Chapter Text
A distant glow lingered just beyond the muted safety of Sara’s closed eyelids, a constant, pleasant presence of peace and security. A faint mumbling in a familiar voice was tracing its way across her brain, weaving some sort of tale that she knew she could listen to for hours on end even if she couldn’t quite discern its speaker.
Whether her heart or her head was lighter, she’d never have been able to say, but the tranquil airiness of the world as she laid in silence provided more bliss than she’d experienced in quite a long time. There was a reason the peace seemed so foreign to her, why even in its serene state her brain screamed a protest that something was terribly wrong, but it was nearly impossible for her to figure out why.
She reached her fingers out, her drowsy mind insisting that they’d be met with the gentle prickle of grass, but instead there came the soft texture of bedsheets beneath her touch.
Even as her face twisted in mild confusion, there came a buzzing beneath her head- gentle but insistent, repeating over and over and drilling itself into her brain.
She tossed her head from side to side as the buzzing grew louder, the world around her began to sharpen, the warm glow of the light became clearer, clearer-
Sara stirred awake tangled in the blankets of her bed, a fresh sheen of sweat lingering on her skin. It took a few blinks for her eyes to adjust to the light streaming unevenly in through the hastily-closed blinds over her bedroom window, but once they did she recognized the warmly-tinted hue of late afternoon sunlight. The clock perched on her bedside table, flickering a decisive “4:22 p.m.,” confirmed her suspicions.
She squinted with disbelief at the glowing digital numbers, batting her overgrown bang of bright orange hair out of her line of vision. God, she needed to get it cut before she went to college; it had remained an amusing relic of a botched hair-styling session at a sleepover with Joe when the two of them were 16. Joe had bribed Sara into cutting her hair in a style equally as ridiculous as his, and she’d reluctantly agreed- on the condition that she be allowed to add a few extra spikes to the atrocious excuse for a mullet he’d let some upperclassmen trim his hair into. She’d held onto the hairstyle throughout high school for the sheer amusement of it all, but she was long overdue for a change.
Sara shook her head blearily as she clambered out of bed and glanced from side to side in a vague search for the buzzing that had managed to penetrate her drowsy state. She had no idea how she’d managed to sleep so late; she was a diligent early riser and had been ever since she was young. She wasn’t like Joe, who’d frequently slept so late that Sara and Ryoko had needed to call his mother and ask her to wake him up. She supposed that she’d begun to let herself slip, let her self-disciplinary nature begin to relax… much to her own chagrin.
She stood still for a second to better locate the sound of the buzzing, and thus realized that the noise was coming from under her pillow. Peering at it with rapt confusion, she lifted it up to find her cellphone, the home screen filled with a long series of text notifications from Ryoko. As she squinted at the top one, a new notification popped up to overtake the others.
With a sigh, Sara tapped Ryoko’s contact name and held the phone up to her ear. She didn’t have to endure the dial tone for too long, thankfully, for by the first ring Ryoko had already picked up.
“ Finally !” Ryoko exclaimed from the other end, exasperation dripping from her voice. “God, Sara, I thought you were dead! I’ve been texting you since noon and you haven’t given me a single response.”
“Ryoko, I literally just woke up.” Sara treaded lightly back over to her bed and sat down, voice cracking weakly against her sleep-roughened throat.
“No fucking way,” Ryoko laughed. “The hell were you doing last night to wake up so late? Going on a bender?”
“I hung out with Joe for a bit and then stayed up late packing,” Sara mumbled. “We went biking out to the train tracks after I got back and then hung out there for a little bit. Just a normal late night, y’know? Traveling makes me tired, don’t freak out.”
“Uh-huh, sure,” came Ryoko’s amused reply. “Anyways, we need to hang out. As soon as possible. You’re leaving for university, I’m leaving for university, Joe is… well, he’s still gonna be here fucking around, but he’s gonna be far away from both of us, so that doesn’t matter. I’m gonna miss you guys!” The pout in Ryoko’s voice was audible.
“Yeah, we do,” Sara replied listlessly. “You wanna go out tonight?”
“Sara Chidouin, you are a fuckin’ mind reader.”
“Thank you, thank you, I do try,” Sara responded with mock graciousness.
“‘Kay, glad we’ve got things sorted out. Be ready in, like, thirty minutes. I’ll come to pick you up, but make sure you’ve got your bike. Gonna try to wake Joe up before I leave the house.”
