"Taylor?"
"Yeah?"
"Could you help me out with my parahuman essay today?" Taylor casts a look at Ayano, standing off to her side and looking away, one hand clutching her arm. A picture of guilt if she ever saw any.
"The one for today?" Taylor asks, shutting her locker – clean of the insults usually scrawled on it for an entire week now.
"Yes."
"...You said you had everything done yesterday."
"I did!" the girl rushes to reassure Taylor before catching herself. "Everything I remembered about, I mean. It's just one little thing, and the teacher said I can hand it in tomorrow, anyway, so no harm done, see?"
"Oh, I don't know. I actually had something-"
"Please? I don't know anything about the capes outside the Bay," Ayano says, clasping her hands in a plea, cutting Taylor's teasing short.
"Of course I'll help." The words slip out of Taylor's mouth all on their own, and the girl only realizes it when she feels her friend's warm arms wrapping around her.
...Wow. Okay.
"C-come on, we should still catch the bus for Downtown," she says as she slips out of Ayano's hug and begins making her way to the school's entrance.
"Actually," the younger teen starts when she catches up. "I was thinking we could maybe do it at my place?"
Taylor doesn't reply immediately, taking a second to catch up with the words. She's never actually gone into Ayano's house, in spite of having been in the area a few times. It's not the best neighborhood, even compared to her home area. Dad doesn't like her hanging around there, either.
"Sure, um, I need to call my Dad, though."
"You could use mine, here." The Asian girl proposes, the phone already in her hand.
"Right, thanks." Taylor accepts the girl's cellphone and stares at the device for a moment, trying to remember how Ayano uses it.
"You flip it open."
"Ah." Taylor tries not to blush and fails rather miserably. At least she still remembers how to make a call. God, she'd burn on the spot if she had to ask about that.
The pair reach the Winslow entrance just in time for a group of girls to catch up to them, pulling the two along as they start talking to Ayano, the subject unintelligible over the noise of the courtyard and the dials.
It's a strange feeling, being a tag-along again. The fact she's no longer being bullied doesn't mean she's suddenly accepted in any of the social circles of Winslow. Still, Ayano's friends seem... tolerant of her presence, at the very least. That's more than enough for her. Out of all the people at Winslow, only one has ever helped her when she needed it most. What does she care for all the rest if they never did for her?
"Dockworkers Association, hiring office, Daniel Hebert speaking. How can I help you?" Wh- oh, Right.
"Hey Dad."
"Taylor? Hey, kid. Is something up?"
"Not really. Just wanted to say I'm going to help Ayano out with her homework today, if that's okay?"
"Sure, sure. Are you going anywhere, after?''
"Um, we're going to her house, so... we'll probably just stay there."
"Oh. Do you need me to pick you up?"
"I'll call you if I do, okay? You're going home like normal, today, right?"
"Yes. Yeah, okay, that'll work. Stay safe, and have fun."
"Thanks, Dad. See you later." Hmm. Should she do something before closing the phone? Normal cells need to be- nevermind, it seems the screen powers down on its own.
"So?" Ayano asks, having fallen behind the group and back to Taylor's side.
"He said it's fine. What about your parents? They won't mind?" For some reason, the thought of making a bad first impression on them fills the older girl's stomach with lead.
"They never cared when I brought friends over before, so I don't think they will," Ayano answers, tucking her phone away. "By the way, we usually have dinner in the evening. Is that fine with you? Father works late, and Mother only makes dinner for when he comes home."
"No problem. Dad comes home late, too. It's- we don't always eat together, but often enough."
The girls slip into a brief silence as their feet automatically take them on the path to the bus station they've been walking together for the past months.
"I was wondering." Taylor speaks up. "Did your mom teach you how to cook?"
"A little. Lately." Lately? Some of the things her friend brings to school Taylor never heard of, and it's not even because it's foreign. "Most of what I bring to school."
"She must know her stuff."
