Chapter Text
Japan — Main Kazanari Residence
July 31, 2047 — 22:00
In the quiet of the night, the grandfather clock in the study struck ten.
At the beckoning of the clock's chimes, the heiress of the Kazanari Clan placed her pen down and made a mental note of where she had left off in the current document—a proposal from the yakuza managed by the Kazanari Clan to expand their current infrastructure project. The third submission, after Tsubasa had noted far too many flaws in the poorly written proposals the first two times.
Closing her tired eyes, Tsubasa mustered all of her strength to stop herself from slamming her face onto her mahogany desk.
Still, their sudden desire to switch from a life of crime to public service was far more appealing to deal with than every other problem landing on the Kazanari's plate. Which, in the span of three days, had amounted to at least fifty PDF files on her tablet, each ranging from eighty to two hundred pages.
Releasing a long, drawn-out exhale, Tsubasa grabbed the cup of tea to her left—long since gone cold—and took a drink.
For personal reasons, Tsubasa avoided eating any kind of food after nine in the evening. It was partly to maintain her figure as an idol, but mostly because her stomach never settled well if she ate something and went to sleep soon after. But tea was not food, and Tsubasa really needed the caffeine.
She had already sent her manager home, which was the only reason why she was drinking sad, cold oolong tea and working so late at night when she should be preparing to sleep. The other person who would usually scold her was not home, would not be home for some time, and was partly the reason Tsubasa was still awake in the first place.
How was it that they've only been dating for two months and Tsubasa already missed her girlfriend this much?
With no one else to stop her, Tsubasa prepared to dive back into the fray—
—only for her phone to vibrate on the corner of her desk.
She had silenced her personal phone unless there was an emergency. And indeed, after the call went automatically to voicemail, a notification banner popped up on the screen reading, "TSUBASA-SAN, PLEASE PICK UP THE PHONE" from Shirabe.
Her brain came up with seven different scenarios, each worse than the last, until her return call finally went through.
"Good evening, Tsubasa-sa—"
"Tsukuyomi? Is everything alright? Did something happen to Maria? Or is there a crisis with one of the other—?"
"Wait, Tsubasa-san. Calm down. Nothing's wrong with Maria, or any of us. If anything, we should be asking you if you're alright. Isn't it late for you?"
Tsubasa blinked. "If nothing is wrong, why did you send that ominous message? Did Akatsuki put you up to it?"
"Kiri-chan is taking a nap right now, so no. If I hadn't worded the text that way, you wouldn't have checked your phone otherwise, would you?"
Tsubasa frowned. Setting aside what Shirabe was obviously trying to point out, she asked, "Why is Akatsuki taking a nap this late at night?"
"The same reason you're still awake."
"… How did you know?"
"We didn't, but Maria mentioned we should check up on you. Apparently you can get lost in your work when she's not around."
"…" Tsubasa sighed. "I'm ashamed to have let down my guard so much."
"Don't be. You're working hard for Maria, right? It's the same for the rest of us, just like she's always doing her best for us." A moment later, a soft giggle broke the silence. "Except Maria would scold us if she knew we were still up."
That got Tsubasa to smile. "Which is why we are keeping this between us."
"You're sure you'll make it to the party? Kiri-chan plans to make it super festive."
"Of course. Even if I must battle alchemists. Or a Custodian or two."
Tsubasa glanced down at her tablet. Or in this case, far too many pages of legal jargon and useless electronic paperwork. But it would all be worth it.
The two youngest Gear users had kept their plans mostly a secret, but Kirika's track record for birthday parties spoke for itself. And this year was apparently a particularly special year for Maria—at least according to Kirika. It wasn't every day that people turned twenty-five.
Shirabe giggled again. "As expected of you, Tsubasa-san. Oh, have you spoken to Maria? Kiri-chan and I were going to call her, but it sounds like she'll be arriving at her destination soon."
"We spoke a few hours ago. It seemed like she wanted to speak for longer, but I insisted she get some rest before her flight landed."
It had been hard for Maria to argue when she was fighting back yawns, trying and failing to hide them behind her hand. So cute…
This was not good. At this rate Tsubasa was going to think about Maria for the rest of the night and not get any more work done. Perhaps she should make another cup of tea.
"She should be back in time for her birthday, right?" Shirabe asked.
That… was a good question. "From what she mentioned before she left, it seems to be a simple inspection of various facilities and institutions in the United States. The visits themselves will be short, with most of the time spent on travel."
"I still don't understand why it had to be Maria of all people. She's already busy enough with everything else she has to do."
"The United Nations personally requested her. Or rather, she said the institutions on the visits listed her specifically in their inspection report submissions."
" …Well, Maria is famous…"
Shirabe's sigh on the other line melded with Tsubasa's own.
Tsubasa tapped on her tablet, bringing the screen back to life. Just thinking about all the files waiting for her to read through because everyone wanted her input as the heiress of the esteemed Kazanari Clan was renewing her headache. She was grateful to have her manager to filter through her countless responsibilities, but Maria was not so lucky.
She made a mental note to speak to her uncle after Maria came back from this current mission. Though, considering this mission was assigned directly from the United Nations, not through SONG, there was not much they could do now. Still, it didn't hurt to lighten the burden through other means. Even with all of their schoolwork, Tsubasa knew the younger girls wouldn't hesitate to volunteer to take some of Maria's on-call shifts for SONG.
After speaking to Shirabe for another five minutes, mostly about the plans for the seventh and how she should let her manager know about clearing her schedule for the day, they ended the call and returned to their respective battles.
As soon as Tsubasa unlocked her tablet and was greeted by a page of Japanese, she realized she completely forgot where she had left off.
Perhaps I need more than just a casual conversation to revitalize myself…
Standing up, she chugged the rest of her lukewarm tea and went to brew another cup. It was after nine, but it was fine. Tea was not food.
It was also better than the five cups of black coffee and three cans of Monster that Shirabe and Kirika were apparently already on.
They were definitely never going to tell Maria about any of this.
Outside her office, Tsubasa stopped on the hisashi for a moment to look up at the night sky. A light breeze ruffled her kimono, and she tucked an errant strand of blue hair behind her ear.
What kind of sky are you looking up at, Maria?
The sky surely looked different halfway around the globe. Would Maria find it beautiful? Did she miss it? She had said the country was nice after her cross-country vacation with Kirika and Shirabe…
Tsubasa shook her head. This was not the time for her mind to wander with frivolous thoughts. Especially ones she couldn't validate. She could ask Maria about it when she returned. She just needed to make sure she had plenty of time to spend with her girlfriend once she was home.
With one last long gaze, Tsubasa put her own wants and needs aside to return to her duties. There was much to be done within the week. There was no time for leisure.
Well, besides a cup of freshly brewed tea. Maria would insist she have that much.