Traditional Sounds [Kawakami Bansai x OC]

Song Eighteen: Confession

'I woke up a while beforehand but I wanted to wait before messaging you. Thankfully, I've managed to calm down a lot.'

'I'm glad to hear that.'

'Since our meeting's not terribly long from now, I think this is okay for me to ask. Are you willing to bring sake for my visit? I'll be all right by the time we see each other but I won't be upset if you don't.'

'I'll bring some. Take care of yourself until then.'

'Right. See you eventually, Bansai.'

.

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.

.

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Evening came by when Michiru left her house. She said few words if any out loud throughout her walk towards her destination. At one point did she return to her last text message towards Bansai, mainly where she wrote his name.

Michiru burnt whenever attempting to spare a glance at it. Finishing her reply with the aforementioned name and sending it didn't get registered in her mind until mere minutes after happening already. Avoiding to acknowledge the fact up till now, to which hardly helped.

When placing a palm over her cheek and shutting her phone, Michiru caught sight of the boat.

Letting out a sharp gasp, she forced her feet to halt by digging them into the ground. Mildly annoyed for not paying closer attention at the distance but the woman went to take deep breaths.

This night wouldn't be anything special; just her and Bansai making conversation while having drinks. Michiru found no reason to ruminate on something as mundane as an upcoming hangout.

Regaining her composure after some more inhaling, she resumed her stroll without averting eye contact from the boat. It took nearly no time reaching the doors, followed by Michiru going inside.

There sat Bansai, adjusting shamisen with sheets of paper beside him. In the center of the room rested a tray with a carafe and one small cylindrical cup.

"Hello."

Michiru made the same greeting, then slipped out of her sandals to sit in front of said tray by having her legs to the side.

"I really appreciate you making time for this," She said while rubbing the back of her neck underneath long locks of hair.

As he wrote down a few words, the musician made his reply, "I've been preoccupied during the day, especially as of late. I won't be drinking tonight as I don't want my focus towards writing and playing music to be affected."

"Understandable. Are you also gonna practice the song you're currently writing?"

"Not much if at all." Temporarily setting his instrument down, Bansai reached for the carafe, eventually pouring some sake into the small cup. By already holding said cup did Michiru thank him.

She started with the cup in front of her lips, "I ended up having a huge breakdown on my shift." Shifting her gaze to the side, Michiru held a crooked smile as well. "To say it felt awful then would be a rather big understatement, especially when Otsu-chan and Mika got concerned about me."

As she took a sip of the drink, Bansai replied with a question, "Forgive me for asking but did there end up being a public commotion?"

"Barely. The worst that happened was suspicion from the audience and most of my coworkers but even then, Otsu-chan managed to get it covered...by claiming it to be part of the show." After a shrug, she added, "Though, I guess it's better than potentially ending up on the media for disrupting her Halloween concert all due to something personal. Not to say there weren't questions brought up afterwards but we tried keeping it as private as possible."