A/N: It's been 84 years, but with the semester ending I'm back with another story! Updates will be slow as hell on this one since I'm still busy, but hopefully this will get me back into the habit of writing.
This one's a Cinderella!AU in 1920s SF—and while I won't delve super much into history and blooh blah certainly a lot of the hardships GoGo endures comes from being a Japanese-American woman in that time (rather than facing abuse from a stepfamily), so I will touch on some of that. But it's first and foremost a fairytale, so the focus is mostly on the magic and of course, MAXIMUM SHIPPING.
Anyway that's enough shit rambling have fun! !
The soap stung GoGo's hands as she scrubbed a rag against the stubborn stain on the wooden floor, but she grit her teeth and carried on as usual. Her knuckles had cracked and bled hours ago anyway, and she only had one more room left until she was free to leave. One more room and she could afford a meal that day. Images of boiled fish and stir fry vegetables over a steaming bowl of rice entered her mind, and she scrubbed even harder.
When at last the stain was gone and the floors glistened rather marvelously (if GoGo said so herself), she anxiously strode down the halls to find Krei. There wouldn't be much time left before the market closed, and even less time to meet with...
She shook her head as she found Krei idly fiddling with a teacup at the dining table. Some part of her wondered how many guests one person could have to require such a large dining hall, but the question only reminded her of the gnawing in her stomach. Straightening her back and ignoring the throbbing in her hands and ankles, she stepped over.
"Done for the day?" Krei asked, lazily keeping his eyes on the cup.
"Yes, sir," she said quietly.
"Did the laundry?"
"Yes, sir."
"Wash the dishes?"
"Yes, sir." Her throat tightened.
"Mop the floors, dust the windows, sweep the chimney?"
"Yes, sir." She resisted the urge to tap her foot.
"Clean the glass bits off the floor?"
"Ye—glass bits?"
"Along with the track marks trailing up and down the stairs."
Track marks! GoGo's hands trembled as they clutched the sides of her skirt. Her eyes darted over to the corner, where a dirt-caked cat innocently licked its hind legs.
"You should know better than to let that cat out, dear," Krei said with a smirk. "The poor thing practically scampered in when I came home, knocked over my favorite vase and everything."
"I needed to keep him out while I cleaned, sir," she protested. "And he hates being cooped up in here."
"I never knew you were so invested in my pets, darling."
GoGo pressed her lips together.
"I'll be needing someone to clean all those marks, it seems," Krei continued, setting the cup down. "And pick up the glass."
Her head pounded and her blood boiled. Biting her lower lip to stifle her shriek of rage, she nodded stiffly.
"Oh, and another thing. That broken vase will be coming out of your pay."
...
Pain shot up GoGo's ankles as she trudged to the market under the darkened, cold sky. To her utter dismay, all the stands had emptied of food and its vendors, and the usual bustling and shouting noises of customers had been replaced by a lonely howl of wind. GoGo chucked her basket aside and collapsed to the ground pathetically. Her stomach rumbled tauntingly as she rubbed her thumbs against her aching ankles, bitterly chastising herself for letting that stupid cat outside.
Worst of all, stupid as it may be, empty markets meant for certain that he had left, and she wouldn't so much as catch a glimpse of him that day.
"GoGo?"
Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest. That low, husky voice was unmistakeable, but still she looked up with caution. As she spotted those warm brown eyes, she suddenly became very aware of her blazing cheeks in spite of the cold breeze that nipped at them.
"I wondered if you were coming," Tadashi said as he plopped on the ground beside her, handing her a box neatly wrapped in a handkerchief. "I saved it in case your boss was keeping you."
GoGo weighed the box in confusion at first before widening her eyes in surprise. "You bought my groceries for me?"
"It's been forever, GoGo. I know your usual."
"You didn't have to—" she began before pressing her lips together. You couldn't just return food to the market, especially after it closed.
Tadashi waved his hand dismissively. "It's nothing."
"I'll pay you back." When, though? That cat breaking the vase had all but sapped her of her pay until at least the next week.
"Really, don't worry about it. I'd rather pay for your meal than have you starve for the night."
"I wouldn't—" The growling of her stomach betrayed her.
He raised an eyebrow suspiciously, and she shoved him, making him laugh. "Ouch," he said playfully. "Not very ladylike."
"Ah, yes, because all the dainty ladies these days spend their days scrubbing floors and sweeping chimneys."
"Sure, all the handsome gentlemen mopping up kitchen floors find it thrilling."
"That Fred fellow still throwing parties?"
"Oh, it's ridiculous. He'll throw a party for anything, like if he found a penny on the floor."
"You poor kitchen boy, you," GoGo said, rolling her eyes.
Tadashi chuckled. "It's not so bad. You hear a lot of interesting things about the family when you're just one of the kitchen servants."
"I couldn't give less of a damn about their lives, you nosy gossiper." She leaned back on her palms and gazed up at the sky, glistening with stars. It was so easy to talk to Tadashi. Of course it would be, since they'd known each other for years.
