(Sips tea Mei style and lets out a sigh) You all will probably hate me in the next few chapters but…. I think I got an idea that will stir a fire in the bellies!
Also, Persona 4 Golden and Last of Us 2 just came out on PC and PS4, respectively, so I figured I'd give you another chapter before those ate away at my life.
I think I got a good chunk of some issues sorted out. Apparently there was some overlap when I copy and pasted it but I think I got them all!
Chapter 11
How much longer, thought Mei before taking a large swig of water as one of the directors of the current project she'd been hired to work on finally ended her speech. Gazing out the window, Mei couldn't help but wishing she were out there. Whether it was visiting the beach, one of the plantations, hiking among the lush vegetation that covered the island, Mei just wanted out of this stuffy room so she could begin exploring.
It'd been over a decade since she'd been to Hawaii, and the fact that the meeting was being held here was one of the main reasons she took the job, even if it meant having to set aside her other projects for a time. Though she had barely managed to finish, her commission works the night before her flight but ended up not falling asleep until well past midnight.
If it hadn't been for Himeko, Mei would have missed her flight and more than likely lost this job, which Mei wasn't sure she could handle.
Not that she cared about the company that had hired her. She'd never worked for them but got the general idea of their work and style thanks to some research. While it wasn't her usual cup of tea, the experience would be valuable, and with her reputation on the line, Mei didn't want to risk upsetting them; not after all the work, she'd put into her career.
With her grandfather's shadow continually looming over her, Mei had spent most of her life trying to prove to others that she didn't need to ride his coattails to succeed, even with her painting career on hold.
A few years ago, even if her grandfather wasn't sick, there was a good chance she would have passed up this opportunity. But after seeing the lengths Harumin, Mitsuko, Matsuri, and the others were all willing to take, she decided that complacency wasn't going to be enough. Over the past few months, she felt that a few more risks were going to be needed if she was ever going to genuinely make a name for herself.
But how far she was willing to go for those risks was still something she wasn't sure about. She was already taking a huge one as this job would force her regular clients to look elsewhere for artists. While she and the parties involved were used to things like this happening, Mei wasn't exactly thrilled about it either.
Even if this job offered her consistent pay, she wasn't happy about other people, most notably a few of her rival artists, taking work from clients she had spent years building a relationship with.
But then again, as the old saying went, "If there is no risk, there is no reward."
And for Mei, the reward came as a long-term contract where her monthly pay would be equivalent to almost three months of freelance work and a considerable boost to her credibility.
Worthwhile sure, but as she sat there listening to the executive's monotonous voice continue to go on about the time tables, crunch time, and daily reports and meetings, Mei was beginning to wonder if she'd bitten off more than she could chew.
She was used to handling everything herself, negotiating fees, contracts, and everything else that came with the territory, though anything she wasn't sure on she'd take to Mitsuko, especially after everything Amamiya had pulled on her.
But even with Mitsuko's seal of approval on both the contract and the job, something had been gnawing at the back of Mei's mind, and she couldn't understand what it was.
Probably just jetlag or stress, she thought to herself as her phone vibrated in her pocket.
Mei was almost sure that the person messaging her was one of her friends asking how she was doing even though she'd said she'd be in meetings, and most of them were almost five hours ahead of her.
She wanted to reply, but most of them were aware that if she didn't answer, it was because she was busy. However, Himeko seemed to forget that regularly and only after Mei threatened to block her and speak to her through a third-party did her best friend quit barraging her with texts, especially while she was sleeping.
Though the time difference was annoying, Mei had managed to at least keep in touch with everyone about how her trip was going, including her father, who she deemed necessary to inform in case of an emergency with Himeko or the house should arise.
She was confident that at some point during her absence, her father would find a way into the house, and though it annoyed her to no end, as long as she knew Himeko was safe, Mei was willing to put up with it.
However, she couldn't help but wonder what would happen if Matsuri or the others showed up and found him there. To some extent, the others knew about the nature of their relationship. But Mei didn't want any of them learning more than they needed to, and she didn't know if she could handle him telling them anything she'd omitted.
