Mother you’re lucky! I only got one so I’m not even close to being drunk!

"W-w-well that'ssss" *hic* "A shame. You can have one o' mine..."

Careful ears perked at the sound of the little door opening. It, and the well, had a direct connection to the Pink Palace. Perhaps Coraline had finally returned to her?

Excitement building, she rushed to the living room to see not Coraline crawling through the door, but another girl. Oh well, a soul was a soul, was it not? “Hello my dear.” The Other Mother said in a sweet voice.

I’VE NEVER BEEN TO ANIME EXPO BUT IT SOUNDS GREAT AND I HOPE YOU HAVE FUN!!!

                                                Practice, practice, practice.

Practice makes perfect is what they always said, but Kaito didn't think perfection was attainable. Still, he was doing his best, practicing in the recording booth in preparation for the actual session tomorrow. He could do it at home, he knew, but it was easier the next day if he worked out the kinks and rough spots the night before, in front of the microphone he would become intimately familiar with. He was working with a producer who was notorious for long recording sessions, and he was determined to make it as short as possible.

And so he sang, a requiem of macabre eeriness. It seemed suiting for a night-time practice session, where surely the hallways outside of the recording studio stood empty and echoing the ghosts of the day's conversations. The mic was off but he continued to sing to it, by now from memory.

     ❄~ 「たわむ　ひしぐ　奏でる　亡びの音                               集う　積もる　重なる　最期の唄                                                        響け　唄え　唱えよ　還れ 」

Eyes closed, he carefully repeated a single phrase to the empty recording studio, the finale of the piece he would attack tomorrow with full force. It became a mantra, a chant, and it felt a bit awkward to state over and over, but he could see how it would sound in the final copy, with instrumental backing and the gentle repeating of the earlier verses in the background.

     ❄~ 「灰は灰に　塵は塵に               灰は灰に　塵は塵に               灰は灰に　塵は塵に               灰は灰に　塵は塵に 」

Well, that was as close as he'd get to perfection for today, anyways. He stretched, standing, and opened his eyes, preparing to leave the booth and go home for the day ...                                  Only to see someone else on the other side of the glass.

It was with a sheepish smile that he exited the booth. He hadn't been prepared for it to be in use, but he hadn't signed up for time with it, either. If he had been paying more attention, he would have noticed her. How long had she been standing there? He hoped he hadn't made her wait too long.

     ❄~ "Sakine-san ... I'm sorry, did you mean to use this booth?"