The next few days felt strange to Momoko, though she couldn't quite put her finger on why. She knew the guys were shaken by the appearance of Hunter in the loft, especially brandishing a knife. She couldn't imagine what would've happened if she'd been home. Not even the spectacular sales of their new merch, including the posters, could shake her feeling that something was wrong.

"These posters are the bomb," Dane enthused. "The fans are going to go crazy."

Kay had agreed, deciding that they should go up on the Peppermint Silk website even before the next gig, along with all the clothing and water bottles and other offerings. "In fact," she said, turning to Jude, "I want to have a word with you about your website. You are the one running it, right?"

"Yeah?" Jude turned to her. "Something wrong with it?"

"No no, you've done a fabulous job," Kay assured him. "But I think you need to relinquish that job to someone at the agency, okay? The simple truth is that you guys are going to be too busy in the very near future to be running your own website, and it's normal for management to take care of stuff like that."

"Oh." Jude considered. The website had always been his baby, he'd built it from scratch. But he knew she was right, no band member ran their own website. "Yeah, reckon so."

So they'd all spent a couple of hours exploring the new and improved website one evening, including looking at all the posters, which they hadn't really had a chance to examine before.

"God, Peaches, you look like walking talking sex in this," Tommy said, clicking on one of hers.

"Must I point out that I am in fact neither walking nor talking, as it is a piece of paper?" Momoko teased.

"Yeah, but you know what he means, Jesus," Sully said. "How is that dress even staying on?"

"Double sided tape," Momoko explained briefly. "Okay, that's enough ogling of me, I think. Besides, you guys have seen me completely starkers, what's the fascination?"

"It's what makes lingerie so sexy, you know that," Jude said. "The imagination is the most powerful aphrodisiac of all."

Dane just nodded.

"You guys aren't exactly dressed like schoolboys in your posters, either," Momoko noted drily, clicking on a poster of Tommy with his pants hanging almost indecently low, V-line and abs on display.

"Point taken, okay," Tommy said. "Let's look at some of the ones of all of us. Those are much more wholesome, aren't they?"

"This is my favorite," Momoko declared, enlarging one. In it, the guys all had their hands together, with Momoko sitting on them so they were carrying her. She was laughing hysterically because someone was tickling her thighs.

"That wasn't even supposed to be a photograph, she just took the snap because it was funny, remember?" Jude recalled. "God, what a bloody long day that was, but so much fun."

Momoko sniffed. "God, I love you guys," she said suddenly. "I really, really, love you guys, so tell me, please, what's wrong?"

She backed up to sit in the easy chair, curling her legs under her. "What? You've all been acting weird."

Dane took a deep breath. "When Hunter was here, he said that you were going to go away to law school and leave us."

Sullivan face palmed. "Dammit, Dane."

The other two just looked at him.

Momoko bit her lips together and looked around the room. "So? You guys knew that. I told you that the day I auditioned, remember?"

"Yeah, well, we all sort of forgot," Jude said, plopping down on the sofa. "So is it true? You going to go off to Harvard and leave us high and dry, just when we're making it big?"

The other three also sat down, their eyes on her.

Momoko swallowed, then shook her head. "No. Not true."

"But what about what you said at your audition?" Tommy pressed.

Momoko shrugged. "I changed my mind, that's all." She made this momentous decision as the words left her mouth, making them true as she uttered them. She had decided. No law school for her. She Momoko McDaniels, would be lead singer of Peppermint Silk, for better or worse, in sickness and in health, til death did them part.

"That's all?" Sully repeated. "And your family's okay with that?"

Momoko nodded. "I mean, they weren't happy, but they understand that it's my life to live ." She'd just have to make them understand, that was all. Her father would be the tough one. Her mother, even though she was Japanese, was a dreamer like her, and would want her to pursue whatever made her happy.

"But what about your applications?" Jude asked.

The other three looked at him sharply in consternation, but Momoko was looking down and didn't notice.