“He’s still not awake?” Sara sputtered, choosing to ignore Ryoko’s refusal to divulge any of her plans for the day. It had become a normal part of her friendship with Ryoko by that point.
“Nope,” Ryoko sighed. “I swear to god, that man sleeps like a fucking log. I have no idea how he thinks he’s gonna get a job considering how many times he used to show up late to school.”
“Let’s hope he had the foresight to go for the evening shifts.”
“ Joe ? Having foresight?” Ryoko responded incredulously. “That’s the most wishful thinking I’ve heard all week, and I had to endure a full conversation of Joe asking me if he could tag along with one of us when we left and hide in our dorms for half a year. He was dead serious, too. Convinced nobody would manage to catch him.”
“ Please tell me you’re joking.” Sara massaged at the bridge of her nose.
“One hundred percent genuine, babe,” Ryoko replied.
“You know, are we sure we’re going to be able to leave him at home?” Sara asked. After a brief moment of consideration, she rose from her bed and crossed over to her wardrobe, shuffling through the neat lines of clothing and wearily blinking out the dust that had accumulated in the corners of her eyes. “I’m really not sure if he’s gonna be able to survive without us.”
“You should’ve thought of that sooner,” Ryoko said lightly. “All we can do now is place bets on how long it’s gonna take him to get into trouble. Ten bucks says he’ll break one of his bones the first week we’re gone.”
“Aw, give him a little more credit than that,” Sara protested, pulling a thick sweater off its hanger and draping it over her arm. “My money’s on the first three weeks.”
“You’re a hopeful woman,” Ryoko responded gravely. “And a foolish one, too.”
“And you’re an asshole,” Sara giggled into the receiver. “Be a little nicer to Joe. In fact, I think you should be a dear and go try to wake him up again.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll try, but if he ignores any more of my calls I’m personally biking to his house and breaking a window.”
“Windows are expensive, Ryo,” Sara airily reminded her.
“My time is expensive, too,” Ryoko replied, voice laced with a sour affectation that quickly melted into a cheerful singsong. “Wish me luck, Sara!”
“Good luck,” Sara laughed. “Please don’t kill him.”
“No promises, darling.” With that crisp farewell, as theatrical as always, Ryoko hung up and Sara gently placed her phone down.
Within the span of a few minutes, Sara had dressed herself in a simple but warm outfit and tied her hair up into its familiar ponytail, another teasing reminder that she was due to get it trimmed soon. She was no longer a child, she had to remind herself, no longer someone whose appearance and lifestyle could be guided by humor and frivolity.
She still had plenty of time to waste until Ryoko was due to come knocking, and she was certain that somewhere across town a bleary-eyed boy was in the middle of receiving a barrage of reprimands. Sara cast a quick glance around her room to ensure that everything was tidy, and indeed it was; her bedsheets were tucked in crisply, her collection of stuffed animals lined neatly up across the end of the bed as though they’d been arranged for show. Kuro, the cat keychain Joe had gifted her in their second year, was sitting obediently on her desk next to a cup of pencils and a neat stack of notebooks from high school that she hadn’t gotten the chance to sort through.
Sara marched across the room to pick up the little cat, giving it a fond glance as she rotated it between her fingers. She’d received it as thanks for the dog keychain she’d given to Joe when the two of them were hardly friends, the one he’d abruptly declared his most prized possession and promised to carry until graduation.
He’d stayed true to his word, much to Sara’s delight, holding up the keychain with that signature dopey grin of his directly after accepting his diploma. Even after he’d graduated (though Sara and Ryoko had both joked that he’d only barely managed to pass senior year), the dog had remained faithfully in his pockets at any given point in time, sometimes peeking out of a shirt pocket or tucked into his shorts.
The sight of the ever-present keychain always gave Sara a spark of joy, and yet, strangely enough, her joy was always accompanied by a hollow pang of sadness. It was as though the keychain wasn’t supposed to be there, as if there had been a grave misplacement. Perhaps he’d merely outgrown the keychain, and the idea of him seeming all too similar to his high school self was unsightly. The bitter ache of knowing he got to remain carefree and cheerful in their hometown even as Sara was thrust into the real world and subjected to all its unknowns.
