LOOK! I've maintained consistent productivity! HUZZAH! Thank you as always Lyssa (BrokenTourniquet)!
Why had she ever agreed to this fool's errand?
Lara resisted the urge to squirm in her first class seat as Sam slept soundly beside her with her head resting on her shoulder. A wave of heat bloomed from the area, and Lara was practically drunk on the smell of vanilla and amber. For some bizarre reason, she had decided to play the white knight and offer to be some form of morale support for Sam while she visited her family for the holidays. It wasn't until a few hours after she had offered to go back home with Sam that she realized her mistake, and by then it was too late. By some miracle, she'd managed to get through the last few weeks of exams, work, and gymnastics without having a complete nervous breakdown.
I'm doing this because I care, Lara reminded herself on repeat. Personal feelings aside, Sam was still her friend and needed her support. That should have been motivation enough for Lara to deal for the time being. Only it felt like it wasn't when Sam would periodically grunt and nuzzle further into her shoulder. Lara took a long, steady breath through her nose and exhaled through her mouth. They had to be landing soon, right?
"Attention passengers," came the pilot's voice over the intercom, "we are going to be experiencing some slight turbulence and ask that you remain in your seats at this time. We will be arriving at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in a little over an hour."
Slight turbulence turned out to be a gross understatement as Sam was jolted awake beside her. Lara thanked her lucky stars that she had already used the loo just moments before.
"Mmh?" Sam groaned before apparently realizing she had used Lara as a pillow, "Oh, sorry," she yawned.
"It's alright," Lara gazed out the window, "you sleep well at least?"
"Like a rock," Sam let out another yawn, "did they say how long it would be until we landed?"
"About an hour, I think," Lara said, "unless this turbulence brings us down first."
"Don't be so dramatic," Sam scoffed, pulling her personal carry-on out from underneath the seat in front of her to retrieve her copy of Pride and Prejudice. Lara looked at it curiously.
"How many times have you read that book?"
"Eleven if you count this read-through."
"And you aren't sick of it yet?" Lara asked. Sam rolled her eyes with a smirk as she flipped to the page she had marked.
"Just because you don't appreciate the fine intricacies of this book, doesn't mean I will ever stop loving it."
"Fair." Lara continued her window gazing for the remaining duration of their flight, looking on in awe as the industrialized behemoth that was New York City finally came into sight.
"You ever been?" Sam asked from beside her as they descended. Lara shook her head.
"These buildings seem excessive."
"Being excessive is the American mentality, Sweetie." Lara snorted and shook her head in disbelief.
"They've been rebuilding the World Trade Center, haven't they?" She asked.
"Yup. They call it the 'Freedom Tower,' which I guess is about as American as you can get. But still, it'll be good for the city I think."
"Won't rebuilding just encourage another attack though?" Lara asked.
"I think that for the people, rebuilding is a way to send the message that they're going to get back on their feet no matter how hard they're knocked down." Sam paused, "You know, I still remember that day. I was ten years old at the time. I didn't live in the city when the attacks happened, but for the few hours I was at school before my parents picked me up, they let us watch movies and play games. We all kinda knew something was wrong from the look on the teacher's face, though."
"I can imagine," Lara remarked absently at length. The rest of their flight continued in relative silence after that. After landing, they retrieved their belongings from baggage claim and made their way out the airport, only to be met right before the terminal exit with a well-garbed driver holding a sign that said 'Nishimura.'
"Of course they would," Sam grumbled. "Hi Charles," she said when they approached the driver.
"Ms. Nishimura," he replied, looking between her and Lara, "your father didn't tell me to expect any additional passengers."
"That's because I didn't tell him to expect additional passengers in the first place. Can you keep this a secret for the time being? Please?" Charles took a moment to consider her request before letting out a small sigh.
"I suppose it wouldn't do any harm. Welcome aboard, Ms…?"
"Just call me Lara," Lara replied quickly. Charles nodded.
"If you'll follow me then," he said, leading the way out the doors through which they could see a limo was parked and waiting for them.
