Slice of Night Pt. 1

Manager Na opened the doors to one of the most luxurious suites I had ever seen. It had a wide open space filled with expensive furnishings. There was even a bar off to the side. Further down was a gathering area with a fireplace and a beautiful view of a small river cutting right through the city. It was nighttime, so the whole area was brightened by neon signs and lanterns.

"Whoa~!" Suguha exclaimed as she rushed in.

"Not bad, Manager Na," Yoshino chuckled. "This place is nice."

"Nothing but the best for my girls," he grinned. "Why don't you take a look as well, Yozora?"

"No, thanks."

Immediately, all four of them turned to glare at me, which sent four different jolts up my spine.

"What...?" I gulped.

"Just look," Mitsuki grumbled. "It's not like you're the one staying here."

"Exactly. This isn't my place, so why should look around when I don't need to?"

"...We just got here, and you're already making me mad."

"W-what the hell did I do?!"

"It's fine if you hang out for a little bit, right, Yozora?" Natsume asked with a smile.

At first, I was hesitant. There was a part of me that wanted to just be on my own for a little bit since I was still jetlagged. I didn’t get much sleep on the plane ride—though, to be fair, it wasn’t even that long. Still, I’m exhausted, and all I want right now is to crash and get some rest.

"You can stay here for the time being, Yozora," Manager Na said. "I have to get with the event coordinators and plan out some things with them. Might take a while, and I don't wanna leave the girls unattended."

"...That's a very classy way of trying to include this into my job description."

"At this point, there ain't nothing in your job description. We're just filling in the blanks as we go, haha!"

"Clearly."

"Well, I guess if you want to, you could join me on—"

"Deal."

"Eh?!" the girls collectively said.

"Yozora!" Suguha chided as she threw herself in front of me with pleading eyes. "The whole point of you coming was to keep us company!"

"T-that's right, Yozora!" Natsume said while doing the exact same thing. "If you're not here, then... then... we're gonna die of boredom!"

I locked onto Natsume as she was pouting at me.

"...Have you been taking speech lessons from Suguha?" I mumbled.

"Oh. You noticed? Was it good?"

"Absolutely not. She's the last person you should be taking lessons from."

"Eh?! What do you mean by that?" Suguha shouted.

She grabbed onto the collar of jacket and pulled me back and forth, spouting all sorts of nonsense about how and why I'm definitely a bad influence myself. I couldn't be bothered to listen to even one of them. They were probably all true anyway.

"Come on, Yozora," Yoshino giggled. "It can't be that bad to hang out with us for a bit, hm? At this point, it should be second-nature to you. How about this? We'll have whatever anime you want."

"Oh, wow. That sounds so exciting," I said with a monotonous tone.

"Was that sarcasm?" Mitsuki growled. "That was sarcasm, wasn't it?"

"Glad your noodle brain could figure out that much."

"What... Okay. Yeah. You're not getting away with that one."

"W-wait! I didn't mean it!"

Right when she was about to smack me, Natsume laughed, which stopped us both.

"I'm sorry," she squeaked. "It's just... I can't remember the last person we were able to have fun with like this."

"You call this fun?" I mumbled.

Mitsuki took that opportunity to land a single jab at my hip.

"Ow! What is wrong with you?!"

"Oops. My hand must've slipped."

"My ass."

"I can very easily do it again, you know."

"Uck..."

Thankfully, Manager Na placed his hand on my shoulder and pulled me aside.

"Alright, girls!" he grinned. "We'll be back in about two hours. Until then, stay put, keep the door locked, and don't answer for anyone. I'll ring you on my phone for you to let us in when we come back. Got it?"

"Yes, manager..." they mumbled in unison.

"Just relax," I sighed. "I need cool my head a bit after that flight. I'm jetlagged as hell right now."

"Suck it up," Mitsuki growled. "It was only an hour."

"An hour and a half, actually."

"Wanna get punched again?"

I kept my silence after watching her raise her fist. There has to be some kind of company rule that bars her from doing that, but I feel like if I ask, then she'll actually hit me.

"Well... I hope you feel better soon, Yozora," Natsume said, though she seemed down.

I let out a subtle scoff and slipped on a smile. "What are you looking all sad for? Don't worry. I'm sure it'll pass once I get some air."

"You'd better not run off," Yoshino chuckled. "I know you want to go home and sleep, but we have a whole week ahead of us."

"Hah. Where would I even go? Just wait for me. I'll be back soon."

"Fine," Suguha said as she crossed her arms. "Then, bye, Yozora. And bye, Manager Na!"

"Cya!"

With that, Manager Na shut the door behind us, and finally, it was quiet. I tilted my head up and sighed. It was loud enough for him to notice.

"Tired?" he snickered.

"Obviously. I couldn't sleep during the flight because they wouldn't let me."

"Haha! I guess that just goes to show how fond they are of you now, eh?"

"That will never be funny, no matter how many times you bring it up. Let's just go already. I feel like if I stay here for any longer, my heads gonna implode."

"Lead the way."

Manager Na and I stepped into the elevator, the soft hum of its descent filling the silence between us. When we reached the lobby, we pushed through the massive front doors, and the cold night air hit me like a wave. It was much colder here than back home, especially under the pale glow of the moon.

Despite the chill, we joined the crowd, walking along the edge of the river where the city's nightlife was in full swing. The rhythmic sound of our footsteps merged with the distant chatter, blending into the pulse of the evening festivity.

After all... Christmas is just around the corner.