Promptober 2026 Day 28: Witch
“Rikki. Hey.”
Anon touched Taki’s shoulder, and the contact made Taki start. She removed her headphones, and the noise of the world returned in a woosh. Composing always put her into the zone, and coming out of was is a little like returning to the surface after a long time underwater.
They were in Taki’s room. Taki was at the desk, putting the finishing touches on the band’s newest track– the newest single, Taki amended.
(Ririko said that she would have more fun if she started using ‘industry words’ for things like this, and it might even help when it comes time to start talking to agents.)
Anon and Soyo had been sitting on the other side of the room, both of them working dutifully. Soyo was sewing a button onto a long piece of fabric. Anon was carrying her sketchbook.
“Mm?” Taki blinked. “What’s up?”
“Ahh– sorry, sorry.” Anon was holding her sketchbook. “I just need your cup size.”
“Oh, it depends - between my bust and underbust it’s about–”
Taki broke off. Something in her gears of her caught, slipped, and then caught again.
“...what?”
“Your cup size,” Anon repeated. “You know.” She reached down and briefly lifted her own chest, then let it drop.
Taki’s cheeks blazed. Anon sighed.
“I’m not trying to do hijinks, Rikki.” She tapped the sketchbook. “I’m finishing the designs for the Halloween show. Honestly, could you, like, try and be a little professional?”
“...d…don’t you have that already? From last time we went through this?”
Anon shook her her. “That was six months ago. I need a new measurement. Do you know it offhand?”
“...mvvnmn mncnrs,” Taki mumbled.
“Sorry? Didn’t catch that.” Anon peered at her overtop the sketchbook.
“Nineteen centimeters,” Taki muttered.
“Perfect, thank you.” Anon wrote something down, then turned– but with a sudden motion, Taki put a hand on her shoulder.
“Hold on,” she said, her voice hard and suspicious. “Not so fast. I want to see the design.”
Anon’s eyes went wide, and very suddenly, she found it very hard to make eye contact with Taki. “...why? It’s not really done yet. You’ll like it, I’m sure– hey!”
Taki had grabbed the sketchbook and flipped it around to stare at it with narrowed eyes.
Beneath her name, Anon had written the words ‘WITCH (WICKED) (EAST)’. The dress was utterly indecent - all-black, tight, short, with a slitted skirt that would essentially have exposed Taki’s hipbones. They were paired with a pair of thigh-high stockings that were striped black and white and hooked to a garter, and a pair of boots that went almost as high as the stockings.
“Absolutely not,” Taki said. She sounded like she was about to burst a blood vessel.
Anon sighed, looking over at Soyo, who returned her a knowing nod.
“Taki-chan,” Soyo called out. “Come here. Come sit with us for a second.”
Alarm bells shrieking in my head, Taki acquiesced. Soyo and Taki sat across from her, their faces grave. Anon’s hands were folded like she was delivering some very bad news.
“Taki-chan,” Soyo said, “We need to talk.”
“W…what about?” Taki looked from one to the other.
“Sex,” Soyo said.
“Sex appeal,” Anon added.
“Sex appeal…” Taki repeated faintly.
“Taki-chan, have you watched the most recent official live recording of Ave Mujica’s current tour?” Soyo asked.
Taki shook her head slowly.
“Anon-chan?” Soyo prompted.
Anon handed Taki her phone, the screen of which was displaying a video. On it, was–
Well. Taki could not find a polite way of describing it. It was Umiri’s ass.
As the band performed Kao, the camera kept cutting back to what some cinematographer had doubtless thought was an artful, fisheye-lensed shot of Umiri playing the bass in her current stage outfit, which included a pair of tight riding pants. Or, rather, she was presumably playing bass - from this angle, her ass took up most of the frame.
“I don’t need to… see this.” Taki shook her head and gently set the phone down.
“No,” Anon said firmly. “Look at it.”
“Four point three million views, Taki-chan,” Soyo said quietly. Her elbows were on the table and her fingers were entwined. She spoke around them. “Four point three million.”
“I wouldn’t be saying this… if it weren’t important,” Anon said. Each word sounded like it was being dragged kicking and screaming from her mouth. “...Rikki. You have… insane sex appeal.”
Taki’s head was buried in her hands. “What are you talking about.”
“It’s true,” Soyo said. Taki thought she didn’t exactly sound happy about it. “A recent poll on one of the fansites–”
“What fansites? Who is making fansites?”
“--named you as ‘Most Attractive,” but also “The One You Most Wish Was Your Big Sister” and “The One You Most Want To Take On A Date.””
Anon grimaced. That one had clearly been difficult for her.
“You are athletic,” Soyo continued. “You have a good body. And you spend most of your time behind a drumset, so you come off as mysterious. If we can give people… just a glimpse of this other side of you. Just a glimpse…”
“But it’s not another side of me,” Taki protested. “It’s fake.”
“It’s ALL fake,” Soyo hissed. “Four point three million views, Taki-chan. I want to beat her.”
“Beat– who?”
Anon sighed. “Sakiko-chan.”
“That’s why I have to wear this? Because you want to beat Sakiko?”
Soyo turned to look at Anon and nodded, once.
“No,” Anon said. She picked her phone back up and swiped at it for a moment, then handed it back to Taki. “This is.”
On the screen was a LINE chatlog.
AN★2KYO: okay here’s the design for rikki
AN★2KYO: do u think it’s too much lol
AN★2KYO: like the slit and the chest window i mean
Matsu_Penpen: ……
Matsu_Penpen: oh my go d
“I see,” Taki said, very, very quietly.