Shef"Oh don't you worry, we were just wrapping up here, shall we go?"-Later that Night-Shef((Link.))Minato and NorikoMinato waits around on a nearby street corner, looking at his watch and waiting for Noriko to emerge from the cafe at the end of her shift.
Noriko exits the building after a few minutes of this, looking a mixture of tired from work and relieved at said work being over.
Minato waves at Noriko. "Hey. Tired, huh?"
"A bit. Lots of Awakened customers and stuff, and then the normal people that you'd think were Awakened based on sheer sketchiness." She frowned for a moment. "What'd you need?"
Minato suddenly sobers up a little more. He sighs.
"Noriko, I'll....get to the point. Are you.....mad at me?"
Noriko sighs as well. ". . . Yeah, you could say that."
Minato closes his eyes, his suspicions from earlier having been confirmed. "....I understand. I've.....not been a great friend to you, these last few days, huh? That's my fault. I'm sorry. If....you want to slap me or yell at me or something, before anything else, just do it. Take it out on me."
"I'd rather you took it out on me now, so I don't lose you as a friend later."
"Honestly? It's been more than the last few days, and I just didn't realize it until now. Well, actually, it's gotten worse - because apparently the cute American girl with the big tits is more important than the friend you've had for years." Venom crept into her voice as she spoke. "I know she's your friend - and I guess you're dating now - but would it have killed you to be at least a little concerned when I got shot in the fucking head?"
"It wouldn't have, no." Minato simply takes the venom in her voice and the remark about dating without comment. "I know it seems like I'm going to try and excuse myself, but....she had a mental breakdown, right there, right then, and I did what I thought I should've. I thought you were mostly fine, and I know, I'm stupid for thinking that. You're perfectly justified in getting mad at me; I should've checked on you too."[/i]
"I just, I don't even know how to say this. How many years did you watch me, as I went through my life with everyone around me thinking I was completely insane, and you never thought to walk up to me and say 'hey Noriko, you're not batshit crazy or schizophrenic?' You never once thought that MAYBE you should tell me what the hell was going on?"
"Two years, Noriko. Two." Minato breathes in and out. "I thought my family was insane too, when they talked about these things in front of me. I assumed they were insane; had PTSD from the war or whatever. It took until I was attacked, in my house, for something my grandmother did years ago, for me to realise this was real, more real than I could imagine. And then I couldn't tell you."
He pauses for a moment.
"Not just because I wasn't sure. You could've been genuinely mentally ill, and if I told you your hallucinations were real, it would be far worse. But because if I introduced you to this life, the life that's killed a lot of my ancestors, my grandmother included, that nearly killed ME before I even had a chance to fight back, and something happened to you because of me, then it would be truly unforgivable."
"I could have died anyway. Just walked into an Aramitama by accident, or got jumped by a Mononoke, or, whatever. Hell, if I had known for sure that what I saw was real I would have been a lot more careful. And you could have asked. There's so many things you could have tried and you just stood there and watched. You didn't even bother." Her cheeks were increasingly flushed with emotion, and she was starting to get louder with every single word. "I don't get how you can be so fixated on being the hero, but you never once tried to do anything for the person standing right next to you."
"I never just stood there and watched." Minato calmly replies. "Never. I kept an eye on you, to see if you were Awakening. I killed any Aramitama there was, or I helped others do it. I know I should've asked, and that's my fault. I can't fix what I did, Noriko. I can only try to be a better man than you think I am."
Noriko was quiet for a moment or two. "I just. . . My whole life's been people not caring about me or whether I was feeling okay or whether I got to eat that night, and now I'm finding out that the whole reason everything has been so shitty for so long was something one of my only friends never told me." She shook her head a bit, and then stared straight at Minato. "And then there's the fact that you keep showing up at this job when you KNOW I don't like people I know being there, the job I've basically had to work full time all through school because I had to take care of Kouta with no help whatsoever." There was another accusation buried in the sentence, one that Noriko was unwilling to say out loud even now: if you're so rich, why didn't you ever help with that?
".....I'm sorry." Minato simply, calmly answers. "I....honestly thought I was....doing right by you. I was wrong. I care about you, of course I do. You're one of my only friends. I did what I did, because if I lost you or Yuki, then I'd never, ever be able to forgive myself. And I always went to the maid cafe, because before six months ago, that was the only way I could help you with Kouta."
"I thought if I tipped high enough, I could bump your salary up. I only had the right to do anything with the money I had six months ago. On my eighteenth birthday."
". . . I see." Noriko fell silent again for a few moments.
"I've....been asking my parents if....I could hire you and Yuki on. As retainers. It'd be a large salary, we'd handle medical expenses, accomodations, the whole hog. I....was going to tell you later, but....well, as we know now, me keeping things from you won't end well." Minato continues. "They cleared it. A day before you Awakened."
"I understand if you don't want to accept. But....well, I suppose, it's my way of trying to make it up to you."
