Chapter Text
this wasn’t the first time sara had a high profile job. being one of the best for-hire employees her company has, if not the best overall. she was used to having millionaires, people working in the government, and the likes. often being asked to work with the same people from time to time.
so it came to a surprise when ei, her boss, called her out of the blue.
“makoto contacted me and there’s a new duo growing in popularity. i'm putting you in their care while my sister looks for someone… that isn’t too overqualified.” her boss said before passing sara papers from her desk. “you’ll start next week since you're booked for the moment.”
ei’s phone rang and sara took the opportunity to leave her office and head back home to her apartment.
despite the high pay she gets, sara prefers to live in a tiny apartment by the subway station. she didn't need a big space since she wasn’t home often and found it unnecessary since it took a while to clean if it were bigger.
she decides to eat the bento she bought from the subway while she watches whatever was on the tv the landlord was kind enough to provide. she flipped from channel to channel until stopping at a music channel to look at her phone instead.
from time to time, she would stop scrolling and look at the television until one video stood out to her. a girl with pale white-blue hair and light blue-gray eyes singing along with a pale salmon pink-haired girl with light indigo eyes.
sara was enthralled by them, but stopped when the video ended. she tried to get the two women out of her head, not willing to be consumed by an unhealthy parasocial relationship that can lead to obsession. she turned off the tv before continuing to scroll on her phone as she finished the remaining food on the bento box.
she quickly took a bath before looking at the papers on her table. right, i have work tomorrow. she thought as she flipped through the pages.
time passed quickly when sara was working, she had lost track of time and when she looked at the wall clock. its 23:57.
sara quickly arranged the papers in a neat stack before laying on her futon. even with the peaceful environment, sara couldn’t stop thinking about the red string on each of her pinky. it was rare that you had two soulmates, she knew that much.
she never liked the idea of soulmates. she thought, why do i have to love a certain person, what if they’re like my adoptive father?. she remembers her childhood, if you’d even call it that with the way she was treated. she did her best to try and keep her thoughts away and soon enough, exhaustion started to get to her, and she was finally able to rest for a while before going back to work.
when ayaka first neared the practicing room, the first thing she noticed was the red string on her left hand being tense. a thousand thoughts racing in her mind as she went closer and closer to the door, what if they’re my manager or what if they’re someone too good for me? what if they don't like that they’re soulmates with me?
when she entered the room, a woman her age was looking at her right hand before looking up. a smile on each of their faces, but before they could let out a sign of relief, it felt like they were missing something.
not willing to scare the other, they decided to not mention the slight emptiness they felt.
“hello. nice to meet you, i'm sangonomiya kokomi. please be kind to me.” she says before bowing her head. her voice was firm yet cheerful at the same time.
ayaka introduced herself with the same formality. even if they were soulmates, they weren’t willing to risk their careers–dropping it even before it would start had anyone else known of their relationship.
after they introduced each other, someone else came in the door. someone tall and with bright pink hair.
“my, my, it seems like you’ve started without me.” ayaka knew it was meant as a joke, but the way the woman presented herself…
“my apologies.” ayaka said out of habit whenever she felt like she had disappointed someone.
“oh don't worry dear, no need for formalities. we might as well get comfortable with each other since we’re going to be working together for a long time.” the woman says before introducing herself. “yae miko, pleasure to meet you both. i’ll be your manager.”
over the next few days they decided to write a song about wanting to meet someone. simply put, wanting to meet someone’s other half. with the idea of soulmates, it was common for these songs but one thing that made them stand out, a line thought by kokomi.
it feels lonely without you,
i wonder if you feel like it too
i can't get you off of my mind
is it even possible to miss you even if we had never met?
the recording of the whole song was a success, but even then their expectations were not that high. not that they doubted their skills, what they were worried about was how people would react.
although they could release the song, they decided to hold it off for a while, striving for perfection in their recording. many times, they were tempted to just throw it away and rewrite the song or just drop the song entirely and write something new. in the end, they decided that their first take was the best out of their recordings.
the week after was the agreed release date, they were sure of it. until a certain kazuha bursted the conference room where kokomi, ayaka, and yae were.
