Chapter Text
The alarm rang from the phone on her bedside. Air Shakur groaned as she got up and forcibly turned the alarm on her phone off, heading down the hallway and into the kitchen, getting ready to prepare breakfast for her and her daughter. She starts the stove and cracks some eggs into a slowly heating pan, placing slices of milk bread into the toaster oven and taking out pre-cut vegetables from the fridge for a simple salad. Once the slices of bread finished toasting, she transferred them to a plate and took the eggs off the stove, placing them on top of the bread itself. She placed them on the table and knocked on her daughter’s bedroom door to wake her up.
‘Oi! Wakey, wakey!’
The door creaks open to the sight of a dishevelled Uma girl with the same messy black spiky hair that Air Shakur has, rubbing her eyes and stretching her arms as she yawns, not minding her bedhead.
‘Morning, Mama…’
‘Good morning, Fergie. Come, hurry up and have your breakfast.’
‘Yes, Mama…’ Shakur’s daughter sleepily walks towards the dining table and sits down to eat her sunny-side-up egg on toast.
‘Don’t forget to take your vitamins.’
‘Yes, Mama.’
Air Fergie grabbed the vitamin bottle from the edge of the table, opened it and took one dosage out, placing it next to her toast. Air Shakur took out a cup filled with warm water, pouring the contents of a sachet of malted milk and mixing it, quickly chugging it down despite its hot temperature and returning the cup to the sink.
‘Finish your breakfast and shower or else we’ll be late for school.’
‘Okay, wait!’
Fergie bit and chewed her food fast, starting with her toast with eggs and then the salad. She quickly stuffed her face before heading into the bathroom to shower. Air Shakur shook her head in wonder as she put the dirty dishes into the sink and got ready for her turn in the bathroom. She sighs as she looks at the full family photo hanging on the wall, with Shakur herself, her now-belated spouse, and their daughter together on holiday.
‘I wish you were still here…’
After about 30 minutes of getting ready, Air Shakur is all dressed up nicely in a soft grey jumpsuit and black jacket, fit for the breezy April weather, with her own bag in hand, waiting for her daughter to come out of her room, fully dressed in her new school uniform, a dark blue randoseru with a daisy bag charm, slung over one of her shoulders.
‘Don’t hold your new bag like that, it cost your grandparents a lot of money to give that to you for your birthday. Come, hurry up and put your shoes on.’
Fergie handed her backpack to her mother and simply nodded silently, sitting down to put her sneakers on by the door.
‘Okay, I’m done.’
‘Ready for your first day of primary school?’
Fergie just stood there in silence, swinging one of her feet back and forth while gazing at them.
‘I dunno…’
Shakur sighs and puts her hand on her daughter’s shoulder.
‘You miss your father, I get it, but he’s never coming back as we discussed.’
‘I know…’
‘It’s a new day, kid. He wouldn’t want you so sad on such a big milestone.’
‘Yeah…’
Shakur handed the randoseru back and took her daughter’s hand in hers, leading her out the door and down the street where the school was. As they were walking down the street lined with blooming cherry blossoms, they saw Fenomeno, becoming the crossing guard for the morning, doing her duties.
‘Good morning, Air Shakur.’ Fenomeno greeted her former acquaintance.
‘Morning, Meno.’ Shakur greeted her back. Fergie on the other hand, didn’t greet Fenomeno, but instead held tighter onto Shakur’s hand and moved closer to her, denoting she was still slightly fearful. They eventually reached the primary school, where there were several students already walking into the school compound, all donning the same bag as Fergie does, albeit in different colours.
‘Here we are, kid. Right, let’s take a photo, this is a big day after all.’
‘Do we have to?’
‘One day you’ll want to look back on this moment, now stand over there by the “Back to School” sign under the buntings.’
Fergie does as told, stands by the wall of the school gate, where the sign stood, and the bunting on the gate arch above moved in the wind. She does a fake smile as Shakur snaps some photos of her alone and of them together.
‘Let’s go inside and meet your new teachers and friends.’
The two Umas followed the other parents, also dressed to the nines, into the large hall where several teachers were getting ready for the Nyūgakushiki ceremony and found a place to sit somewhere in the middle of the room.
‘What’s going on, Mama?’
