Help

Unfortunately, Kana couldn’t put the matter out of her mind. Even though there was no contact from Sakuya during the next day, she opened the news articles again and again, studying the blurry webcam pictures. And the longer she looked at them, the clearer they became. She had seen the girls before.

They were the same ones who had chased Sakuya into her shop. It made sense. The mole, the schedule? It was unlikely that there was another group going that deep. It wasn’t impossible, but…

Kana turned off her phone and drew the blanket over herself. Time to sleep.

—

Or not. Kana turned, sleepless, staring at the ceiling, which was lit up by the street lights of the alleyway. Somewhere, someone was singing in the distance, drunk in the middle of the night. She liked this mood, normally. Even if she felt alone, there was life out there, all around her. Right now, however, it was just another layer of annoyance.

She held up both her hands, fingers outstretched.

“Right hand. Helping them. Risking to get my name out there. Left hand. Not helping them. Risking another breach of their privacy or worse.”

There was no actual choice to be made here.

And so Kana got up in the middle of the night and crept to her laptop at the desk on the other side of the room. The chair creaked when she sat down and the glare of the monitor made her curse under her breath, shining brighter as the sun as the operating system booted. She opened her POS app and navigated to the sales two weeks ago. There weren’t many, so she had no trouble finding the big group that had chased Sakuya all the way to the cafe.

“This is a breach of customer trust. Highly illegal…” she mumbled to herself as she brought up the credit card data of the girl who had paid for the order.

It didn’t say her name, but maybe they could do something with it. She took a photo with her phone and sent it to Sakuya before she could change her mind.

03:24 [Kana] Attached: Img07582.jpg (screenshot of the receipt)

03:24 [Kana] This is one of the girls that followed you. They had the MV shooting on the schedule they looked at that day. Stands to reason they had other info as well. I hope this helps you.

She glanced at the clock. Ugh.

——

07:12 [Sakuya] Are you sure you want to be involved in this?

07:45 [Kana] I’m not. That was an anonymous tip a dedicated fan sent you via a burner social media account.

07:58 [Sakuya] Got it.

——

“Do you ever listen to your old songs?” Sakuya asked.

Kana was lying on her bed, with her phone on speaker next to her. She tilted her head to look at the three covers still framed on her wall, the three physical singles she got to release in her time. Photos of herself on the cover, smiling, bright.

“Not really. Just makes me sad.“

“Well, I listened to them. Wish I could’ve been there to hear you sing.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“I mean it. Especially the slower ones. I can hear your voice better without the fast beats, even though they’re cute too.”

A familiar melody echoed from the speaker. Kana closed her eyes as Sakuya hummed the notes to one of her last songs. She joined in, low and soft.

and in the starry night
I’ll look for a sign
a thousand lights leading me astray
nowhere to go
please send me a sign
and I’ll find my way back to you

“Kana…”

“Mhm?”

“I think I’m falling for you.”

“Stop it.”

“Can you sing for me next time we meet?”

“I’ll think about it.”

——

Sakuya surprised her two days later, just when the shop was about to close. With an evening off, he took her to the cinema, where they could enjoy their time while hiding away in the plush seats.

With every encounter, Kana felt less alone, her world becoming a bit brighter. But the fear never went away. It had been bright once before, and plunging it back into darkness was always just a step away. She could mostly ignore the anxiety, but when Sakuya called her one hot afternoon, she already felt everything come crashing down.

“They got them! They got them with your help Kana!! They cross-referenced the data of the receipt with the pictures of the security camera and got her with her whole group. Even the mole connected to them!!”

Sakuya shouted into the phone so loud, he might as well be on speaker. It was just as well that there were no customers in the shop. Kana smiled at what she imagined the pink puppy to look like right now.

“I’m glad.”

“That’s it? It’s making headlines! Haven’t you seen the news?”

“As long as my name is kept out of it…”

“Kanaaaa… I promised you I’d submit it under an anonymous tip. Do you really think I’m that untrustworthy?”

“I said I trust you and I meant it. Otherwise I wouldn’t have sent you the thing in the first place.”

“Anyway, even if your name isn’t known to the investigation, the other two want to thank the woman who saved me not once, but twice! And them too!”

The other two.

Haruki.

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

“Come on, we just want to thank you! And Haruki said he wants to make up.”

“He said what?”

“He still feels bad and wants to make peace. Especially after you helped us this much.”

Kana’s heart twisted itself. You can’t trust a word Haruki says. She told herself this sentence again and again and again over the last three years and it still held true. But the others would be there too. And Sakuya. Her heart ached in a different way when thinking of him.

Do I never learn?

“You already said no the last time!” Sakuya said after Kana stayed quiet.

“So you let an outsider meet up with you after you put in so much work to get rid of some?” she tried to joke.

Sakuya made an annoyed noise. “Kana is different from those crazy fans.”

“If you say so.”

“So it’s settled? Dinner tomorrow night? I’ll send you time and place! So happy you decided to join! Bye!”

“Saku— Did that bastard just hang up on me?”