"That's. . . I'll have to think about it. I'm, I need time to cool off." Noriko looked down a bit, the heat in her voice fading fairly quickly.
". . . And don't think I don't know about the maid thing."
"Of course you do," Minato replies, smiling. "I'm trying to be a hero. That doesn't mean I'm perfect, and it doesn't mean I'm not human. But I'll try. For you, and Faith and Yuki and the others."
"I won't be able to make up for two years of not being there for you, not in a single night. But.....I'll try. If I didn't, I'd lose one of my best and only friends. And.....I haven't got many to lose."
Yuki ((written by Twinwolf))As the sun sets on the city, Yuki stands in front of her apartment building, holding her own bag and a grocery store one. The apartment building wasn't in the greatest shape. 5 stories of worn stone walls, a bare minimum of grass - a rusting iron gate the only luxury. It’s an old building - it was here before the place started attracting more people.
Yuki fumbled around in her bag for the keys for a bit.
“Come on… don’t tell me they were in the uniform…” she mutters, before finding them under a school book.
“Ah-hah! Victory!” she declares, quietly so as not to wake up that old couple that lived in one of the apartments. She triumphantly enters the gate (and closes it behind her, making sure it’s locked) and through into the building proper. She jogs up three flights of the exterior stairs and then heads inside. The interior is in similar disrepair to the outside - exposed pipes and peeling plaster, and a bit of an odd smell.
The young woman comes to her apartment, 4C. She sticks her key in the door, turns it… and hesitates. A couple moments pass. Yuki takes a deep breath, and opens the door into the apartment.
“I’m home!” she says in a cheerful tone. There is no response, but for a muffled word from the TV. She kicks off her shoes and puts them in the rack, before going down the short hallway.
The apartment was a small affair. It was only three rooms. One: The bathroom. Two: The sitting room / kitchen. Three: Bedroom. Yuki and her mother had received a good deal on rent from the sympathetic landlord - it was the main reason they could afford more than a one-room. Yuki’s mother sat in the place she always did. In front of the super-old TV on the equally old (and cheap!) couch.
“...Hi Mom.” No response.
Yuki sighed, and tossed her bag into the bedroom. As she reentered the main room, she let her hair down and stuffed the ties into her pocket.
“I had a good day today, thanks for asking. Super exciting really!” Yuki continued, back to cheeriness.
“I got some new clothes from a friend, which is super nice… well they’re letting me borrow them, but I’m gonna ask if I can keep them since they don’t need them anymore.” The TV continued to drone on - it was the news, something about some gas explosion in an adult store earlier that day.
“Ooooh, I was there today!” Yuki said, glancing to her mom. Blank.
She continues her conversation.
“On the way home I saw some groceries with super-good prices because they wanted them out before they expired, so we can have something fancy tonight instead of another instant meal.” she says, going to the kitchenette and dropping her second bag at her feet. She fumbles around in it for a bit, before taking out some produce.
“Hmm. Salad, or some kind of vegetable stew? Which do you think? ...Yeah, salad’s easier to make.”There is quiet for a while, but for the TV, as Yuki prepares the food. Chop-chop-chop, mixing in the bowl, seasoning… it’s pretty simple, but the girl does her best! And it’s healthier than the normal fair, so bonus! Yuki sets some water to boil as she works - to make tea. In about half an hour, things are ready. Yuki drags out a folding table into the middle of the room, and a couple of chairs. She helps her mom into a seat before taking one across from her. She claps her hand together,
“Itadakimasu!” and starts to eat.
Another silence.
“...So how is it Mom? Did I do ok?” she asks. Her mother *was* eating, at least, and drinking the tea. She doesn’t respond.
“So… I didn’t ask, how was your day? ...That’s a stupid question isn’t it? Same as always, right?” Yuki takes a sip of her tea. More silence.
“...I got a second job, recently. Did I mention that before?” Yuki says.
“Apparently it pays alright. It might make things a bit easier for us - we can pay the rent easier now, and have some money left over.” Yuki studied her mother’s face. Nothing.
“It’ll let us do more things, since we don’t have to be so stingy. I can treat you to a cake once in a while, or go out with friends. I know that’s a little selfish, but… I am a teenager, right?” Yuki paused. Her mother kept eating.
“...It’s a little dangerous though. The job I mean. Like, life threatening. I could die. You don’t have a problem with that, do you?” Yuki said, pushing her chair out.
“It’s fine, right?” She was standing.
“You don’t care, right!?”Yuki was leaning over the table, right in her mother’s face - she’d raised her voice. Her mother didn't seem to notice. Yuki drew back, and took a trembling breath.
“...I’m going to bed. Goodnight.” she said. She didn’t go the bedroom though. She went to the bathroom and locked the door. She would go to bed later.
Author
Topic: Tengoku no Owari SI IC: Yuki Is (Not) Fine (Read 227018 times)