Sara shook her head as if to dispel the flurry of unpleasant thoughts, closing her hand around Kuro and wincing slightly as the sharp edges of hard plastic ears pressed into her palm. With measured movements, she returned the little cat to the desk upon which it had been sitting and, after a thoughtful pause, sat herself down in front of the mirror sitting on the desk.
Sara contemplated herself for a quiet second, observing the way the golden sunlight flickering through the branches just outside her bedroom window danced across her face, sprinkling her nose and cheeks with an indulgent warmth. She hardly recognized her features when they were shaped so pristinely by the light, shadows cutting hard and unforgiving edges in the places the illumination couldn’t manage to reach.
Sara had never been a huge fan of mirrors in general; she’d never considered beauty to be a strong suit of hers, and thus didn’t spend too much time examining herself unless it was to adjust her uniform before heading off to school. Even so, she was surprised to see her face carved so sharply, like a finely-cut block of stone hewn from the ground.
Since when had her appearance become so cruel?
Sara’s stomach lurched unpleasantly, and with the creak of her chair against the hardwood floor, she stood up and paced away from her desk. In her peripheral vision, speckles of crimson peppered her face’s reflection. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and hoped it was just a trick of the sunlight, though even she had to question why.
Sara glanced absentmindedly at the clock sitting on her bedside table. Twenty-five minutes had passed; Ryoko would be arriving soon. With one last cursory stare around her bedroom to make sure nothing had been forgotten, she turned and stepped out onto the landing, letting the door swing shut behind her with a solid “click.”
Sara treaded down the stairs with soft steps, keenly observing the tranquility that had settled over the house in its late evening state. She had no idea where her parents were, and likely wouldn’t know for the rest of the night. The only sounds filling the sunset-hued house were the faint clinks and clanks of dishes in the kitchen, accompanying the savory aroma of whatever was being cooked that was wafting steadily through the house.
“Kai?” Sara called softly as she padded into the kitchen and was immediately enveloped by a cloud of aromatic steam.
The homemaker gave no verbal response, merely letting out a soft noise of affirmation as he looked up from the pot of food he was stirring. The haze of steam softened his features such that Sara could only barely make out his piercing eyes and the few strands of ebony hair that had managed to escape the tie holding it up.
“Good evening, Miss Sara,” he said slowly. “I’m pleased to see you awake.”
She nodded, a sufficient response for someone so quiet. “I’m going to go out with Ryoko and Joe, hope that’s alright. I shouldn’t be back too late.”
Kai glanced offhandedly towards the stove. “Shall I place something aside should you, indeed, arrive home late? Best not to save a hot meal only to let it grow cold.”
“Sounds good to me!” Sara cheerfully replied. “Thank you so much, by the way, this smells great.”
She couldn’t quite make out Kai’s face beyond the dark hair and clouds of steam, but she nearly caught a smile quirking up the edges of his lips. “Merely a day’s duty, Miss Sara,” he replied simply.
Sara gave another nod, just as the ring of a bike’s bell came shrilly from the road outside her house.
“I believe your friends are waiting,” Kai remarked, quiet amusement warming his voice.
“Sounds like Ryoko,” Sara agreed, pacing towards the front door. “Bye, Kai!”
“Goodbye, Miss Sara,” Kai responded as the door closed.
“Woo, there she is!” Ryoko hollered cheerfully, perched on her bike in the middle of the road. Joe was sitting next to her, a very remorseful look on his face as Ryoko slung her arm across his shoulders. “ Someone knows not to waste my time! Thirty minutes, on the dot.”
“You’re being so unfair,” Joe complained. “I literally woke up, like, the third time you called me.”
“Why did it take you until five p.m. to wake up?” Ryoko countered.
“I was tired, okay?” Joe protested fervently. “Is sleeping that much of a crime?”
“You two can stop bickering like an old married couple now,” Sara lightly chided them, wheeling her bike out to the main road to join the squabbling pair.
The argument automatically halted as the two best friends redirected their attention towards Sara. Joe grinned enthusiastically back at her as he was always prone to do, his smile stretching the corners of his lips and dimpling his cheeks with infectious warmth. Whether he was genuinely pleased to see her or just relieved to be free of Ryoko’s teasing, Sara couldn’t be sure.
“Hey, Sara,” Joe greeted gently, lifting one arm for a hug that she swiftly leaned into.
