“Sure, it’s true, they might not know me everywhere I go, but I’m the hottest thing to hit one bar in Tokyo…” Ranko grinned, singing under her breath as she waited in the corridor. Oooh. I like that line. This one’s coming together.
Ranko’s eyes popped up as the door opened, and she gave Izumi a little wave. “Heya, sis! What’s up?”
Izumi smiled, stepping out of the doorway to admit her sister. “Hey, Ran-chan, just grab a seat, I’m finishing something up. Give me like, ten minutes?”
With a nod, Ranko kicked her shoes off, making her way to the dining table and sitting down. She reached down, popping open her school bag and pulling out her math workbook. Let’s see if I can get some of this bullshit done while I wait. She scratched at her shoulder, popping the book open to chapter fourteen. Her school uniform shirt was so itchy on her skin. Most days she could tune it out, but Akane had overridden the dulling of her senses again last night, and it was always tougher for her to ignore the daily annoyances of the Full-Body Cat’s Tongue after such an event. She dared not tell Akane, though. The last thing she wanted was for her fiancee to stop.
She had no idea why she sat in her sister’s apartment; when she woke this morning, Akane had already left their home and Ranko had found a note taped to the tea kettle telling her to meet her at Izumi’s after school. She guessed Akane was running late, though. Izumi, meanwhile, had darted into her bedroom as soon as Ranko entered and closed the door behind her.
“Okay. Problem #53. If 3y + x = 27, and y = 8, find x.” She picked up her pencil, chuckling to herself as she circled the letter. It’s right there, next to the equals sign. See, Ranko? Math is easy.
Ranko stood, walking over to the fridge and grabbing herself a can of grape soda before returning to her seat. She wished they could get this stuff at the Phoenix, but their distributor for soda didn’t carry it.
#54. Prove Theorem 14.3 from the textbook. Okay. Let’s see. She picked up her pencil and began to write.
Given: The textbook has proofs for all the theorems in the appendix. Then: Theorem 14.3 has a proof and so it must be true.
I’m a damned genius. Eat that, Mr. Okuda.
Hearing the bedroom door unstick from its jamb, Ranko lifted her head and put her pencil down as Izumi exited, followed by a young man a few centimeters shorter than her, and probably close to Ranko’s age. He wore a black loose-fitting tee shirt and a pair of black slacks, and some brown dress shoes. His black hair was slicked back with hair gel, and his sunken eyes and five-o-clock shadow gave the appearance that he’d had a rough couple of days.
Ummm, okay? What the hell, Izzi?
“Ranko, honey, I’d like you to meet my friend, Aki. Aki, this is my little sister, Ranko.”
The boy bowed, and Ranko returned the gesture politely, but her eyes stayed locked on her sister with an interrogatory expression. Okay, love you, Izumi, but I’m pretty curious what you’re doing with a guy that much younger than you, in your bedroom, while your husband’s not home.
“Good to meet you, Aki.” Ranko looked over the boy skeptically. There was something familiar about him that she couldn’t quite place. Maybe one of their regulars from the Phoenix?
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Aki lifted his left hand, offering it to Ranko for a handshake, and Ranko caught a metallic glint on it. Wait, dude’s married and he’s hanging out in my sister’s bedroom? Izumi, what the hell’s gotten into you?
Ranko offered her hand as well, remembering to do so with a limp wrist like a lady. As she did, she caught a closer look at the ring on Aki’s left hand.
It was exactly like hers.
“A… Akane?!”
The “boy” giggled, nodding. “Boy, did we get you good, Ranko!”
Ranko turned to her sister with an exasperated, wild-eyed look. “What the fuck, Izzi? I thought you were screwing around on Kaito over here! Halloween’s over, you know!”
Akane nodded, grinning. “Izumi’s a freaking wizard with makeup and clothes and stuff. And if I can fool you, baby, I can fool anyone.”
Ranko blushed furiously. Akane, I don’t know how to tell you this, but you know I find you cuter as a girl, right? Like, I’m into girls. Really. “And why exactly would you want to fool anybody into thinking you’re a guy?”
Smirking, Akane closed the distance between herself and her lover, putting her hand on Ranko’s shoulder and physically turning her so that Ranko’s back was to her. As Ranko behind herself in confusion, Akane pulled her close, holding her lover’s body against her own and dragging her fingers up Ranko’s arm and teasing her neck.
The redhead quaked in Akane’s arms, a fog forming in her eyes as she rolled her head back onto Akane’s chest to allow her easier access.. “A… Akane, what are you… Izumi is…right… mmm… baby… why…”
Izumi blushed as her sister made a quiet little squeak as Akane leaned down and kissed her ear. But while Ranko rigidly awaited some whispered explanation of why she was being so blissfully tortured in her sister’s dining room, what she heard instead was Akane’s singing voice.
“Sneak, baby, sneak, baby, hide your face, so no one figures out it’s you touching my special place…”
Giggling almost mindlessly, Ranko purred into Akane’s touch. It was so weird to think about Sneak without worrying about the upcoming video shoot. Akane hadn’t given her a decision about Crash yet, but for her to have delayed this long, Ranko knew she was going to say no. That meant she would have to submit to being touched just like this by a stranger, unless they could find another boy somewhere…
Ranko gasped, rocketing out of Akane’s arms and shaking the cobwebs from her mind. “You aren’t serious…”
Izumi sighed in relief. “I’m glad you figured it out, baby sister, because I was about to have to tell you two to get a room.” She affectedly fanned her face with her hand, giggling.
“Baby,” Akane said, reaching out for Ranko’s hand with a smirk. “It’s like I said. If I can fool you, I can fool them. And yeah, I wouldn’t say being in a music video is my lifelong dream, but if it gets you through this in a way you’re comfortable with, I’m glad to try. Plus, you won’t have to worry about acting like it’s driving you crazy, will ya?”
“But… what if they catch you?!” Ranko didn’t take her hand, pacing in the kitchen instead and trying to make sense of some very confusing feelings she was having at the moment.
“Then you’re outed, which you wanted to do anyway. And besides…” Akane smirked, cornering Ranko against the kitchen counter and wrapping her arms around her. “Who better to sing Sneak to in the video than the person you wrote it for?”
Ranko blushed, but couldn’t escape, as she was pinned in the corner of the L-shaped kitchen. “That’s not funny, ya know.”
“C’mon. Let me give it a try. Maybe it’ll be fun.” Akane grinned devilishly, picking her lover up and sitting her on Izumi’s kitchen counter. “What’s the matter, Ranko? Don’t you want a handsome man to come and sweep you off your feet?”