Whiskey Bonding

Mom, Dad, Takuya, and I stared at Aya in silence. She grabbed her whiskey glass from the table and drank the remaining half in one go. She let out a long breath.

"I feel better now," she smirked.

That fast?!

"Are you really okay?" Mom asked, clearly worried.

"I mean, it sucks, but it was bound to happen. I just needed to let it out."

"I see. As long as you're fine."

"What are you gonna do now?" Takuya asked.

"Takuya! You should be more considerate about her situation," Dad scolded.

"I'm just curious."

"It's fine," Aya replied. "And it's a good question. Obviously, I'll be looking for a job. Luckily, I have enough savings to survive for years without working."

"I'm sure you'll find something in no time," I said. "Your resume is no less than impressive; not hiring you would be stupid."

She smiled. "Thanks, Kaito."

Mom suddenly gasped. "I have an idea! Why don't you hire her for your new business?"

"No," Aya and I disagreed at the same time.

"Eh? Why?"

"I'm not going to rely on favors," Aya answered.

"And I'm going to demonstrate that I can run a business on my own," I replied.

Mom sighed. "Why are my children this stubborn? Is it my fault?"

"It isn't, Honey!" Dad encouraged her. "We both raised them together. If someone's at fault, that's me!"

"It's nobody's fault," Aya said.

"Right," I continued. "It's not like I'm against Aya working for me. If I need a PR, I'll post a job opening and she can apply if she wants."

"And I'll apply if I find the offer and believe it's good."

Aya had been working since she was seventeen. That by itself was something remarkable, but the fact that she was directly hired at her age by one of the best glasses companies in the country was outstanding.

In a matter of months, she managed to make the company internationally popular even though it was already well established. Their glasses quickly became the best-selling brand in Japan and got into the top five throughout the world.

She didn't get much credit, though. Everyone gave the credit to the company because they made excellent products—which was a fair point. But Aya wanted to prove herself.

After a couple of years, she unexpectedly quit her job and joined a startup. Again, in a matter of months, the startup became astonishingly popular. Then she quit and joined another startup.

She repeated the process many times and every time she was able to create a new trend. She became the youngest, most renowned, Public Relations Manager in the country.

One day, she joined one of the most hated companies in Japan: a social media platform. She joined with the objective of resurrecting its reputation from the grave. Instead, she found a wall. The situation never improved, yet she stayed at the company, stubborn to succeed.

Along with the company's, Aya's reputation sank. Now, almost two years later, the company was finally closed, leaving her jobless and with an unremovable stain on her career. That was the only thing that worried me, that no company would want to hire her again because of her one failure.

"I knew it! You still care for each other!" Mom beamed.

Her mood surely changes quickly.

"Aya, I'll take you up on your offer of whiskey."

"Good choice."

We spent the next several hours chatting and drinking. Since Takuya had just turned eighteen—the legal age for drinking—we teased him into doing it for the first time; it wasn't a very moral thing to do, but even our—drunk—parents rolled with it. It surprised me that he hadn't had a drink before—if he was telling the truth.

Everyone was destroyed by midnight. I could barely walk, so I stayed in my old room instead of returning to my apartment.

I woke up with a pounding headache. My drunk self was smart enough to set the alarm early so I would be able to return to my apartment and get ready for school. Almost puking, I stood up and headed downstairs, where Aya stood next to the front door.

"You're alive," Aya joked.

"Barely."

"Same."

Really? She doesn't look ill at all.

"I'm about to leave," she said.

"This early?"

"I need to go home and get ready for work. And you?"

"I need to get ready for school."

"I can give you a ride to the station."

"Sure. I'll say goodbye to Mom and Dad."

I walked back upstairs and knocked on their door. Mom was barely able to reply, but we managed to say goodbye. I headed outside with Aya and got in her car. It didn't fly, but you could tell it was of the most expensive cars available just by seeing it.

She activated the self-driving mode and the car silently accelerated. We stayed silent for a while until Aya brought something up.

"Kaito."

"Yes?"

"Didn't you just start a business?"

"I did. What about it?"

"Doesn't that mean you don't have school anymore?"

A blow struck my head.

"I forgot… I mean, I still have one class, but it's until the evening."

She sighed. "I can't believe it—" She suddenly stopped talking.

Wait.

"Aya."

"Yes?"

"Didn't your company just get closed?"

"It did…"

"Doesn't that mean you don't have a job anymore?"

"Yes…"

We both sighed.

"We could've stayed for a few hours more," I said.

"But don't you have work?"

I nodded. "I need to be somewhere at twelve. That's five hours away."

"I see. Do you still want to return now?"

"What do you mean?"

"The monorail is going to be stacked. You could wait an hour."

"In your car?"

She sighed. "I pity the woman that likes you."

"W-Why?"

"I'm inviting you to eat something. Wait, did you just stutter?"

"I… did."

She chuckled. "Now you got me curious."

Oh no.

I accepted her offer and she took me to a small café. I didn't like coffee, so I merely ate some biscuits. She started asking a lot of questions about my romantic life. I always trusted her, so I told her every detail. She seemed to enjoy it as if she was watching a drama. She also gave me a few tips for my business and we talked about how her company closing stained her resume.

It had been a while since we had chatted alone; we had a great time. She took me back to the station and I took the monorail back to my apartment. Still dead, I dropped onto my bed and didn't think of anything for the following hours.

I opened my eyes ten minutes before twelve o'clock. I took a quick shower and sprinted to the studio. When I arrived, everyone was already there. They sat on the chairs, now arranged in a semicircle.

"Sorry I'm late," I panted as I stepped into the room.

"You aren't late," Sanae replied.

"Huh? Then why is everyone already here?"

"Seems like we all are eager to start working," Astra giggled.

"I see," I smirked. I swept the sweat from my forehead as I approached them. "Did something happen?"

They all smiled at me.

"What?"

"Show him," Risa told Umi.

It was barely noticeable, but Umi's cheeks were pink.

She's blushing?!

My glasses vibrated with a notification from Umi, requesting permission to play audio. Once I put the glasses on and accepted the request, a song started playing.

It began with an explosion of uplifting trumpets accompanied by a piano. They lasted for a few seconds before the rest of the instruments emerged; there were so many. An electric guitar skillfully played like a solo; maybe there was another guitar, but I wasn't sure. The drums and the bass perfectly supplemented the rhythm of the song.

Then, Umi's voice appeared. It was powerful yet cute and soft. The lyrics talked about reaching the stars for life to blossom. It had many metaphors for achieving your dreams; even if they were distant, the path towards them was what mattered. You discovered many new things and met a lot of people. The path built you as a person and changed your view of the world, while the end was a nice bonus.

The song was cheerful and emotional from start to finish. The positive message fit perfectly with the image of our group. It was the song I imagined for Blostars.

"Umi, it is wonderful. It's exactly what I wanted it to be."

"Right? We told her the same thing," Aki said.

"I-I know that's what you wanted," Umi replied. "I'm a songwriter, after all."

"I was talking about your skills as well," I continued. "All those instruments and your voice were flawless."

Her cheeks reddened a bit more. "H-Hearing it again made me notice a few mistakes; I'll fix them during the week."

"Really? Okay. And what about the other girls? Will they sing?"

"Obviously. I designated a segment for everyone."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's record."