Hangaku made a huge effort to speak casually:
“No, I am just surprised. All the other drawings are of your family, and this is the only one that is fictional. Why you made this?”
Sakamo shrugged and answered while walking to his desk:
“I made all these drawings, and I thought how my mother would look like if she was a Mermaid. I have another one over there with her with wings, like a Fairy.”
Hangaku Mae looked to where Sakamo was pointing and gulped because it was indeed the drawing of a woman with four beautiful multicoloured wings, sniffing a strange pink flower on her hands. Sakamo returned and showed his notebook while disguisedly watching her reaction:
“I have made a few new ones recently, and I am going to put them in a frame to hang them in my room. What do you think? They came out rather good, right?”
Hangaku Mae flipped the pages, and she felt her legs trembling with each flip. A drawing of a Mermaid with blue hair giving a kinky smile while inside water with her chest showing up and her tail splashing the water behind. Another with a beautiful Fairy and a long-eared Elfian, talking with a woman with tanned skin, tiny ears and a small pig’s nose. On another page, the same Fairy and the Elfian were naked, kneeled on a bed and kissing each other. Tomiko, Tomoe and Takechi approached, and they looked at the drawings. While they were all admiring the pictures, Hangaku Mae spoke with a dry throat:
“Where did you get the inspiration for drawing these? Because they are so good that they look like real people.”
“Yeah, they are indeed pretty.”
Sakamo asked while putting the sketchbook over his desk again:
“So, what do we do now? We could do some light training but after everything we ate, it’s probably not a good idea.”
Tomiko Hari said while leaning her head on Takechi’s head:
“We could watch a movie. I wouldn’t say no to a rub in my head while watching a romantic movie.”
Sakamo went to the door and waited for Hangaku Mae that was once again staring at the drawing of his mother as a Mermaid:
“Are you coming or you prefer to be dreaming?”
Hangaku quickly wiped her eyes and forced a smile:
“Yeah, sorry, this drawing made me a bit sad. It’s better if we search for a romantic comedy, I want to laugh a lot.”
“I think there are a few on my television list that will do the trick.”
As they were all going down the stairs, Hangaku kept on thinking about the drawings in the sketchbook and she failed to realize sooner that Sakamo was talking to her. She looked at him when she felt him gently squeezing her hand.
“Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts. What did you say?”
“Nothing important, I just asked why you were so distracted. It has something to do with the drawings of my mother?”
“A bit, yeah. Don’t worry, I will be laughing in no time.”
Sakamo slowly nodded while thinking that she was probably sad because he lost his mother when he was so young, and he didn’t ask anything more.
On the sofa, Takechi was already seated with Tomiko Hari’s head on his lap, and Tomoe in the middle of the sofa with Tomiko’s legs on her lap. Tomoe tapped the empty spot at her left and said:
“Ryu-kun, you sit here and Hangaku-chan can put her legs on my lap as well!”
As they were sitting and Hangaku Mae was making herself comfortable by laying her head on Sakamo’s lap, she asked with a puzzled face:
“Tomoe-chan, you won’t get tired with me and Tomiko all over you?”
Shubuyaky Tomoe spoke with a kinky smile:
“Tired of having four beautiful, smooth, girl’s legs over me? Nope, not a chance! Hehehe!”
Hangaku glanced at Tomiko that was staring at Tomoe with a worried face and said:
“You know, hearing you say something like that, I am starting to think that you have a thing for girls. I remember hearing a rumour about that, but you immediately came forth at that time, denying everything.”
Shubuyaky Tomoe shrugged while clicking the remote of the huge television:
“I am not going to deny or confirm anything. There is not a boy here for me, and you two are already taken. Unless any of you wants to share your men, the best I can think of is enjoying the smooth skin of two beautiful girls while watching a nice movie. So, let me take a look at this list, and be free to give your opinion if you see something that clicks your interest.”
Hangaku Mae looked up to Sakamo and he shrugged:
“What? You are waiting for me to say that she likes girls? I don’t care, really. For me, as long as she is happy, it’s all good.”
Hangaku glanced at Tomiko and saw her staring at Tomoe’s right hand that was caressing her feet. Since she didn’t say anything out of embarrassment, Hangaku spoke:
“Tomoe-chan, do you mind not caressing Tomiko-chan or me? Neither of us likes to be harassed, be it a boy or a girl.”
Tomiko took her hand from Tomiko and crossed her arms while her mouth slowly curved in a slight smile:
“Sorry, you are right. I was just kidding, but maybe I went too far. I will behave, don’t worry.”
Hangaku spoke while looking at the television again:
“If you are too aroused because of us, maybe you should look for a boyfriend or a girlfriend.”
Shubuyaky Tomoe almost shouted:
“I am not aroused! As for a boyfriend or girlfriend, that’s not something very easy for me, you know?”
Hangaku Mae faced her again, puzzled by her answer:
“Why is that? You are very pretty, I am sure you won’t have any problem in that department if you try.”