"I suppose. She's the stay-at-home type, or used to be, anyway."
"You mean a housewife?"
"That's the word. I mean- she was one in Japan, still is at heart, but she does work now. I think my father used to have a better job before coming here."
Again they lapse into silence, though this time it's hardly a comfortable one. Taylor never asked, and Ayano never said why the Aishis left their homeland. There's no need. The story varies from one family to the next, but they're all the same at the root.
"Is something the matter?" Taylor flinches, brought out of her thoughts by Ayano's voice. "You look..." Her friend gestures helplessly, as she sometime does when she can't find the right words for her thoughts.
"Nothing. Just thinking."
"What about? Can I help?"
"No. No it's-" She sighs. Well, she brought it up already, willingly or not. "I'm sorry to hear about your father. It must've been terrible," she answers quietly.
"Not really." What? "I- I mean, I barely remember anything from before coming to the USA," Ayano continues, seeing Taylor's expression. "How the neighborhood looked, mostly. Do you remember a lot from when you were three?"
"...I guess not."
"See?" the girl says with one of her many bright smiles, and Taylor can't decide how she feels about it. She shouldn't have brought the topic up in the first place, and now it's Ayano who's comforting her. Dammit she sucks at this. "Don't worry about it. I'd say we're lucky to be here, anyway, considering the alternative." That's – not untrue, but still. "And besides, I wouldn't have met you, otherwise."
For a second, Taylor finds herself unable to look away from those earnest, charcoal eyes, all thoughts fleeing her head as if running from the heat crawling up her face.
"I-I'm f-flattered you think so highly of me."
"Of course I do! What's there not to like about you?" Taylor could write up a list if given a minute, but she appreciates the sentiment. And if a girl such as Ayano says she's worth her time, who is she to argue?
As they near the bus stop, the two girls break off from the group after a few goodbyes the other teens exchange with Ayano. Some of them even nod a farewell to Taylor. That's a first.
"See you guys! Have fun!" Taylor jumps when Aisha seemingly pops into existence before her, already hopping onto her bus with a wink sent their way.
"Bye Aisha."
It's astonishing how the boisterous girl can be so utterly invisible when she wants to. It's a talent Taylor is well acquainted with, but she'd simply never have pegged Aisha as someone capable of hiding in plain sight. It's almost like...
Her brows furrow, her mind drawing a blank. What was she thinking about... ah!
"Hey, Ayano?"
"Yes?"
"What do you want to do after Winslow? I mean, do you have any plans?"
Ayano looks her in the eyes for a moment, an answer ready on her lips, but remains silent for a moment longer, as her gaze goes back to the cars speeding by them.
"I guess not. I still have a few years to start thinking about it. What about you?"
"Hmm. I used to think about joining the PRT."
"That seems dangerous," Ayano says, her eyes narrowing.
"Yeah. My Mom would never have let me even entertain the idea. Dad… I dunno."
"And the pay's not great, either."
"Well, I mean, it's better than most other uh... opportunities you get in Brockton."
"Who says you have to stay here? We could always- I'd go elsewhere if I had something to follow there." Yeah... if only she had the sort of conviction Ayano does.
"I don't think my Dad would take it well if I left. I'm not sure how he'd handle being all alone."
"...Do you think he'd force you to stay if you wanted to move?"
"No. He wants what's best for me, and the city isn't exactly that. I think he'd actually encourage me to move. It's just that- he'd do it even if it broke him."
"I don't understand...?"
Taylor gnaws on her lip, thinking over what to say. She never had to explain her thoughts to anyone before. Truthfully, she never fully explained them to herself, either.
"When my Mom died, he changed, and... it's like life left him. He tries, but sometimes it's like he's just going through the motions. Get up, go to work, come home, ask me about my day, go to sleep, rinse and repeat. And I don't mean the routine, he's always had those. I mean that he does it because he does it. I'm sorry if I'm not making much sense."
"No. I think I get it."