“Hey, Joe,” she replied. “Hey, Ryo. Guess you didn’t have to break his window after all?”
“Jesus, Ryo, you didn’t tell me that was your alternate plan!” Joe exclaimed. “You said you were
gonna call my mom, not break into my damn house!”
“Maybe I downplayed it a bit,” Ryoko replied easily, eyes twinkling with mischief. It was impossible to stay angry at Ryoko no matter how teasing her words became, just like how Joe’s soft eyes could manage to dampen any frustration with him in seconds flat. Both friends had such a sense of warm humor about them that any acquaintance of theirs would be hard-pressed not to love them.
“Alright, alright,” Sara spoke up (though she was grinning as she did so). “Are you gonna tell us where we’re going, Ryoko, or is tonight the kind of night where you lead us into the forest to get killed?”
“Not tonight,” Ryoko promised, “but don’t give up hope just yet. We’re running out of time to do that, y’know. Can’t miss out on all the fun teenage activities before we go to college.”
“Oh, of course not,” Sara replied. “Should I take that as a no, then?”
“Oh, you know me too well,” Ryoko grinned. “Just follow after me, I promise we won’t be going too far.”
“You’re just trying to force us to go slower than you, aren’t you?” Sara deadpanned.
“Maybe.”
“You already go so slowly,” Joe groaned, swinging one leg over his bike and planting a foot on the pedal. “Ryo, you’re the worst.”
“That I am, and proud of it, darling,” Ryoko beamed. “Alright, let’s go. The chances of us getting arrested are slightly less if the sun’s still up.” With that disconcerting remark, she took off down the road, jet-black hair fluttering in the wind.
“Arrested?” Joe yelled after her. “Does that mean we’re trespassing somewhere again?”
“Hurry up!” Was Ryoko’s only response.
“I do not believe that woman knows how laws work,” Joe quietly confided before lifting his foot off the ground and letting his bike pick up speed.
Sara giggled, climbing astride her bike and beginning to pedal down the sloped road. The evening sky spread out before her, as picturesque as a mural and swirling with more hues than she could name. The clouds were rich and glorious, clustering into plump orange pillows along the skyline and rising slowly into rosy wisps that streaked vividly across the sky.
A gust of warm summer wind, cut with a cool undercurrent, rushed at her face as her bike coasted down the hill and leveled out on flat ground, lifting her ponytail into the air behind her. Sara laughed openly with surprise. Ahead of her, Joe turned to find the source of the laughter and beamed, briefly lifting one hand from the handlebars to wave at her.
The three of them glided out of the neighborhood and onto the main road, turning a left onto the path Sara had grown accustomed to taking to school.
“Wait, Ryo, are we going to Sonobeno?” Sara hollered into the wind.
There came no response for a few moments, then a bitter “goddamnit!” that elicited a burst of laughter from Sara.
“Fuck you and your deductive skills, Sara!” Ryoko called out, whipping her head around to give Sara a glare that held no true anger. Sara merely grinned and shrugged in response.
Joe took the opportunity to speed ahead of Ryoko, lifting his arms from the handlebars and holding them up so grandly that he almost looked regal in the fading light of the sunset.
“You’re gonna get yourself killed,” Sara shouted, as Ryoko chimed in with a chorus of “crash, crash, crash, crash!”
“Screw you, I won’t crash now out of spite!” Joe yelled back.
Only moments later, his bike lurched slightly (perhaps stumbling over a pebble) and with a cry of surprise Joe reluctantly returned his hands to the handlebars.
“Told you,” Sara chuckled as she caught up to her best friend.
“Shut up,” Joe replied with equal lightheartedness.
The two of them turned another corner, Ryoko gliding indignantly in their stead, and the height of their former school loomed above them. Perhaps it had seemed threatening once, when a much younger Sara had approached it knowing nothing about the school other than the design of its uniforms and the fact that it didn’t have a kendo club, but now it was a monster that had long since been tamed. Those days were far behind her.
“Alright, here we are,” Ryoko gleefully declared, her bike skidding to a stop just outside the gates.
Joe glanced back and forth with bewilderment as he too came to a stop. “Here? Are we just gonna sit on the sidewalk?”
