Chapter Text
“Myne. We need to leave. I know you want to keep reading but it’s getting dark”
“Just one more page”
“No.”
“...”
“You’ll get chilled.”
“Don’t care”
“I’m not kidding. We really do need to leave”
“...”
“Come on get up!”
“No.”
“You aren’t a kid anymore Myne, I have work tomorrow and I can’t stay out here for the rest of the night with you”
“Then leave”
“No. I am not leaving you by yourself”
“Why not?”
“Because you are clearly not capable of making rational decisions right now!”
“...”
“Please Myne, look, it’s been a long day… Do you think you could just… Close the book and go home?”
“... Ok”
Myne gets up, closing her book.
“Thank you”
“It’s fine”
Taking one last glance behind her at the gravestone, Myne’s face falls, then she looks back at her companion.
“You’re leaving in a few days anyway, what does it matter?”
“Because I’m worried about you. Isn’t that enough?”
“You don’t need to worry, I’ll get by” pulling out her handkerchief Myne dabs at her eyes not looking at Shou.
“Not unless you get a job you won’t”
“I’m trying ok?” A long silence.
“... Let’s just get in the car”
Walking across the parking lot Shou holds the door open for Myne. She gets in, hardly glancing at him, open book in hand. Sighing heavily, Shou strides around the car opening the door to the driver's seat. He slides in, turning the key in the ignition. Neither say anything as the car purrs to life. Pulling out of the small cemetery parking lot they take a sharp right onto the motorway. The two occupants are silent. One staring fixedly at the printed letters in front of her, the other focused on the road with the occasional glance to his silent companion.
“Promise you’ll call me?”
“Maybe” Staring at the ground rather than Shou’s face, Myne is clutching her book between both hands. It isn’t open. She’ll get back to reading it later.
“Myne, look at me”
The carpet is an interesting wavy pattern. It does a good job of hiding the dirt from all the different travellers who pass through this airport on a daily basis.
“Myne!”
“What is it?” She replies dully. There’s a spot of dirt right next to her shoe. It might be a piece of stick actually. How did that get here? Probably from one of those ornamental plant things outside. Swallowing down her tears was difficult. Shou had done so much for her already, she shouldn’t cry now. He’d just worry more. Oh. Shou was saying something wasn’t he?
“You know what? Never mind. Just… Stay safe okay?”
“You too”
She should probably look at him. This would be their last opportunity to talk to each other for a long time. But if she made eye contact she would almost certainly start sobbing. She wanted to send him off with a smile. Unfortunately her face wasn’t cooperating. But then again, did that really matter? … Myne looked up. Shou had an odd expression, like he was trying to hold back tears too. Myne bit down a hysterical giggle.
“Um.. Goodbye then.”
“Goodbye.”
Myne’s voice cracked. She clamped her mouth shut and tried to summon a smile. It didn’t work. Shou opened his mouth as if to say something else, then shut it again. After one last strained smile he walked off towards the terminal. Myne watched until he disappeared into the crowd. Then waited until the plane took off, sitting on one of the window seats. People be damned. Nobody who knew her would be there to see her break down after all. Taking out one of the many hankies from her bag, Myne sobbed. Home…
There was nobody waiting for her at home. Just an empty apartment. It was fine. She didn’t mind. The tears stopped eventually. Her eyes were still red and people were giving her funny looks, but she didn’t really care. Well, didn’t care above internally yelling at them to ‘mind their own business.’ After about half an hour of sitting she decided she liked it here. Airports had nice windows. Plenty of light to read by. Too many people though. Lots of noise too. Not that she noticed after starting to read.
“Miss, if you don’t have a flight we must ask you to leave–”
Oh. It was dark already. That was quick. Myne got up and walked out. She would have read while walking but the staff member was very insistent on escorting her to the door, hurrying her along whenever she slowed down. Once outside it was very dark. Or at least it would have been if this wasn’t the heart of a city. The streetlights provided a warm glow contrasting with the harsh glare of the airport floodlights. Hmm. She should get home shouldn’t she? Home. The empty living room swam before her mind’s eye. It would be a long train ride from the airport, but she could read on the way so it wasn’t so bad.
Pulling out her book Myne started ambling in the direction of the train station. A few cars honked at her and a cyclist nearly ran her over, but she got there eventually. Shou would have scolded her if he could see her now. Her mother would have been worried about her staying up late too, there’d be missed calls and texts telling her to come home. Not anymore. Shou was gone. Off to his new job overseas with the rest of his family. Mother was- no, she didn’t want to start crying now. Not on a public street. The subway had benches. That was convenient. The next train to her area wasn’t for another hour. Settling down for a long wait, Myne began to read.
“Excuse me Ma’am, but you can’t sleep here,”
A hand had grabbed her shoulder and was pulling her gently to her feet. Oh. Had she fallen asleep? Hmm. Wait. Where was her book? Looking around she soon located it, undamaged thank goodness. Who knew what might have happened to it if she’d rolled on top of it or something equally dreadful. Oh. The man was still here wasn’t he? He seemed to be expecting something. Ah, yes, not sleeping on benches, that was it. Myne stood up straight, bowing her apologies before hurrying off. Her back was sore and stiff and her clothes were rumpled. Sleeping on a bench could do that to you she supposed. Not that that was a habit she planned on keeping up.
