibility.
The issue was, it'd clash with everything else. Liking or not, she had a liking for soft palettes. Not necessarily pastel, as to not restrain herself too much, but the way they could coordinate well with her darker hair gave Ena a sense of visual harmony.
Mizuki agreed, and their explanation came in the form of how much certain colors 'vibed' with their idea of Ena's aesthetics. Ena understood what they meant. She'd generally never couple them with greens or grays, except under very specific circumstances.
The issue was, Mizuki was too excited for their own good.
If they could, Ena was sure they'd go through each and every option, and they intended to do so. And as much as the idea of simply having fun going through color combinations was a pleasant one, Ena was afraid of the damage it'd do to her hair and Mizuki's hands. At their third attempt - pink, but it turned out to just be pink-ish, barely noticeable compared to Mizuki's - Ena had started reading the labels in boredom. Needless to say, Mizuki was to at least be more careful if they were touching that paint again.
"It's just paint!"
"It literally says it could give you skin damage!"
"That wouldn't even be immediate if that really happened!"
"Will you at least do it for my peace of mind?!" At that, Mizuki pouted, but was definitely more careful.
By the fifth - orange - Ena had already thoroughly inspected every nook and cranny of her nails. Her bones cracked more than usual at her every movement. Another result of not doing her weekly exercises with Kanade, she hoped. Ena did her best to match Mizuki in energy though. It was clear she was folding earlier than them but her mind wouldn’t let her forget that this was still technically a favor even if Mizuki had fun.
Thank you for your help.
Those words felt heavier than they had any right to be. Weren’t they just thanking her for going out of her way to save their MV project? She was too worked up at the time to properly think, but maybe there was something in their expressions from the beginning. Yet, with them spending most of their time without a lot of eye contact, she still couldn’t tell.
“Hm.”
“Inspiring.”
“Hush, I’m thinking.”
“You need to think whether you liked it or not?” Mizuki laughed.
“It’s not only about that, we talked about this.”
“I guess so, although this one was my top pick.” They crossed their arms. “Kinda a no-brainer to be honest.”
“Really? I see.” Ena looks at the mirror again, towel around her shoulder already too stained to be fully recovered. The tone was nice, she supposed, and it was neutral enough to match her daily clothes,. “Isn’t it too muted? People won’t even notice.”
“Well, that’s what I hope the chalk will help with. It’s significantly less messy than the spray in my experience.”
“That I can tell.” Ena said.
“Hah, I had to reapply mine just today. I just use it with easy to wash clothes though. No way am I dyeing my white shirts.”
“Noted.” She stretched and doesn’t miss the Mizuki’s winced at yet another loud crack. “Aren’t you tired?”
“I should be the one asking you that. Forgot to oil your gears or something?”
Ena snickered. “Fair enough.”
“Aaah, but you’re right, my arms are all mushy.” They dragged themselves to lean on the wall, sliding from it until they sat down. “You mind me taking a break?”
“I was the one who suggested, kind of.” She went ahead and joined them. Ena sighed at the feeling of the cold floor and wall. Mizuki started laughing. “What?”
“You left a whole orange trail in my bathroom.” Mizuki said.
“Yeah, well,” She started. “Matches pretty well with your pink one, right?” Mizuki’s eyes widened. So they hadn’t noticed it, huh? Ena chuckled.
“Bit of a lapse in judgment, I'll admit, hah.” They scratched their arm. “You’re like a full-on paintbrush now, though. I’m, like,” Mizuki paused. “A really cute make-up sponge.”
“Is this only because my hair is brown or are we really making my personality about art?”
“You mean how I just made mine about fashion? For sure.”
“At least answer the first part too!”
“It felt mean to!”
“Since when do you care about that?!”
“All of the time. I’m a very sensible soul.”
“Yeah, right.”
They fell silent at that. Ena typically would think that was an awkward spot to end the conversation, but Mizuki was relaxed, so she would try to be patient too. To follow their lead.
“Say,” They started. “Do you…” Ena stared. Mizuki stared back. Both mirroring each other’s movements. “Ah, it’s hard to word it.”
“Not my strong suit either. But you can try…?”
“It’s a stupid thing. I’m just not used to having- having friends over, so.”
“I don’t know a lot either.” She looked at the ceiling. “There was Mafuyu but it wasn’t exactly planned, and, well, Airi’s visits were mostly when I was a kid.”
“Already more than me!” They grinned and hugged their legs. “Hah, do you usually decide to paint your body around your pink-haired friends?”
“Will you stop bringing that up! And Airi wasn’t even with me at the time, so, congratulations, you’re the first to help me with my whims.”
“Poor lil’ bro, discarded like that.” They rested their head on their knees. “The orange will make you two almost like twins.”
“And is that why you picked it?”
“Nope. Although it is funny in retrospect.” Mizuki said. “The color is just, well, you.”
“Enlightening.”
“Stooop, I’m gonna elaborate!” They whined. “It’s just, a strong color? It gives you a sense of that, anyways, but it’s not as poignant like yellow or red. Kinda like a lion, y’know?” Mizuki averted their eyes. “They’re sort of orange-ish, and can achieve a lot simply because they have the potential to. But they aren’t that vicious, I think, not to the overwhelming point.”
“Hm.”
“Erm, sorry. Guess I’m more tired than I thought I was.”
Ena stared. Like she had been doing even before all of this. Her mind was going to go crazy trying to dissect those words later. But now, she felt strangely calm, just watching Mizuki fumble through their words without interruption.
Lions weren’t really that orange, were they? They would’ve done better if they used ‘tiger’ instead, but it made sense to Ena, in a strange way. To be called strong, but not overwhelmingly so.
It reminded her of the time she taught Emu and Honami, that feeling of teaching and guiding. Of knowing you know more than some but using it to lead new people to the same stage she fought to be on. That was the kind of warmth she used to see in her father.
It should be disgusting to feel a slight kinship to that version of him that she once admired, but, those weren’t her words to reject, they were Mizuki’s. Who seemed so happy with their friend, so happy to be with Niigo and so so happy to help Ena’s silly request. One she had only really invested on because she wanted to smile like Mizuki did.
Or, rather, because she had been thinking back to the little her smiling at the camera, proud of herself in a way Ena couldn’t recognize.
And Mizuki was smiling like that, not at themselves but at her. They both still weren’t quite at a place where childish glee could quickly come to them, Ena realized. But this could help. Her mind had already taken every single detail in, she could almost draw it right there. Yet, it wasn’t enough. She wanted more.
“I think you can put the chalk, then.”
“Huh…?”
“The chalk. The orange one. I saw it literally right there.”
“I know what you’re talking about, duh!” They rolled their eyes but there was no bite.”I mean, are you sure?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? After you did that massive speech and already messing with your bathroom, it would be cowardice to give it up now.”
“So considerate.”
“Yup, you feeling up to it?”
“Never said I wasn’t!” They started getting up, Ena taking the cue to do so too. “Oh, no, no, you’re staying put.”
“What?”
“I’m not in the mood to be standing for this so I’ll just fix your hair on the floor.”
“... and here I was thinking you had good enough of a touch to be a professional.”
“Courtesy of being friends with me, now, now, stay still.” Orange chalk already on their hands. They carefully took a few strands and passed the chalk, and then brushed it to get the excess off.
Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. All too close to Ena. Their hands trembled when they touched her face while taking another strand. Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat.
Ena closed her eyes for the time being. It was okay not to memorize this scene for now.
Maybe they should take a selfie together afterwards. She wanted to see how big her smile would be this time.