“No, genius. We’re sitting up there. ” Ryoko pointed just beyond the gates, in the direction of the hill on the school’s grounds where the three of them had spent many lunch periods sitting and laughing with books and food spread out across the grass.
“But the gates are locked.”
“No shit.” Ryoko carefully leaned her bike up against the gate and took a step back to size it up. “That’s why we’re climbing them!” With that, she reached up to take hold of a layer of bricks jutting just far enough out of the wall and used them as leverage to clamber up the wall.
“I thought you were joking when you said we might get arrested,” Joe complained, reluctantly climbing up after her as Ryoko launched herself over the wall and thumped safely on the other side.
“Hopefully we won’t get caught,” Sara called out as she climbed up onto the brick wall. “It’s summer, doubt anyone’s gonna be here at sunset except for maybe a janitor or two. I don’t think they get paid enough to care, anyway.”
“That’s the spirit!” Ryoko gave one of her ferocious grins and took off sprinting across the grass, followed by Joe and then Sara as the two of them landed on the school grounds in quick succession.
The sun had begun to dip below the horizon line, taking its sweet and hazy time as nature always seemed to do. Sara squinted against the golden glare of the sunlight, sprinting up the steep slope of the hill and struggling for traction against the soft grass. Eventually, she reached the top and slumped with relief against the steady, familiar tree that had managed to stand the test of time through all of her school years.
“We’re getting so old.” Joe was the first to speak up, groaning his complaint into the low hum of the evening. “I think my lungs are going to burst.”
“Speak for yourself,” Sara chortled.
“Not my fault you did kendo outside of school!”
“Weren’t you part of some sports team?” Ryoko asked. “You should not be this out of shape.”
“Times change, Ryoko,” Joe proclaimed sagely, folding his arms behind his head and leaning back into the tall grass. The groundskeepers had never bothered to care for the grass atop the hill, and it had grown wildly long, sporting tiny daisies and clovers peeking out amidst the verdant carpets of green. It would have been easy to lose Joe among the tall tendrils.
“I’m gonna miss this place,” Sara admitted, wrapping her arms around her knees. “This was our lunch spot for all of high school. Wonder which snotty freshman is gonna come replace us when we’re gone.”
“Doubt it’s gonna be a freshman,” Ryoko replied. “One of the kids in the class below us has been eyeing this spot for years . I think he was glad to see us gone.”
“He’s a dumbass if he thinks he’s seen the last of us,” Joe interjected, sticking an arm up from amidst the sea of grass just to confirm he was still there. “If he thinks I’m not gonna personally use my lunch break to come jump the fence and kick him out, he is sorely mistaken.”
“Please don’t harass the schoolchildren, Joe,” Sara mumbled, prompting a chuckle from her best friend.
“It’d be for a worthy cause,” he appealed.
Sara merely shook her head, the warmth of the balmy air pleasant against her cheeks. “I’m gonna miss some of the teachers here, too. A lot of them were shitty, but honestly, I had a decent amount of good ones.”
“Oh, boy, I bet they’ll miss you too,” Ryoko groaned, leaning back and gazing up into the swaying branches above. “Sara Chidouin, little miss perfect student. All of them will be crying when they come into the classroom next year and don’t see you in one of their seats. Bet half of them were tempted to fail you just so you’d be held back.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Sara giggled, swatting her friend on the arm. “Stop pretending like you weren’t almost perfect too.”
“Yeah, I would’ve been,” Ryoko remarked forlornly, “if it wasn’t for that fucking B in precalc. That’s probably why so many colleges rejected me.”
“If it’s any comfort, I nearly failed a beginner’s level art class,” Sara offered sheepishly.
“Oh my god, wasn’t that when we were in Mishima’s class?” Joe called out.
“Yeah,” Sara replied.
“Honestly, dude, you probably would’ve failed if Mishima wasn’t the teacher. He’s the nicest teacher I’ve ever had; I think he’s the only one who actually acts like he wants to be there.”
“Damn, is he really that nice?” Ryoko asked disbelievingly. “Guess I should’ve taken art. How’d you manage to fail that anyway, Sara? That’s like the easiest possible class you could have.”
“ Nearly fail,” Sara corrected.
“Okay, okay, nearly fail. Answer the question.”
Sara remained silent.
“It’s a sensitive topic,” Joe exclaimed, still lost somewhere in the grass atop the hill.
