ID Chapter 15

# Chapter Fifteen - "Zip Me Up"

### Rinko

    Having Momiji with us seemed to brighten everyone's mood, as she and her team did their best to keep our minds off of our fears. Sadly though, the women were as professional as they were funny and worked really fast, so they were already long gone by the time a man entered the green room and signaled Eimi that it was curtains up in about an hour. She flippantly acknowledged him before grabbing another bottle of water and starting to stretch against the wall in preparation of her first performance. Chiyo lifted her attention from the lyric sheet in her lap - well gnawed around the edges thanks to a certain little someone - and looked at Eimi, who was stretching one of her calves out on the arm of the couch.

    "Y-You know, this is all a little intimidating. I'm really excited and I can't get my heart to slow down, but I also can't shake this feeling that I'm gonna mess everything up…"

   "I mean, it's fine to feel like that now. I probably felt the same around my debut. It's natural to be a little nervous, but you'll get over it and you'll be fine." She lifted the water bottle to her lips and took another swig.

    "R-Really? Even you felt nervous? I guess it's not so strange, then." She picked up Momo in her hands, taking a small sunflower seed from her pocket and feeding it to her. Dam-Bi turned to Chiyo, putting a hand on her shoulder, trying to be a good teammate to the young girl.

    "It's not strange at all! Just try to take that nervous energy and put it into your performance. It might feel weird at first, but as long as you use the energy to focus on what you're doing rather than thinking about what could go wrong, you're bound to give an amazing performance!"

    "That's really good advice. Thank you, Dam-Bi, I'll do my best to be positive!" She slapped her cheeks before heading to the changing room. "I'm gonna change now, and maybe even run the dance one more time in my costume!" With that, she disappeared past the changing room door.

    Dam-Bi let out a sigh once Chiyo had closed the door fully.

    "But even if I say that... It's hard not to be nervous." She slouched in her chair, closing her eyes as if to clear her mind through some kind of meditation.

    The room got surprisingly quiet with Chiyo gone. It wasn't that bad of an idea. She could probably have held off for awhile like Kanon since they aren't going onstage until the very last number - actually she could probably benefit a lot from trying to be more chill like Kanon a lot of the time - but it was probably close to the time when Junko and I should start getting changed. Soon everything would start getting hectic and chaotic, so if there's anything I want to say to the group, now would be the time. And since I'm the leader, I should prooobably say something, right?

    I popped up from my chair and walked calmly to the center of the room. Without saying a word, I had the attention of everyone, and everyone stopped what they were doing to await my excellent leadership. I stood up straight and just let the words inside of me come out. My most raw, unfiltered emotions in this, perhaps the most important moment of my life. The one moment that could make or break my entire future.

    "I wanted to begin by saying how grateful I am to have met all of you. Even though we may not have met on the greatest of terms…" Everyone chuckled at that statement, remembering the events surrounding our introduction to Eimi. "I wouldn't ask for it any other way. You've all become my closest friends and I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for sticking with me and helping me follow my crazy dream."

    There was a light round of applause and lots of awws. Some of the girls even hugged each other.

    "That being said… We got this!" Motivation accomplished, I returned back to my seat next to Junko. The room erupted in smiles and laughter.

    "That was so lame!" Eimi cackled, pointing a finger at me. "You're so cliche sometimes, but that was just weak!" She couldn't seem to stop laughing, but that's just how Eimi is. I smiled back at her, happy at having successfully lightened the mood. "Time to change."

    The blonde disappeared through the dressing room door right as Chiyo was exiting in full costume. Eimi snickered again and raised her hands above her head, prompting Chiyo for a double high five. She repeated our new mantra as she slapped the junior's hands - "We got this!" - making the girl giggle up a storm.

    "Rinko, are you ready?"

    "Yup! All our hard work is going to really pay off, isn't it Junko?"

