A/N:
And so, we meet again. How are you? Good? Good :D.
I will explain stuff in the footnote.
No lyrics today, instead:
- "What? Go to college like you? So people can tell me stuff I already know?"
- "...Unbelievable."
Yeah, I'm stupid, four and fourteen, moving on (just... don't ask why I said that).
-Mari's P.O.V.-
I groaned and fanned myself with the sheet of paper I was busy writing on, laying back in my chair in the process. I glanced at my watch, which beamed 8:30pm, way past my curfew. Crap! Aunt Cass is gonna kill me!
"When I work late, this happens..." I grumbled to myself.
I sped out of my private lab, and after pressing every lift button repeatedly, I gave up after a few seconds with an irritated groan, and hurriedly clambered down multiple flights of stairs instead, before bursting through the fragile glass doors of the SFIT robotics lab and onto the rough concrete.
I began to run in the direction of the cafe, but as I turned a corner on a busy street, someone bumped into me, and the force saw us both fall to the ground.
"What the..." I mumbled under my breath. I looked down at my slightly scraped arms, then at the figure I collided with.
A mess of long blonde hair fell in front of a female face with delicate features. Silvery-blue shocked eyes looked back at me. I figured she was around my age, maybe a little younger.
"Omigosh! I'm SO sorry! I never look where I'm going." the girl spoke hastily.
"It's fine. That's exactly what I was doing too." I said warmly, helping her up to her feet.
She sighed in relief. "I'm glad you understand. My name's Shigeko."
"Nice name. Mine is Mari." I replied, holding out my hand for her to shake it.
Shigeko paused for a moment, staring at my outstretched hand quizzically, before shaking it daintily.
"So... how's your day been?" I asked Shigeko.
"Good. Hey, do you know about the end-of-year exams that have been given out? They are SO hard!"
"And what grade are you?"
"Tenth. I moved up."
I nodded. "Okay. Well, no, I don't actually know much about the exams."
"What do you mean? Every high-school gets them."
There was a short silence, as no party knew what to say.
"Wait, what school do you go to then, if you don't know?" Shigeko said, looking at me curiously.
"SFIT." I spoke.
"No you don't..." Shigeko said with a disbelieving attitude.
"I'm serious."
"Wait... so you mean you actually study at the institute? But you're so young!" Shigeko exclaimed.
I chuckled. "I get that a lot."
"So what are you, a super genius?"
"Uh-huh."
"Oh. I suddenly feel so small around you."
"Don't be. I'm good at some things, you're good at some things. That's what makes people special."
"All right."
Shigeko's stomach rumbled. She chucked.
"I think I'm hungry."
"Me too." I commented as I suddenly felt the familiar urge to eat.
"Do you want to, maybe, find a restaurant or something?"
We both looked around for a place to eat, and both our eyes rested on...
The Lucky Cat Cafe...
"Hey, how about that!" Shigeko spoke, pointing at the cafe.
I didn't know why, but I suddenly felt an unnerving shiver down my spine, which made me flinch.
Shigeko looked at me, one eyebrow raised. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. That looks like a good place." I replied unenthusiastically.
We sat down at a table right at the back. I decided to lay my arms and head on the table so no one could see me, and so I did, holding in the tiny yelp due to the burning scrapes.
"Hello, welcome to the Lucky Cat Cafe! What would you like this evening?" a certain chirpy voice asked us. I buried my face further into my arms.
"Um... I'll have a bacon and egg quiche, with a cherry blossom cupcake and a glass of lemonade, please." Shigeko said, looking over the menu.
"And what would you like... are you okay sweetie?" Aunt Cass questioned me.
"Yeah. I'll have the same, thank you." I muffled out in a fake medium-high pitched voice.
"Okay! I'll get you your orders as soon as I can!" Aunt Cass said, walking away to the counter.
There was a brief moment of silence, before Shigeko tapped my wrist.
"Are you okay? Because, I have the feeling that you're not."
I violently sat up. "Fine, I'm not."
"What's the problem?"
"Nothing important.." I said turning my head away.
"Okay. You can tell me when you're ready, I guess."
There was an awkward silence. Shigeko was drumming her fingers on the table, bored.
"Here you go!." Aunt Cass spoke, breaking the silence, placing our foodstuffs on the table, and taking the money I had laid out.
"Thank you." Shigeko and I both replied in sync, directing our heads toward her.
"Mari?" Big mistake.
I cringed. "Oh... uh... h-hi Aunt Cass..." I muttered, resting my cheekbone on my hand.
"Wait, you know this woman?" Shigeko inquired.
"Yeah." I replied.
Aunt Cass glanced over at Shigeko, before turning back to me.
"I expect a good explanation after this." Aunt Cass concluded with narrowed eyes, before turning away.
"Is she your aunt?"
"Uh... let me check..."
I grabbed Aunt Cass' arm and pulled her back.
"Aunt Cass, are you actually my aunt?"
"Informally, I'm your aunt, but formally, I'm just your legal guardian. Unless, of course, you want to change that..."
"No! I don't want to put you though anything else! Thanks Aunt Cass!"