"Is the limo really necessary?" Lara asked incredulously.
"My dad seems to think so," Sam shook her head, "It'll be alright though, the seats are heated at least!" She added brightly as they emerged out into the bitter cold. Charles took their bags and began to load the trunk while they clambered into the back of the limo. "It'll be about forty to fifty minutes to my family's penthouse from here," Sam said as she shut the door behind them, "you excited to meet the oh so very esteemed Hisao Nishimura?"
"I'm not sure how to respond to that."
"You don't need to." Sam shrugged, "He's a piece of work and I know it. But we'll have a good holiday break yet. The one advantage I have over my parents is that they don't know you're coming. My dad wouldn't dare tarnish his reputation by acting inappropriately around outsiders. The only thing I'm worried about is him wanting an interview with you."
"Wait, what?"
The building Sam lived in was a towering glass monolithic structure. Lara felt herself going dizzy just trying to see all the way to the top. They approached the door, and Sam fingered through the directory, stopping at the name "Daniel Grey" and dialing in the corresponding buzzer code.
"Wait, why did you-?" Lara began.
"Shush," Sam said as they were buzzed into the lobby. The concierge gave a knowing nod in Sam's direction as they proceeded to the elevator. When they were inside and Sam hit the button for the eightieth floor, she spoke, "to answer what you were probably trying to ask. Residents of the building are only listed with names that select people know, this is done for the sake of security. The buzzer code is also different from our suite number. My dad likes to change both his alias and buzzer codes at least a couple times a year."
"What if people still manage to sneak in?" Lara asked.
"You saw the concierge, right? He'll question anyone who looks suspicious. It was obvious that you were with me, so he didn't waste his time questioning you. And in the unlikely scenario that people by some miracle manage to sneak by the concierge, the button for my floor will not activate without my family buzzing us in."
"But say they get on the elevator and get off at a different floor…" Lara posed, and Sam snickered.
"The stairs only let people out, not in. The only way you would be able to go is back down to the lobby, where you started. And let's suppose that somehow someone manages to get on my floor, right? There's some heavy duty lockage and thick door frames. And there's no way my family would open the door."
"So basically...this place is an impenetrable fortress," Lara observed.
"Yup!" Sam replied with a grin, "And I'd be lying if I said I didn't love it. Although this type of life obviously has its baggage." The elevator opened, and Sam exited ahead of Lara and approached a door in front of them offset to the left, "Any of these doors would work really, but this one opens to the living room," she explained while Lara examined the area around them, "so...ready?"
"I suppose," Lara said. Sam knocked on the door and it was opened shortly thereafter by a woman of Iberian descent that Lara assumed to be Sam's mother, given the fact she had Sam's lips, eyebrows, skin tone, and facial structure. Lara assumed she had to be middle-aged considering she had an eighteen-year-old daughter, but she looked nothing like the part. Her eyes were alert and well-rested, with not a single bag or wrinkle in sight. Her complexion also still had a radiant glow about it, and the arms that showed in the sleeveless dress she wore were very lean and toned for a woman of her age. Her brows shot up in surprise when she saw Lara.
"Oh," Mrs. Nishimura said, "who's this honey?"
"Hi mom, brought a guest," Sam brusquely brushed past her mother and motioned for Lara to follow.
"Hi, Lara. Sam's roommate, nice to meet you," Lara squeaked as she hurried by, "sorry." When she emerged into the living room, she stopped dead in her tracks to take in the sight before her. The wall opposite her along the back of the living room was lined with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, through which Lara could see a prime view of Central Park, where ant-sized people scurried about, and the surrounding New York skyline. On both ends of the line of windows were furled curtains, which Lara assumed could be drawn whenever the Nishimuras wanted to watch the massive flatscreen that was mounted on the wall to the left. Along the right wall, there was a dusty chess table and some additional seating.
"Here I'll show you where the guest rooms are." Sam led them to the left and made another left past two rooms that appeared to be some sort of den and formal dining room, respectively, at first glance. "Now, one of the guest rooms was converted to a game room and another to a studio-"
"A studio?" Lara asked.
