5th of January, 7:30 pm, Streets of Tokyo
Mem-Cho walked through the illuminated streets of Tokyo. Her eyes felt heavy, and she could barely keep her body from yawning every other second; the idol-practice took quite the toll on her. She was on her way to visit Kana, feeling bad for only visiting her so little compared to Ruby, who spent close to an hour daily with Kana, more or less. Therefore, she wanted to make up for it by going on the first day in the last 2 weeks on which Ruby wasn't going to visit Kana herself. She arrived at Kana's place at around 8:00 pm, ringing the doorbell and taking a step back. Kana's mother opened the door after enough time for Mem to believe nobody was home, her expression as grim as ever.
"I'm sorry to intrude at such a late hour… But could I maybe visit Kana?" Mem-Cho asked while she had to force a smile onto her lips.
Kana's mother looked Mem-Cho up and down before she stepped to the side. "Whatever, just don't expect anything, she's still acting weird."
"Ac-" Mem-Cho began, but instead of continuing, she just shut her mouth again and quietly passed by Kana's mother.
She walked through the dark hallway, deliberately not turning the light on so she could see the faint glow coming from beneath Kana's door. The huge, seemingly impenetrable oak door leading into Kana's bedroom was shut tight; Mem-Cho felt uneasy just looking at it. She knocked, once… twice… thrice… before talking. Her knocks were more to let Kana know that she was there than to get a response; she had already expected only the silence to reply.
"Hi, Kana," she murmured as she placed her palm against the wooden door.
Unbeknownst to Mem-Cho, Kana, who had waited for Ruby all day long, stood on the other side of the door just a few centimeters away. She had it actually all mapped out, how she'd leave her room when Ruby would come, but now, now it was Mem-Cho, not Ruby, who stood on the other side of the door. Kana slowly lifted her hand off the warm metallic handle and pulled back. A pang of guilt shot through her as her shaky hand retracted further.
Mem? I thought Ruby was going to... Why did I even think that, though?
Of course, Ruby can't continue to visit me daily; she has her own life to live.
Kinda egoistic of me to assume that she would come today, too.
Why can't I just show myself to Mem-Cho?
I've spent hundreds of hours with her; she is one of my best friends…
Why does it have to be Ruby?
No matter how she put it, though, her plan had been completely flipped upside down, and the new scenario was too different. She quietly sat down on the cold wooden floor close to the door, listening as Mem-Cho continued. "Ruby couldn't come today. Like, we had our first practice day since you left, and Ruby wants to spend a bit of time with the new girl. She is kind of fond of her."
"It's not that Ruby forgot you, though," Mem-Cho added hurriedly, "It's just the new girl is really... How should I say this... A piece of work. I mean, I like her, but she is just so shy somehow. If I had known how shy she is, I would have probably been against her joining. However, that day of her audition, she seemed like a completely different person. I can't really explain it; you'd have to see it for yourself, probably."
"Yeah, anyway, that's the reason you're stuck with me for the day," Mem-Cho nodded, "like even so I've only visited you twice."
Mem-Cho fell quiet and listened for any sounds on the other side of the door. After a few seconds had passed, she quietly sigh- "That's still two times more than Aqua…" Kana muttered.
Mem-Cho's heart skipped a beat, and her sigh was caught midway through her throat as she heard Kana speak for the first time in what felt like ages. Her drowsy feelings were momentarily replaced by a wave of joy.
OMG, that's a step in the right direction.
Okay, calm down, Mem, don't creep her out now.
You need to play this perfectly; otherwise, she might hide again.
*Tick*
*Tack*
*Tick*
*Tack*
Why does everybody here even own a grandfather clock? These things are probably really expensive and old; anyway, every time it ticked, Mem-Cho feared that she was taking too long to come up with a response.
She took a deep breath.
"To be honest with you, I think all of this had a huge toll on him, too. I haven't seen him once in like two weeks now… I think he blames himself for what happened to you… And I think Ruby blames him too… which is probably even worse for him… So, don't be too harsh on him, alright?" Mem-Cho pressed her ear tight enough against the door to almost hurt herself. She wasn't really too religious, but right now she prayed that she didn't mess it all up.
"Don't worry, I don't blame him for what happened. it's just… I can't even describe it-" Kana said.
"Anyway, let's forget about Aqua. I've seen your social media post... I'm happy for you, although it seemed kind of gloomy to me." Mem-Cho distracted, sensing how heavy the Aqua topic was for Kana.
"Yeah, whatever, I thought it was fitting," Kana replied.
It rustled outside of Kana's door as Mem-Cho shifted her weight around. No matter how she sat, the hard floor never even began to feel comfortable. "That's not what I meant, Kana. I'm glad that you chose to stay authentic instead of giving your fans the usual response agencies pump out when something happens. And it worked, like, look at social media, you're famous, girl."
"Hmh, guess I am," Kana replied, her voice a bit less monotone than before, "But these few minutes of pity aren't enough."
"Is this why you're talking to me right now? You wanna come out again?" Mem-Cho asked, barely containing the joyful feeling that grew inside her chest.
"I dunno," Kana replied quietly," I thought I did, but I just can't tell."
"Okay..."
...
"Mem... Do you think I'm weird?" asked Kana after both had just listened to the silence for a bit.
"I don't think weird is the right term to describe it. I believe you aren't ordinary, but you can't be special while being ordinary."
"That's not what I meant. Do you think I'm weird for not leaving my room?"
"No, I don't think you are. It's your way of processing all of this, and that's totally normal."
"Mem, what would you do if you had been hurt like me?"
"I would probably never again show myself. I'd have it easier than you since I could technically be happy and successful as a V-Tuber, but I don't think that that's what you would want for yourself."
"Well, perhaps it is, I dunno," Kana mumbled.
…
Kana and Mem-Cho continued to talk. They talked a bit more about Keiko, about their careers, about the newest chapter of Chainsaw Man, and they even circled back to talking about Aqua for a while. However, when Kana was just talking about the difference between noodles made with eggs and without, Mem-Cho suddenly stopped replying. Kana sat in silence, occasionally quietly calling out to Mem-Cho and softly knocking on her door; however, these attempts were met with nothing except silence.
Kana fidgeted around with her hair, unsure of what to do. Just an inch, that was how far she cracked the door open after about 5 minutes of silence had passed. If this was Mem's way to draw her out, it was surely dirty and scummy, but it worked. Kana's masked face looked through the crack out into the dark hallway. When she was still unable to see Mem-Cho, she tightly shut her eyes as her sweaty hands pushed the door wide enough open for her head to peek out.
Only then did Kana notice Mem, who sat on the left side of her door. The sight sent a few shivers from her brain straight down her spine, but she pushed on, slowly stepping out of her comforting room, praying that the floor wouldn't creak. Her heart raced as she knelt next to Mem-Cho, whose heartbeat was even and calm. She looked quite puzzled for just a few seconds before her eyes lit up with the realization.
Did she really just fall asleep?
I told her not to push herself too much, but she never listens.
What should I do now?
If I wake her up, she sees me, but just leaving her is wrong.
She could get sick, or she might get back pain.
No, leaving her is no option…
I think I have an idea.
Kana quickly slipped back into her room and emerged no more than half a minute later, back outside with her own blanket in hand. She knelt once more and slowly began to tuck Mem-Cho in while making sure not to wake her. She only stopped once Mem-Cho looked like a tightly packed, really hard-working burrito. A bit of pride surged through Kana as she looked down at Mem for a moment. She stepped back into her room, which was followed by a quiet shut, and the rays of light that shone from beneath her door disappearing.