"You do?"
"He continues on because he has no… drive towards anything more. He tries to act like he used to, or like he's supposed to, but it comes off as- it's still different? Not enough?"
"...Yeah."
"..."
"Are you okay?"
Ayano smiles like the sun, and like the sun, it hurts Taylor to look at.
"Of course. Just thinking."
Taylor thinks a lot, too. "Can you tell me what about?"
"It's not- just someone I used to know."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It doesn't matter." The girl pauses, eyeing something over Taylor's shoulder. "That's our bus.''
Huh?
"Don't you always ride the one after mine?"
"They – there's a detour. Construction work. We'll have to walk a bit, but this one is actually faster nowadays. I think."
There's a lull to their conversation as a mass of students, most of them Asian, many in red and green, board the vehicle with the two girls. Taylor briefly considers a friendly wave to Mariko when their eyes meet, but she's not given a chance to do so as the other girl quickly turns away. Right. Not friends.
"Anyway. I don't know about the PRT anymore. I'd like to go to college first, at least."
"What major?"
"Something to get a job? I'm not sure. I'd like to study literature, but there's not much I could do after that, even outside Brockton. I'd need a scholarship, anyway."
"I'm sure you could get one."
"...Maybe. Nobody steals my assignments anymore, so who knows? Guess it depends on whether it'll last."
"Why wouldn't it? Is someone bothering you again?" Ayano stirs, an undercurrent of anger clear in her voice.
"No, it's… I'm just being pessimistic. Sorry."
"You are sorry entirely too much."
"I'm sorry." Taylor flashes her a playful grin, earning push to her shoulder in response.
"You would be if there weren't so many witnesses."
"Oh? What would you do?"
"...Things." She looks away, making Taylor wonder if the light blush on her cheeks was just her imagination or not. "Starting with tickling."
Taylor snorts, and looks out through the window at the changing scenery, more and more of it becoming recognizable as they close in on their destination. It's an area one would normally avoid if they don't live there, Asian or not. According to Ayano, there are a few tricks to living here. One is to always carry a few bucks as to have something to give to the muggers, lest they come up with another way to take their due. The second is not wearing any heeled shoes, just in case one needs to run. Staying the hell away from any groups is yet another.
Brockton Bay.
"Terrible. Actually, do you think you can kill someone with tickling? You know, get them to laugh so hard they'll asphyxiate?"
"Can't be done. You'd pass out and stop laughing."
"So much for the Killer Joke."
"What?"
"Monty Python?"
"Ah. I only watched the inquisition one."
"You've never seen the Holy Grail?"
"I- No. Should I?"
"I mean. I think you'd like it." Their taste in movies seems pretty similar. So far, anyway.
"Then that's good enough for me. I could download it and we could watch it together, if you'd like?"
"Yeah, I- no, wait. Your essay."
"We could still watch it after? It's gonna take some time to download it. My internet is... not the best."
"Maybe." Hopefully. "I gotta do Spanish and chemistry, can't afford to tank those if I'm gonna keep my grades up, again. Though, I guess I could try and get it done while you're writing."
"Then it's settled! We should stop by a store and buy some snacks. There's this hot-dog stand I usually buy from after school if you want something before dinner? It's just a dollar, I could buy you one. Or we could make something at my place if you prefer?"
Yeah, she's not going to pilfer Ayano's kitchen on her first visit. Even if the mental image of making a mess there like she used to do with Emma makes her feel a bit lighter. Still, she'll reserve that for her own house.
"Sure, I could go for one. I have a few bucks, don't worry."
"Great! Come on, it's our stop. It's just a few minutes from here."
Taylor lets herself be pulled by hand, and follows her friend out the bus, then through the decrepit streets of Ayano's neighborhood. Through all this, the Asian girl never lets go, nor does Taylor object, even when people give them strange looks, even when it feels like the heat in her face threatens to spill out of her ears.
Really, it just feels too nice to give a damn.