"Oh, right. My mom's a model, in case you couldn't tell by how gorgeous she is. Sometimes she takes photos at home to send out a portfolio to prospective employers. She was a Victoria's Secret Angel for a couple of years before I was born, apparently. Anyways-" Sam turned to the left when they came to the first door ahead of them, stopping at the third door to the right and swinging it open, "point is that we still have one guest room left, so feel free to use this one. I'm gonna go drop my stuff off in my room so meet me there when you're done." Sam left Lara alone and she entered the room with her bags, setting them down to take in the sight before her.
The room's decor, much like everything in the other rooms Lara had seen, was very modernistic in nature, relying on a toned down color palette and crisp lines. Every piece of furniture including the bed frame, night stand, and dresser were made of the same grayish wood, with the drawers on the nightstand and dresser having simple silver handles to grab onto. The bedding itself was gray and white, and the carpet was an off-white color that matched the chair sitting in the corner of the room, presumably for reading. Much like the living room, the guest room had one wall lined with floor-to-ceiling windows through which Lara could see more of Manhattan's skyline, including the Empire State Building.
Lara carefully set her suitcase on top of the dresser and began unloading her things into specific drawers. When she was done, she set her now-empty suitcase down in a small walk-in closet. When she was completely settled in, she walked back out the room and walked down the hallway to her right to find Sam.
"Sam?"
"In here," Sam called out from the room immediately next door, "come in." Lara pushed the slightly-cracked door open and entered the room, blinking in surprise at the stark contrast of Sam's bedroom to the guest room. From band posters to knick-knacks littering every tabletop surface to political signage bearing slogans like "Support Local Working Women!" set in front of an image of a foot wearing a long-heeled platform, it seemed as though the younger Sam had made a point of resisting the minimalistic efforts of her family and standing out as much as possible. Sam must have caught her looking around because she said, "I can tell you're curious so feel free to have a look around, I don't mind. I'll be done unpacking in a sec and then we can go see what my sister's up to. I'm surprised she hasn't burst in screeching my name yet, to be honest."
Lara said nothing and obliged, walking up to Sam's dresser first to examine a few of the objects scattered atop. First was an old-fashioned camera that, if Lara had to guess, dated back to the late nineteenth century, beside which was a modern camera that Lara figured Sam had once been working on fixing, given its disassembled state. Scattered intermittently around the cameras was a cosmopolitan assortment of figurines from video games, anime, and popular TV shows. On the very end of the dresser was a small statuette of a cat meditating.
"Why the meditating cat?" Lara asked.
"It's Chakra Cat!" Sam replied brightly as she put some of her clothing on hangers, "He brings luck, tranquility, and good vibes! He's pretty rad." Lara snorted in amusement and sauntered over to Sam's desk, which was comprised of a flat workspace with overlaying shelving for storing books and other bits and bobs. On the lowest shelf were books that Lara assumed were from Sam's secondary schooling days, bearing titles like Lewis' Psychology, AP Edition and Stein's AP Computer Science Exam Prep. Displayed on the very top shelf was a diploma that said Trinity School and certified that Sam had graduated with distinguished honors. On the bottom of the diploma Lara read the words labore et virtute.
Hanging overtop the desk was a narrow strip of corkboard, upon which Sam had apparently pinned pictures from various events. Lara leaned in to take a closer look. The first picture was of Sam with a group of other students with the kids in the front holding a sign that said "Student Media Club." Lara noted that everyone wore the same uniform: dark blue blazers, white button-down shirts, dark blue ties with gold stripes, and either dark blue pants for the boys or dark blue-and-gold plaid skirts for the girls.
The next picture was a picture of Sam at what appeared to be some sort of concert with a brunette that Lara figured was one of her friends. Beside that was a picture of Sam and the same brunette posing together in their caps and gowns. The final picture appeared to be Sam and a few other students on stage in costumes.
"You were into theater?" Lara asked. Sam stopped what she was doing and walked over to peak over Lara's shoulder at the picture. She laughed.
