Chapter Text
The sun shone brightly on Yokohama, as Higuchi Ichiyō gazed worriedly upon her fashion designs. By now, all of her classmates had already found a model (or possibly even two), while Ichiyō was struggling to find anyone who could possibly model for her without complaints or bribery. All of her close friends immediately turned down the offer, being adamant in their distaste in themselves modeling. Ichiyō didn’t even bother asking Akutagawa, she already knew he would loathe the idea. A few of her friends offered to ask their other friends to model, but she hadn’t heard anything back from them yet.
Maybe she could ask again today. After all, a few of her close friends had established a cherry blossom picnic which was open to anyone with an invite. Since the flowers were nearing the end of their fruition, everyone wanted to celebrate the spring one last time, bathed under the flowering trees before they’re gone.
Ichiyō glanced at her clock. 12:00. The gathering will start at 2 pm, but Ichiyō promised her friend Lucy she would pick her and her girlfriend up, which means she should be ready by 1. Ichiyō sighed, rubbing her temples lightly. Lately she hadn’t been getting enough sleep in order to finish her designs before the deadline. However, there was no point in worrying about that now. Today was a celebration, and a time for Ichiyō to forget about her worries for a bit and focus on her friends. Moping about would not get her anywhere.
Ichiyō’s palms connected with her face in an attempt to refocus. She went to her closet and got dressed, dressing for the moderate weather in loose dress pants and a short sleeved lace button-up. After attempting multiple times to put her hair up in a chic fashion, she gave up and let it fall, with it nearly reaching her shoulders. Ichiyō curled her bangs and applied some light makeup, attempting to eliminate her worry and loss of sleep. By the time she’d finished, it was 12:56. The subway train left at 1:15, so she had to leave soon otherwise she wouldn’t make it in time. Ichiyō grabbed her coat and shoes and made her way out of the dormitory building.
The spring air was brisk and somewhat chilly, which made Ichiyō thankful she had brought her coat. Still, the slight wind paired with the sunny atmosphere made perfect weather for a cherry blossom viewing picnic. She just hoped, maybe irrationally, that her friends and their friends wouldn’t cause such a ruckus. Last time such a party occurred, if it were not a public park, everyone would have been banned permanently. Ichiyō definitely didn’t want to deal with such an endeavor this time.
Ichiyō arrived at the ticket station, scanned her subway pass, and made her way in. The terminal was fairly crowded, but considering it was a Saturday afternoon, it was pretty vacant. She made her way to a metal bench and sat, watching people quickly pass by.
The subway came soon after, and by then the terminal had crowded up substantially since Ichiyō had arrived. She guessed most people had just rushed in at the last few minutes while she was focusing on her phone, passing the time.
She boarded the subway, checking the map on the train, and then the address Lucy sent her. She would have to get off 12 stops up, and then walk for another 5 minutes. Lucy had never taken the metro in Japan before and asked Ichiyō to show her, so she could get around more effectively. Her girlfriend Louisa was coming along as well, though Lucy warned Ichiyō that she was extremely shy and despised large crowds. When Ichiyō asked why she wanted to come to the celebration (especially with the open invite which was sure to attract many people), Lucy explained that a few of their old friends were coming to the gathering that Louisa hadn’t been able to get in touch with, and she wanted to reconnect with them. Plus, she had never been to a cherry blossom viewing event before, and wanted to try it at least once. Lucy also explained that taking the subway was the fastest and most efficient way to the venue, and while Louisa was hesitant to be around so many people in such a crowded space, she did have an appreciation for efficiency so she agreed to take it.
A few stops down, a young pregnant lady entered the vessel, and began looking for a place to sit, since the priority seat had all been taken up. The subway conductor announced that the train would start moving, and the poor lady scanned the area, frightened that the train’s departure would cause her to fall. Seeing that no one was paying attention, Ichiyō rose from her seat and offered it to the young woman, who accepted it graciously. Ichiyō went and stood near the middle of the passenger car, as she still had 9 stops left.