Stifling a yawn, Mei turned her attention back to the speaker, who was finalizing their presentation and packing up a few of her belongings as she accessed a file on her laptop.
"Now that that's over, I'd like you all," she pulled up a picture of a chart and Mei saw her name was grouped with three other artists whom she didn't know and a person marked as their team lead, "to get together and head downstairs to meet your team leaders so you can all get your assignments. If you have any other questions, my business card is in your folders, as well as a contact sheet for the people who would know the most about your projects. I know most of you aren't comfortable with the fact that we are hiring independent artists, but I will remind you all that this is a multi-year project. We've had to branch out this time to reduce your workloads and ensure you can spend some time relaxing instead of worrying about crunch."
"More like you don't want to pay us overtime," snorted a woman from behind Mei.
Several people grumbled loudly, but the woman put a stop to it with a stern glare that would have made Mei's grandfather proud before continuing.
"But please remember that they are all under the same N.D.A as the rest of you and are under a contract." Several people snickered, and Mei saw several of them look around at the crowd, a few of them giving the contract workers some mischievous grins.
"This means," continued the woman cutting off the murmurs and laughter, "that for the foreseeable future they are employees of the company and any mistreatment from any person will be dealt with accordingly. Am I clear?"
Everyone, including Mei, nodded or gave a word of acknowledgment about their expectations. Once she was satisfied, the woman left, and everyone began standing up and looking around for their groups.
Chuckling at how much this reminded her of splitting up into groups during school, Mei figured that doing this would make the work both challenging and easy because they were being paid to work together. But Mei was worried about how the contracts would play into all of this.
Mei knew that while at least she and at least six or seven others were under contract, there was a chance that they could be headhunted by the company to replace the employees who didn't perform or exceed the company's standards.
It wouldn't be the first time Mei had been in this situation.
She'd regularly been offered jobs by other companies to work for them either permanently or on an extended contract, but she'd refused each time and hoped that the others would accept that this job would be no difference should they ask.
But that didn't make the atmosphere any less tense, and Mei immediately began looking for her group members and was saved when an older woman waved to her and said, "Mei? We're over here."
"Thank you," replied Mei, gathering her things and followed her out of the room and into a hallway where she found the rest of her group.
After a few quick introductions, Mei was surprised that she'd been placed with two senior female members, including the one who'd found her, and a guy younger than her. When she saw their badges, Mei noticed that all of them were permanent employees and hoped they wouldn't give her a hard time.
Thankfully, none of them seemed to bear her any ill-will, but Mei was used to not being able to read people's intent and, while polite, ensured that she kept her guard up as they headed down to the hotel entrance where they met their team lead.
As they spoke, Mei began noticing a similar pattern to each of their experiences and wasn't surprised when their lead explained that they would be working on landscapes with the first one being a tropical area before moving onto their next location.
"Everyone's jobs are detailed in these packets," Explained the balding middle-aged man that was her boss for this project, "along with a few concepts and ideas from the design team. You are free to work together, in pairs, or individually. But keep in mind that you're going to need to regularly report to the other managers, design team members that ask for clarification, and me. They are supposed to go through me first, but sometimes they will contact you directly, in fact, that's normally what they'll do. Are there any questions?"
As she looked at him, Mei realized that she was the only one who was paying attention and realized that everything being said was strictly for her benefit.
After asking him for and receiving the necessary contact information from him and her teammates, they all separated and promised to have a meeting later that night.
While walking back up to her room for some equipment, Mei began reading through her job details and was amazed at the schedule and how much she would be responsible for and felt a slight bit of dread and exhilaration at having such an exciting project. She'd never had much of a chance to work on a "steam-punk" world before, and it sounded intriguing, especially once she found that she had been recommended mountainous areas, volcanic formations, and local flora and clothing styles to use as inspiration.
Thankful for the chance to work alone, she entered her room, pulled out her phone, and answered her friends' texts while ignoring her father's.
"He can wait," she said to herself, setting her phone down on the bed as she plugged in her wireless earbuds and began playing an audiobook before going to her safe to remove all of her photography equipment.
After going through her checklist and making sure she had all of the right filters and lenses, the narrator began reading the portion in which the magician began transforming the unicorn into a beautiful girl, her ringtone blared in her ear.
