EE Chapter 2

# Chapter Two - "Idol's Honor"

### Eimi

    "Remember, Ms. Inagawa. You have to promise that you won't tell a soul about what goes on in this room, ok?"

    "I can assure you, *Ms. Aihara*, nothing worth telling will be going on while I'm here."

    Leaving the other girls to get settled in, Megumi showed me through the kitchen and to her own room on the other side of the inn, at the very back of the building. If not for the signs politely asking guests to stay out, you would hardly be able to tell this area isn't meant to be viewed by the public. Carefully sliding the door open, Megumi entered the dark room and clicked a lamp on, filling about half of the room with a pale yellow light. What it illuminated was…

    I'm not really sure what I thought Megumi's room would be like. I'm not actually sure I'd given the matter any real thought at all. I've been by her room at the dorm a bunch of times to meet her for a walk, or to head to dinner or whatever, and it always seems basically like a hotel room. Always perfectly clean, her futon always folded away against the wall, and not a single piece of clothing draped over her desk chair or tossed onto the floor. Not a single thing besides the koto case propped up against the wall really speaks to the fact that the dorm room even belongs to Megumi, as though her stay at I MY ME were just a brief stop, not worth getting settled into. In quite a few ways this room wasn't very different. There was no errant clothing and no real mess. Everything was exceptionally tidy. There didn't even seem to be a layer of dust as you might expect in a room that hasn't been occupied for some time. What really stood out though is just how thoroughly *normal* the room is for a girl our age.

    It was still a very traditional room in the same style as the rest of the ryokan - about a third the size of the rooms the other girls are sharing, which means Megumi wasn't lying about it being cozier - but Megumi's personal effects aren't all as old-fashioned as her manner had led me to believe. A wooden stand in the far corner held up a small tv with an older game console attached to it. Next to it were a row of bookshelves framing the tiny window, filled with thick books but also sprinkled with girlish keepsakes and figurines among rows of magazines and manga. An entire section was piled with yellowing sheet music, held in place by a few small trophies and medals. Even the rolled up futon had a few plush animals arranged carefully next to it, and the walls had a number of posters tacked up in spots, though if I had to guess they'd been up there for over a decade at this point.

    "Well, this is it. My most intimate of spaces. Please make yourself at home. I'll grab you your own futon before we all bathe for dinner."

    "Right, it's not like I thought we were gonna have to share or something. Where's your bath anyway?"

    "Right next to the rooms we left the others in. Usually we try to bathe once the guests are done, but all the other guests are men so we won't have to worry about that. The baths are *huge* for when we get busy, though. Practically an indoor onsen, if it weren't just normal city water. I didn't realize how wonderful they were until I got to the dorms. You'll positively love them."

    "Great. I didn't realize we'd all be getting to know each other quite so well this weekend. Maybe I won't need to bother. It's only two days…" Megumi looked at me askew like I'd just grown a second head. "What? I'm not used to that kind of stuff. I have my own tub in my suite and I always get a private room when I'm traveling. I'm not a little kid anymore."

    "Really, now? Why Ms. Inagawa, you don't have to worry. I promise the rest of us will be well-behaved." She winked at me in the way she does when she's dispensed with subtlety for the sake of a joke.

    "Not helping, *Ms. Aihara*."

    "Come on, Eimi. It's not like we haven't all seen each other during costume fittings and set changes. It's a wonderful way for us to bond as a group. People have been doing it for hundreds of years."

    "Yeah, but I don't like, actually look or anything when that's happening. My mind is focused on work and work only!"

    "Really? Why? You can learn so much by paying attention. For instance, you know that mole on Junko's cheek that she's quite proud of? Did you know that she has another one right-"

    "Megumi! What's gotten into you? I don't need to know about Junko's warts or whatever."

    "I'm just happy to be home, I suppose. Don't you ever think it's wonderful to be someplace you don't need to be on your guard? But, you are correct. You're not a child, so suit yourself. But if you're not bathing you're not sleeping in here with me. I require my room to be clean and tidy or I won't be able to get *my* beauty sleep."

    "Ugh. Fine! At least I'll be the best looking one there… Just don't do any weird stuff, got it?"

    "Eimi, I'm sad that you'd even think I'm capable of doing such a thing." She tossed her hair indignantly and pouted her lips. "Afterwards though, I insist you let me show you something I think you're really going to enjoy." The pout turned into a smile, large and slightly unsettling. "I've been thinking about it ever since we started planning this trip."

    "Geeze, that doesn't sound creepy at all…"

    "No, I promise you'll love it. What did Ms. Han say… Ah, yes. Idol's honor."

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