Two years after the wedding of Meimi and Daiki, things had changed a lot in the couple's marriage. Right after the wedding, Daiki was offered a juicy promotion as chief of detectives in the Seika police department, which he accepted without hesitation. And Meimi decided to exercise her career as a social worker. But something was dying little by little in the home of the Asukas, who due to their busy schedules, saw each other less and less, lived less and less and knew each other less and less.
It had been a really strenuous work day for Daiki, who came crawling to the apartment he shared with his beautiful wife. That day, a particularly violent shooting had occurred against the owner of a restaurant, from which Daiki previously found his links with the mafia as a money launderer. The accused had died in the shooting, two of the assassins and two police officers, when one of the chiefs of the square and his personal guard personally took charge of the detectives using high-caliber machine guns.
The privileged trigger of Daiki had managed to kill one of the minions, however the boss had escaped unharmed. The government increasingly pressured the Seika police to trap the capo, which had stressed everyone in the department, and our young police officer was no exception. Having been a prodigy in the police force, standing out at an early age for having solved in an almost superhuman way a series of criminal cases of crimes as varied as swindling, art trafficking and theft, he had surpassed his gray, lazy and mediocre father, a a half-baked detective who could never solve any case without the help of his son, it was natural that Captain Ishihara expected the best of him, so much so that, by his recent success, the captain soon to retire promised the young Daiki that he would be his successor , the youngest captain in the history of the corporation.
Reeking of sweat, alcohol and cigarettes, he walked with difficulty through the portal. Meimi watched the television, while hearing the tumbles of her husband towards the kitchen, she let loose a sigh of boredom. It was not the first time that he arrived in a drunken state, having found in alcohol a way to relax after the long and exhausting days of work that sometimes forced him away for days. Sometimes, after being out for several days, he did nothing but sleep, paying little or no attention to Meimi.
-Meimi, I'm hungry, there's nothing ... said in a harsh and tired voice Asuka Jr. - Serve me now, I'm very tired- The young woman looked at him with narrowed eyes. Barely containing her annoyance said: - Help yourself, it's in the refrigerator- -Meh, you do this every day, you never receive me with hot food, nor in a good mood and you call yourself my wife! - replied the drunkard grumbling among hiccups.
Meimi opened her eyes menacingly. -Well, it seems you only want a maid! - I'm not going to serve you, you're big enough to take care of you alone- the redhead said sharply. Asuka muttered something incomprehensible, and muttering went to the refrigerator. Meimi returned to the living room, and sat down, sighing deeply. Her life was completely boring these days, and she had already forgotten many of the pleasant moments that were plentiful at the beginning of his union with the detective. The work and the hectic life of both, as well as the consequences of not being just a courtship, but a marriage, with the commitment, sacrifice, dedication and emotional work that it requires, were finally showing themselves in a not very nice way. The discussions began to escalate after a few months, and although Asuka promised to change and Meimi did the same, nothing happened. Everything was so absurd and unreal, Meimi thought. Of that clumsy but full of life, intelligent, handsome and tenacious boy who had known when both were fourteen years, there was nothing left. Both had changed a lot, orienting themselves to very different lifestyles and jobs. They were no longer those twenty-two-year-olds who had sworn eternal love on an altar. Life was no longer pink, the rose-colored glasses were broken, maybe forever.
Meimi saw Asuka walk to the bathroom. A filthy splash followed. He had already vomited before reaching the toilet, Meimi was annoyed to clean the dirt of her husband almost every night for the last months. But something in her harbored the possibility that old Asuka, hardworking, attractive and cheerful, would one day resurface. The hopes of Meimi, were consuming. She saw him increasingly ugly physically, with his beard unshaven, his hair greasy, his shirt full of stains of coffee and cigar, his shirt torn, his shoes dirty, and a flabby belly that was beginning to show. She, however, still retained that youthful and dazzling beauty, that it seemed that not a day had passed since she had left the magician's suit and the ponytail. But there was now a lot of sadness and loneliness in her eyes. It was no longer the sweet, coquettish and sassy Saint Tail who did acrobatic leaps through the roofs, many years ago. Maybe she needed something, too, to get out of her monotony. Asuka took refuge in alcohol, but Meimi?
It no longer made any sense to go to the chapel and listen once more to Seira's empty advice. It was easy for her, that she had not married, having dedicated her life to a God, of which Meimi was hesitating at the moment. Her old friend seemed increasingly bored and indifferent to Meimi's problems, and her warnings were increasingly generic and superficial. What good would it do to be married to death with someone who has almost completely forgotten you, someone who is practically a stranger at home? Someone who has betrayed not only his wife, but himself in the pursuit of personal glory? A guy who only knows how to look at his navel, drink and shoot like crazy, Meimi thought irritably, already in the room she shared with him, she looked at the mirror. There she was, like the first day he put on the thief's suit, her thin body, but well formed, firm and athletic. Physical exercise helped her a little to release tensions with Asuka and his employment, as well as keep her looking younger than she was. Her hair had grown back, sometimes she combed her hair back with a ponytail to try to cheer up her husband, but it seemed to be useless. Again, those blue eyes, so filled with dismay, were filled with contained tears.