"Damn it," she hissed, nearly dropping her camera, and once she zipped up her backpack, she lowered the volume and answered the call.
"Yes," she asked, a little more gruffly than intended, but she didn't care.
"Did I catch you at a bad time," asked her father, nervously. "If so, I can just call back later."
"I'm about to head out," she said curtly. "But I suppose I can talk for a minute. Is there something wrong with the house or Himeko?"
"Nothing like that," he said happily. "I haven't been by the house yet; figured you wouldn't want me to. But Himeko and I are about to go to a movie. She's never been to one on this side of the pond, so I thought I'd treat her before she heads out tomorrow afternoon for a show."
"She has a show? Why didn't she tell me?"
This was the first Mei heard about it, and she was concerned why she hadn't been told. Himeko was usually very good about keeping her schedule up to date, so Mei wondered why this one came up so suddenly.
"She said she told you in a text, but you probably didn't see it yet because you were working," explained Sho casually. "No, Himeko-chan. We have to wait for them to say we can go in. Yes, I'll order your food. Sorry."
Despite her better judgment, Mei felt a small smile grace her face as she walked onto the elevator but wiped it away quickly.
"But anyway, Himeko's got a friend who's in town for a show, and well their trainer got sick, a stomach bug or something, and asked Himeko to take over since one of the dogs is from an old litter of Himeko's. Not only that, but since Himeko is familiar with the trainer and knows her methods, so she was the first to get called. She's paying Himeko top dollar for it too, like way above what Himeko normally makes so…"
"I understand."
Even though Himeko had managed to save a great deal of money living with Mei, they both knew that eventually, Himeko would have to find a place of her own. Still, with her profession, an apartment wouldn't cut it, so Himkeo was building a nest egg with Mei, helping her do the planning and even lending her best friend her accountant and Mitsuko to help make sure everything was legal.
"So," continued her dad as the elevator doors opened, his voice slightly dimmed by the external noises of the people surrounding her, "I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything you needed me to do while she was gone. It's going to be about three or four days, and she said you have a cleaning company come now and then. I don't know if you've changed the locks, but…"
"They're the same," said Mei stepping out into the warm air, glad she'd switched to a pair of long shorts and a baggy, light-colored tee-shirt.
As she adjusted the baseball hat she was wearing, Mei started down the street that led to the marketplace and prepared her camera as she said, "But you don't need to go to the house. Himeko has probably already done everything necessary to make sure no food goes bad and done all the cleaning. So I don't think you need to worry about that, but I thank you for your concern."
"Jeez, you're stiff," laughed her father. "Just like your granddad."
"I need to go," said Mei quickly and possibly loudly as a few people stared at her. "I need to get to work, and no, I can't tell you because of a non-disclosure agreement I signed."
"Yeah." Sho's voice was heavy, and Mei could imagine the distraught look on his face at the mention of his father. "Anyway, I'll let you work, and I have a friend who runs a restaurant on the island. I'll let them know you're there. If you want to try it, just drop my name, and you should get a table, no problem. I'll even send you some of my favorite places if I haven't ruined the trip that is."
"They'll be much appreciated," she said coldly as she turned into a grocery store to grab a few snacks and some bottled water. "Have fun with Himeko."
She tapped the button on the side of her earbud, disconnecting the call and grabbed some of her favorite snacks before grabbing other things that she'd read were appropriate for a long hike.
Bastard, Mei thought as she handed the woman a twenty before collecting her change and stepping outside where she put the food and water in their appropriate slots to avoid damaging her equipment.
Once she was ready, Mei stomped in the direction of the map she'd downloaded and begun taking pictures of everything she could to get her mind off her father's callous comment.
It didn't matter what it was, cars, people passing by, shopping stands, clothing racks, anything that could divert her attention from the frustration that was boiling in the back of her mind.
"Watch it. Fucking tourist," snapped a man who Mei had accidentally run into as she continued her way out of town toward a local bus stop that would take her where the hotel busses wouldn't.