“Shut up ,” Sara replied, shifting over to where her best friend was lying and flopping down beside him. “How’s the view from there?”
“Gorgeous,” Joe murmured.
The three of them fell silent, and all of a sudden things were just as how they’d been the night before; the evening sky sprawled out above them, an endless tapestry of glowing hues casting warm blushes upon their faces.
The night was brilliantly ordinary, splendid in its simplicity; just the three of them hanging out as they always had, their conversations as idle as their hearts.
Sara couldn’t quite fathom why simplicity felt like such an indulgence, why the stupid conversations and harmless teases felt so precious… but she wanted to enjoy it while it lasted.
Which turned out to be the amount of time it took for Joe’s stomach to growl.
“I’m hungry,” came Joe’s whining voice.
“Goddamnit, I knew we should’ve brought snacks,” Ryoko cursed.
The three of them fell silent for one blissful moment before Joe let out another complaining whine.
“You’re worse than a child, you know that?” Sara spoke up lightly. “I’ve never heard Gin or Kanna whine as much as you do.”
“Rude,” Joe mumbled quietly.
“There’s a convenience store a few blocks away, isn’t there?” Sara offered after another pause.
Another one of those insufferable silences muffled the group before Joe sat straight up, grass tangled in his hair and an exceptional grin on his face.
The failing speakers lined up across the threshold of the convenience store chimed weakly as the doors slid crisply open, briefly disturbing the faint pop song filling the otherwise-hushed aisles. The cool air washed comfortably over Sara as soon as she stepped inside, a welcome change from the muggy heat of the evening outdoors.
“Hello?” Joe called hesitantly, eyes fixed on the abandoned counter. “You don’t think they’re closed, do you? God, I don’t think it’s a good thing to trespass in two places in one night. Bad luck, man.”
“I doubt the automatic doors would’ve opened if it was closed,” Sara responded wearily.
“Oh… good point,” Joe remarked sheepishly. “How are we gonna pay, though? Are we just gonna steal?”
“The cashier’s probably taking a break in the back,” Ryoko sighed. “I’m gonna go grab a slushie.”
As Ryoko hurried towards the back of the store and Joe paced towards the hot foods, Sara drifted uncertainly between aisles, examining the rows of packaged snacks. The store was several decades old; the neon lights lining the walls, curled into the vague patterns of cups, had begun to flicker and fade, letting out a low and miserable buzz. The drink machines were only a few years old, but several of the glowing lights illuminating the drink signs had already blinked out. Bright red cherry slushy and lemonade churned in their mixers on the counter, next to sorrowful-looking coffee machines and a rather new-looking milkshake mixer. Ryoko was leaning with her back against the counter’s edge, sipping thoughtfully from her oversized drink, while Joe (who’d already filled up his cup) sorted through the complimentary packets of sugar and salt.
Sara glanced over the candy aisle for the third time, eventually grabbing a pack of strawberry-flavored gummies just as there came the creak of a door from behind the counter.
“Oh, shit,” the worker mumbled audibly as the door slammed shut behind him.
“Shin?” Sara called out. “I didn’t know you were working tonight’s shift.”
The worker gave a long sigh as he paced back behind the cash register, adjusting the telltale moss-green beanie sitting atop his head that made him recognizable from a mile away. “Well, I wasn’t. ‘Til my fucking coworker didn’t show up and I had to take over for him.”
“That sucks,” Joe frowned, glancing up from the tower of sugar packets he’d been slowly stacking.
Shin nodded, brows furrowing. “Yeah. Sucks.”
Shin was, by some complications of blood connection and adoption, the older brother of Kugie Kizuchi, a friend of the three who attended high school a few towns over. The story of his connection to her was a confusing one: something involving Kugie’s sister Kanna being his younger sister by blood, of Kanna being put up for adoption in infancy because of some reason relating to stress or financial troubles. As Kugie had recounted it, Shin had shown up on the Kizuchi’s doorstep one spring day with a hastily-scrawled address in his hand and confusion painted all over his face. After the introductions and legal confusion had been taken care of, Shin had begun to work his way into their lives, visiting their house at points, sometimes picking up Kanna from school and hanging out with her at his apartment. It was how the three had come to know him, from the day they’d come to Kugie’s house after school and found a strange, scrawny man playing a racing game against Kanna and clearly losing.