“Yeah, I already faced a few rumours when some magazines spread fake news about one of my outings with my friends at work. I am always under tight scrutiny by journalists or fans. It’s not easy to be me, you know? I have a very glamorous life, but dealing with rumours that can ruin my career, is not easy. I also have a lot of fans that are either in love or obsessed with me, with a few life threats if I ever date someone, instead of them. You need to be aware of this as well, Hangaku-chan, if you intend to go forward with a career in show business. Well, you have your life easier, because with Ryu-kun no one will ever know that you have a boyfriend unless you say so.”
Hangaku Mae raised her left eyebrow, wondering what she meant by that. Shubuyaky Tomoe rolled up her eyes:
“Come on, do I have to explain everything? Until Ryu-kun joined your class, did you ever hear any news about me and him?”
“Now that you ask, no, never, and I keep myself informed about everything concerning you and your career, being such a huge fan as I am. I heard you saying that he went to meet you a lot of times, and he even knows many of the girls that work with you, like your dancers, choir, assistants and such, but I never saw any news of him or a photo of him near you.”
“There you go. He likes his privacy a lot, and there are a few people near him that takes care of making him unknown to the public. I was never worried about a reporter finding out that we were having diner somewhere, because the moment a reporter tried to approach us, he was stopped by Ryu-kun’s bodyguard, way better than my bodyguards would ever be able to.”
Hangaku Mae looked up and saw Sakamo reading the text on the television, like if the conversation had nothing to do with him and she said with a puzzled look:
“He told me about a few things on our date, but I wasn’t aware he was protected for so long.”
Sakamo Ryu looked down at her with a smile:
“Do you mind stop talking and chose a movie? Because if we are only going to talk about me, it will be so boring! You said you wanted to laugh, so, chose a movie already!”
Shubuyaky Tomoe quickly pressed the remote, and they looked over the list of movies. After a few more minutes she finally clicked the ‘play’ button when there was a majority vote.
…
When the movie ended, they were all cleaning the tears from their face, because of so much laughter. Sakamo Ryu stretched and asked while pointing to a big bag over the dining table:
“By the way, what is that? Snacks?”
Hangaku Mae looked up at him with a big smile:
“No, I called Tomiko-chan when my meeting ended and told her to bring a bag with our uniform for tomorrow and to meet us in the restaurant.”
Sakamo Ryu lifted Hangaku’s head and he slowly got up.
“Like always, you assumed that I was going to let you sleep here. What about your parents? They don’t found it weird you sleeping out every weekend?”
Hangaku spoke while getting up and placing her arms on his shoulders and staring at him with a big smile:
“Not really, I told you, I usually sleep in Tomiko-chan’s house on weekends. Talking about sleep, it’s just me that is tired?”
Shubuyaky Tomoe tapped Tomiko’s legs and got up with a jump:
“I am going to take a bath before going to bed. Ryu-kun, where is the suitcase with my clothes?”
“On my bedroom, of course. The left door of the closet, at the bottom.”
Hangaku Mae asked, a little puzzled:
“Tomoe-chan, you have clothes here?”
“Of course. Anywhere Ryu-kun is living, he always has a suitcase with some extra clothes for me, together with pyjamas, underwear, toothbrush, hairbrush, and skincare products. It used to be in the hotel where he was staying before moving, so I assumed he brought it here, that’s why I didn’t bother on bringing anything.”
As she was happily leaving, Hangaku Mae frowned:
“She sounds like if she lives here or you are her personal servant! I don’t know if I like that!”
Sakamo Ryu poked her nose:
“Don’t frown like that, Hangaku-chan, you will get some nasty wrinkles.”
“Is she really going to sleep with you, like, grabbing you, and you cuddling her and such? Because even if you see her as your sister, you are both too old to sleep together like that!”
“I am not going to sleep on this sofa, neither is she. Besides, it’s not the first time we sleep together, you know? She used to come to my hotel to hang out and to relax from her stressful schedule, and she always slept with me. There will be no grabbing or cuddling, rest assure. When we sleep together, we sleep, nothing else. Besides, not even if she wanted to be cuddled she would get it, because I don’t have a couple’s bed, it’s two singles bed joined together that can easily be put at one or two metres distance.”
Hangaku Mae had a surprised look on her face:
“Really? I didn’t notice last time I was in your room, I thought it was a normal couple’s bed.”
“I bought two beds because of Tomoe-chan, actually. I knew she would come to a sleepover when I was least expecting. The first time she went to my hotel for a sleepover I had a couple’s bed, and I couldn’t sleep. She moves way too much during her sleep, throws her legs all over and slaps whoever is sleeping with her. In the morning, I asked at the reception to change to a room that had two singles bed, just in case she wanted to sleep with me again.”
Hangaku nodded, feeling relieved, and Sakamo went to prepare some tea. Tomiko and Takechi approached her, and Tomiko said after gently tapping her back:
“I thought you were about to squeeze his neck. Let’s have some tea while Tomoe-chan is in the bathroom, and then we can go for a quick bath as well.”