They'd been schoolmates as children—she'd been Leiko then, and after the death of her father, she had dropped out to support herself and her stepsisters. They didn't meet again until years later at the market when she'd successfully hid his little brother Hiro after his attempt to steal from a vendor. They bumped into each other at the market more frequently after that until it became habit to meet up and just talk about nothing. Tadashi was the one who named her GoGo, as she was "always on the go."
"Wonder what it must be like, to be that rich and just be able to blow money on anything," GoGo wondered aloud when she realized she hadn't spoken in a while.
"What would you buy?" he asked with an amused grin.
"I'd fix the stupid leak in the house, for one."
"A leak? GoGo, dear, have you no imagination? You could buy a mansion!"
"Would you buy a mansion?"
He snorted. "I think I've had enough of mansions, thank you. All that work that goes into cleaning them."
"Well then, good sir, what would you buy?"
"You answer me first."
She frowned and stared at her foot. It ached, but if she rubbed it he would take notice and start fussing over that, too. "An automobile," she said finally.
He thought about it. "Hm. An automobile."
"They can get you places faster, and I wouldn't have to walk everywhere."
"Sounds reasonable, GoGo."
She smacked him. "Now you answer me."
"Not a mansion—but a better house would be nice. With a sizable library."
"And a room full of candy for Hiro?"
"Hey, now—I may want the best for him but I don't want his teeth to rot."
"How's that boy, by the way?"
"Fine." His voice dropped to a low whisper, despite no one being around. "I think he's been skipping school, though."
She hadn't given much of a damn about school, especially since she'd dropped out, but she knew how much he dreamed about college. "What for?"
"He won't talk to me about it. He won't even tell me if he really skips, and it's not like I can go out there and check for myself anyway."
"Mm." In truth, she thought whatever education he received would be meaningless, especially compared to the white schools, but she didn't say this out loud. And perhaps to some extent, Tadashi already knew. "I don't think anyone in our family finished school, to be honest."
"How are your sisters, by the way?"
"Stepsisters," she corrected. "We're all getting by." She picked at her nails absentmindedly. "I know what Yukiko would want with all the money."
"Hm?"
"A ticket to Japan."
Tadashi lost his teasing grin. "Is she serious?"
"It's all that girl ever talks about." GoGo raised her voice to a falsetto. "One day, I'm going to leave this place and go to Japan. Watch me, I'm going to leave all these people and go to Tokyo."
"GoGo... doesn't she know about the new law they just passed? If she leaves, they won't let her come back. They're not letting anyone from Japan come in—or China, or India, or the—"
"That's the point, genius. She wouldn't want to come back here anyway."
Tadashi frowned. "I couldn't imagine leaving."
"Seriously?"
"Well... yes. I've never been to Japan. But here, in the States? Nihonmachi's my home."
"I've never been either, but they have to treat us better than they do here."
"GoGo, please, just find a new job. Krei's just—"
"They treat us all the same no matter what we do, Tadashi! It doesn't matter who hires us, they all think the same thing about us, and we all go home tired and starving. Changing jobs isn't going to matter—you know that."
He sighed. "I know. But would you... would you really just leave?"
She scoffed. "Who said anything about leaving, dum-dum? Nihonmachi's my home, too." It has you, after all.
The grin returned to his face as he ruffled her hair and she flushed. She could feel her heart fluttering in her chest and hoped he couldn't hear it.
"We should get going," he said suddenly. "It's getting late, and our siblings are probably hungry."
That reminded her of her own hunger, and so with great effort, she pulled herself up to her feet. They still ached, but not as much as before.
"See you tomorrow?" he asked, patting her shoulder.
She nodded, a tiny ridiculous part of her brain wishing his touch would linger forever.
...
Her stepsisters bickered once again on who would take the last bit of fish from the bowl, Hanako arguing she had found a way to temporarily fix the leak and Kaoruko insisting she'd taken the last bit of rice last time.
"If we were in Japan, we'd have enough to eat," Yukiko muttered.
"Shut your mouth about Japan, Yukiko!" Kaoruko snapped. She slapped Hanako's chopsticks away from the last bit of fish with her own utensils.
GoGo rolled her eyes, wondering what her father saw in that Fujita woman and her daughters. She was two deaths too late to ask either of them now, she supposed.
"Leiko, who do you think should get the last one?" Hanako asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Don't drag me into this," was her curt reply, although admittedly it was a little entertaining. Dinner and a show.
"It's mine!"
"You had the rice last!"
"I can't wait to leave..."
From her pocket, GoGo pulled out the handkerchief and twiddled it between her fingers. Tomorrow would be another long day.
A/N: The law Tadashi refers to is the Immigration Act of 1924 that set a lot of restrictions for immigration and in particular banned Asians entirely from immigrating to the States. The restrictions were never entirely lifted until 1965, I believe.
*Nihonmachi=Japantown.