    "Yeah. I think it really is." My bestie looked happy, which made me happy. It wasn't just the makeup either. Her smile was at least fifty percent larger than it usually is. "We've come a long way from just being *The Twins*, huh?"

    "Hehe yeah! We really did it! And guess what?!" Junko had the same look she usually gets when I put her on the spot. I gave her a second to make a guess before I had to excitedly let the answer out. "I could never have done it without you!" I caught her in a big warm hug, probably my last chance before we got changed, and told her something I don't say nearly often enough. "I love you, Junko! You're really the greatest!"

    She was so emotional she couldn't even say anything, just get embarrassed and open her mouth slightly, though the quiet "I… I… I…" probably meant she was going to say the same.

    "Rinko!" Hm? Someone barked my name from behind me. "Oh Riiinko. Come gimme a hand real quick."

    Letting go of Junko - who was still so touched by my words that she was speechless and motionless - I spun and looked toward the source of my name: the beautiful blonde face peering out from the changing room door. I walked over, slightly confused, only for Eimi to duck into the room. Entering the changing room, she was facing away from me, her twintails pulled over her shoulders and her costume gaping along her back.

    "Zip me up." For a moment my hand wouldn't do as I told it, staying motionless at my side. Eimi, for as much as she's changed, still has an impressive presence when I'm not expecting it. She glanced at me through the dressing room mirror, and seeing the blue of her eyes shocked me back into motion. Pulling the two pieces of fabric together, I pulled the zipper up in one smooth motion, giving the top of her dress a tiny tug to make sure it would stay put.

    "Good luck out there, Eimi! We're all counting on you!" She leaned in closer to the mirror, checking that her makeup was still perfect and tossing her pigtails back over her shoulder, brushing them into place with her fingers. Once she was satisfied with her appearance she leaned back straight, once again making eye contact with me via the mirror on the wall.

    "Do you remember what I said to you when I first agreed to join your little group?" This was a tone I hadn't heard from Eimi in quite awhile. While she was still often loud and boisterous, she had been largely rendered harmless once we had gotten to know her. Her bark was way scarier than her bite. The way she spoke now though was much more like the Eimi I had first met months ago - very hard to read, and slightly terrifying.

    "Y-Yeah. I remember…"

    "Good. Then I won't have to remind you." As soon as she turned around, it was exactly like that morning in Lina's office. I was just as paralyzed now as I was then, and I had to wonder if what we'd all seen of Eimi had just been her acting nice. "Rinko…" I found myself suddenly wrapped up in Eimi's arms, her face carefully positioned next to mine so we were just barely not touching and smudging our makeup, as she squeezed me tightly. In the mirror I could plainly see that I looked like a complete idiot, my face having gone blank from the confusion between her tone and her actions. From just below my ears, a tiny giggle started, then grew into full-blown laughter.

    "I can't believe you fell for it!" As it became clear that this was Eimi's attempt at a joke, I started laughing along with her. A little bit from the nervousness that had just lifted, but it was at least a little bit funny too. Even though we were both laughing, we remained caught up in a hug, which was as confusing as anything else that had just happened. While I'm definitely a hugger, Eimi has always seemed a lot more shy when it comes to that sort of thing, and I've gotten her palm pressed on my forehead more times than I've successfully managed to snag her up in one.

    "Y-Yeah… Haha you got me good…"

    "But seriously…" Eimi cleared her throat, then looked me directly in the eyes. "I'll deny this if you ever tell *anyone*, but… Thank you, Rinko, for not disappointing me. And I guess for not giving up on getting me to join Interlunium."

    I smiled large enough that my cheeks hurt a little.

    "Eimi! I'm so gl-"

    "Nope! This never happened. I'm gonna go warm up, and you'd better get changed. You're on after me so don't mess around." With that she walked out of the room, and our first concert was about to begin. I grabbed my garment bag off of the clothes rack and was just unzipping it when she popped her head back into the changing room for just a second, laughing hysterically before saying one last thing.

    "We got this!"

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