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Fuck fuck fuck. Her purse had been thrown haphazardly on the passenger seat and she hadn’t even bothered to neatly tie her hair yet. In fact, this wasn’t even the strangest thing about Sayaka’s morning, that was the fact she woke up late. She probably wouldn’t have woken up at all if not for the incessant pinging of text notifications from Midari. Of course, she had nothing useful to say, mostly complaints about a hangover and pictures of some new tattoo she didn’t remember getting. But Sayaka didn’t have time to think about any of that. At that very moment she was pushing her foot down on the accelerator more than she knew was legal, braking too harshly at every red light she was forced to stop at, usually accompanied by a smack on the steering wheel and a curse.
It was on one particularly sharp turn, one that lead her down a street that seemed far too nice, that she miscalculated. Had someone not been doubting Sayaka that day already, the term “miscalculated” certainly would have changed their mind. A muffled bang and a glance to her left confirmed her suspicion. There, just in front of her eyes lay her wing mirror. Bent and crooked, and of absolutely no use to her in that state. She grunted, trying to convince herself that it didn’t matter, who’s ever car it was would live, it was most certainly only bent back like her own, no real damage done.
But maybe not.
She glanced in her rearview once, surprised and slightly annoyed that there were no cars behind her. Perhaps if there were, she could have convinced herself to keep going, she was already running 10 minutes late and this was the last thing she needed. But there were no cars. And she couldn’t find a reason to not stop. So, she pulled over with incredible reluctance and got out of her car. She tried, as subtly as she could, to look over at the wing mirror and oh- where was it. She looked around a little too frantically, and surely if someone could see her, they’d think she was just a little bit crazy, but she found it lying on the floor a few feet in front of the car itself. Fuck. She hurried back to her car, opening the passenger door and fishing through her purse for a pen and paper. She didn’t have the time, or the courage, to find out who’s it was so she decided instead to write a simple note:
I’m terribly sorry for knocking off your wing mirror, I’m in quite a rush. I promise I can pay for any damages and needed repairs.
Was what she had intended to write, but through a mixture of mild fear and anxiety what instead ended up in ink was:
Sorry, broke car, I’ll pay promise I’m rushing xxx-xxxx-xxxx
She slotted it underneath the wiper on the windscreen, picking up the mirror that lay on the floor and placing it on the hood of the car gently before basically running back to her own and continuing the journey to the offices she’d meant to be interviewing at.
17 minutes later and almost half an hour late, she arrived.
“I’m sorry, Miss Igarashi, it seems you’ve missed your appointment, perhaps you’d like to rebook?”
No, I fucking wouldn’t.
“Oh, yes of course. Please give my most sincere apologies to your boss.” The receptionist slipped her a small card with a new time and date on, which she reluctantly took before dragging her feet on the way out of the building. She couldn’t hold back the defeated sigh, finally fixing her mirror so it was at least straight, she truly wasn’t bothered if she could actually see out of it. Then, she sat in her car in the middle of a crowded parking lot and dropped her head onto the wheel. This had, by far, been the worst day of her life.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t given very much time to pity herself. Her phone rang, the default ringtone grating on her nerves. I swear to God, Midari if this is you. She didn’t even bother to look at the number, she swiped to accept and quickly held it up to her ear, completely ready to tear Midari a new one for no other reason than the fact she was thoroughly pissed off.
“Good afternoon, it seems you’ve damaged my vehicle.” Oh, this was most certainly not Midari, and it was a good job the mystery woman spoke before she could. “Perhaps it would be in our best interest to meet and discuss the financial matters about this incident.” It must’ve been her delirious state of mind, but she sounded far more amused than angry.
“Oh yes yes, of course, I’m still sorry about that, where would be best for you?” She noted down the address, mentally kicking herself for sounding so unprofessional about the whole situation. She was hung up on almost immediately, not that she was surprised.
-----
The address led to a small café, it was quite cute really, with its little cat ears above the title on the wall. Sayaka had sort of hoped she’d see an actual cat in there, but no such luck, not on this day. She scanned the inside of the building, she couldn’t see the car outside anywhere before she walked up, but it wasn’t really fit to drive in the first place, and she had absolutely no idea what kind of person she was looking for. A young woman, probably quite pretty if her voice was anything to go by.
