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“Lovely!”
The daimon fell apart, its hinged limbs- yes, like door hinges- turning into ash before their eyes. It was a ghastly sight, knowing that mere moments ago it had been Michiru’s viola case. Haruka poked the pile of ash and metal with her Oxford shoes, hissing at the remains. It was definitely beyond salvation. She didn't think it was reparable, but she hoped there was something more left of it that wasn’t… That.
She picked up what was left of a moisture meter- probably- and threw it at the skid marks left by Eudial's car. "And we almost had her, too." This time, the pure heart she was after was one of the musicians in the same orchestra as Michiru. The problem was that Eudial had set the trap for the wrong person, and now they had a bit of a problem.
Haruka leaned against a lamp post and waited for Michiru to say something about it. Michiru seemed to be stuck in place, frozen to the cement. She had been staring at the same spot on the alley floor for- Haruka looked at her watch- three and a half minutes. Then she moved. Her fingers twitched, miming the action of strangling someone.
“Haruka?”
“... Yeah?”
“Do you know what that case was?” Michiru didn’t pause before continuing. “That was a Musafia viola case imported from Italy. It cost me ¥418,000, ignoring the cost to get this case here. I paid an extra ¥1,000 for the cutting of the fabric.” She paced back and forth, slowly going beet red. “That by-blow damaged my viola too! It costs more than every organ in that lech’s body. Double, even! I should-” Haruka tuned out as she went into detail about how her authentic something-or-other viola strings were worth a kidney each. She didn't want to hear any more details about organ harvesting.
Haruka just nodded along, slowly nodding off as Michiru went on to lay down the hard facts about her ludicrously expensive instruments. If she didn’t stop soon, Haruka was going to pass out. “I’m going to…” The violist paused and took a deep breath. “I’m going to order another case. Without the fabric this time. Because it’s no longer in production.” Michiru smiled, and Haruka almost didn’t notice her eyebrow twitching. It seemed she was still ready to blow a fuse over this. Haruka would be too if she had any interest in the violin’s lesser-known cousin. Instead, she was sweating bullets over the price. Still. The amount of money poured into that case was horrifying, alright? Haruka still wasn’t used to how much expenditure they had, and ¥400,00 was nothing to laugh at.
It just- it cost so much money. Haruka got teary-eyed just thinking about it. She pulled a crumpled napkin out of her uniform pocket and dabbed at her eyes. "Is this one going to be ¥418,000 too?" Michiru's eyes narrowed, and Haruka just nodded. "Gotcha. Don't question the musician."
After they both calmed down, Haruka grabbed Michiru’s wrist and began tugging her towards the only open restaurant within walking distance. MOS Burger, the only thing they could afford with the wads of cash in Haruka’s pockets. Michiru probably had something on her, but this was her treat. Michiru cringed as the neon sign came into view.
“What are we doing?”
“Well, I’m getting a burger. And you’re going to discover the genius that is MOS Burger since I’m sure you’ve never been.” The heavy silence told her everything she needed to know. Michiru has, in fact, not been to MOS Burger before, and now they’re going to mourn over her viola case with a burger or two. "It's a better way to end the night than having a funeral over your Mufasa violin case, and we can relax a little before heading in." Haruka's genius joke got nothing more than a sharp exhale. "Too much?"
They were already inside the restaurant before she complained.
Not used to eating anything that didn't cost an arm and a leg, she looked around dubiously. "Do we have to?"
"I mean, no, but we're already in here. So..."
Michiru sighed.
Haruka- 1, Michiru- 0.