‘This is a special ceremony to welcome kids like you to a new school.’
‘Oh.’
After a lengthy procession filled with speeches, children meeting their new principal, and formal singing, the newest 1st graders were led away to their new classrooms and school environment by their upperclassmen, while the parents followed behind with the teachers, introducing themselves to one another. The other mothers and teachers silently judged Shakur for her eyebrow piercing along with her rebellious demeanour & aura, but only one of them, a young woman with a lanyard, went up to her, a pep in her step and a smile on her face.
‘I’m sorry about how those ladies stared at you for how you look. I’m the new homeroom teacher for the 1st grade.’
Air Shakur looked down at the teacher’s nametag, the name Haruka Fukuda written in kanji, revealing the teacher’s name.
‘Good to meet you, Fukuda-san. I guess that means you’re my daughter’s teacher.’
‘Oh? Which one is she?’
‘Air Fergie, the one wearing the black scrunchie with yellow dots.’
Fukuda-san peeped out of the crowd to see the Uma child the mother was talking about.
‘Ah, gotcha. She’s looking a little down there. Is everything alright?’
‘It’s none of your business.’
‘I understand, my condolences nevertheless…’
‘Yeah, yeah, I get that a lot. I just hope that she’ll be cheerful again once she goes to school.’
‘I’ll do my best to keep her spirits up and make her motivated to learn.’
‘Thank you.’
After a tour around the school complex, the school entrance ceremony has ended, and all the children with their parents are dismissed from the school, each going their own way.
‘What did you think of the classroom?’
‘It’s alright. The big kids did lots of nice drawings on the blackboard for us.’
Fergie looked around her and saw that many of her peers had both parents show up for them, but not her, considering she’s now raised by a single parent.
‘Why do my new friends still have their papa but not me?’
‘I wish I knew why as well, but let me tell you something… Some of Mama’s friends only had their moms when they were your age, like Oguri, Tamamo, and Special Week. You’re not alone, Fer-chan.’
‘What happened to their papa?’
‘That’s a topic for another day. Let’s go home now. I need to label all your items with your name so no one takes your stuff.’
‘Can we get carrot burgers for lunch?’
‘Mmm… Sure, kid.’
‘Yay! Thank you, Mama!’
Shakur silently shook her head as she held her daughter’s hand with her empty hand, the other one holding bags filled with her school supplies, both of them crossing the street once again on their way to their nearest burger joint and back home. Sure, it was unhealthy, but Shakur herself was in no place to comment as the Uma who had the habit of consuming candy supplements often and skipping meals, so she let it slide just to make her daughter happy.
~~~
Once Fergie got into the groove of formal schooling, Shakur began to enjoy more freedom from child-rearing before she had to go fetch her from after-school clubs and cram school. Luckily for Shakur, she’s able to do remote work as a programmer, and that means she can work anywhere and anytime while waiting for her daughter to finish her extracurricular lessons.
On this particular occasion, she was called to do work and go through a meeting in her office, much to her dismay. Once her meeting was over, the clock struck 12:15 PM, meaning it was lunch time for her. She put her laptop into sleep mode and grabbed her wallet, making her way out of the office building. Without any thought, she walked down the street, looking at the various restaurants that littered it, until she came across a new ramen place that she's never been to before.
Curious, she entered the premises and saw it was semi-packed, leading her to believe it was an establishment with excellent wares. She placed her order on the touchscreen in front and took the ticket, Shakur looking around to find a single seat. As she sat down while waiting for her meal, her eyes came across someone familiar working in the kitchen.
‘Fine…?’
‘Oh, Shakur-san! What a pleasure seeing you here after so many years! What brings you to my restaurant?’
‘It’s my lunch break now, and your stall is near my workplace, so it makes sense for me to be here.’
‘That’s excellent to hear!’
Fine smiled at Shakur as she handed the Uma her order of a simple shoyu ramen with chasiu, a soft-boiled egg, a few nori sheets, and some scallions on top.
‘So, uh… How have you been?’
‘Oh, it’s been… Just hunky dory to say the least. Well, I’m recently divorced, you see… I was betrothed to a king in Hawaii in hopes of producing an heir for him and maintaining an alliance between Ireland and Hawaii, but after a few tries, we couldn't conceive. We went to the doctor, and then they found out that I was intersex, chromosomal abnormalities to be exact, and therefore infertile, so he called the marriage off…’
‘Jeez, that’s so shitty of him.’
