Chapter Text
One
It has been a year ever since Akane started following a boring routine: wake up, fix herself, go to work, do some paperwork for eight hours [or ten, if they’re about to go over the deadline], take a bus home, eat dinner [or when she has nothing to eat, she cleans her apartment to drain out her energy so she could sleep the hunger away], and sleep. If someone was to ask her if she was okay with the life she’s living right now, she would answer that "as long as she could make ends meet, it's enough for her". However, deep in her mind, she knows that if she could do something to make everything better, she’ll definitely grab that chance.
Despite her distaste in her current job, Akane knows full well that she has to endure. At least that was what she was taught–and what she ended up believing–of what an adult should do.
Just like the rest of her workdays in the past year, the office girl finds herself squeezing her body in whatever space she could find amid the sea of people. No matter how early she goes to work, the rush hour never failed to catch up to her. Akane does not enjoy the smell of dried sweat from those on their way home after their night shifts; especially because she put extra effort into looking fresh for work [although it was not really necessary since for her officemates, she’s just a mere co-worker].
After what seemingly felt like a war, Akane manages to get herself a seat on the bus. She glances at the time on her wristwatch and a sigh of relief escapes her lips. Her struggle was worth it for she could still make it on time at work.
Again, in her one year in this shabby–as she would describe–job, Akane tried her best to be admirable. As someone who made it a principle to stick to the rules, being punctual and delivering what was asked from her was an easy thing to do. She deemed it more of a personality trait than a responsibility–a mere attempt to not put too much pressure unto herself. And, despite her not giving it much thought, it has become a distraction so she would not dare regret her choices in life.
Suddenly, what felt like a pair of eyes fixed on her disturbed Akane’s train of thoughts. She looked over to where the eerie feeling was coming from and her eyes met with a girl just behind the driver’s seat. The stranger’s jet-black hair drops over her shoulders with some strands falling on her face and her eyes softly gazed at Akane. They continued to look into each other’s eyes for what felt like an eternity until the other girl gave out a small smile–which Akane notes as somewhat crooked–and the office worker looked away, avoiding any sort of interaction with the stranger.
Eight hours flew by with Akane finishing her designated tasks for the day. She stands up from her cubicle as she stretched out her arms. She could feel some of her muscles be relieved, but some pain still lingers in her back. She bids goodbye to her officemates, which she talks to from time to time, before picking up her bag and leaving the office. Taking another bus home, the commute was somewhat more peaceful than earlier. She gets off on her stop but, instead of heading straight home, Akane felt like going out of her way into what she considers her safe place.
A few blocks away from her apartment stands an abandoned building that used to be a café she regularly visited as a student. It was a pity that the place had to shut down, but the shop was not able to keep the hype that it had when it first opened. As the months went by, Akane found herself the only customer; and, this allowed her to be close with its owner–back when she wasn’t hostile with strangers. With that, even after years of being a rundown building, the owner never really thought about selling it–all because, Akane was able to convince them that if they ever decide to open another shop, at least they already have a building; and, the decision was also affected by Akane’s promise to buy it and turn it into her personal studio when she starts making films. Looking back, Akane feels bad for her young self–that girl really thought she had a bright future ahead of her. Too bad, life never really lets you do everything as planned.
As she went up into the second floor, which some would consider a ‘rooftop’, but she does not think that’s how it really works, a smile slowly forms across her face. A rush of comfort starts to envelop her as she made her way to the bench, whose backrest is on the ground. Akane inhales the familiarity as a soft breeze blows and she lets her hazel hair dance with it. She carefully sits on the bench, not bothering to bring it upright. With the bench’s weird position, Akane looks like she’s lying down on the ground with her legs hanging from the seat of the bench. She closes her eyes and it felt like she was floating in the middle of the sea. She hasn’t felt this sort of peace in a long time.
Akane then hears shuffling from her right side which made her freeze. Before she could react, she hears a soft voice, “It’s not safe to be alone in this dark place.”
She turns her head towards the direction of the voice and the face of the stranger from the bus greets her. Akane alerted herself and she was about to get up when the stranger ran to her and proceeded to lay down beside her. Honestly, she wants to slowly make her way out and run as fast as she could because what if the girl was a stalker? What if she gets killed? Sure, she’s not really satisfied with her life–regardless of how much she convinces herself that she is–but, she is not dissatisfied to the point that she wants to end everything. Fairly, Akane still has a glimpse of hope that she could turn her life around, one way or another. She believes that she could still get back on track; it’s just that, the ‘right time’ hasn’t come yet.
As Akane was about to roll away, the stranger speaks again, “Stay,” she stops for a while, “I’m not a bad guy, I swear,” she assures. Akane finds herself letting her guard down. She keeps in her mind that if things get messy, she’ll rely on the strength she built from her years’ worth of training as a tennis athlete. She tries to utter a word–anything that could hopefully drive the stranger away–but air only brushes her lips.
