Chapter Text
Maya Tendou has dedicated all her life to theater. Acting, dancing, singing...she can’t remember a single time when her actions weren’t influenced by her goal of showing a breathtaking performance, worthy of the brightest star in the sky, that can keep shining even in the darkest and cloudy nights.
Her mind is always on stage, sacrificing everything to keep putting at least one foot on it, pretending to be someone else, telling a story and living just for the audience applause...that is enough reward for her hard work, isn't it?
She would like to say that it is, but she’ll be lying to herself. It is not.
Don’t misunderstand her, she enjoys acting with all highs and lows that being a top star can have, but...after all these years she can’t help questioning her true motivations for keep going with all this.
Was this what she really wanted?
Being the daughter of a renowned stage actor and a prima donna is not easy. They have a lot of expectations on their child and failure is never an option. Maya understood it and to keep the prestige that being a Tendou meant, she worked hard, really hard, even though she has the talent for that kind of stuff, she never took a break and until now she keeps working hard just to get her parents approval...just to satisfy them.
You would think that with who she is right now would be enough. A well-known and award-winning actress, that is praised for her extraordinary performances and has proven herself to be perfect in almost everything she does given her young age. But it is not, no for them. There is always a flaw to highlight in her performances or something to improve even more.
She can’t remember a single time where they congratulated her. They are never satisfied.
Maybe that’s her problem.
Since she was born everyone had already decided what Maya would be, she limited herself to obey and try to fulfill those expectations and with time she learned to enjoy it but now she was getting tired of just “enjoying” it.
She wants to feel something more.
That’s when she met Claudine.
They both were casted as the lead roles for a new play called Starlight . A tragedy that tells the story of two goddesses, Claire and Flora, how they met and the travel they must do to retrieve a star when Claire loses all her memories of Flora. It was a huge production and everybody had a lot of expectations, so only the best of the best will have a chance to play a role.
Having said that, Claudine wasn’t just any actress, the fact that she got one of the lead roles said a lot about the young woman's talent and she knew it. That’s why the first time they met, Claudine wasn’t happy about getting Flora’s part instead of Claire, she said it out loud, she hasn’t lost and she put all her effort in each performance to prove that she can be better than Maya...and each time she did it, Maya could see something in her eyes, a burning passion that she can’t relate but wants to achieve.
So she plays along with Claudine rivalry, with a wishful thinking that some of her partner's passion will pass to her between their interactions. It kind of worked. Probably that’s what made the play a complete success, their chemistry, their passion. Maya felt something different each night that they performed Starlight , She wasn’t just enjoying it, she was loving it and that gave her the confidence to believe that this time...this time her parents would give her their approval, because she really believed that it was her best performance so far, with Claudine she felt she could shine even more.
But she was wrong and she finally got tired of their complaints.
That was the trigger for her current situation.
Tired of everything, she packed her stuff and took a plane that left her on an island three hours away from Tokyo. Until now she didn’t take a break in her 23 years of life but there is always a first time.
Maya’s flight landed a few minutes ago, she picked up her suitcase, looked around for a bit at the empty airport and then headed to the exit, someone was supposed to pick her up there. She waited for a few minutes more when an old suv just parked in front of her.
“I’m sorry for the delay, Maya Tendou right?”. A blond woman got out of the car and walked in front of her. She was wearing a simple white tank top with jeans and a towel around her neck.
“Yes, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you Hoshimi-san”. Maya did a little bow.
“Oh! No no, I’m not Junna”. The woman shakes her head in denial. “She got caught up with chief stuff in the village and asked me to pick you up, I’m sorry for the confusion”. Then she extends her hand and smiles friendly to Maya. “My name is Nana Daiba, nice to meet ya”
“I apologize for assuming, nice to meet you too Daiba-san”. Maya accepts Nana’s hand and shakes it.
“No need to apologize and Nana it’s fine”. Nana took Maya’s suitcase and put it in the trunk, then she got in the driver’s seat again inviting Maya to enter the car. So she did it.
The ride to the village was peaceful, Maya put her head on the car’s door and closed her eyes to feel the wind on her face. The sun was shining brightly but it felt nice, it wasn’t an unbearable heat and she could hear the waves of the sea, she never thought of how relaxing those were. For a moment she forgot about all her troubles and uneasy thoughts that were hunting her until now. It was a good start.
