I Absolutely Love Her... When She Smiles

None of RONDO had seen Tsubaki recently.

"Think she ran off again?" Nagisa asked, shaking her head, hands on her hips, the smallest of smiles tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Well, from what she last told me, she just isn't feeling very well," Hiiro said, putting a finger to her chin thoughtfully.

"Is she sick?" Aoi raised her eyebrows as Hiiro said this.

"Well, she didn't sound sick," Hiiro replied slowly, thoughtfully. "But she certainly didn't sound... happy."

"When is she ever?" Nagisa muttered. She couldn't stop a small smirk, at least until Hiiro glared at her, then she had the grace to at least look sorry. She wasn't trying to be snide, or downplay anything Tsubaki was going through. It was just fact that she was the most melancholic of the band.

Aoi looked away, troubled, finger also on her chin as she thought about what Nagisa and Hiiro had said. It was true that Tsubaki was the saddest, moodiest of the quartet, but Aoi hated to think that Tsubaki may have been more upset than usual. She wondered if there was a way she might help cheer the singer up, although that would require Aoi to understand what she was unhappy about in the first place...

Well, after a little digging and a little prying, it seemed as though Tsubaki's primary concerns could be summed up in two words: money and success. She was not a materialistic or shallow woman who was only in it for the fame and fortune, but none of RONDO could deny that their band wasn't doing as well as they thought or hoped. Despite a strong start in college, they were hitting a slump. They were something like starving artists now, although they were not quite that strapped for cash... yet. But it was, admittedly, getting a little too close for comfort.

Aoi understood. It was something that troubled her, and the rest of the band, too. She just hadn't realized how heavily it was weighing on Tsubaki. But it made sense. It was exactly like Nagisa pointed out earlier, she was always the most anxious of them all. Now Aoi found her desire to cheer Tsubaki up redoubled. But how? Well, eventually, she decided to write a song for the other woman. But...

Aoi's pencil touched paper, but nothing came out. She wasn't the songwriter, after all, that was Tsubaki! But of course, since this was supposed to be a surprise song for Tsubaki, Aoi couldn't exactly ask for her help, now could she?

Is there anything I AM good at writing? Aoi asked herself. She used to dabble in creative writing when she was younger, but nothing ever really came of it. It was just a little hobby on the side. But, she did still remember how to pen a story, at least vaguely.

Hmm, maybe that was what she'd do. She'd write a story of Tsubaki... for Tsubaki! Maybe it sounded a little weird, but it seemed to do the trick, because Aoi's pencil finally started moving across the page. What it wrote read, "This is the story of a girl who cried a river and drowned the whole world. And while she looks so sad and lonely there, I absolutely love her... when she smiles!"

Aoi sat back and started thinking again. How would the story of Tsubaki go? What would it say? Well... How many days in a year did Tsubaki wake up with hope only to find tears? And Aoi knew she could be insincere and insensitive. It wasn't intentional, of course. She just wasn't the best at receiving affection. And she was so laidback that sometimes it seemed like she was being dismissive, even though she wasn't. But she knew how she came off, how sometimes her comforts and promises never seemed for real.

As long as she stands there waiting, Aoi thought with a bittersweet smile. As long as Tsubaki always wound up coming back to RONDO in the end, Aoi was happy. That was one of the many things she loved about Tsubaki. No matter how afraid she might've been at any moment, she was always willing to try again for their sake, and stand there, waiting for them.