It was as I was stepping off the train and onto the platform that I could tell I would have a difficult time trying to beat the weekend rush. The volume of people walking and chattering made it seem as if I didn't even have my ear buds in at all. With a soft sigh that blew some of my long bangs out of my face, I tugged my rolling suitcase behind me while gripping the strap of my carry on tightly enough to make my fingers look white.
As if that were possible at all, given how pale I was. The thought alone made me chuckle at myself as I strode quietly and quickly out of the train station and onto the street, remembering a time when I was younger and a man passing by thought I was going to faint, until learning that was just how my skin looked. I kept my head down, most of my long bangs covering the sides of my face while my trademark floppy sun hat covered the rest, eyes trained on my boots that padded the pavement.
Even though I didn't really have music playing on my ear buds, I made sure they would stay in so that no one on the street could find the opportunity to chat with me. I don't know what would happen if any one of the people in the large crowds decided to stop my path and have a conversation. The thought alone made me nauseous in my stomach, enough to where I could stop and clench my stomach with both my hands while getting in a fetal position. To help get my mind off of it, I decided to stop at an empty bench by the public park and text the others that I arrived.
Mayaki: I finally made it! My gosh, is it always that packed on the trains?
Banba: Depending on the time of day and the week.. Today you just so happened to get on during a rush hour period.
Chieko: How much longer till we should be expecting you?
Mayaki: Not much longer I believe, I had to stop at the park to take a breather though. As it turns out, there's some sort of fashion event going on for the Stylish so many are travelling here today and is making everything feel like chaos to walk.
Tsukimi: Gosh.
Jiji: Take your time…
I got off texting long enough to check the map I saved on my phone. While determining where exactly I was by checking the street sign and the number on one building across the busy street, I found out that I hadn't much further to go now. With a smile on my face, I pulled up the texting app again and began typing where I was. A soft breeze on my face caused me to relax softly, pausing my message, until it picked up drastically.
While some people's hair was tossed about and some had their loose clothing ruffled, my hat got taken by the wind. The feeling of my long hair spilling down my back and passed my waist where it pooled on the ground behind me caused an instantaneous red blush come to my face that immediately began drawing attention to me.
"Oh no!" I gasped as I shoved my phone into my carryon bag and ran after it, my poor, beaten up suitcase going along for the ride while I held up my hair with the other.
I kept my shade-cladded eyes trained on it, desperately trying to go around people without touching them or being too close. My suitcase seemed to have the complete opposite idea. When I was able to get around people, it seemed to want to trip another passing group behind me. The sound of their irritated yells turning into gasps of interest was all the stamina I needed to keep going, my eyes not once leaving the black sun hat. As the wind began to die, I watched as it descended softly, my heart jumping with joy.
That is, until it happened to land perfectly on top of the head of some guy. While my heart dropped to my stomach faster than a rock being launched from a sling shot, I watched the man's reaction. The tall guy with a large hood on stopped in the middle of the small road full of people, the crowd seemed to part around him like a large rock jutting out of a streaming river, reached up with bruised knuckles and plucked it from his head, his buddies realizing he's stopped. His head angled back slightly, gazing at the sky for a moment before glancing side to side before turning around, the sound of his black boots almost audible to my ears as my eyes watched him turn slowly to reveal his face.
Even though his eyes were green like an imperial jade pot, they were narrowed as he scanned the crowd before they landed on me, knowing my expression was like that of a deer caught in the headlights of a car which made an eyebrow with two piercings in it raise. While my knees felt as if they would begin knocking against one another any second now, I couldn't help but feel like all of the oxygen had been sucked out of my lungs.
"Oi!" he called, taking a step towards me.
My fight-or-flight maneuver came and I chose the easier of the two that would help with this pierced, mean-looking, much taller than average, delinquent.
I chose flight.
While releasing the tightened grip on my almost white long locks so that I could clutch the strap of my carryon, I tightened the grip on my suitcase handle and took off faster than I have ever done in my short existence. I could easily pick up the sound of the guy's buddies yelling after him while he chased me, my boots pounding the pavement while my suitcase went all over the place. My focus was all on trying to find quick routes to the point where I didn't notice my bag hitting some people along my escape, the apology stuck on my tongue.