"I never even finished applying," she told them, the lie slipping easily off her tongue. She decided it would be easier to tell them that than to say she'd applied but would ignore any acceptances that came her way. That would just make them nervous, she figured.

"Oh." Sully, Dane, Tommy and Jude were all looking at her oddly, as though they were disappointed about something.

"What? You think I should've applied, even though I knew I wasn't going?" Momoko asked, looking at each of them in turn.

"No, you're right, no point in applying unless you definitely plan to go," Dane said.

"Yeah," Jude agreed.

"Exactly," Momoko said, nodding. "So, are we finished talking about this? We understand each other? All clear?"

"As crystal," Tommy said.

"Good." Momoko smiled, but no one smiled back.

🍙 🍡 🍣 🥟 🍘 🍥 🍮

"Okay, I'm off, anyone have any requests?" Momoko called from the door.

"Can you get some rice crackers? Osembei?" Dane called from the rehearsal area.

"Okey doke."

"You sure you don't want one of us to go with you?" Tommy asked, a line appearing between his brows. "He's out there, higher than a kite and nuttier than a fruitcake. I think one of us should go with you--"

"Tommy. No. I'm fine, it's the middle of the day, I'll be on public transit and it's crowded at the Japanese market," Momoko assured him. "I'm not some delicate blossom that needs protecting. I've got my mace and everything, see?" She held up her keychain.

He nodded, though he seemed unconvinced. "Okay. Hey, can you pick up some of that mattcha ice cream, then? In the little round balls?"

Momoko laughed from the door. "Sure." The door clicked shut behind her.

Jude emerged from the bathroom, freshly showered, and sat down. "You lot know we need to talk about this, yeah?"

Dane sighed. "Do we really, though? Why can't we just let it go, at least until after the Battle of the Bands? Like we said?"

"She lied to us, mates! To our faces!" Jude's wet hair shook indignantly. "She sat right there and said she hadn't finished applying, when we know that she did. She's even applied early decision to Yale! That means she's going to know in two months, and has to tell them yes or no! I mean, that's total bollocks. How could she?" Jude sounded like he was going to cry.

The door to Sully's room opened and he emerged, guitar in hand. "We talking about Momoko?" he asked.

"She's gone to the store, so it seemed like as good a time as any," Tommy explained.

"And we couldn't even confront her about her lie, or she'd know we'd invaded her privacy by going into her laptop," Dane finished. He, too, sounded completely miserable. "What were we thinking?"

"We were thinking we need to protect the band," Tommy said firmly. "We did and we do, so there's no point in getting all riddled with guilt now. I mean, there's plenty of that to go around, on both sides. The question is, what do we do now?"

Sullivan sighed and sat down, setting his guitar aside. "I don't know," he admitted. "What can we do is the better question, don't you think? You all must realize that at least part of the reason we've gotten even more popular these last few months is because of Momoko?" He looked around. "It's even possible that we wouldn't have gotten a manager if not for her, you realize that?"

The other three nodded.

"Plus we love her," Dane said softly. "Well, we do," he said louder when no one said anything.

"Plus we love her," Sullivan repeated with a sigh. "But that is neither here nor there. This is business. If we go to BoB with her and she leaves us, we're screwed."

"But we can't replace her now," Jude said. "The Battle's just two weeks away!"

"We could prepare, you know, cover our bases?" Tommy said. "In case?"

"Like have someone waiting in the wings?" Dane sounded doubtful. "Who'd want to do that?"

"Marshall?"

"No. Not that wanker."

"Who else, then? You have any good ideas?"

"This isn't like replacing one of us, you guys," Dane said. "I hate to say it, but that would be so much easier. She's our fucking lead singer. You just can't do that. Especially her. She's special. She's--she's our dragonfly." His eyes were suspiciously bright, but he held it together.

Jude, who was sitting next to him, rubbed his shoulder in sympathy.

"I think we all know what we have to do," Tommy said, looking around.

Sully looked back at him and nodded grimly. He pulled out his phone, scrolled, and punched a couple of buttons.

"Hey, Marshall, it's me."