There was one woman in particular who caught her eye as she peered through the window, her appearance unique with snow-white hair and pale skin. She sat so elegantly, sipping on a little teacup, but was that a fucking Prada bag.
She stepped inside of the café, the bell above the door ringing as it opened, but the woman didn’t look over. Sayaka walked through the tables, stopping momentarily next to her table and clearing her throat. “Oh my, good afternoon!” The woman greeted with a smile, seeming far too jovial for someone who’s car she’d ruined not even an hour ago. “You’re the one who smashed my wing mirror off, correct?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s me,” she stood awkwardly, her weight shifting between her feet as she looked around the café.
“Well then please, take a seat!”
So she did. She picked up a menu only to fiddle with the corners of the sheets, folding and unfolding them nervously.
“Tell me, do you know what kind of car it is?”
“Huh? I mean… an old one?” the last thing Sayaka expected was some sort of quiz about the car, it’s not that it looked beat up at all, but it was unmistakably vintage.
“Hm.” The woman placed her cup down on its little plate, her elbows resting on the table and her hands clasping together to let her chin rest on them. She tilted her head to the side, the same smile adorning her lips that had been there since she walked into the building. “Your note promised payment, I’m assuming you can back up your words with actions.”
It wasn’t a question, Sayaka knew that much, but the way she was being stared at made her feel like there was so much more to what the woman was saying. She nodded her head. That stupid blue makeup kind of suits her though…
“Monetary payment will not be sufficient, however, I’m afraid.”
“Oh, of course- wait what?”
The woman giggled, which wasn’t a sound she was expecting at all, but it was pleasant, nonetheless. “Well of course, they hardly make parts for cars like that now,” she stood up, somehow managed to gracefully slide out of the booth, if such a thing were even possible. Her bag was slung down along her shoulder, and upon a closer inspection it most definitely was incredibly expensive. Sayaka didn’t really notice when the woman stood directly in front of her. “You’ve done me a favour, I believe. I’ve been meaning to upgrade. I took a taxi here, you will drive me home.”
“No wait wait, I’m sorry what? I’m not driving you home, why can’t you take a taxi back?” In hindsight, lashing out at the clearly rich woman was not the brightest idea, especially not with the looming idea that she couldn’t pay off the damages to the car.
“I’ll be kind enough to not make you pay for a whole new car, I highly doubt you could afford it anyway,” she said giving her a once over with her eyes which caused Sayaka to grimace in annoyance, “think of it as an act of goodwill. Chauffeur me until I have a new car.”
It was hardly an offer she could ignore, it’s not like she was getting a job anytime soon anyway.
“Kirari Momobami.” She eyed the hand extended out to her, taking it with a reluctant hand and shaking it gently.
“Sayaka Igarashi.”
“Ah, pretty!” Sayaka was taken aback slightly, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion as she looked up at this strange woman, Kirari, who was now grinning down at her. “Well then, Sayaka, should we get going?” She pulled her hand away, turning her back and walking towards the door of the café. Sayaka stood up to follow her, only to be stopped by a member of staff.
“Oh, ma’am, are you paying?” She glared at her, then at the woman still grinning at her from outside the window. You are not making me pay for this right now…
“Sure…” she took her purse from her wallet and gave her a 5 note, not caring about the change as she moved past her and out of the door, walking up to the woman and glaring. “You’re seriously carrying a 2 grand bag around and making me pay for your tea?”
“Oh, you seem irate.” That damn grin was still plastered on her face, and after a moment of staring her down Sayaka realised there really wasn’t going to be much point in arguing with her. That damn grin is kind of hot though… God stop thinking. She unlocked her car parked a few metres down the street and sat in her seat, waiting impatiently for the other woman. Kirari certainly liked to take her time with things, it seemed, for she spent at least 3 minutes circling the car, and another two playing with the wing mirror that had very obviously smashed into her own.
It felt like forever before she finally heard the door open, glaring out the side of her eye as Kirari sat down, and as far as she could tell she couldn’t care less about the time she was wasting. Wasting… like I have anything better to do right now, anyway. Sayaka handed her phone to her, the maps app open and ready for an address to be typed in, but after a moment of her still holding it she looked back. She knew she was holding it, she was looking right at her, so why wasn’t she taking it?
“That won’t be necessary, I’ll direct you.” Fuck, please don’t.