Silence falls upon the two of them. Soon after, the stranger talks again, “If it makes you feel any better, my name’s Sugai Yuuka. You could call me Yuuka, I wouldn’t mind,” the stranger Yuuka introduced herself and Akane hesitated to do the same but then again, she could use brawn if ever the situation gets ugly. She clears her throat, “Moriya Akane,” she feels Yuuka’s gaze on her upon that short introduction, so she decides to add a few words, “I don’t really know you, so you ought to call me Moriya,” she hears the girl beside her chuckle, “Sure,” Yuuka nods, “Moriya-san.”
For some reason, Akane’s heart seemed to skip a beat. She thinks that it might be because no one has really called her name for quite some time. In the office, she never really found herself interacting with her co-workers. Those who she would talk to sometimes address her as ‘hey’ or call her attention by tapping on her shoulder. All of this was a result of Akane confining herself in a bubble ever since she entered college. When she was a freshman, Akane slowly built a wall around herself. After she graduated, she kept the same wall standing, gradually increasing its height so that no one could pass through nor go over it. At that moment, she was convinced that she has reached the point in life where every relationship with other people does not lead to friendship; she thought that having acquaintances suited her better.
Akane was pulled away from her thoughts by a light shake of her shoulder. She remembers that there was a stranger beside her–who did introduce herself, but that doesn’t make her any less of a stranger–that she has been ignoring. She looked over to Yuuka only to see the other girl pout; it looked off, in Akane’s opinion, but she still finds it a little cute.
“It’s not really polite to not listen to someone when they’re talking, you know,” Yuuka reprimands her but Akane stays quiet.
Yuuka clears her throat, “I’m technically older than you, too,” she emphasizes on the word ‘technically’ which brings Akane to raise her brow, “And you’re sure of that because?”
“I just know it,” Yuuka smiles–the very same smile Akane saw on the bus that morning. Not wanting to lengthen the conversation–as the night started to get deeper and she has to go home soon–Akane decides to keep quiet and just let the other girl keep speaking if she wants. Her words would enter Akane’s left ear and exit on the other anyway.
Thinking that the ‘younger’ girl finally decided to listen to her, Yuuka repeats what she’s been saying. As Yuuka starts to talk about her life, Akane realized that she starts taking in every information like a sponge. She learns that Yuuka was usually called a princess because of her lavish lifestyle. Fortunately, her family wasn’t the stereotypical upper-class family that dramas and movies would portray; she had a happy childhood, her parents always found time to spend a day or two with her. And when Yuuka started mentioning her love for horses, her talking sped up, making it hard for Akane to catch up but she could care less. With that, Yuuka’s slurred speech became evident to Akane and it made listening harder.
Knowing that it has been hours since she got to her safe place, Akane raises her arm to have a better view of her wristwatch. She quietly gets up, “I have to go now,” Akane thought that it was a basic courtesy to say that, even if it was addressed to a stranger (yes, Akane still considers Yuuka as a stranger even though the latter pretty much told her everything about her life). “See you again,” Yuuka quietly answers, much like a whisper, yet Akane’s ears still managed to catch it.
Akane was about to go down the stairs when she stopped on her tracks. She looked over her shoulders to see Yuuka–who is still in the same position when Akane left her–raising her hands as if trying to reach for the sky. She doesn’t know why but Akane felt kind of worried leaving Yuuka alone, so she speaks, “I’ll really get going now. It’s getting late,” Akane remembers what Yuuka said to her earlier, “It’s not safe to be alone in this dark place.”
From where she was standing, Akane could hear Yuuka’s soft chuckle. She thought that the other girl would stand up after that remark but Yuuka didn’t move a muscle. Instead, she turned her head towards Akane and looked straight into her eyes, “I am not afraid that such darkness exists,” she says and, all of a sudden, Akane felt her nails digging into her palm upon hearing that familiar phrase. She shrugs it off and proceeds to walk away.
Two
Akane arrives at her apartment and she gets a whiff of the dull scent of living alone as she opens the door. She removes her high heels that she wore all day; her feet still getting sore even after one year of constantly wearing them. She walks over the bean bag in the middle of what was supposed to be the living room in her small studio apartment. Akane did not bother buying a lot of furniture, despite the never-ending reminder of her mother and offers from her father to shoulder the expenses. The Moriya family is actually a middle-class family and Akane doesn’t really have to go this far to make herself a living since she could basically live off her parents’ fortune. However, she made it a promise to herself that she ought to be independent after college; and, to be fair, college senior Akane never really thought things would spiral out of control post-college. What’s really keeping her from asking some sort of help to improve her life a little is the pride that she developed during her days as an athlete. Her training gave her the discipline that she has today, but it also planted a high pride deep within her, which she sometimes denies herself. Before she could drift away in her thoughts and end up sleeping late, Akane gets up to take a quick shower before sleeping in. She wraps herself in her blanket and Yuuka’s face suddenly flashes in front of her as soon as she closes her eyes–but, she does not give it much thought.