“l-lady yae! there was an issue with the systems and we had accidentally published your recording instead of-” kazuha had to cut himself off to catch his breath. ayaka and kokomi looked at each other in the meantime, as if asking ‘lady?’ a few seconds pass before they realized what kazuha had said.
before anyone can speak up, raiden makoto entered the room.
everyone–well, anyone other that yae–stood up and bowed, a near perfect 90º angle. even kazuha, who was slumped on the wall trying to catch his breath visibly stiffened as he bowed before leaving the conference room.
“ah, so formal.” yae remarks as she looks over to makoto.
makoto laughs lightly, as if this was a common thing to occur, before continuing “i'm guessing you’ve heard, no?” she says to kokomi and ayaka.
kokomi decides to speak up, “well, i guess we have nothing else to do but wait.” she says as she looks at ayaka. makoto and miko looked at each other, ah, it seems like they know… kokomi thought.
kokomi and ayaka decided to stay in a shared apartment room, it saves on money and they weren’t far off from seven entertainment’s main building, kokomi’s suggestion. they were soulmates anyway, why would they pass up an opportunity to know more about each other?
by now, the incident happened a week ago and they had been under the same roof for about two days. kokomi found out that ayaka tends to wake up a few minutes after than she does and so while waiting for ayaka to wake up so they can get breakfast at a local lawson near the apartment complex, she decides to open her phone.
it surprised her when her twitter and instagram account was bombarded by new followers, at least they don't know my old tumblr account i had when i was thirteen… she thought. despite the constant notifications, she was able to see the message her friend gorou had sent.
gorouuu (inu?): koko everyone’s talking about you and your partner [05:32]
gorouuu (inu?): ayaka (?) i mean [05:32]
gorouuu (inu?): i can't believe i'm close friends with an upcoming star [05:33]
the next few messages were a bombardment of stickers. kokomi smiled at her friend, who she thought had the qualities of a dog, hence the (inu?) on her contact name for gorou.
well, thats a relief [05:35]
i don't know if you should know this, but today was supposed to be the day we release the song [05:36]
they continued to text for a while before the door to ayaka’s room opened.
“i forgot to turn off the notifications on my phone last night and i think the amount i got plus the fact i forgot to charge it while i was sleeping caused my phone to reach zero percent.” ayaka says as she holds up her phone revealing the monstrous amount of notifications she received as her phone was charging on the nearby socket.
kokomi laughed lightly, “i didn’t really expect us to get this famous this early.” she mused loudly before asking ayaka, “lets get breakfast at the lawson?”
the lawson was thankfully empty, save for the cashier on the side of the entrance. while they picked out whatever fresh food was available, the cashier was looking at them. well, staring, actually especially when they were about to pay and get their food heated.
“by any chance are you… the kokomi and ayaka…? the new ones from seven entertainment…?” the cashier had asked under her breath.
ayaka and kokomi looked at each other before kokomi spoke up, “i'm afraid we can't disclose our identities.” it was nonsense and neither kokomi or ayaka want to deal with the current situation. they were hungry anyway
the cashier looked at them weirdly but chose not to say anything else, giving them their change and a plastic bag with their heated food with the complimentary utensils inside.
on their way back to their apartment, ayaka pulled kokomi to the side, and went a different path to the complex. “ayaka…?” kokomi asked as ayaka tugged lightly on her wrist.
“i don't think we’re alone, lets take the long way back.” ayaka whispered as they crossed the road.
kokomi looked around and sure enough, from the corner of her eye she saw someone following them, occasionally hiding behind a wall or a vending machine.
after a few minutes of circling around the complex, they had finally lost track of the stalker and finally came back to their apartment. and as much as they wanted to enjoy the pre-made food, they had to eat fast since yae had already been calling them.
