“Raana-chan. This… This is really bad.”

“Hm?”

Tomori clutched her notebook in her hands. She was leaning towards Raana and speaking in hushed whispers, her voice laced with worry. “I-it’s… Taki-chan.”

Raana looked past Tomori and behind the cafe counter on the other side of the room. And there Taki was, washing a cup plate while the Gaggia machine beside her dutifully churned out a double shot of espresso.

“Seems fine,” Raana said, having finished her assessment.

“She’s not, Raana-chan. She really isn’t. I…”

Tomori’s expression grew even more dour. Fearful, almost. Her tone swelled with urgency.

“…I haven’t seen her smile in a week.”

Raana raised her eyebrows.

“Y-You know what I’m talking about, right…? I don’t… really know why, but she’s nearly always smiling when I see her here,” Tomori said. “Though… for some reason she always tries to hide it when I look over. I wonder if… she’s embarrassed about how she looks… I think it’s a really pretty smile,” she added.

“Now that you mention it…” Raana peeked over at Taki again, scratching her chin all the while. “Rikki’s been acting kinda funny.”

“R-Right?! I… I keep peeking out of the corner of my eye to get a look at it, but she’s always got this… empty, sad look on her face… I can’t stand seeing it, Raana-chan…”

“Hmmmm,” Raana hummed. “So?”

“I don’t know what’s gotten into her, but… W-we have to cheer her up. We have to…!” Tomori held out the notebook in her hands and opened it. “I… have a list of ideas I wrote earlier. And… I think you know Taki-chan better than I do, so… Will… you help me?”

For ten long seconds, Raana was silent. Contemplative. Tomori looked at her, expectantly, anxiously; a bead of sweat ran down her left temple.

“‘Kay,” she finally replied.

“R-really?!”

“Sure. Could be interesting.”

“Taki-chan,” Tomori spoke into the microphone. She stood atop the small stage at the corner of the cafe, clutching a piece of scrap paper in her other hand. “We’re going to… play you a song.”

Beside her, Raana strummed a quiet chord in agreement.

Taki looked over at the stage in shock. “…T-Tomori?! What are you—”

“I can’t… know what lies within your heart,” Tomori began to sing. She alternated deftly between melody and spoken-word as she read off her notes. “I want to reach in, and feel what’s inside, but my hands won’t move… Frozen, desperate, afraid…”

Accompanying Tomori’s lyrics, Raana began with a two-chord vamp, then transitioned into a series of haunting, reverb-laden arpeggios, matching Tomori’s rhythm perfectly.

“…But… even if it takes all my strength… I hold on tight, hoping my warmth… will one day touch you.”

Raana capped the performance off with a strum of the tonic.

“I-I hope… you liked it. Thank you.” Tomori bowed; Raana copied her shortly after.

“Um…” Taki looked on, looking utterly dumbfounded. She shook her head, seemingly trying to regain her composure. “I-It was really good, Tomori. Thanks,” she said.

But she didn’t smile.

“Mission failed,” Raana said later, as they cleaned up their equipment.

“I-It’s okay. If we can’t lift her heart with a song, then… maybe we can make her laugh.”

“Taki-chan. P-Please enjoy our manzai routine.”

Tomori and Raana stood side by side in front of the counter.

“The other day, I went to Yoshinoya,” Raana said, in a perfect monotone, while reading off a new piece of scrap paper.

“And… what happened?,” asked Tomori, robotically.

“I ordered extra green onion,” Raana answered, without an ounce of emotion. “But they said they didn’t have enough. So, I told them: Onion’t you being a little stingy?”

“W-What are you even saying?,” Tomori retorted in painfully strained faux-surprise, and chopped Raana over the head with the lightest touch imaginable.

She then slowly turned her eyes towards Taki, gauging her reaction.

“…Stray,” Taki said, in an utterly unamused tone. “What on earth are you putting Tomori up to?”

“Failed again.” Raana almost looked genuinely dejected. Almost.

“I-if it’s come to this… we only have one final resort,” Tomori said, her voice now filled with conviction.

“What’s that?”

“Raana-chan… do you know what moe is?”

“Nya.”

“N-Nya.”

Tomori and Raana posed side by side, clad in maid outfits newly purchased from the cosplay store down the street, their heads adorned with fake cat ears.

“T-Taki-chan… c-cheer up, nya.”

“Nya.”

Taki’s expression darkened. She started staring daggers at Raana. “…Stray. You can get up to whatever nonsense you want, but if you don’t stop dragging Tomori into it, I’m really going to get mad.”

“I’m just following orders, nya.”

“T-that’s right, Taki-chan. I’m… doing this of my own free will,” Tomori pleaded. “N-Nya.”

“…You are? Why?”

“Isn’t it… moe?”

“…Well.” Taki cleared her throat. “It is. It is very cute, Tomori.” Her cheeks seemed a little flushed.

But she still didn’t smile.

“Taki-chan!”

Tomori suddenly darted forward and clasped Taki’s hands in hers. “P-Please… Please, you have to tell me what’s wrong,” Tomori cried. “I can’t bear to look at you… in so much pain.”

“…Crap,” Taki said. “You noticed?”

Tomori nodded intently.

“Yeah… well.” Taki scratched the back of her head. “It’s… pretty embarrassing, but…”

Tomori’s eyes gleamed with curiosity.

“It’s about… my sister. Maki. She… uh, how do I put this.” She averted her eyes. “She texted me the other day, saying she… got a girlfriend.”

Tomori tilted her head. “But… isn’t that… a good thing? I-I mean, I could be wrong… I don’t really—”

“I know, right?” Taki chuckled. “Obviously, I should be happy for her. Obviously. And it’s not like I have a problem with it being another girl. It’s… it’s just… been digging at me for some reason. I can’t really explain it, but I keep thinking about it…”

“Oh!” Tomori hit her palm with a fist. “I-I think… I understand!”

“You… you do?”

“Taki-chan… you’re… you’re a siscon, aren’t you?”

Taki suddenly looked like an anvil had slammed directly onto her head.

“I-I’ve read about this. You’re sad about… losing your sister, to this other person. Like she’s not… yours anymore. Am I right?”

“Tomori, I don’t—”

“It’s okay, Taki-chan…!” Tomori inched closer and closer to Taki’s face. “Raana-chan and I can be your new sisters!”

“…Isn’t that right, Raana-chan?,” she added, turning back to look at her.

“Sure, nya.”

“I-if we do that… then, you’ll be able to smile again, right, Taki-chan?”

Taki was silent. Her expression was unreadable. She looked like her brain had been thrown into a blender.

“A-ah. That’s not right.” Tomori pulled back. She put a finger to her chin and looked up at Taki. Her eyes began to twinkle.

“T-Taki…onee-chan…?”

Taki tried to resist it. She really, truly did. But no amount of willpower could hold back the smile that crept up her face.