On the walls hung posters of her favorite idols, the smell of perfume and cotton candy permeated the air. On her night stand was a little lamp to help her nightly reading, a book, and a picture of her beloved brother whom she hardly had the opportunity to see. Even if he wasn't physically there, she now knew at least, he is always there in spirit.
Shizuka lay back on her bed, sighed, and wished that her brother could save her from Momzilla. Not that she was that bad, but she couldn't help but resent her mother for baring visitation to her own flesh and blood. She seemed to have this belief that her brother was a bad influence and... maybe on paper he was but not anymore. There was no doubt in Shizuka's mind that Katsuya was a hero and nothing like her mother told her he was. This only makes her wonder if she has lied about other things, like her father. Was he everything she said he was?
The questions danced around in her head.
Out of nowhere, Shizuka's mother barged into her room. Her hair was perfectly curled, make up on, and her signature perfume filled the room, her nails were freshly manicured and had the white tips she had seen so many times. To top it off, after saying that she had quit for the hundredth time, in between her fingers was a lit cigarette; the smoke poisoning her room.
"Mom," Shizuka let out a preemptive moan.
Shizuka's mom blew a bubble with her gum, dropped her cell into her purse, and still managed to keep puffing at her cigarette.
"Shizuka, sweety, I'm going out with..." she looked back at the man standing in the doorway, "Hiro tonight and I need you to watch your sister and help her get dinner," Shizuka's mom gave a big kiss on Shizuka's cheek, leaving an imprint of lipstick that Shizuka imedietly tried to wipe off. Shizuka's mom licked her thumb and aided her daughter. "Better? Well I gotta go sweety. You take care!"
Before leaving, Shizuka's mom bent down and left a kiss on Shizuka's six year old sister's forehead. She looked down at her white patten leather shoes. Hiro, the man in the doorway pointed at his watch in frustration.
"Bye sweety, mommy has to go on a date. Shizuka will take care of you."
She looked into her purse just one more time to make sure everything was there before leaving Shizuka's room with her flavor of the week. Shizuka waited to hear that sweet click of peace of the door that lead to her mother's "freedom" and then, she was satisfied.
Briefly, Shizuka looked at her sister who had been left standing in her territory during all the commotion, she then rolled onto her stomach and picked up her nightly novel. Passively, she turned the page, and actively ignored her sister who seemed to be waiting for some kind of instruction or response.
"Shizuka?" she asked in almost a whisper, "I-" she stopped herself and walked out of her sister's room.
A small pang of guilt grumbled in Shizuka's stomach. None of this was her sister's fault. But, instead of apologizing -or even just spending a moment to comfort her about a regular occurrence- she burried her nose into her book as it was the only way she knew to escape the harsh realities that surrounded her. She grabbed a spray bottle on the floor without having to look and the smell of cotton candy filled the air.