Nearly five minutes later, while Ichiyō was scrolling through her phone, a young girl around the age of three approached her. She tugged on Ichiyō’s pant leg, attempting to get her attention. Yet before Ichiyō could look down at the young girl, she realized that Ichiyō was not, in fact, her mother. The child slumped to the ground and began to sob, about the loss of her mother, and the fears of being on the subway alone as a small girl. Ichiyō kneeled down next to the girl, and began to rub circles in her back, hesitant to make a more intimate gesture resulting in scaring the girl. The crying child buried her face in Ichiyō’s coat, and wrapped her hands around her waist, hugging her tightly. Ichiyō continued to rub circles in her back, as the young girl calmed down. Eventually the crying subsided to hiccups, and the girl looked up at Ichiyō with round teary brown eyes. Fearing that she was going to start crying again, Ichiyō asked her name.
The girl responded shyly that her name was Sayaka and she was four years old.
“Wow, four years old? You’re a very big girl Sayaka!” Ichiyō praised Sayaka and then introduced herself as ‘older than your grandma’. Sayaka giggled at that and Ichiyō continued to chat with Sayaka for the next few minutes. Sayaka’s mother, a dark haired, classy woman, rushed up to them shortly after, embracing her daughter and worriedly muttering phrases of “What would I do if I lost you?” or “Oh I’m so glad I found you!” She introduced herself as Yukimura Mayumi, the mother of Yukimura Sayaka. Ichiyō introduced herself politely and just barely after she finished, the mother, Yukimura, bowed and thanked Ichiyō again.
“Oh, Higuchi, I don’t know how I can ever repay you! Thank you for watching my dear Sayaka and making sure she wasn’t hurt. I can never forgive myself for letting her run off like that!”
“There's no use in worrying now, Yukimura. I’m glad I could be of help, and Sayaka is such a sweet, polite girl so there was really no problem!”
“Well, it’s good to hear that my daughter was polite to her elders. If you ever need anything, here’s my contact info, I would be willing to repay you with a coffee or something of the sorts.” Yukimura handed Ichiyō a business card, with her company’s title, logo, and number on it.
Ichiyō took the card and placed it in her left coat pocket. “Thank you, I very much appreciate it! There really is no need to repay me though!”
“I insist, though we really must be going, this is our stop. Please call if you change your mind!” Yukimura exclaimed as she led Sayaka out the subway exit doors and onto the terminal.
“I’ll keep it in mind!” Ichiyō promised as the subway doors slid shut, watching Sayaka and her mother disappear into the crowd of people. The subway accelerated once again, leaving the crowded terminal behind.
At Konanchuo Station, Ichiyō departed the train and made her way up the concrete stairs into the sunlight. As the high afternoon struck, the temperature rose, making way for a perfect day at the park. She followed the map on her phone and made her way to Lucy’s apartment. Upon arriving, she rang the buzzer, to which Lucy responded with a cheerful greeting and a promise to be down soon. Five minutes pass and Lucy finally bursts open the apartment building’s door with a timid Louisa secured to her left arm. “We’re ready!’ Lucy exclaimed, gesturing her right arm out towards Ichiyō, prompting a hug. Ichiyō reluctantly obliged and drew close to her chest for a quick hug.
They make their way down to the metro station, and check the timetable. The next train would arrive in ten minutes, so Ichiyō instructed Lucy and Louisa on how to buy train tickets. They bought their tickets and headed to the north-bound terminal. Ichiyō explained that since the stop is only a few stops away, they should arrive at the park around 5 minutes before 2.
The train arrived and they boarded it, standing towards the crowded center. Louisa gripped onto a pole, startled by the large midday crowd. Lucy noticed this, and handed Luisa earbuds upon connecting them to her phone. With the earbuds in, and Lucy’s hand holding hers, Louisa visibly relaxed, and began scrolling through her phone.
“She loves listening -and following along- to audiobooks” Lucy explained. “She’s always been kind of a literature nut, plus it calms down her anxiety of large crowds and people.”
“That’s honestly really cool!” Ichiyō exclaims “Well not the anxiety of course, but the literature. I’ve tried to be a reader but only certain books entertain me.”
“Yeah, Lousia will read pretty much anything, nonfiction, fiction, classics, children's chapter books, peer reviews, and so on. It’s kinda frightening at times.”