What was the time anyway? Was her watch still on her? A pickpocket could have easily taken her valuables while she was asleep. Oh, it was still there. That was a relief. The time was 6 in the morning. She’d been careless. Forgetting there was nobody to call her if she stayed out too late. Well, there should be a train here soon to take her home. Home where nobody was waiting for her. Except her landlord… Who’d been pestering her about ‘financial security’ and whatnot for the last week- Or she could go to the library. Getting to work on time was something her supervisor had insisted on.
Something her mother had insisted on too. Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, Myne stopped herself from running face first into a pole. Wait. Not to work. No, they’d fired her a week ago… That was why her landlord had been pestering her. Maybe she shouldn’t go to the library. But that would mean going home. Was it even home anymore? Sure, she was paying the bills on her and her mother’s old apartment, but as to being ‘home’…
There was a park near here if she remembered correctly. They had comfortable benches there and a suitable amount of not too bothered staff to not remove passersby from said benches. Hopefully it wasn’t raining. Myne made her way out of the train station. It wasn’t raining. That was a plus. Time to find that bench.
“Hello? Miss Myne Motosu? Are you in there?”
Myne looked up from her book. That was the third time this week. She’d already told Mrs Rihyarda she was fine. Neighbours could be annoying sometimes. Particularly when the whole neighbourhood thought she was becoming a shut in. Which she wasn’t. Myne went out. Regularly. To the library. Even to a couple of markets. (The fact that her older brother dragged her there was irrelevant. He wasn’t technically her older brother, but apparently had been asked to look out for her by his mother who had known her mother ‘back in the day’ etcetera etcetera).
Anyway, where was she? Neighbours. Distracting her from her reading. She was just getting to the good part too. It was almost definitely Mrs Rihyarda from next door. Myne would bet a thousand yen-
“Anybody home? I was just wondering how you were getting on-”
And she was right. Well, she might as well reassure her and hope it didn’t take too long. It was getting easier to keep her composure whenever Mother was brought up, but it hadn’t gotten any less exhausting. (She still cried at the drop of a hat about it. The sympathetic looks had been fine to start with, but there came a point where it got rather annoying). Myne got up from her seat, knocking over a few takeout containers in the process.
She hadn’t bothered cooking. Raw ingredients were expensive. Mother’s food had always been- No. This was just more time efficient. Not that she’d been eating much anyway, but she had to keep a certain level of strength for potential job interviews. Which she definitely hadn’t been putting off. She grabbed a tissue dabbing at her eyes before she stood up. Wading through the bookstacks in the hallway, Myne reached the door, opening it to reveal a concerned looking Mrs Rihyarda from next door.
“My you look quite a sight! Take this! I can see you’ll need it, I can tell I was right to be worried,”
After shoving a container of food into Myne’s hands she unabashedly peered past Myne into the book strewn hallway.
“If you need a hand dearie you only need to ask”
“I think I’ll be fine but thank you all the same, is that all you wanted?” Myne asked.
She just wanted this over with. The leftovers were nice, but the amount plus the constant favours Mrs Rihyarda kept pushing on her was beginning to be uncomfortable. It wasn’t like she had anything to return the favour. Rihyarda was- no. Had been her mother’s friend. Not Myne’s. She didn’t want anyone to worry about her. She certainly didn’t want to become a charity case. Rihyarda opened her mouth to reply then seemed to think better of it.
“That’s all I wanted dearie. Do take care of yourself, your mother wouldn’t have wanted you to waste away,”
“I will, thank you Mrs Rihyarda”
She left. Myne shut the door and went back to the living room, sinking down to lean against the wall. Just one more day. Surely she could afford one more day. Myne didn’t want to go to any more job interviews. It wasn’t as if anybody would hire her anyway. If only she could have finished that degree when she had the chance. If only she could have kept that job. If only- Nope. That wasn’t going to help anything. There were containers and books all over the floor in front of her. She sniffed. This place really was a mess. Her money could last a little longer. What would her mother think if she could see her now?