It wasn't that she could disagree with her father about her grandfather's attitude; after all, they'd all shared a home for most of her father's life. But the fact that he even dared to bring him up when the last time she'd seen him in person was a couple of months after her grandfather's funeral. A ceremony he left her in charge of and only offered to help pay for, A service where he hadn't bothered to say anything about her grandfather, was enough to make her...
"Calm down," she said quietly to herself as she climbed onto the bus, her frustration catching the bus driver's attention. She shrugged at the lady, who gave her a nervous smile and welcomed her aboard.
After paying her fare, Mei took her seat, annoyed that she couldn't take pictures of the quality she wanted to; instead, she had to switch over to a shorter lens. Sometimes even she had to wide-angle to get the scenic shot she needed though the speed of the bus and the smudges on the glass ruined the quality.
An hour later, a couple of friendly chats with some older locals she helped with bringing their groceries on board were kind enough to give her some directions toward a few hidden spots not shown in the guides. After exiting the bus, Mei noticed she was standing outside a small residential area, along with the two ladies she'd been talking to.
"Do you need help carrying those home," asked Mei once the bus was gone and noticing the size of the bags.
"Oh, we're fine," chuckled the shorter of the two women as she lifted the large bags with little effort. "We've been doing this for years, and we're not too far from home. But you better hurry, it'll be dark soon, and you don't want to get caught in the forest after dark, it's quite dangerous if you don't know where to go."
"I'll be careful." Despite it being uncomfortable for her, Mei gave a polite bow. "Thank you for the information, and the entrance should be up this way?"
"About five minutes or so, then you'll see a few breadfruit trees, they look like big limes. Take a right, and you'll see a path that my family and I sometimes use after we fight to calm down or if we want some alone time or have a private conversation. Follow it for about half a mile, and you'll get to a couple of springs and a few other landmarks that should work for you. Just make sure you don't take anything and try your best not to break anything."
The woman reached into her bag, pulled the tops off a few different colored flowers, placed them in a small plastic bag, and handed them to Mei, who accepted them.
"There's also a small altar we use to pay our respects to family members who have passed, just leave these there and bring the bag back with you, okay?"
"I'll be sure to do that." Mei nodded and carefully placed the flowers on the top of her supplies and zipped the bag. "Thank you for the information. I promise to do what you ask and be out soon. Again, thank you so much for everything."
"Don't worry about it, dear." The woman smiled her slightly toothless grin, and her friend nodded politely. "You seem to be more honest and respectful than the usual people who come this way, just make sure you keep it our secret."
"I will." Mei managed a slight grin before tilting her head toward the hill. "I'll be heading out now. Thanks again."
Mei began walking up the hill when the woman asked, "I forgot to ask earlier, dear, but would you mind telling me your name? In case I see you in town. You're such a lovely conversationalist, and I'd like to chat with you again."
"Mei Aihara."
It felt a little strange to tell the woman her name. Unless it was necessary, Mei rarely told anyone who she was these days, but she figured it was better to be safe than sorry, given the fact that she was going into unknown territory.
"Do you mind letting me know where your house is? I'd feel bad making you worry after letting me know all of this."
"First off, my name is Alanna Kelekolio, and this is my sister Halia. We live just down the street."
She pointed down the road and said, "There's a house about a quarter-mile down that road on the right-hand side. It's blue with a yellow door. Feel free to stop by, and if you're hungry, I'd be happy to make you some dinner. I'm up all night anyway so it won't be any trouble."
Mei nodded and thanked to woman for her generosity, unsure of how to react to being offered a meal so readily but said she'd think on it, and after making sure the women were safely on their way turned in the direction that Alanna had told her.
After a few minutes of walking, Mei found what looked like the path a short ways in and after following it, found a small pond that had a stream running into it with a small shrine with a bowl of water filled to the brim with a couple of wilting flowers floating on top.
"This must be it," she said to herself as she crouched down next to it and placed the flowers in the water.
Intrigued by the setup, Mei began pulling out her camera to take a picture but decided against it. Instead, she offered a short prayer out of respect. She committed the concept to memory, unsure of how a tropical paradise was supposed to fit into the world she was helping build but figured it'd make sense once more of the plot was made available.