“…sure” Sayaka was wrong earlier. Her hitting some random car and missing her first big job opportunity in months wasn’t what made this the worst day ever. No. It was most definitely the annoying, incredibly beautiful, joke of a woman now sat next to her in her own car.
“Oh, before we go, might you need me to watch out of this side? Just in case you hit something else?” Sayaka let her head drop onto the steering wheel for the umpteenth time that day. It just kept getting worse.
-----
That might just have been, singlehandedly, the worst driving experience of her life. Not even her exam, which was an hour spent with one of the strictest men she’d ever met in her life, could compare to it. It was like walking on glass, if that glass was also on fire and coated in instant acting poison. Well, maybe not quite that bad, it wasn’t as if Kirari’s voice was bad to listen to, on the contrary, it just didn’t shut up. The directions were one thing, those were fine, but every other moment of that eternity long 15 minute car drive was filled with the most idle talk she could imagine. Perhaps it wouldn’t have even been so bad if all Kirari did was talk and not listen, but she asked far too many questions;
“What’s your favourite colour?” – Purple
“Do you have any pets?” – No
“What did you eat for breakfast today?” – Nothing
It went on like that, and it seemed that no matter how blunt or boring she was with her answers Kirari didn’t want to relent. With every question she asked, she would wait for an answer, and then answer it herself, and the only thoughts Sayaka could have were Please shut up, I don’t care.
Sayaka continued only glaring ahead when she finally stopped the car outside of Kirari’s house, but the blur of movement out of the corner of her eye caused her to whip her head around, and promptly jump back. Not even two inches away from her was the smirking face of that woman, her eyes squinting slightly in glee, her lips pulling back into another grin as she thanked Sayaka before moving back and opening the door. “Thank you!” she leant down to say before closing the door again and sauntering off up the pathway to her home.
-----
Sayaka had finally, after one of the longest days in her life, managed to sit down (takeout food on the table in front of her) and relax. She’d turned the TV on and leant back, picking up her plate and beginning to eat when her phone rang. She nearly threw her plate at the wall, but instead she set it back down gently on the table, picking up her phone and checking the ID this time.
“Midari, what do you want now?”
“I can’t call to just check up on a friend? Rude. How was your interview?”
“Terrible.”
“Yeah great, uhm, what do you think I should do if my arm starts turning kinda green?” Of course, Midari would call about something stupid like that.
“See a doctor.” She hung up, definitely not in the mood for anymore shit that night. She got to eat the rest of her meal in peace, even taking a shower and getting herself ready for bed, pajamas and all.
She jolted awake, the blaring sound of an alarm ringing in her ear. Except there was no alarm, and it was 3am, and her phone was ringing on her bedside table. She picked it up with the most reluctance any one human could pick a phone up with. No ID, which she wished could also mean no trouble, but no luck there.
“What do you want at 3am?”
“Sayaka, darling, come pick me up, I want to find food.”
Seriously? Seriously? “You want me to pick you up at 3am to drive you to get food, when you can just call takeout?”
“Yes, exactly.” She was at a loss for words, still half asleep and so confused, she just held the phone in front of her staring at the screen. What kind of sick joke is this?”
“Go to sleep, or cook, or call takeout, or starve I don’t care just let me sleep.”
“My my, my poor vehicle, a shame someone damaged it so badly, it’d be a shame if I were to sue them now, wouldn’t it?” No fucking way.
“You’re kidding me right now.”
“You’re not doubting me, are you?”
“…I’ll be there soon.” She hung up, throwing her phone down on her bed and rubbing her face in her hands before getting up. She was not getting changed, she’d already decided that, so she slipped some socks on, finding her glasses from her desk. She did not care enough right now, if Kirari wanted to call her at 3am to get food, she would see Sayaka at 3am.
-----
She pulled up outside of her house once again, waiting for a few moments and hoping she wouldn’t need to get out and ring the doorbell. Thankfully, for the first time in forever her prayers were answered, and Kirari came walking down the path in much the same way she did earlier. She looked as if she were ready for a whole new day, makeup and braids done flawlessly, and for what? At this point she’s just showing off.
As soon as the door opened and Kirari sat inside, Sayaka didn’t hesitate to speak. “Have you just not taken those out all day or did you redo them just for this?”