Up ahead I saw the street I needed to take and hugged the corner tightly as I turned, glancing back briefly to see how far back he was. He was about nine shops back and was gaining on me quickly. With another burst of adrenaline, I began to sprint, my long legs being able to keep up while my hair trailed like a long cape behind me, the handle on the side of my bag now in my hand so that it was at my side and wasn't acting like a jumping bean on the street behind me.
"Hey, you!" I heard him yell, causing me to glance back while my vintage circle shades began to slip down my nose, "Wait!"
Seeing how desperate he was to get to me, my hat clutched in a death grip, made my blood run cold and I faced front, putting some more distance between us.
"You are now arriving at your destination." I heard in my ear buds.
As I came onto another road, diagonally from the street I had come from, I saw the building which looked exactly like the one in the pictures Chieko had sent me over the phone. Without a moment to lose, I dashed over to the front door and tried to open it, only to find it locked. I dug around inside my pockets, cursing myself at the amount of empty candy wrappers inside from the long ride here, and heard the sound of his boots not that far from turning the corner. The feeling of familiar metal caused me to rejoice as I ripped it from my large cardigan, wrappers going all over the front stoop, and shoved it into the lock, throwing my body against it as I opened it and fell inside, my suitcase dragged in after me while I kicked the door shut.
A faint yell outside on the street made a smile come to my lips as I panted heavily for air. When a minute passed and I knew that the guy hadn't of seen me enter the building, I flipped tiredly onto my stomach and allowed my now tangled, rat's nest hair to pool on the floor, possibly collecting dirt too.
"MAYAKI-SAN!" I heard an overly excited voice exclaim as soft footsteps hurried over, my body tensing up just slightly before relaxing once more, "YOU'VE MADE IT!"
"Hello Mayaya-chan." I greeted with exhaustion, weakly waving as I continued to remain face first on the entry way floor.
"Mayaki-chan's here?" I heard Chieko ask, another set of footsteps following. "Oh my. Are you okay Mayaki-chan?"
I made an 'O' with my index finger and thumb at her, slowly beginning to regain my breath once more. After another moment of sucking in air, I finally found the strength to push myself to my knees, making me realize that my shades had come off. While hooding my eyes from the others, I turned left and right, trying to find the darn things. A glint right behind Mayaya as she stood beside me, ready to help me up, caused me to crawl like a deranged pale crab around her, causing the poor tall woman to shriek in surprise at my sudden movement, and pluck them up, putting them on quickly.
As a sigh of relief came from me, I sat back, leaning against the entrance wall adjacent to the door and watched as everyone stared at me, waiting for my next reaction. Realizing that I was being so rude, I began to push myself up, stumbling to where Mayaya helped me up by my elbow. While patting the dirt from my torn jeans that were rolled at the ankle to half way up my calf, I allowed my hair to fall down my back and just barely brush the floor.
"Hamasaki Mayaki reporting!" I greeted jokingly while making a salute.
"Good to have you." Chieko greeted back, bowing slightly in her kimono. "You must have had a long trip. Let's show you to your room so you can unpack."
I nodded, gathering up my carryon and suitcase before kicking my shoes off and hurrying after her. We went up a set of stairs and came to a long hallway that turned left.
"We weren't really sure as to where to put you." Chieko began, "When just your luggage came in we thought about putting you next to Tsukimi's room, but then your computer and other things came in so we decided to put you in the third biggest room at the front of the house."
Just as she said that, we came to said room door which she unlocked and pushed open. I walked inside and saw my few duffel bags and suitcases pushed in the one corner, barely taking up any space, and then glanced at the enormous that almost took up the rest of the space, making a labyrinth comprised of cardboard that I walked through to put my bags down. So much joy was making me so overwhelmed that I couldn't handle it anymore; I decided to dance through the maze, allowing my laughter to be heard as I did so.
I couldn't help but want to express my gratitude by hugging Mayaya, Tsukimi and Banba, smiling at Jiji and bowing to Chieko.
"Thank you!" I repeated for the hundredth time in a row.
Chieko allowed a small smile to grace her lips before saying, "Dinner will be done in a few hours. So in the meantime, why don't you put your new room in order?"
I nodded with so much enthusiasm that I thought my head would pop right off my shoulders.
"If you need any help, let us know." Tsukimi added while they all filed out.
After a small wave, the door shut and I tore my cardigan off, deciding to get started with my computer before anything else.
How is it? Should I expand on it or should I just continue on with the plot?