Chapter Text
Riyo groaned. “You’re really staying an extra hour again?”
“A few extra bucks wouldn’t hurt,” Momoa said, shaking her head.
Riyo clung to her arm. “A few less hours of sleep will though! Plus, you know how much I hate walking home alone down here!” she cried.
“You’ll be okay, Riyo. You’re a tough girl.”
Momoa shook her off playfully, but that playful demeanor quickly faded as her body went still.
“It’s just—” she sighed. “Unlike you, tips don’t come so easily. Not for someone like me.”
Riyo didn’t know what to say, but she understood what Momoa meant. She leaned against the cold brick wall and stared down at her black nonslip sneakers.
For the past four months, Riyo had worked at a diner as a server. She had quickly gotten used to the laborious routine and discovered new skills within herself along the way. Almost immediately, she’d mastered the art of getting tips, even more so than coworkers who had been there far longer. And she could tell it was the source of their empty compliments and forced kindness.
However, Momoa wasn’t one of those coworkers. In fact, she had quickly become someone very important to Riyo. After finding out they lived in the same apartment complex, they had grown especially close. But that didn’t mean their differences disappeared. At the end of the day, Momoa was just another young adult struggling to make a living—and Riyo couldn’t disagree with where she was coming from
Riyo clicked her phone on. “9:55” flashed across her screen in bold white letters. She should head out now. She pushed herself off the wall and walked down the hall, but before heading out the back doors, she turned to wave Momoa goodnight.
“You don’t have work tomorrow, right?” Momoa asked.
Riyo shook her head.
“Me either. I’ll get some food for us before I leave, so try to stay awake until then.”
“Sounds good,” Riyo called, pushing the doors open.
Immediately, the cold night air hit her skin. She shivered, then laughed. “Really shouldn’t have worn shorts today, huh?”
This was another one of those moments she wished she had a car. But given her current situation, it would be a while before that happened.
As soon as she turned eighteen, she ran away from home. The only financial help she’d had since then came from Zanka, her childhood best friend who also happened to come from a wealthy family. She hadn’t seen him in a while, though. Back then, he had offered to help her go to college, encouraging her to major in cosmetics, but she opted for simple cosmetology classes instead. Despite the support she’d received from both Zanka and her job— she wasn’t happy with where she was in life. She wanted something more. Something she had true passion about.
She had only worked at one salon before. After high school, she applied to three local salons. Two rejected her for lack of experience. The last one, located downtown, hired her. She enjoyed working there at first, but eventually her position as a hairdresser slowly shifted into janitorial work and front desk duties. She hated it, and quit.
So here she was now, working seven-hour shifts at a downtown diner. Even if the job was more stable, Riyo still felt unfulfilled.
She continued walking home. The downtown area wasn’t completely empty, so every now and then a car would pass, sending cold gusts of wind toward her. She let her hair down from its clip, hoping it might act as some kind of coat.
Maybe it was the cold that made her walk faster. By the time she reached halfway to her apartment, she checked her phone and was surprised to see only ten minutes had passed.
Then an idea came to her.
There was a salon nearby she had been eyeing recently, one she hadn’t applied to yet. It wouldn’t hurt to walk by it, she thought. She had only ever seen it on Google Maps, after all.
Instead of continuing straight like usual, she turned. As she changed direction, she heard a faint shuffle behind her, but brushed it off as wildlife. And if it wasn’t… well, she could handle it.
The route to the salon was unnecessarily complicated, leading her up and down hills and through several turns. But eventually, she made it.
The building had large front windows, with delicate leaves hanging decoratively all around. She stood there admiring it, until her attention shifted to her own reflection.
Nothing compared to the art of hairdressing. She loved the sweet scent of hair products. The feeling of hair growing lighter as she cut through it. The way small changes created entirely new looks. And most of all, she loved that she had mastered it.
Maybe she could try out this place…
But the thought vanished as something shifted behind her in the reflection.
Her instincts were right. Someone was following her.
She spun around and quickly, met pair of pink eyes from behind a bush.