“You know...Junna and I were surprised when we heard that someone from the city decided to buy that old house”
“Why? I found it to be pretty charming”. Maya answered absently, she was starting to feel sleepy.
“And it is, is just that...we thought that at some point somebody from the village would buy it. Outsiders are no common around here”
“Oh!...” Maya opened her eyes and set her gaze on Nana, it seems like she didn’t mean anything bad by what she said.“...I hope I haven’t taken away anyone's dream house”.
“I don’t think so”. She laughs. “Don’t worry about that”.
Though Nana didn’t press further about the topic, Maya kind of understood what she meant. Not every day a city girl from Tokyo just buys a house out of the blue in a faraway island where she has never been before. Surely there must be a reason behind her actions and of course there is, but she’s grateful that she doesn't have to address them right away.
“We are here”. Nana stopped the car in front of a house, then got out of the car and walked to the trunk while Maya wandered around the house front instead.
“It’s bigger than I thought”. She said impressed.
“Yeah, photos don’t make justice to its size”. Nana gave Maya her suitcase and walked to the back door of the house. “It seems like your stuff is already here”. Maya followed her and watched how all her boxes were just there in the garden.
“They just left them outside”. Well Maya could guess that customer service was not a concern to small businesses on an island.
Nana decided to smile at Maya’s comment and then open the door. The house seems to be just like the photos, except for the food bags, posters and some cd’s that were lying on the floor, giving the impression that someone else lived there.
“This is my house, right?”
“Yep”. Nana entered the house completely ignoring all the stuff on the floor, still with her relaxed smile. Maya entered too but she was a little bit uneasy at the thought that somebody could be in the house too.
“Could it be...a ghost?”. Just saying the word makes all her body shiver.
She can share a house with a stranger, but with a ghost...maybe she’ll consider going back to the city sooner than later...and that was such a silly thought, she was an adult now, her extrange fear for ghosts should have disappeared long ago, but maybe her lack of confrontation about the issue wasn’t a great help.
Nana stops abruptly at Maya’s comment and turns around to watch her face to face. Her smile suddenly disappeared and was replaced by a frow. Maya was expecting the worst at Nana’s sudden change of humor. A pale expression must be on her face right now, but then Nana started laughing, genuinely laughing.
“No no, it’s nothing like that Maya-chan”. She finally says while cleaning a tear of her eye. “This place has been abandoned for so long that some kids use it like their secret base. I swear we always left it closed but they always find the way to break in”
“That’s a relief”. Maya felt how the colors went back to her face. “I guess I just have to clean their mess”
“I’ll help, but for now let me show you the place”. True to her word Nana showed her every single corner of the house and it was exactly as Maya expected from the internet info.
It has a kitchen, one bathroom, two rooms and something like a living room that is next to the back door and facing the garden. It may seem like not much but for just one person it was spacious.
When they were done, they stopped by the kitchen and Nana gave her the keys of the place.
“Now is officially yours”
A sudden noise that came from the lower cabinet of the kitchen sink caught the attention of the both women. Maya kneel down to open it but was knocked out at the moment she did it.
“Aaaaah I got the thief Hikari-chan!!”. Maya heard a kid's voice, she opened her eyes and found a burnt-orange haired girl with a crown pin standing on her chest. “Quick!! let’s tie her”
“Hum!!”. She heard another voice agree with the kid, looking at her other side she found another girl, this time a black haired one with a twin-start pin. She was getting a rope out of a little white bear purse she was wearing.
“Karen-chan, Hikari-chan, she is not a thief”. Both girls stopped when they heard Nana. Their gazes fixed on Maya.
“But Banana we don’t know her!!”. The girl with the crown pin complained.
“And she is in our secret base”. The girl with the twin-Star pin pouted.
“She is the new owner of the house, can you please get off of her?”. Not really convinced both girls let go Maya. “And where did you get that rope, Hikari-Chan?”
Maya takes the opportunity to get up and take a better look at both girls. They seemed to be around 6 or 7 years old and not particularly tall for their age, but that made them cute. She was amused at how strong kids seem to be these days. Though to be fair they caught her by surprise.
“Now, don’t be rude with Maya-chan, introduce yourselves”
“I’m Karen Aijo!! The rightf...fff...amm the real owner of the secret base!!”. Said the girl with the crown pin, placing her hands in her hips and showing a lot of confidence.
