Spring and Summer

We spent a few more minutes enjoying the drinks, snacks, and just hanging out in Mr. Hiroaki’s office. I was still feeling somewhat guilty, but Summer, behaving comfortably in there, eased a lot of my nerves about it. She then sat there for a bit, reflecting while looking at me.

“You’re the anxious type, aren’t you?” she asked, and waited a few moments. “A lot of people here, they see you smile, talk a lot, even laugh and sing. They think you’re outgoing.” She then looked at me directly. “But you’re just hiding how anxious and shy you really are, aren’t you?” Summer paused and pointed at me. “If that’s the mask you show them, they can’t see the real you, and if they can’t see the real you, they can’t hurt you.” Summer’s words chilled me deep inside, and I even started nervously sweating.

“How-” I paused somewhat shocked. “How do you know all that?” I barely managed to ask her after going through a lot of stressful thoughts.

“I’m an actress. If I can’t understand how people feel and act, how can I take on their roles?” She seemed both proud and respectful. “Don’t worry. I won’t change how I see you or tell anyone. I’m sorry if I was too direct.”

It took me a bit to calm down after being seen through like that. I was even more amazed by Summer than I was before. She realized the conversation was making me nervous, and tried to calm me down.

“Thank you,” said Summer, once I was calm.

“What did I do?” I sat there confused.

Summer seemed deep in thought. “You’re just so… you. It’s nice. I can’t describe it.” Summer seemed happy with my company.

“I’m thankful too. I’m not sure what I’d do if I was stuck here alone.”

“I think I know. You’d just be panicking a lot, wouldn’t you?” she said, somewhat amused.

“I guess that’s true…” I was a bit sad that I was that predictable.

“But you actually work great with just a little encouragement.” I wasn’t sure if Summer was just trying to be nice to me, or if that’s what she really felt.

“You think so?” I asked. Summer nodded very clearly, so that I didn’t doubt myself.

I was still curious about one thing. She knew far too much about this place. Having access to that office and being used to sleeping there didn’t seem normal to me. “Summer, have you slept here before?”

“Sometimes, I just don’t feel like going back home.” She didn’t seem sad, or upset. It was just a neutral answer.

“I see.” I felt like there was more to it, but I realized I didn’t really want to pressure her too much.

We kept enjoying snacks until we were full, while Summer cursed at Mr. Hiroaki for his “poor taste”. The evening had a bit of everything: music, humor, and stories. I realized that I really, really loved that moment. And then, I got an idea.

“Hey Summer,” I said, somewhat bashful. “What if… we do this for others, too?”

“For others?” Summer didn’t immediately realize what I meant.

“Yeah, like, if we stream. For all the other people that got stuck somewhere, or are going to be lonely for the New Year, or just need some company like we did. Maybe people that just want to be a part of… something. What if we just give them that?”

Summer seemed really happy with the idea, and quickly pulled my hand and dragged me through the halls to the studio. “We should act on that feeling,” she said. Summer expertly set the both of us up, and we were ready to start our first broadcast together since our bad experience some time ago. Summer gave me a thumbs up signal, and I nodded back at her, letting her know I was ready. She then started her stream, letting her intro on for a bit to wait for her viewers to log in.

“Hello everyone!” she exclaimed, with her characteristic cheerful tone. “Today, we’re in a city buried by snow. Crazy! Don’t you think?” She paused for a bit. “So, we decided to give you some company! That’s right, we.” She then pointed at me as I appeared on the screen.

“Guess what? I found her stuck in the office with me, so now, you have both of us for tonight.” Summer took a second to catch her breath after her energetic intro. “Would you believe me if I told you she completely forgot about the storm?” She had a smug expression, clearly captured by her 3d model.

“Summer! Why did you have to… tell them…” I couldn't hide my embarrassment.

“But that’s a good thing, don’t you think? Because now they have the two of us and… we’ll make their time worth their while. Tell them what you wanted to tell them, Spring.” Summer passed over the focus to me, and I felt my nerves build up very quickly. But Summer simply wanted me to repeat what I had already said, so I wasn’t going to freeze this time.

“Hi, everyone,” I started somewhat quietly. “First of all I want to apologize. I know I have been awkward before.” I felt a lot of shame for giving Summer’s fans our past awkward experiences. I had to humbly apologize for it. Fortunately, her audience took it positively.

“Oh come on. You can’t fall that easily for her tricks! She hasn’t done anything yet!” Summer complained. She smiled at me while she addressed her viewers. I felt like it was her way of accepting my apology. “No, but seriously, Spring, what was it that you really wanted to say?”

“Well, I…” I paused and took a deep breath before addressing the audience. “Today I found myself a bit sad and lonely, and-” I looked over at Summer who encouraged me to keep going. “Summer came over to cheer me up.” I could see the reactions from Summer’s stream were already exploding, which made my nerves even harder to overcome. Summer shook her head kindly, letting me know that I shouldn't pay too much attention to that. 

“It…” I paused, stumbling, having a hard time with all the pressure. “It felt nice… to have someone with me during a time like this. So I thought, what if we could do this for all of you out there, too?” I stopped for a little bit, wondering if Summer wanted to intervene, but she motioned me to keep talking. “If you’re out there, stuck at work, or for whatever reason not at home, or have no one else to be with, in this cold lonely night… I’m glad you’re with us, and I hope our company and our songs can bring you happiness, too."

“Isn’t she just the sweetest? She’s the real deal, everyone. But don’t think you have a chance, she’s mine after all,” said Summer proudly.

“I am?!” I said, surprised at Summer’s sudden statement.

She laughed and changed subject, carefully picking the topics for me to intervene, and never putting any pressure on me. In the short time she got to know me, she figured out how to work with me. She somehow made my job extremely easy, and even fun. Summer’s work was inspiring.

We talked about music for several hours, with some karaoke in between. We must’ve sang for hours with many breaks. She knew I deeply loved music, so sticking to that topic made it really easy for both of us. Summer knew I was passionate about it, so I would never run out of things to say. Hours went by, and I gradually felt more and more comfortable. We also looked at weather reports and pictures of the massive snowstorm, trying to warn and comfort our viewers. The hours went by, and we were stuck inside well into the morning.

I was proud that, despite being tired, we managed to stay up all night and give the audience a bit of that positive feeling that me and Summer had given to each other. Eventually, we were too exhausted and we fell asleep in the studio, right after shutting off our stream.