The morning that followed was pretty much a carbon copy of yesterday’s: the bus stop felt like a battlefield, but Akane made sure that she would win it. Finally getting a seat by the aisle, her eyes unconsciously look around in hopes of seeing someone. As she looked in front, there she saw Yuuka–behind the driver’s seat again–smiling at her. With a little hint of acquaintanceship, Akane smiles back. Even with being stern about keeping her wall up and not hanging out with strangers, she finds herself wanting to talk to Yuuka until she reaches her stop. She was about to stand up to see if the seat beside Yuuka is empty, but she was stopped by familiar voices who called out her name.
“Nen?”
Hearing that nickname tugged at Akane’s heartstrings. It has been a long time since someone addressed her as that. She looked at the two figures in front of her, who got pushed so they proceeded to take the vacant seats beside her.
“You still remember us, don’t you?” the smaller of the two women in front of her asked. Of course, she recognizes them. Before Akane could reply, the other woman talked in a hushed tone, “Neru, it will be embarrassing if she turns out to be someone that looks a lot like Nen.”
Akane smiles upon seeing that the two did not really change that much. To dismiss their doubts, she cleared her throat, “It is me. It’s been a while, Risa, Neru,” her smile grows wide and it turns into high school Akane’s signature gummy smile. She watches as the worry and hesitation in Risa’s face change into relief and happiness; and Neru’s cheeks puff up as she grinned from ear to ear.
It has been years since the three last saw each other. Back in high school, they were inseparable, and every student pretty much knew who they were: Neru, known for her dedication and brains, graduated as valedictorian; Risa, who barely smiles, earned the nickname ice princess; and Akane, the star of the soft tennis varsity team. There was another one in their circle named Shida Manaka, but she ended up transferring schools in their junior year, and they lost connection with her since then. Risa and Neru attended the same university [which Akane–and the rest of the student body–found surprising that Risa actually passed] while Akane went to a prestigious film university. In their first two years, they always found a way to meet each other at least once a week; which, gradually turned into twice a month to once a month to never having the chance. On their last year in college, they found themselves not seeing each other anymore, but, being preoccupied with graduation requirements and the senior year in general, it never really bothered them much. However, they failed to keep in touch after college, so they are lucky that fate actually made their paths cross again.
“Are you guys still together?” Akane asks out of curiosity. Sure, she understands that maybe Risa did work hard to pass the entrance examination for Neru; but, most of the relationships that formed in high school barely make it through college–or so she thought.
“Yes,” Risa answers, narrowing her eyes.
“How have you been? We haven’t heard from you in what? Two years or so?” Neru asks, being the caring person that she is.
“Luckily, I managed to land a job a few months after graduation. It’s not really paying much but it’s enough.”
“How many films have you made? If you need help, I could give you my contact and we can start a project of our own!” it’s been long since Akane has seen Risa this excited over something and she hates to wipe it off her face, but it’s not like she could lie to her friends.
“I am not a filmmaker,” she confesses, and Risa gives off a silent ‘oh’ which earned her a hit from Neru’s elbow. Afraid of an ensuing awkward silence, Akane decides to elaborate, “It’ll be a long story and this bus ride wouldn’t be enough, but to summarize it for you guys: basically, I was so anxious that I may end up not having a job for a long time if I just stick with a film-related job so I kind of went over the top with the applications and grabbed the very first thing offered to me,” she looks down, the weight of her reckless decisions pile up on her shoulders again. Akane tried her best to run away from this bitter truth to keep herself from harboring regrets for the rest of her life. Again, she still has this glimmer of hope that things will get better someday.
She feels Neru’s hand on her left shoulder, “You’re still lucky that you have something, Nen,” Neru always finds a way with her words. There was also comfort in her tone that could make Akane’s heavy chest feel at ease. She raises her head and sees Risa holding her fist up which made her break out in a smile. This small gesture brings her back to their high school days; Risa was the complete opposite of Neru–ruining everything with her words–but she was able to get her point across with her actions.
“Enough from me. You have to quickly fill me in with what happened with your lives,” Akane tries to shift the topic.
“Well,” Risa starts in a boasting tone, “Still going stronger than ever,” she continues as she sports her signature smile–one that only a select few were able to see, one that’s always plastered on her face whenever Neru is around.
“There were some shaky times because of her stubbornness, but as you can see, we managed to work our differences out.”
Akane shoots glares at Risa, “How dare you give Neru a hard time, Watanabe?”
Risa scoffs at Akane’s poor attempt at sarcasm, “At least I have someone,” she rebuts while sticking her tongue out. Neru would usually scold the two of them back in high school; but, since they’ve become adults now, seeing the two of them have petty fights like this one is hilarious.
The three of them continued to catch up until Akane reached her stop. Before she got off, they exchanged contacts and as she was about to go down, she suddenly remembered the stranger she put aside when she met her friends. She looked over her shoulder to the back of the driver’s seat only to find a student–that is not Yuuka–cramming their readings.