Fate/Eternal Night
Ch. 3: Career Plans
Fuyuki City held the average silence of any other night: the slight commotion of downtown Miyama, across the Mion river; the rattling of shutters in the wind amidst the small shopping district within Shinto, the other half of Fuyuki; the average car driving by every few minutes; the ambient tone of a gem's glow in the Tohsaka household; the clicks, rattles, and slithers of various bugs in the Matou chamber; and the news at low volume in the Emiya living room, with Taiga having fallen fast asleep in front of it.
The nightly news was currently being broadcasted. The subject matter was the Ogawa Apartment Complex in Mifune City. The news reporters were acting as if they were excited for the new establishment. As Japanese population was noticeably decreasing, the expansion of Mifune City came to a dead halt. For those seeking homes, the Ogawa Apartment Complex was a God given gift.
Mifune City was large and bustling. Even in the dead middle of night, the city was very much alive. However, not everything breathed with loads of life. No one walked within the abandoned extension of the city. It was a project that was cancelled when Mifune's population was no longer increasing, and no one took advantage the opportunity do more with the project. The only thing ever seen going in and out was a series of mysterious moving trucks. No one knew it yet, but the last moving truck had just left the district.
Mikiya Kokutou saw the truck leave the district, and knew there had to be something there. His days of research led him to the abandoned district. What he didn't realize while he stood across the road, still on what was considered the living side, was that what kept him apart from the building he was looking for was a simple crosswalk. It was right in front of him, not at all hidden within the depths of the district.
If someone lived here, how could have no one else ever noticed? He never knew it either, until he actually came looking for it. He stepped forward, not fearing the night. He had nowhere to be. He no job to be ready for and no family he was eager to return to. He had a father, mother, and sister, but he lived alone in his own apartment. His parents paid for most of the expenses, but it was up to him to find a job soon, as he was already 20-years-old and currently refused to go to college. But he put these worries behind him. What came first was meeting the maker of the doll he cherished.
Mikiya entered upon the first floor. Nothing stood out. It was just as abandoned as anyone would imagine. He proceeded to follow up the stairs. A red light emitted from the seam between the bottom of the second floor door and the stair case. He attempted to open the door to no success. He proceeded upward, wondering what kind of person this Touko Aozaki would be.
He talked with her on the phone, but had little to any idea. It was at an art museum, a trip with his sister, did he first hear of her. There were a series of life size dolls on display made by her, but one caught Mikaya's undivided attention. The doll reminded him so much of Shiki Ryougi, the woman he loved. Mikiya put himself in his NEET position due to Shiki's accident. He witnessed her get hit by a drunken driver who was not quick enough to stop. The accident rendered Shiki in a coma for two years. At the very chance of a promising recovery, Mikiya was informed that Shiki was not well and was refused further details. It's not until she's at full health, he decided, that he would finally go to college, with Shiki by his side.
The third floor of the building was the same as the previous. He continued up the stairs, onto the forth, and final, floor. There's no red light, but merely the standard glow of any lit normal room, with a slight smell of nicotine present. Before he could knock, the door opened. The woman he saw was slender, with tight clothes, tied up red hair, and glasses.
"Welcome," Touko greeted him. She looked at his glasses, flat hair, all black clothes. "You look lamer than I expected," Touko said as if disappointed, but not dropping her warm charm.
"Excuse me?" Mikiya didn't understand the statement, and was confused by her personality. Was this the same woman he talked to on the phone? She seemed so much friendlier and slightly childish.
"The very first person to catch on to this place is just a normal boy," she clarified for him.
Mikiya was further confused. It was as if this place wasn't meant for normal people, according to Touko's definition of normal, whatever it may have been. "We did talk on the phone," Mikiya said as he tried to shift the subject to something more familiar, "and you weren't what I expected either."
"We did. Congratulations, Kokutou Mikiya, on finding the very place never to be seen, unless sought." Touko swiped of her glasses and the mood she gave Mikiya was slightly more frightening as she became more serious. "So like this?"
"I'm sorry, but, a little." Mikiya was embarrassed to admit he got the wrong impression of her.
"No offense taken. I always change myself accordingly."
Touko was more interesting than Mikiya expected. She was an artist, and quite the actor, although it felt more like "manipulator" was a more accurate word. "If I may ask, how has no one found you here yet?"
"I don't know." Touko was not subtle in dodging the question. "You came here for my dolls and puppets, correct?"
"Yes, ma'am. I described to you the one I saw. It made me a fan of your work."
"Thank you. I have more downstairs, including a replica of the one you like so much."
They proceeded downstairs one floor. Mikiya felt a little disappointed to not see the main office of Touko's work. As they entered the room, a large work table stood in the center of the room and its tools hung above it. Mikiya scanned around the room and quickly found the one he was looking for. It sat along the wall of the room to his right.
"Why are some of them not hung or shelved?" Mikiya asked Touko as he approached the doll.
"They're either not finished or because I still have a use for them," Touko replied with more vague honesty. "What attracts you to that one so much?"
"It looks like a girl I'm infatuated with." Mikiya squatted to put himself at the same level of the doll. "Her name is Ryougi Shiki."
Touko's eyes widened at the coincidence she was presented with. If Shiki were to recover in several days, she would surely inform Mikiya of who her therapist was, or worse, who was training Shiki to use her eyes. It was clear to Touko that Mikiya doesn't even recognize the situation he was in.
"Mr. Kokutou," Touko approached him, and starred directly into his eyes, "you seem to have a knack for finding information; after all, you found me."
Mikiya felt ecstatic as Touko's words built on top of each other, leading to something worthwhile.
"Do you need a job?"