‘It’s alright, Shakur-san. It was an arranged marriage after all so it was political in nature. Thanks to that divorce, I have the freedom now to not be obliged to produce heirs and be able to start my ramen shop.’ Fine shook the excess hot water off the noodle strainer before pouring the noodles into another customer’s bowl. ‘What about you? Do you have a spouse?’
‘He’s dead.’
‘Oh, Shakur-san, I’m sorry to hear that…’
‘I don’t need any more sympathy over my dead partner. My main objective is to raise my daughter and keep a roof over our heads.’
‘Is it alright if I ask when it-?’
‘Last month, from a heart attack at work… He was a friend of my trainer. It was completely unexpected because he was a very healthy man, or so I thought.’ Shakur sighed as she took a sip of her cold ocha and continued eating her ramen. ‘My daughter’s still trying to adjust to life without her dad. She's usually super energetic, but now she’s… different, like she’s lost the light in her eyes and the enthusiasm. I know I’m too harsh on her often, but… she’s no longer herself. Gah! Why am I even telling you all this?!’
‘It’s good to let out our frustrations, Shakur-san.’
‘Ugh, I told you more than you should know…’
‘As I said, it’s fine by me. I think you really needed that, considering you’ve just become a widow and a single parent at the same time. Tell you what, I’ll pack up some ramen for you to take away for dinner. I’ll even add some extra narutomaki for the little one.’
‘Fine, you don’t have to do that.’
‘It’s fine, I insist, my treat. This is my establishment after all. You clearly need help.’
‘I don’t need your help, I can take care of both of us myself.’
‘I still think you deserve some help, even if it’s a small effort. Just take it, Shakur. Have the night off from cooking, I’m sure your daughter will love it.’
Fine suddenly took out a plastic bag filled with takeout boxes from the kitchen, immediately placing it on top of the counter where Shakur sat.
‘That’s fast.’
‘That’s what I’m known for.’
Fine winked at her acquaintance, to which she rolled her eyes in response. Shakur quickly scooped up the last bits of noodles in the bowl before she got up. Considering she’s already prepaid for her ramen, Shakur picked up her packaged food and went out the door.
‘Please come again!’
‘Yeah, yeah, yeah…’
Shakur walks out of the store with the bag of ramen containers in hand and heads back to her office, shaking her head in wonder about Fine’s kindness.
~~~
As the sun went down outside the cram school building, Shakur waited at a cafe nearby, finishing up more of her work while she waited for her daughter to finish her lessons. She looked up from her laptop and saw her little princess walking into the building she was in.
‘Hi Mama!’
‘Hey kid, how were your piano lessons?’
‘It was alright. My teacher said my technique is improving.’
‘That’s good, I got you something for dinner.’
‘What is it?’
‘It’s shoyu ramen, it’s at home, however. I got you extra narutomaki.’
‘Thanks, Mama! Mmm, I love narutomaki.’
‘One of my old friends from Tracen made it; she has a ramen shop near my office.’
‘Eh, how come we don’t see any of Mama’s old friends a lot?’
‘Because Mama has been too busy to meet up with them.’
‘Why?’
‘Because we all have our own lives.’
‘Why?’
‘Because we’re all mature adults.’
‘Why?’
‘Fergie, this isn’t the time for questions.’
The smaller Uma simply nodded as her mother packed her laptop back into her bag, getting up and bringing her child out of the door.
‘Come, let’s go home.’
Shakur and Fergie quickly crossed the street as the traffic light was blinking, before it turned red, going as fast as they could with the bags on their backs, just as a familiar red Countach pulled up towards the zebra crossing.
‘Mama?’
‘Yes?’
‘I just saw Madam Maruzensky just now at the traffic light. Can I meet Mama’s ramen friend as well?’
‘I don’t know, maybe one day. It’s getting late, let’s hurry up and have dinner and then it’s bedtime for you.’
‘Okay, Mama…’
With that, Shakur and Fergie passed by the Family Mart around the corner and returned to their apartment, finally able to end their day together once again.
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