“No you're not”. Nana interrupted her. “Go on Hikari-chan, your turn”.
Hikari just limited herself to stare at Maya. She didn’t say a single word but nodded at her like she was acknowledging her. Maya returned the nod.
“I’m sorry, she is like this sometimes, her name is Hikari Kagura”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you”. Maya smiled at both girls. “I’m sorry I invaded your secret base, but I promise you can come over and play every time you want”. At Maya’s words both girls smile and we’re about to throw themselves against Maya again, but Nana caught them before they had the chance.
“Calm down girls, don’t take advantage of Maya-chan kindness”. She put each girl under her arms and walked over the exit. “Take your time, we’ll leave you enjoy your house”
“Thank you so much for everything Daiba-san”
“Nana”. She corrected her, with one last sweet smile before she closed the door and left Maya alone.
Well her arrival wasn’t exactly as she expected, it passed from being peaceful to being attacked by kids to just being alone, actually the only unexpected element was being attacked by kids. Now the silence made her remember all her time alone in her parents house during her childhood, it was a familiar feeling, she is used to it. So to distract herself she decided to unpack her stuff.
She walked to the living room and found again all the food bags on the floor. She chuckled at the memory of Nana saying she would help her but getting busy with Karen and Hikari. She started cleaning.
By the time Maya finished cleaning the living room, she lay down on the floor and started staring at the roof. Now that she has free time to do whatever she wants...she is not sure what to do. What did she do in her free days? She never had them so she doesn't know and dancing or singing something doesn’t feel right at the moment.
Has she always been this empty? All her life dedicated to work that she didn’t have a single hobby. People praised her, people envied her, people wanted to be her...but she would never wish anyone to be like her.
“I still can’t see the fun of looking at the roof”. A voice said next to her.
Scared at the unexpected voice Maya got up quickly and prepared to defend herself, but when she looked at the floor she found Karen and Hikari laying down peacefully, imitating her actions of a moment ago.
“How...when...?”. Maya failed to formulate her question. Nana wasn’t joking when she said that they always found a way to break in.
“Hikari-chaaaan, come one this is boring!”. Karen got up first and walked towards Hikari who was still relaxing on the floor. She just waves her hand to Karen indicating she wants to keep staring at the roof.
“I’m sorry, but what are you two doing here?”. Maya interrupted them.
“You said we can come and play when we want”. Well that was faster than Maya thought it would be.
Karen took one of Hikari’s feet and started dragging her to the back door. “Come one Maya-chan, we will give you a tour of the village...Hikari-chaaaaaan come ooooon!”
With nothing better to do, she decided to play along with the girls. Since Hikari doesn’t have any intention of getting up, Maya picks her up, gets them out of the house and puts Hikari on her shoulders. A soft “ooooh” could be heard coming from Hikari.
Karen ran around them for a bit and then started running in front of them. “Hurry up! Hurry up!”. She exclaimed with excitement.
“We’re coming”. Maya smiled
Even though Karen said they were going to give her a tour of the village. They ended up spending all their time on the shore. At some point Maya put Hikari down and bought ice pops for them. Then they walked towards a platform that was nearby and they sat down at the edge to enjoy their ice cream.
She had been on the beach before, it wasn’t exactly a new experience, but her visits were always for work, so she never stopped herself to enjoy her time on it. Simple things to do like swimming, getting a tan, building a sand castle or just eating ice cream were nonsense for her at that time.
“Hikari-Chan, Hikari-Chan, look look, swords”. Karen pointed to the stick of ice pop. Hikari nodded and both girls started playing behind Maya’s back. She limited herself to watch the two girls play.
“Maya-Chan, you too”. Karen pulled Maya’s sleeves trying to force her to get up and play, but she didn’t do it.
“I’m sorry Karen, maybe another time? I’m afraid that if I play with you I’ll just win”. She smiles arrogantly. Karen stopped abruptly at Maya’s answer and stared at her. Then she turns to see Hikari, a smile slowly showing on her lips.
“Did you hear her Hikari-Chan?”. Hikari nodded. “She believes she can win us!”. Hikari walks towards Karen and stands at her side. “The wonderf...fff...awesome duo, never lose!!”
“Really?”
“Really!!!”. Both girls said at time and without further warning they pushed Maya to the water.
Next thing Maya knew it was the incredible cold sensation that went through her body at the moment she had contact with the water. She recovered quickly and emerged to the surface, just to be greeted by the loud laugh of both girls.