“you’ve heard of your impact, i presume?” yae asks them when they enter the conference room.
“of course, ayaka’s phone even died when she forgot to charge it from the sheer amount of notifications she got.” kokomi says.
“even the cashier at the lawson next to our complex noticed us.” ayaka added.
“i'm proud you both did well, not that i had any doubts in the start, but i do wonder though…” yae let out a sigh before asking, “...by chance, has anyone been following you recently? as in following you and stalking your social media?”
“the following one we did this morning, the social media one however…” kokomi says as she opens her phone to check if someone messaged her. and surprisingly, there was one conversation that was being spammed constantly. “...ah, it seems like there’s a few people who are messaging me constantly.”
“thankfully i never opened message requests, brother says i shouldn't turn that option on when i made my socials.” ayaka mentions as she opens her own phone.
“i see, i’ll mention this to makoto and see if she can get you in touch with someone. though from what i know its going to take a week or so.”
a week had passed and sara was back at ei’s office again, some part of her hoping that they had found someone less over-qualified than her. but the way ei looked at her made her think otherwise.
“i'm afraid we couldn’t find anyone more suitable, makoto wants to have some sort of interview first though.” ei says as she was reading a few papers. “i doubt you won't get it, though there is still a chance.” murmurs as she signed a document.
“who am i supposed to work with and for how long?” sara asks.
ei looked for a different paper before answering sara, “two people: kamisato ayaka and sangonomiya kokomi. it doesn't say the exact date though it says here that it might take a month or two and even that’s subject to change.” ah, the last statement was one of the few things ei doesn't like, she prefers it when she knows when she gets her staff back so she can assign them a new job after a few days, sara thought before ei continues, “tomorrow you’re going to start, i’ll send you the address and time.”
they talk for a while before ei’s phone rings again. before sara left the room, ei let out a small groan when she saw the name of the contact. must be a client ei doesn't like…
when sara got home, she was a few minutes later than usual when she found out that her suica card had almost no more charge and had to deposit some money in it (and a bit more than her actual month’s trip worth in the event of an emergency). she had passed by the lawson in the station and grabbed the remaining onigiri from the stand.
she sat by where her futon was and began to eat as she looked up her clients on the major socials.
and when their profiles came up, sara almost choked on the salmon in the onigiri.
“what!?” sara exclaimed as she looked at their profiles. she thought she was just imagining things, restarting her wifi router, closing all the apps on her phone, and even restarting her phone. but no matter what she does, its still the same people she saw on tv a week ago.
sara prayed to every single god and kami that she knew, hoping that ei would somehow find someone more qualified for the job. she wished she had passed by the shrine and picked up an omamori charm for good luck.
as much as sara wanted to turn around and walk away, she was already in the room with makoto, waiting for her to finish scanning sara’s resume. to sara, it felt almost like an eternity but after five more minutes, makoto would put down the paper and look directly at sara. she does look a lot like ei, but more… calm.
“i have no doubt about your skill, though i worry, do you know these two?” she asks as she pulls out a photo of ayaka and kokomi.
“its my first time seeing them.” sara replies, praying to whatever god that makoto doesn't see right through her.
either way, she was thankful that the next few questions were general and that they were relatively easy to answer.
after she signed the contract, “since they need you as soon as possible, i think its time you actually meet them.” makoto says as she leads her back to the door.
following makoto to one of the rooms, she felt something tugging on both of her pinkies. her heart was pounding loudly and she could hardly hear what makoto was saying. her left hand held her right hand by the wrist, in hopes she might make it not obvious that her hands were shaking. she was supposed to be professional. the moment she dreaded the most was here, she was about to meet her soulmates.
“their manager, yae miko’s here with them. i must advise you with something though, try not to fall for one of her many… tricks, for a lack of a better word. they’re minor but in the event they somehow disrupt your work, do tell me.” she hears makoto say as they neared the door which undoubtedly had sara’s soulmates behind its door.