Shigeko looked at me like I was crazy.
"Legal guardian? Are you adopted or something?"
I bent over to take a sip of my lemonade. "Yeah."
"What happened to your parents?"
I swallowed the lemonade painfully. "They died in a car crash around eight years ago."
"Oh. Sorry I brought it up."
"It's fine. It was a long time back."
"Hey, does it hurt a little every time you thing of them?" Shigeko asked with her head tilted to one side.
"I have to admit, it does sting, because I know that my parents aren't with me, but it's every so slightly. Why?"
"I was just curious. I have a similar problem; my parents are still alive, but the sad thing is, they don't act like they are. I've never actually seen them, and in the three or four rare times I've seen them, the don't acknowledge my presence."
"Oh..." I exclaimed as I noticed a tear break free from one of Shigeko's eyes, which made her want to stare at the table as though it was the most interesting thing in the world.
I leaned over across the table and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, I know it's hard to deal with every day, but this is what you should do. Every time you think of that, avert your thoughts to the things in life you're grateful for."
"Like you?"
"Me? That's the first thing you thought of?" I spoke skeptically, with an eyebrow raised.
"Well yeah. It's only been an hour, and you've already made me feel better, Mari."
"Huh."
Silence.
"This is where you say, 'thank you'." Shigeko spoke sassily.
"Okay, okay! Thank you for the... compliment. Better?"
"Better." Shigeko said with an unbelievably cheeky grin, before bursting into laughter along with me.
"Looks like you've made a friend, Mari." Aunt Cass stated as she walked past our table.
Shigeko extended her hand. "Should we be friends?"
I gladly shook it. "Yeah. Friends."
"Oh, and Mari?"
"Yeah?"
"You give out great advice..."
"Aww, thank you!"
"Too often."
"Oh."
Shigeko's phone vibrated once. She took it out of her pocket, and glanced at a new text.
"Well, I have to go. My 'legal guardian' wants me to come home."
"Your legal guardian?"
"Well, she's my cousin. Or cousins, I have another one that helps take care of me too."
"Okay then." Shigeko turned to leave.
"Wait, hold on." I stopped her.
"What?"
"Should we swap phone numbers?"
"Good idea."
We both exchanged phone numbers hurriedly.
"Bye Mari!" Shigeko yelled as she ran out onto the streets.
"Bye Shigeko!" I called out after her.
Aunt Cass and I closed the cafe, and then walked upstairs.
I continued walking up to the second flight of stairs, but before I could climb the first step, Aunt Cass hauled me back.
"I need an explanation, Mari." she said sternly.
"Oh yeah." I replied.
Aunt Cass lead me over to the lounge area, and made me sit on a couch.
"Mari, what in the world were you doing that could've made you so late?"
I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. "I was working at college."
"Are you sure? Nothing else?" she interrogated.
"No." I answered faintly.
Aunt Cass inhaled a deep breath. "Tell me what you were working on."
"My project."
"Is it new?"
"Nope. It was the last project."
"You mean the project that you stayed day and night at college for?"
"Uh huh."
"Out of curiosity, what is the project supposed to be?"
I started to quote. "All my projects are strictly confidential between the college teachers and the inventor, for obvious safety reasons. I am not going to breach..."
"Okay, fine. But why are you still working on it?"
"Well, I realised that there was a lot of upgrades that could be done on it. And I got so absorbed in it that I lost track of time."
Aunt Cass sighed heavily. "Mari, you try your hardest for everything, everyday, right?"
I nodded.
"Don't you think you're trying a little too hard?"
She had a point.
"I guess." I mumbled out.
"Please Mari, just relax yourself a little. I don't like to see you like that all the time."
"Alright."
There was a brief silence for a few moments, before Aunt Cass changed the topic.
"How did you meet that girl?"
"Shigeko? Well, after realising the time was way past seven, I rushed out of my lab. I wasn't looking where I was going, as usual, and so I collided with Shigeko. We apologised, introduced ourselves, then suddenly we both felt hungry, we spotted the cafe, and then, you know..."
"And then you became friends, right? Well, that's enough to satisfy me! You are now permitted to sleep!" Aunt Cass spoke in her usual cheerful voice.
"Thank you Aunt Cass!"
"Mari?"
"Yeah?"
"Be extra quiet. Hiro's sleeping."
I looked at her suspiciously. "At this time?"
"I think you'd understand if I say that he's another person I need to talk to about overworking on college projects."
"Ahhh." I uttered, before chuckling.
A/N:
H-hey guys... sooo... I haven't updated last Saturday... I have a feeling everybody hates me for this...
Ok. I didn't update last Saturday because:
1. Our internet modem is currently down.
2. I have writer's block.
3. I was busy with a few things.
4. One of those things was packing and preparing to navigate through Changi airport using a Changi airport map...
Yeah... my family and I are going on holiday soon (not to Singapore, that's just for a connecting flight). I'll leave a HIATUS note explaining more about it. (And if you think I'm going to Japan, all I'm gonna say is 'I wish.')
So, stay awesome (and not mad)!