“Oh, my braids? I didn’t redo them.” Was she emphasising the ‘I’ or the ‘redo’, Sayaka really couldn’t tell, and she couldn’t care enough to tell. She only cared when she felt a presence looming over her again, groggily turning her head only to see her face far too close to her own once again, though this time she didn’t bother moving herself back. She felt one of Kirari’s hands move up, grabbing a strand of her own loose hair and toying with it. “You look nice like this, with your glasses on and your hair down. It’s cute.”
“Thank you..?” Had she seriously just called her cute? At 3am. No, this was all just some weird fever dream, there was surely no other way to explain it. She hadn’t even woken up that day, soon her alarm will go off and she’ll make it to her interview with plenty of time left to spare.
“Your welcome.” Sayaka groaned, how could she still be so… herself at this time in the morning.
“Where do you want to go?”
“Wherever your favourite place to eat is.” She still hadn’t moved back, and she was still fiddling with her hair, and Sayaka simply didn’t have the energy to resist any of it. She simply started up the engine again, waiting for Kirari to sit back and buckle herself in before driving off. The place she ended up driving to certainly wasn’t her favourite by any means, but it was the only one she knew of still open so late. She waited while Kirari went inside and presumably ordered too much, maybe she should have said she wasn’t hungry…
She almost fell asleep in her seat, jumping up slightly at the sound of the car door closing, turning her head to see Kirari holding a bag close to her body like she was trying to steal the heat from it. “I’ll give you directions again.” She simply stated, an almost predatory grin painting her expression. Sayaka could only nod as she drove off again.
Thankfully, the drive wasn’t terribly long, and she found herself parking in the lot of an empty park, Kirari quickly jumping out as soon as they came to a complete stop. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t at least slightly curious as to what was going on in the strange woman’s mind, though it was probably nothing intelligent. She watched as Kirari circled the front of the car, coming around to her door and opening it for her. Sayaka sighed, unbuckling her belt and turning off the engine before getting out. “What are we doing here?”
She didn’t receive an answer, Kirari instead moving to sit on the hood of the car, bag of food in her hand as she patted the empty spot beside her. Sayaka still didn’t have the energy to resist anything, simply following the other woman’s lead as she sat on her car. She turned her head to the side so she could continue watching, telling herself it was pure curiosity and nothing else. She was definitely not looking at her lips every time they curved up in a smile, and not once did she look down at her thighs as she sat, most certainly not.
“You know, I’m not actually very hungry, Sayaka.” The way she said her name was quite nice, she thought, but that was quickly overtaken by another, more annoyed voice in her head.
“Then why wake me up at 3am to get food?”
“I needed some excuse, obviously!” She stated, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world, and really it shouldn’t have been as surprising as it was, but the implications behind it were what left Sayaka stunned. Kirari stood up again, moving herself so she was standing right in front of Sayaka, leaning over slightly as if she were trying to take up as much space as possible.
“Do you mind..?”
“Not at all,” her voice had definitely dropped an octave or two, Sayaka knew that wasn’t her tired delirious state tricking her. And even if it weren’t so obvious, she could’ve figured out it was true by the fact she was now lying on her back, one foreign leg between her own and a hand pressed firmly on the car beside her head. The other hand was gently tracing her jaw with its fingertips, coming to rest beneath her chin as a thumb bought itself up to run along her lips.
“What are you doing?” The question was slow, and Sayaka felt like it wasn’t even her own voice speaking, as if someone were asking that same question from a distance away.
“Isn’t that obvious?”
“I break the wing mirror or your fancy, expensive, old car and that… makes you wanna do this?” She wasn’t entirely sure what this is, but she had a decent idea of where it may be going, and she still didn’t have the energy to resist any of it.
“I’ll admit I didn’t call you to the café with the intention, I really was going to make you pay, but you seemed so worked up and adorable I couldn’t help it.”
“How could I pay for something that can’t be fixed?” her voice was impossibly quiet, it was a question she almost knew the answer too, and she was half expecting to never actually hear it because Kirari’s face was inching closer to her own every second.
“I lied,” the words came hushed from her mouth, barely audible before she felt lips on her own, she really didn’t have the energy to resist even now, and as she lifted her arms up to wrap around the woman’s neck, she thought she might not have the energy ever again.