Figuring her memory should work well enough, Mei grabbed her camera, slipped the strap around her neck, and snapped as many pictures as she could. Flowers, trees, fruits, and birds...lots and lots of birds.
"Wish there was something other than birds," she sighed, hearing the weird muffled sensation of her voice through the headphones as she flipped through her photos, deleting anything she considered unnecessary. "I wonder if the others found a few things more interesting than plants and animals."
Finishing up, Mei continued down the path, grabbing more pictures, including a gorgeous red butterfly that she was confident she could fit into a design somewhere.
The path was reasonably wide, and Mei was amazed at how far it went and how well maintained it was.
Despite the carefully placed fence and trimmed plants, there was very little in the way of human interference, and Mei felt a sense of relief and wonder as she removed one of her earbuds to experience the silence that enveloped her.
All the sounds of the city were, and cars disappeared about twenty minutes into her walk. She couldn't resist taking pictures of the new flowers that had appeared and even a few new insects and birds that she got an idea of working into insignia and costume designs.
Smiling at her latest photos as she walked, Mei nearly fell over as three giant fat rats ran out in front of her carrying what looked like fruits and leaves behind them.
"Damn rodents," she hissed, kicking some dirt in their direction, taking deep breaths as she continued walking, sticking her earbuds back in.
But as she walked, she figured what happened might make a good idea for a piece she could pitch or use in another project.
Taking a moment to grab some snacks and water from her bag, Mei downed the food and gulped the water as she walked.
It was a welcomed relief from the warm afternoon, and while she'd managed to avoid getting bitten thanks to her bug repellent, her lack of sunscreen was becoming apparent. She could feel the back of her neck was beginning to burn and knew she'd pay for it in the form of a headache tonight along with a massive sunburn in the morning.
Pulling the handkerchief from her pocket, Mei dumped some water onto it and applied it to the back of her neck, shivering at the sudden drop in temperature.
Reminding herself to ask for some aloe vera from the front desk when she got back, Mei pushed through a tall fern and nearly dropped her bottled water when she saw the scenery.
She'd come out onto a massive chest high fenced outcropping overlooking a broad, verdant valley with small houses and farms dotting the landscape with the sizeable oceanic expanse beyond. To the right, she could see the city, but Mei could not care less about that. That was something she could see at any time. But a valley filled with houses, fields, and the salty scent of the ocean flowing in on a cool breeze? That was infinitely more pleasurable and intriguing.
Approaching the edge of the fence, Mei noticed that it dropped off and guessed that the fall was easily around a hundred feet before hitting the top of the nearest tree.
"Well, that's pleasant," she said as she imagined just how far up the hill she was.
Stepping back, she took out a sizable portion of her equipment and began setting up, deciding that she'd spend the rest of the afternoon following the fence, hoping that she could get the shots she needed for both her work and for showing off to her friends.
"I think they'd like that," she said out loud, once again to no one in particular. "Especially Yuzu."
Mei imagined the smile on Yuzu's face from the video chat she'd had with the woman the night before she left and refused to hang up until Mei promised to get her a few gifts and a couple of pictures she could add to some book she was making.
When asked what it was about, Yuzu had laughed and said, "It's just a side project of mine. I'll show you the next time we hang out. But don't expect too much."
The offer instantly made Mei blush as Yuzu still wasn't able to confirm what they would be doing, but regardless, the prospect of seeing Yuzu again excited her. As she walked, Mei began trying to find as many excellent shots as she could.
By the time she'd reached the end of the fence, Mei had far more pictures than she'd intended. Some were standard shots that looked like your average photographer took them, but some took her nearly ten minutes to set up just to ensure the best possible quality and lighting that she could manage with only a lens, camera, and either her mono or tripod at her disposal.
Thankfully she was happy with most of them, and as she finished the last one, this time of a spider that had managed to catch a few ants in its web and was busy wrapping them up she looked up and realized the sun was finally beginning to set and she was nearly out of water and snacks.
"Time to head back," she once again said out loud and began packing her things up.
Just as she zipped her bag up, her headphones gave her a final warning that they were about to lose power and finally giving in, she removed them and placed them in their charging case, hearing the sounds of the surrounding area for the first time.