She should be angry, that wasn’t what she expected when she started teasing the girls and being pushed to the water could be dangerous and kind of rude, but she couldn’t find the heart to be angry at them. Then both girls took their hands and jumped to the water just where Maya was, she had to move fast to avoid them.
When they emerged to the surface they started splashing water at Maya.
“Watch out for our true power”. Karen proclaimed with excitement, Hikari still focused on her splashes.
“Hey...hey...are you girls ok?”. Maya managed to say between the waves of water that the girls were throwing at her.
“Yeah, we know how to handle our swimming, we are naturals”. Answered Karen
“We are mermaids”. Complemented Hikari
Both girls swam back to the shore without problems. Maya chuckled and followed them. They were totally soaked and the sun was starting to set down.
“Let’s go back, we need to get dry before we catch a cold”. The girls weren’t too happy about going back, but when Maya started walking they didn’t have a choice.
Once at Maya’s home, they used towels to get dry, Maya changed her clothes and prepared tea to make the girls warm.
“This tea tastes fancy”. Karen pointed. Hikari nodded and asked Maya for more.
“Glad you like it”
“Excuse me, Tendou-san are you at home?”. A voice called from the back door. Curious Maya walked towards it and opened.
A woman with glasses was standing there, she had a pot on her hands, at her side was Nana, this time with her hair up in two ponytails.
“Banana!! Jun-Jun!!”. Karen walked through Maya and jumped to Nana's arms.
Banana, I got it. Maya smiled
“Girls, what are you doing here? I thought we agreed to not take advantage of Maya-chan kindness ”. Nana asked Karen. Since she refused to answer she started tickling her. Karen laughed.
“We were showing her our true power”. Answered Hikari for Karen. She was standing at Maya's side, taking her by the sleeve.
“Please girls, try not to bother her too much”. The woman with glasses sighed. “Nice to finally meet you Tendou-san, I’m Junna Hoshimi, the village chief, I sincerely apologize for not being able to pick you up at the airport”
“Ooh! Hoshimi-San a pleasure to meet you too. No need to apologize Daiba-san…”
“Nana”
“...helped me a lot, thank you”
“I’m really glad”. Junna smiled at Nana, then she offered the pot in her hands to Maya. “Nana was really excited for you arrival and prepare you a hotpot for dinner, hopefully you haven’t eaten yet”
Maya received the pot with pure happiness, the truth is that she was starving and the smell coming from the pot was extremely good, she can’t wait to taste it. If it wasn’t because her hands were busy, she would have thrown herself at Nana and Junna to hug them.
“I really appreciate it, thank you very much, I don’t know how to pay you for your kindness”
“No need, Maya-chan, I’m just happy that someone else can eat my food”.
“Hoshimi-san, Nana, Karen. I didn’t expect to find you here”. A voice from outside made everyone turn in that direction. Maya and Hikari poked their heads out of the house to see the owner of the voice.
It was a girl with midnight-blue hair with two antennae that stand out of each side of her head. She was wearing a middle school uniform and carrying a big box. Behind her were a man and a woman, at her side an old lady and running around all the place were 5 kids.
“Mahiru!!”. Karen and Hikari run towards the girl, almost making her drop the box. She smiled apologetic at both girls for not being able to carry them. Winning a pout from them.
“Mahiru-chan, what brought you here?”. Nana asked with curiosity.
“We wanted to give Tendou-san a welcome gift with products from our farm and help her to unpack all her stuff”. Mahiru answered. Maya looked at the boxes that were outside, she totally forgot about that while she was playing with Karen a Hikari.
Maya handles herself to get out of the house and bow to Mahiru's family. Still with Nana’s pot in her hands.“Thank you so much for your hospitality, I don’t want to bother you all”
“Nonsense”. Mahiru’s grandma said. “Not all days we have a new neighbor, please let us help you”.
Nana ran to Mahiru and took the box from her hands.
“Hope you don’t mind Maya-chan, but we can use some ingredientes from this box to make more hotpot and share with everyone”. Nana said while reviewing the box.
There was no way that Maya would say no. So she just nodded. Everyone starts taking a box and making their way inside Maya’s house. Her house became animated in a blink of an eye.
A warm feeling starts to grow inside her. She wasn’t too familiar with it, but she was sure of one thing.
She felt happy.