Ichiyō nodded in agreement, and the two shared their concerns for the picnic and the greater majority of the people invited. Lucy had never been to a picnic with this many of her friends and their friends, by extension, but she knew how rowdy the lot could be. She explained how a few of their friends she went to school with, always got detention for being disruptive and how detention didn’t seem to discipline them. “After a while”, Lucy said, “It became sort of a competition to see who would get the most detentions.”
While Ichiyō’s only knowledge of American schools was from films, she could imagine how many of her friends could be put in that situation, if not, god forbid worse. She recalled to Lucy how Akutagawa, whom she met in the second year of her high school schooling, was deemed a ‘decent kid influenced by troublemakers’ by the teachers simply because he was quiet and did his work time-to-time. However, if you asked the majority of the students that attended school with Akutagawa, they would say that he was definitely a delinquent.
Both of them chuckled lightly, as they knew Akutagawa’s distant and at times harsh personality. Their chuckles faded as they continued the remainder of their ride in comfortable silence.
When the train arrived at the Sakuragicho metro station, Lucy lightly tapped Louisa on the shoulder signaling that they were departing the vessel. Louisa removed one earbud and nodded, but kept the other in until they had ascended from the station into the afternoon sun. As they walked towards Kamonyama Park, where the celebration would be held, Ichiyō asked Louisa who she was intending to reunite with, as she explained Lucy mentioned this in passing. Louisa explained that a few of her school friends had moved to Japan years ago in order to pursue careers and goals, and while they did call from time to time, catching up with them in person was really exciting. She mentioned she was, in particular, anticipating conversing with Poe, whom she was close friends with in high school and they bonded over their love for literature. She frequently messaged him online, but she hadn’t seen him in person for nearly 4 years.
Ichiyō listened as Louisa continued to recall memories from high school years with her friends, as her hand intertwined with Lucy’s, attempted to motion, dramatizing the story. They reached the park, and from the noise arising from a few meters ahead, could immediately identify where the gathering was. As they reached the group, a woman arised and approached them with a glass sake in hand, greeting them and introducing herself as Kōyō Osaki, the initiator of the cherry blossom celebration. She led them towards the group, and Ichiyō recognized a few of her friends already there. Tachihara waved over at her, as she led Lucy and Louisa over to introduce him. After introductions, they all sat down as Ichiyō remarked on Tachihara’s earliness.
“Ah, well I came with Akutagawa, but he left a few minutes ago to pick up Gin. He insisted I come early so I can save him this spot while he’s gone.”
Ichiyō hummed a sound of agreement. “Sounds like him. Always picky about the simplest things.”
“Tell me about it. The other day he got mad at me for buying him tea without sugar and cream.”
Ichiyō laughs, “That’s your own fault. You know that’s how he likes his tea.”
“It’s not my fault it was early in the morning! You know I’m not a morning person Higuchi! I can barely remember how to wash my face in the morning, much less, how my British-wannabe friend likes his tea!” Tachihara remarks, jokingly annoyed.
“Better be careful Tachihara, he wouldn’t be happy if he heard you say that.”
“Who wouldn’t be happy?” Lucy asked, as her and Louisa returned from introducing themselves to others. Her crimson colored bangs splayed across her forehead from the slight wind, as her hand stayed intertwined with Louisa’s, gently pulling her towards the group.
Tachihara whipped his head around in alarm, but breathed a sigh of relief seeing that it was Lucy and not Akutagawa. “Oh thank god. You scared me.”
“Please, me? Scary?” Lucy placed her hand to her heart in mock offense, as she gasped dramatically in surprise.
“No, no you’re not scary at all, I just mistook you for someone else.”
“Oh good, good, you see I can’t be perceived as scary, with how I’m trying to be a children's book author and all.”
“WIth that bright red hair of yours?” Tachihara remarked jokingly. “No parent’s gonna buy their child a book written by a fake red-head.”
“First of all, I’m a natural ginger, I just decided to dye my hair. And you can’t even talk, with your obviously-dyed rusty bronze hair.”
“They seem to be getting along.” Ichiyō whispered to Louisa.
