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“Welp, it’s been a hell of a night.” Saki yawned, stretching her arms above her. “Think we should call it. We might not need to sleep as often as the living, but I don’t like going more than three days without–”
“Actually, could you help me with something?” Ai asked. “I think I saw… a rat or something downstairs.”
Sakura and Junko squeaked in unison.
“A r-r-rat?!”
“What if it bites us? What if it thinks we’re food?”
“That’s why I want Saki to help,” Ai assured them. “She’s probably the best of us at dealing with rats.”
Yugiri quirked an eyebrow. “There’s always Tae-chan.”
“Eh, leaving Tae-chan to guard you all is probably better,” Saki admitted, standing up. “She’d probably eat the rat if she got hold of it.”
“Grrrm,” Tae agreed.
“If it does come up here, make sure it doesn’t wake Lily up, huh?” Saki walked out the door. “Today was rough on her, and she needs her rest.”
Ai frowned to herself, her padded footsteps softly treading through the hall and down the stairs. She followed Saki into the kitchen, fiddling with her fingers.
“Right.” The blonde put her hands on her hips. “Let’s get this over with. Where’d you say you saw this rat?”
“Actually, I didn’t. See a rat, I mean.”
Saki turned to her, her brow furrowed. “Are you just wasting my time? Is that it?”
“You said it doesn’t matter what kind of junk Lily has,” Ai pointed out, crossing her arms.
“Well, yeah. What, you think it does?”
“No, that’s not what I’m getting at.” She narrowed her eyes. “Not fifteen minutes ago you were rolling on the floor and laughing. And now you say it doesn’t matter–”
“Oh! No, I wasn’t laughing at the whole junk thing,” Saki assured her. “Just… Masao Go? ‘Rightous Man Grand’? I mean come on, that’s like getting a rabbit and calling it Bloodsaw Gorefest Bonesplatter! It’s hilarious!”
Ai pinched her forehead, shutting her eyes. “Mocking somebody’s deadname–”
“Whoa, hold on, mocking? I wasn’t mocking her.”
“You actually kind of were.”
Saki crossed her arms. “No, I wasn’t.”
“You just said that her having such a manly name is hilarious.”
“And it is. But it doesn’t mean I was mocking her.”
“Really?” Ai gestured upward. “You didn’t hear how upset she sounded when you were laughing?”
The blonde shrugged dismissively. “She was annoyed and angry, sure, but I don’t think she was hurt or anything.”
An expression of utter disbelief passed over Ai’s face.
“Okay, look.” Saki held up her hands. “There’s teasing, and there’s insulting. I was teasing her. I wasn’t insulting her.”
“You’re going to have to explain that.”
“Right, okay…” The girl rubbed her chin for a moment. “…Okay. So, you got hit by lightning in the middle of a show and died, right?”
Ai rubbed her shoulder. “I don’t get why you’re bringing that up.”
“It’s what I’m trying to… see, if I were to start saying things like ‘sure was shocking,’ ‘that was a high-voltage performance,’ crap like that, that’s teasing. Because let’s be honest, looking at it that whole event is pretty far out there.” Saki held up a finger. “But if I said something stupid like, ‘you deserved that bolt’ or whatever, no. That’s insulting. That’s taking the ridiculous thing and pinning it on you, even though you had no control over it, and that isn’t right.”
Ai took a moment to consider that. “…o…kay… I can sort of see where you’re coming from there. But if that’s true… why haven’t you been using those teasing phrases with me?”
Saki opened her mouth, paused, and considered for a moment. “…You ever hear the phrase ‘no pain, no gain’?”
“All the time,” said the former dancing star.
“Yeah, so let’s be honest–there are some mean-ass people out there. Sure, I’m a jerk, but I’m not a bitch… or worse. There are people who would call Yugiri a whore, who’d call Junko a doll, who’d… call Lily a trap. And I’d punch every last one of them in the face if I heard them, but I can’t be everywhere, right? So, yeah, I tease people. It hurts, but it’s little friendly scratches. Lets them practice how to fight back, when they need to. Lily got riled up when I laughed. She’s tough, she’ll be okay. You…”
Saki glanced away for a moment.
“…you’ve got guts. You can stand up to your fears. But that doesn’t mean that lightning bolt isn’t still hurting you, on the inside. I’m not teasing you because I don’t think you could take it… yet. Maybe someday. Maybe someday soon. But not yet.”
Ai shut her eyes, taking a few moments to figure out her next words.
“…I’m not sure Lily needs tough love. And honestly, I don’t know if your ‘teasing’ was even fair at all. It’s a delicate issue–”
“You know, being gay used to be a delicate issue. Or being from the wrong country. Or hell, being a woman. Then people started talking about it openly.” Saki put her hands on her hips. “World’s filled with problems, and they aren’t going to get solved if people aren’t willing to act like they exist.”
The bandaged girl pinched her brow again. “Yes, but what you did is laugh at her when she revealed something personal.”
“Not her. The ridiculous names, sure, but never Lily.” Saki rolled her eyes. “And if she doesn’t get that, I’ll talk with her about it tomorrow, okay?”
“It wasn’t just the names, you laughed at how she died!”
“Oh come on. ‘Whoops, I’ve got ONE WHISKER, time for a heart attack.’ That is melodramatic as–”
“Hormone therapy can increase risk of heart attacks!”
Saki’s eyes went wide as she reeled back. “…seriously?”
She nodded. “A woman came to one of our shows–back when I was with Iron Frill, I mean. Her daughter wanted to come to the show, but she was in the hospital… I gave her a personally signed photo, one of those ‘I believe in you’ things.” Her eyes fell to the ground. “Things like that… you remember things like that.”
“Well… crap, now I feel bad.” Saki rubbed the back of her head. “I mean… do you think Lily was on hormone therapy? She seems kind of young for it.”
Ai shrugged. “I… don’t know that much about the medical side. Only way to know is to ask Lily herself.”
“Eh…” After a moment, Saki shook her head. “Let’s drop that. Doesn’t matter now, we’re dead anyway. Still… damn. Okay, yeah, if that’s actually a thing that can happen…”
She considered for a moment.
“…You know what, I’m going to make her some cookies.”
Ai blinked. “What?”
“We’re in a kitchen, aren’t we?” Saki started rifling through the cabinets. “I mean, I hope Shades isn’t one of those total bachlors who buys everything pre-baked.”
“No, hold on, you can bake?!”
“Heh. You don’t know everything about me, Sparkles.”