3 Weeks. 3 Weeks before she was kicked out. Maybe a little longer if she ate less. Myne sank down onto her only remaining chair and buried her face in her hands. What was she going to do? She needed a job. But who would take her when she was like this? The library had fired her for inattention and being overly emotional. Shou had left two months ago. Two months for her fragile financial security to run down the drain. Not that blaming the landlord would help. (She still blamed him. It just wasn’t a helpful kind of blaming. A quiet vindictive and definitely not saying it to his face because he could potentially kick her out kind of blaming). He’d even been sympathetic for the first week. But keeping on a charity case was expensive. Myne had known Mother hadn’t had much money left. Being a single parent didn’t have many opportunities to save capital. What was a job really? An exchange of time for money. She had plenty of time in theory. But first she had to convince some random strangers she was more worth it than the other, generally better suited or better trained applicants. Also most jobs sounded incredibly soul crushingly tedious. What was the worst that could happen? Homelessness? Myne had seen homeless people occasionally. She wasn’t sure about the statistics of deaths and so forth. Her mother had told her enough about what happened to unprotected young women. No relations, no friends, no money. It was something she would rather avoid if given any alternatives. If worse came to the worst maybe she could sleep in an abandoned alleyway or something. Public libraries were free so she wouldn’t lose access to books. But selling all of Mum’s old things? Myne couldn’t do it. Three weeks was still a decent amount of time. She’d decide tomorrow.
“I’m sorry Miss Motosu, but I really can’t keep delaying this, I’ll send my someone over to help you pack”
Myne glanced behind her into the almost empty apartment, then back at her landlord.
“I don’t think that will be necessary, thank you all the same”
“Good day Miss Motosu.”
“Good day Sir”
He left. Myne shut the door. Staring at the ground she wished her Mother was here. There really wasn’t much left. The furniture had been the first to go. She probably could have sold it for more, but Myne hadn’t had the energy for bargaining. She was so tired. The books had stayed the longest. So many of them had been bought with her own money… All the gifts from her mother she had received over the years… Dwelling on it wouldn’t change anything. She was going to start crying again wasn’t she?
Myne lifted her head slightly, gazing over the mess. It had never been this bad when mother was alive. Brushing her loose hair out of her face, Myne stood up. The rubbish she could deal with. She was being responsible now. Not reading for more than a few hours a day. Mother would be proud of her. It wasn’t really of her own volition though. (Well, all the librarians at the local library knowing her face and asking her if she was fine had been getting a little annoying, but that was beside the point. She was learning self control! A bit slowly maybe, but still!) Myne picked up a few empty takeout containers and stuffed them in the rubbish bag.
She’d read nonstop for weeks. Then she’d just kind of stopped. Not that any books were left anyway. Living takes money after all. Sitting down in the middle of the old living room Myne let her hands fall to her sides. There really was nothing left. All the appliances were gone. All the pictures. (The frames got her a couple of meals last saturday) All the furniture. Really the only thing she still owned was her phone, (She didn’t have enough money for service) and a few sets of clothes, too worn out to be worth selling.
She really should sell the phone. But that would take away her means of communication. Not that her mother would ever call her again, but if she got a job she’d need a phone number for them to contact her by. Who was she kidding. ‘IF’ she got a job. Biting back a sob Myne hunched over, burying her face in her skirt.
“I apologise for the short notice, but we really are busy at this time of year.”
“I understand. Thank you Sir. Goodbye”
“Take care, Miss Motosu”
Clutching all her worldly possessions in a bag under one arm, Myne bowed shortly and left. She’d lied about having a job. Lied about getting new accommodation. She had a feeling her landlord wouldn’t have kept her as a charity case even if she hadn’t. Finding that out for certain wasn’t something she planned on doing though. Mr Nakamura was a nice enough man, but you had to have a good deal of business acumen to be a landlord. Mrs Nakamura had actually offered their house if Myne had nowhere else to stay, but the look on her husband’s face indicated the proposal was one sided. Being poor didn’t mean she would encroach on others. That was something her mother always-
Anyway. She could take care of herself. Or rather, nobody needed to waste their time worrying about her. She’d cut contact with Shou two weeks ago, saying some things she’d probably regret at some point, but were necessary if she wanted him to leave her alone. She was a fully grown woman not a toddler who needed constant coddling. (She’d found out he’d bribed the library staff into badgering her and offering food. That was the last straw. The library was supposed to be a place she could forget about her annoying financial problems).
The concrete was hot beneath her too thin shoes. It was past the height of summer, leading into the beginning of autumn, but the sun didn’t seem to have got the memo. Maybe if she found some shade or something-
“Miss, you should really pay more attention where you’re going-”
She’d bumped into someone. She should apologise, but he had made her drop her bag. Bending down, she picked it up.
“I wasn’t concentrating. I apologise” She bowed and lifted her head to see the annoyed expression on the man’s face, he looked like he was going to say something, then strode off without another word. Myne knew she was the one who bumped into him, but he could at least be a bit politer about it. Probably some rich businessman or something. He didn’t look much older than her. Bright red hair and a definite air of superiority.
Ah well. The world was full of annoying busybodies, but couldn’t today have been a little kinder? She’d just been kicked out of her apartment (voluntarily, but that wasn’t the point) and had no energy to deal with this kind of thing. Scuffing the concrete angrily, Myne bit back a yelp of pain as her too thin shoes reminded her that they were, annoyingly, too thin. The sky was clouding over. Myne wondered if it was going to rain. That might be nice. It would cool her down anyway. Her clothes wouldn’t be damaged by getting too wet and she had no books to worry about anymore either. Myne kept walking. There was only so far wishing could get you after all. She had a job interview to reach.