As Tachihara and Lucy began to intensify their insults towards each other, Akutagawa Ryūnosuke and his sibling Gin appeared over the green, and when Gin saw Lucy and Tachihara bickering, whispered to her brother (conspicuously and sarcastically) “Why is there another ginger? Where do they all come from?”
Lousia and Ichiyō both giggled as Akutagawa replied monotonously “Probably from their mother’s womb.”
Both Lucy and Tachihara became a united front against the Akutagawa’s as Tachihara began berating Gin and chastising them for being so insensitive towards gingers. He ended up ranting to Gin about all the times in the past week their actions had wounded him, and how she was so heartless towards Tachihara that he was beginning to think their friendship was shattering.
“Oh please Michizō, stop being such a dramatic baby and pull yourself together.” Gin spoke as she sat on the picnic blanket wedged between Tachihara and her brother. “If you're so troubled, let's scrap sometime.”
Tachihara agreed and asked for a time and place, while Gin said they would have to check their schedule for availability. Tachihara sarcastically remarked on how being a model was so time-consuming, as how this was the first shoot Gin had in weeks, and while he rolled his eyes, Ichiyō’s ears perked up, along with her heart and ambitions. She studied Gin, for seemingly the first time, and the more she observed, the more she understood Gin’s appeal as a model. They were athletic, but with a lean figure, like a figure skater or a rock climber. Their face was pretty but also androgynous and pensive, with down-turned lips and intense grey eyes that starkly contrasted their serene glassy skin. Gin’s hair was currently pulled back into a low ponytail, but Ichiyō could see that her dark hair was long and well taken care of. Even the way she held herself was perfect; posture so good she could probably go about her normal day with a book or two on her head, but not in a way that’s smug, more so in a graceful manner. Gin’s aura was strong, yet barely there at all. They didn’t seem to be noticeable, and they were very quiet when they approached you, almost sneakily, so sometimes even Ichiyō was startled when Gin would suddenly appear behind or to the side of her. But if this really was true, if Gin happened to be a model, Ichiyō had struck gold for her fashion project. Her amazement stunned her almost too much to speak.
A hand waved in front of Ichiyō’s face, as her train of thought and hope left her to return to the real world. Tachihara had kneeled across from her and was currently waving his hand in front of her face. When he realized she was no longer zoned out he returned to his previous seated position. Ichiyō surveyed the group, noticing that more people had arrived as a whole, but everyone in her group seemed to be studying her. Gin wore a bashful look, while their eyes flitted from Ichiyō to the ground, and the others were gawking at her with a bewildered look of sorts. Tachihara – of course – was the first person to speak up.
“Higuchi, why were you staring at Gin?”
Oh. Ichiyō's face felt warm from embarrassment, and her ears began to burn. She tried to explain herself without sounding like a total fool, but her mouth wasn’t working. After controlling her breath for a moment, she explains. “Are you seriously a model Gin?”
Gin nods, now also wearing a bewildered expression. Ichiyō couldn’t believe her luck. One of her friend’s siblings was a model, beautiful, and perfect for her designs? Is she dreaming? “Why didn’t you tell me Tachihara?”
“What?” Tachihara broke his confused state, as the gears in his head turned. “Oh! You mean a few weeks ago when you asked for a model for your fashion designs. I completely blanked on Gin’s modeling. Sorry Higuchi.”
“You’re looking for a model Higuchi? Why didn’t you ask me?” Akutagawa spoke, obviously confused since he and Ichiyō were quite close, and she would’ve asked him if she needed something.
“Well I thought you would immediately turn me down, seeing as how you hate being on film.” This was true, because when Nakajima Atsushi, one of Ichiyō and Akutagawa’s friends, was doing a film project for his English class he asked Akutagawa to be in it, but Akutagawa turned it down immediately. However, Akutagawa agreed that Ichiyō’s reasoning did make sense, but he still should have known, if only to tell Gin.
Once all miscommunications were sorted, Ichiyō turned to Gin and asked, with hope, and a little bit of fear, knowing that they still had the possibility to say no. “Will you model for me? You don’t have to say yes, of course, but I would really appreciate it.”
Gin laughed, and nodded, her smile lighting up Ichiyō’s hope. “Of course I will. How could I say no?”