“Who are you!” Riyo called, already bracing to strike.
To her surprise, a young woman stumbled out, hands raised like she’d been caught committing a crime. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and her blonde hair was messy and panicked.
“I’m so sorry I promise I wasn’t trying to be creepy I was just studying at the library and accidentally fell asleep and when I woke up it was dark and my phone was dead and when I left you were the first person I saw but I was too nervous to ask for help so I just kept following you not knowing when to stop—!”
By the end of her ramble, her legs gave out beneath her. She collapsed under a streetlight, illuminated like a spotlight. To which Riyo couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Jeez, girl, you are a mess!” Riyo laughed, approaching the fallen woman.
The woman looked up with watery eyes. “H-huh?”
Riyo stepped into the light and crouched beside her, “Here,” she said, pulling her phone from her back pocket, “you can call whoever you need”
The woman stared at her, wide-eyed, as if she had never experienced kindness before. Her ears and cheeks flushed bright red.
“Ah—thank you! Thank you so much!”
Riyo helped her stand and gather her things before she made the call.
Surprisingly, it was answered immediately. A loud, panicked voice spilled from the other end, and the woman quickly reassured them she was okay.
“Do you know somewhere safe around here where I can get picked up?” she asked, covering the phone.
“Sure I do,” Riyo said. “The Akuta Apartment Complex. I’m heading there anyway so I can walk with you.”
The woman smiled softly before returning to her call.
Eventually, after many apologies and reassurances, she hung up and handed the phone back.
“I’m so glad everything’s okay,” she sighed, adjusting her heavy tote bag. “That look you gave me earlier… I thought I was done for.”
“Huh!?”
Riyo immediately felt guilty.
“I’m so sorry! There are a lot of creeps around here, so I get defensive fast,” she said, scratching her head. “Though honestly, the bugs and rodents are worse.”
The young woman laughed sweetly in response, to which Riyo felt herself start sweating. Did she say something funny?Was she always this easy to embarrass?
She felt her face getting hot, and quickly walked past the girl, hoping she didn’t see her redness.
“We… we can get going now.”
“Ah—wait up!” the woman called. “I’m still scared of this area!”
Riyo hadn’t realized how far she’d gone until she turned and saw her running to catch up.
As soon as she did, she grabbed Riyo’s hand tightly.
“I-if it’s okay… can I hold your hand?” she asked softly.
They stood close, and Riyo could smell the woman’s faint floral scent. She remained there for a moment, before bursting out into laughter. She hadn’t expected such a sudden, endearing request.
“If not, that’s okay! Really!” the woman said, pulling back.
Riyo gently took her hand again. “No, it’s okay,” she said, still smiling.
“Wh… why are you laughing?”
“Because you’re cute,” Riyo said honestly.
It wasn’t until she noticed the silence in the air that she realized what she had just blurted out.
Riyo turned around to see the girl behind her blushing harder than ever. Flustered too, she turned back around. After that, she held the woman’s hand a little tighter, excusing it to the fact they were about to walk up a hill.
———
The pair eventually made it to the apartments, and Riyo insisted on waiting outside with her until the ride arrived.
When it finally did, Riyo was surprised to see a loud, energetic man pull up on a motorcycle, apparently her brother. The two were complete opposites; his bold, unapologetic demeanor clashed with her quiet, timid presence.
Their exchange was quick. By the time they finished thanking Riyo and saying their goodbyes, it was already over.
Riyo lingered for a moment, awkwardly watching them leave, before turning and heading up the stairs to her apartment. By the time she stepped inside, a strange exhaustion had settled over her.
She checked her phone. A new message from Momoa lit up the screen:
“ill be there in 45”
Not wanting to fall asleep and disappoint her, Riyo decided to start a bath to keep herself awake.
Now alone, her thoughts had room to wander—and immediately, they drifted back to the girl. The rose oil she put in her bath reminded her of the way she smelled as they held hands. The pink hues from her shower light beamed the same colors of her eyes. And as she finally laid against the tub and tapped the surface of the water, even the droplets from her finger reminded her of the woman’s tears
“What a strange encounter…” she murmured to herself, trying to accept that she’d probably never see her again.