Ryoko and Joe lost interest in the conversation quickly; Ryoko turned back to her drink, idly stirring it with her brightly-colored straw, and Joe placed another packet onto his pile only to cry out with displeasure when it toppled over.
Sara, however, approached the counter, behind which Shin was side-eyeing the tip jar with feigned disinterest. She’d never been on the best terms with the man, for some reason or another; he always managed to start arguments with her about frustrating topics or make snide comments on days when her tension ran the lowest.
But if there was one thing Sara Chidouin hated, it was leaving a poor impression on people. The time until she left home was dwindling, and the worst she could do was dampen an already unpleasant dynamic.
“Hey, Shin,” Sara began lightly, resting her elbows on the cool counter. “How’s Kanna doing?”
Shin eyed her wryly. “I’m sure you can just ask Kugie. She spends more time with Kanna anyway, she’d know better than I do.”
“Dude, I know that,” Sara scoffed. “I just wanted to know how she’s doing from, y’know, your perspective.”
“My perspective?” Shin quirked an eyebrow.
“Yeah. I mean, Kugie never chose to have Kanna as a sister but you chose to seek her out, didn’t you? Feel like you might have a bit of a different perspective on her?”
“I’m not buying drugs from you or giving you money or whatever you want from me. Go away.”
“Do I look like the kind of person who’d try to sell drugs?” Sara demanded, doing her very best to sound hurt.
Shin shrugged. “You never know.”
“Alright, that’s fair, but I’m not trying to get money out of you. Just figured I’ve kinda been a bitch to you and I’m gonna miss Kanna when I’m gone, so I might as well ask.”
Kanna was a soft spot for Shin; even Sara, in all of her decisive avoidance of the man, was able to tell. As sallow and miserable as he was for a 21-year-old, the mention of his little sister always made his eyes light up without fail. His joy in finally meeting his sister was unquestionable, and even (though Sara would only ever admit it reluctantly) contagious.
“She’s doing well,” Shin spoke up eventually, sliding a stray coin along the countertop. “Her grades are excellent, from what I’ve heard. Really smart kid, I think she has a bright future ahead of her. I don’t think Kugie likes me very much. Kanna told me that Kugie wasn’t all that kind to her when she first moved in, but once she realized what a sweet kid she was, the two of them caught on like wildfire. I think Kugie’s a bit jealous that I’m here to compete with her for Kanna.”
Sara nodded slowly. Kugie was boisterous and didn’t talk often of how things were at home, but there were times when Sara got the sense that her lighthearted teasing towards Shin ran a bit deeper than friendly jabs.
“That makes sense,” Sara said. “Don’t be too harsh on her, though, alright? Maybe that’s just her natural reaction to new siblings entering her household.”
Shin chuckled. “Maybe so, maybe so.”
“I’m glad you got to be reunited with your sister, though,” Sara said softly. “She seems really happy whenever she’s hanging out with you.”
Shin nodded. “I’m glad, too. It’s made these last few years slightly less shitty.”
Sara smiled, suddenly rather happy on the behalf of the friend’s brother who always gave her a judgmental look when she walked through the convenience store’s doors.
“TAZUNA!” Shin suddenly snapped. “You’re not getting out of here without paying! Come back here.”
Sara whirled to find her best friend approaching the counter with an empty drink cup in hand, looking remarkably deflated.
“I don’t even get a drink on the house every once in a while…? I thought we were friends,” Joe pouted, placing his cup on the counter and reaching into his pocket to search for his wallet.
“We’ve never been friends,” Shin replied curtly, holding a pale hand out for the owed money.
“Friendly acquaintances?” Joe offered, pulling a few bills out of his wallet with a flourish.
“That’s a stretch.” Shin accepted the money. “Want a receipt?”
“Nah,” Joe shook his head. “You ready to go, Sara?”
“You’re not letting Ryoko get out of here without paying, either,” Shin sighed, prompting an immediate look of disappointment from Joe. “It’s like you little shits want me to lose my job.”
Ryoko laughed openly as she strode to the counter, her laughter melodizing wonderfully with Joe’s groan of complaint. Sara chuckled along as Shin merely shook his head, letting out a sigh that dripped with exhaustion. There was a strange fondness in the air, a sense of pride in response to seeing Shin smile faintly as he shook his head.
Kanna would’ve been happy to hear of it.