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“Maki-nee, Maki-nee! Can’t I stay with you longer? It’s been so long since you spent much time at the orphanage, and we haven’t gone to any of the fun places you said we could.” Momoka tugged at her arm, looking up at her with wide, pleading eyes. “Things are so boring without you. None of the bigger kids ever want to play with me, and the little ones...” She grimaced, wrinkling her nose. “They’re not much fun.”
Maki chuckled softly, ruffling the young girl’s hair with her free hand. She felt guilty that she hadn’t been able to visit as often as she used to, but between school and work, it couldn’t be helped. The train ride alone was an hour each way, not exactly a walk across the street. The kids didn’t always understand that though. They were just lonely and in need of attention, and she was one of many grownups who didn’t have enough time to give them.
“You have to be patient with them sometimes. I know you’d rather hang out with the big kids, but just think, the little ones feel the same way about you. I know I haven’t been around much lately, but I’ll be by soon. I promise. For now though, you have to go home with the others,” she explained as gently as she could, nodding towards the small gaggle of children and the exhausted-looking nun supervising them. “It’s almost dinnertime. You don’t want to miss that, do you?”
“I guess not,” Momoka admitted reluctantly, lower lip still sticking out in a pout. “But I still really want to play with you.”
“I know. I’m sorry. Here, take this.” Maki proffered a small packet of candy from her bag. “Don’t eat it all at once, okay?”
Sensing that she wasn’t going to get a more agreeable response than that, she started guiding Momoka along the park path, refusing to cower sheepishly under the nun’s stern gaze. She knew these women were doing the best they could with what they were given, but she wasn’t about to apologize for having a short conversation.
Just as they reached the group, Momoka’s arms wrapped around her waist like a vise, hugging her close.
“Promise you’ll visit soon, Maki-nee.”
“I promise,” she assured once more, hoping it would be enough to stave off any tears. “Be good for the sisters, alright? Bye, Momoka.” She stayed to watch as the group filed out of the park and down the sidewalk, standing still until the last child in line vanished around the corner leading back to the orphanage. Only then did Maki turn away and re-focus on where she was headed, just barely missing a pink-clad figure in her peripheral vision.
Her head was already pounding from a caffeine headache, and listening to the oft-vulgar crowing of Iruma Miu wasn’t helping matters one bit. Maki sighed, dropping her head to the library table and burying her face in the pages of her textbook. She generally tried to stay more composed in public, but some people seemed to make it a personal goal to get under everyone else’s skin.
“Ooh, did this genius strike a nerve? Or are you just in a bitchier mood than usual?” Miu’s voice came from annoyingly close by, confirming what Maki already knew—that she’d been creeping closer and closer throughout her monologue.
“Shut up before you empty the room,” she muttered in reply, one hand reflexively curling into a fist. “You’ve already started driving people away with your nonsense.” With her head down, she couldn’t see what Miu was doing, but she didn’t need to in order to picture the wobbly frown, the puppy dog eyes, the exaggeratedly timid posture.
“Huh? What did I do? You don’t need to be so mean to me, especially after I saw what a softie you are. Only nice to kids, is that it?” Miu was so close that Maki could hear her shaky inhale, a performative attempt to seem close to tears. “I...I can call you mommy too, y’know.”
In the blink of an eye, Maki was on her feet, shoving Miu against the nearest wall. In retrospect, perhaps that move was counterproductive.
Hand maintaining a firm grip on Miu’s shoulder, she said, “One more word on this topic and I’ll kill you. Do you wanna die?”
“I-if you’ll do it personally, I’d consider it,” Miu cooed, blue eyes meeting red with far too little fear. “Anything to have your hands all over my body. Well, not that I couldn’t get whatever stupid virgin I wanted, obviously. So consider it a compliment, hehe.”
Maki could do nothing but shake her head in disgust. Yes, disgust, only that. The heat suddenly flooding her veins and bringing a flush to her cheeks was anger. Letting go of Miu with one final shove against the wall, she turned away, starting to gather up her things.
“Forget it, you weirdo.”
“I’ll wait for your call~”