She stared at the moonlight pouring in through the window. The longer she looked, the heavier her mood became. Why did she feel so empty over someone she had just met? Why had she acted so out of character? The moon always did this to her, pulling her vulnerability to the surface. Not wanting that mood to linger, especially with Momoa coming over, she pushed herself out of the bath.
She finished getting dressed and, coincidentally, heard her door bell ring. She walked out the bathroom and opened the door.
“Right on time,” she said.
Momoa walked in, holding a deliciously smelling bag. “Got our favorite— fried chicken,” she said excitedly, lifting it up.
Riyo smiled faintly as they moved into the kitchen.
Momoa opened the bag and waved a handful of sauce packets. “I even spent an extra sixty cents on the spicy ones just for you. You should be grateful!”
“Thank you,” Riyo muttered.
“Huh?” Momoa blinked.
“What’s up?”
“…Nothing.”
They finished setting up their food and carried everything to the small table in front of the sofa.
Momoa grabbed the remote. “Wanna watch a movie?”
“Okay.”
There was a brief pause before Momoa spoke again.
“…Are you okay?”
Riyo had been mid-bite and hesitated, unsure whether to answer or keep eating.
“You’re acting really out of it,” Momoa continued.
Riyo swallowed. “What do you mean?”
“I mean… did something happen on your way home?”
“Oh…” Riyo exhaled softly.
“Oh?” Momoa leaned forward.
Looking at the moon didn’t matter after all, she thought. Because clearly her encounter with the shy girl affected her nonetheless.
“I met someone on my way home,” she admitted. “But I didn’t think it affected me this much.”
Momoa straightened slightly, clearly interested.
“I helped a lost college student get picked up,” Riyo said simply.
“No way that’s all that happened.”
Riyo felt her face warm as the memories replayed.
“Well… Simply put, it is,” she muttered. “We ended up… holding hands. And laughing a bit.”
Momoa dropped her drumstick, mouth agape.
She immediately knew what Momoa was thinking, romance was truly the last thing on Riyo’s mind, though.
Shutting Momoa down before she could even start, she threw her hands in the air. “It wasn’t like that at all! It’s just— the whole thing had been embarrassing!”
“I didn’t say it was anything like that,” Momoa teased.
Momoa was successful in catching Riyo off guard, she could always do stuff like that. And so, Riyo felt slightly cornered in that moment while she asked herself if it really was something like that.
If she had developed interest in someone.
“Look,” she said quickly, “she made it pretty clear she wasn’t from around here. It’s not like I’ll ever see her again. So… it doesn’t mean anything.”
Momoa leaned back against the couch. “Come on… can you even blame me? Little Riyo here is so focused on work she doesn’t even have a love life.”
“We’re not that different!” Riyo shot back.
Momoa suddenly flushed. “I just care about you, alright?!” she said, crossing her arms.
This wasn’t nearly a fight, they both knew that. Looking at Momoa, she could tell how much she cared for her, and so she smiled.
“Alright.” She said at last.
Momoa took another bite, then pointed her drumstick at Riyo.
“Theoretically,” she said, “if you saw this girl again… what would you do?”
What would I do..?
“Well…” She said, slightly sweating. “I’d ask for her name.”
“And then?”
“And then…”
Her grip tightened slightly around nothing, as if recalling the feeling of that hand in hers.
“I’d ask to see her again,” she said. “Over and over.”
Momoa smiled. “Good answer.”
Riyo didn’t feel burdened by her own feelings anymore, she was certain of it. She and Momoa spent the rest of the night eating and laughing, and eventually did put on a movie.
But even as time went on, one thought lingered quietly in the back of Riyo’s mind.
Whether or not she would ever see that girl again… She hoped she would. She wanted to know her name. She wanted to call out to her. She wanted another moment, just one more, like the one they had shared.