The Muse

Twentieth Melody

"Sorry I'm late! The photo shoot was running late!" Haruka yelled out of breath as she came storming into the studio. Everyone laughed and chuckled as they saw the cute but worrisome expression on her face.

"Don't worry, Nanami. You're just on time. Go and get changed", Producer Genjiro said with a laugh. 

"Yes!" Haruka replied as she went to her dressing room to get changed. Rei and Ren weren't here today as they had their other jobs to do that day. Otoya, Ren, Hijirikawa, and Tokiya had just finished filming their scene and were getting ready to head onto their next job. 

"Nanami, today you'll be filming with Sou and Reiji one at a time. You think you can do it?" Producer Genjiro asked.

"That's fine with me. I got the lines down, too. So we can start shooting the scene any time", Haruka replied with a smile.

Producer Genjiro smiled. "Then we'll shoot you and Sou first."

"Okay."

"Sou! You're up!" Producer Genjiro yelled across the studio. Sou came jogging to the set and smiled at Haruka. She smiled back. 

"Looks like we're acting together this time, huh?" Sou said. Haruka nodded happily in reply to which Sou chuckled. 

"I'm looking forward to it."

"Me, too!" 

Start of Scene~

"I'm heading out", Tomoyo said rather nonchalantly. She didn't expect any response for her voice was but a tiny sound in the large mansion. Tomoyo had opened the door ready to step out until she bumped into someone. 

"Sorry..." Tomoyo instinctly replied as she rubbed her nose lightly. She looked up to see Saizo standing before her in front of the doorway. 

"Welcome back", Tomoyo said. Saizo nodded. 

"...You going out shopping?" he then asked after an awkward moment of silence. Tomoyo nodded her head. 

"Hold on. I'll go with you."

"You don't need to. I can do the shopping by myself", Tomoyo called after him but he didn't listen. He was insistent on going out shopping with her. Tomoyo was puzzled. She didn't know why Saizo insisted on going shopping with her but he did ever since the day she had dropped some potatoes due to a mysterious hole in her bag. Tomoyo stood by the door waiting for him and soon, he was down there, all changed.

"That was fast." Saizo nodded.

"Let's go." Saizo nodded again. 

They were walking to the nearby supermarket with an awkward silence among them. But both of them payed no attention to it. 

"Sorry." Tomoyo turned her head to spot where the voice had come from. It was Saizo.

"Why?" she asked, continuing to walk forward without sparing a glance towards him. 

"Even though you're the adoptive daughter brought here by Shigure-sama and not responsible for the cooking, you still decide to go shop and cook for us." 

"It's not like I cook for you guys every day. It just so happened that the cook took a leave to visit his sick wife. It is the flu season after all. Besides", Tomoyo turned around to look at Saizo and smiled a rare smile. "I want to be of use to Shigure-sama."

Saizo felt the heat in his face begin to rise as he looked away. Tomoyo tilted her head perplexed but went back to focus on walking. It was the beginning of winter and the air had gotten rather chilly. Tomoyo had remembered to bring her scarf but as she looked to Saizo, she realized that he was silently shivering. He had forgotten his scarf. She looked at her scarf and then back at him.