She closed her eyes as a cool breeze washed over her. She felt her self beginning to calm relax as the breeze filled her with a sense of accomplishment after a long day's work. Even though she tended to avoid this kind of exertion, she was thankful for the chance to get out and experience everything for herself; even if she'd have to book a volcano tour, it would be worth the cost.
Stretching her arms above her heads, Mei took in one last deep, cleansing breath, grunted, and opened her eyes for one last glance at the horizon, and decided to risk taking one last picture of the gradual shift from afternoon to twilight
Lifting the camera, Mei adjusted her settings and centered her shot, catching the faint hints of pink, orange, and purples that only came at this time of day.
She was prepared to spend a couple of more minutes on seeing if she could get a few glimpses of starlight, but those hopes shattered when a voice loudly ask over her earbuds, "What are you doing here?"
If it weren't for the fence, Mei was sure she would have gone over the cliff as the question caused her to nearly trip over her untied shoelaces.
"Be careful," said the voice, and Mei felt a hand tug at the back of her shirt and pull her away from the edge.
She felt a sharp pain in the butt as she stumbled over her feet and hit the ground, but managed to scramble to her feet and move back in a safe direction away from the man who'd grabbed her, chucking whatever rocks and sticks she could find causing what sounded like two voices to shout at her telling her to calm down.
Climbing to her feet, Mei managed to grab the largest, most imposing branch she could and held it up like a baseball bat ready to swing as she backed away toward the entrance she'd used only to realize she didn't know how far she'd traveled or if she could even get back.
"Come any closer and I'll…"
"Are you all right Bro," asked one of the men cutting Mei off as he checked on his companion who was now sitting on the ground inspecting his broken sunglasses.
"Yeah, I'm okay." The man shook his head and touched his forehead and cringed at the blood that was trickling down his face and onto his pressed linen shirt. "Nothing in my eye and we both have had worse than this. She's got a hell of an arm."
As they spoke, Mei realized that they were speaking Japanese and couldn't help but find something oddly familiar about them. From their almost formal attire of suit pants, collared shirts, and ties, to their slicked-back hair. To her, they looked more like businessmen than tourists, but no matter what they were, Mei wasn't willing to relax.
"Don't come any closer," she shouted though the adrenaline pumping through her system made her voice shake. "If you do, I'll knock you over the edge!"
"Relax," said the man with glasses, pulling a fresh pair out of his shirt pocket and applying them to his face. "We weren't gonna hurt you. We just wanted to know why you were on our boss' property."
"What are you talking about?" Mei's arms were shaking so severely that she was making the leaves on the end of the branch she was holding shake. "I was told I could use this path by Miss Kelekolio; this is her family's property."
"Their property ended about a half a mile back," said the man without glasses. "Though that explains a lot. They're used to sharing this area with our Sis, and so they probably forgot to tell you….wait…..Mei? Miss Mei Aihara? Bro, it's Mei. Holy...how are you? It's been a while, about four years, right? I was so sorry to hear about your granddad."
"How do you know my name?" Mei raised the branch even higher but then dropped it after getting another look at them.
It'd been several years since she'd seen them, but now that she got a better look at them she finally recognized them and despite the happiness she felt at the sight of a friendly face, an ice-cold feeling go down her spine when she realized who might be close behind them.
"Is...is she here," asked Mei, her eyes darting around, trying to find anything that looked like a yukata or parasol.
"What is all the racket you two," came a soft, but stern voice. "I thought this was going to be a quiet walk, why are you making so much noise? You'll disturb the animals."
Before Mei could begin walking backward, a bright red, elegant parasol appeared from behind the men accompanied by a woman with long flowing green hair and eyes wearing a colorful blue yukata. Her face set in a stoic manner that momentarily faltered into the faintest hint of a smile at the sight of Mei.
"Well, this is a surprise," said the woman in a flat voice, though Mei could hear a bit of a laugh in it. "How are you, Mei? I didn't expect to see you here."
Wishing she hadn't stayed this long, Mei rubbed her left bicep, and though it was difficult, managed to look into the sea green eyes of her ex and say, "Hello Sue. You're looking well."