"Oh, yeah. That was when my school did the Jekyll and Hyde musical. I played Lucy Harris and kind of helped out the stage crew and gave advice about things like prop placement and lighting. It was a fun time."
"So you provided help with directing the play and were featured as one of the characters?"
"Yup!" Sam replied as she returned to her bag to finish unpacking the last of her items, "I'm somewhat of a renaissance woman I guess," she joked.
"I'll say," Lara murmured, still staring at the photos intently.
"Alright," Sam said, slamming her suitcase shut triumphantly, "shall we see what Naomi's up to?"
"After you," Lara replied. Sam took point and Lara followed.
"GET MERC'D, NOOBS!" Came a loud screech from the next bedroom down.
"Well that explains why she didn't come barreling towards us when we got here," Sam appeared to suppress laughter as she scratched the back of her neck sheepishly, "she gets a little too into her games sometimes."
"It happens," Lara shrugged. Sam stopped in front of Naomi's door and put a finger to her mouth to signal for silence before she slammed the door handle down and sent the door flying open.
"Guess who?!" Sam declared loudly as the door bounced off the stop. When Lara looked around Sam's shoulder, she saw that Naomi was very similar to Sam in appearance, just with lighter eyes and slightly more Japanese influence on her appearance than her older sister. Naomi stared at Sam like a deer caught in headlights before tossing her controller and headset aside and leaping off her bed to run to Sam. Sam nearly fell into Lara with how forcefully Naomi slammed into her and hugged her.
"When did you get home?!" Naomi squeaked excitedly.
"A little over a half hour ago. You would have heard us if you hadn't been so busy screaming at your game," Sam teased.
"It's the new Call of Duty though!" Naomi protested, "My clan and I have been working on quick-scoping so we can compete in competitions! It's only a matter of time before MLG starts hosting events for the game." Sam snickered.
"Well you do you, kid. If you enjoy it, I say go for it," Sam said, running a quick hand through Naomi's hair.
"Who's this?" Naomi asked, craning over Sam's shoulder to look at Lara.
"This is my roommate, Lara. She came home with me for the holidays because she's never been to New York."
"Hi," Lara said.
"Nice accent," Naomi quipped.
"Naomi!" Sam exclaimed.
"What?" Naomi protested, "It's actually really cool and classy! I wish I could talk like that."
"Still-" Sam began.
"It's quite alright, Sam," Lara said, "I'm actually flattered." Sam looked back at Lara and blinked at her before ultimately defusing.
"She's cool," Naomi said, "I like her. She can stay." Sam rolled her eyes in amusement and peeled herself away from Naomi.
"Is dad home?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, unfortunately. Just so you know, he was bitching about you to mom the other day."
"Language!" Sam warned her in a hushed whisper, "Do you want him to hear you?"
"Hear what?" Came a voice from down the hall, causing Lara to jump and scan for its source. Near the guest room stood a balding, bespectacled middle-aged Japanese man wearing a tailored black two-piece suit. Lara immediately knew that he had to be Hisao Nishimura. His skin bore significantly more wrinkles than his wife's, and his eyes were cold and calculating, unlike his daughters' warm, welcoming orbs, though he did share his eye color with Sam, as well as the shape of his nose. Lara chanced a glance to the side to look at Sam, whose face had gone white. "I didn't realize we were going to be having guests," Hisao said, making his way to where Lara, Sam, and Naomi were, "I would have made sure the guest room was more presentable."
"I didn't think you'd mind," Sam replied simply. Lara could see Hisao's jaw working as he looked back at his daughter.
"Mr. Nishimura?" Lara cut in, holding a hand out, "I'm Sam's roommate, Lara, nice to meet you. Don't worry about the guest room, I think it's lovely. You'll have to tell me more about where you got the furniture." Hisao blinked in surprise before taking Lara's hand and shaking it.
"Pleasure. Pardon the abrupt intrusion, I was anxious to see my daughter. But if you three are busy right now I can wait until later." Hisao looked over at his older daughter, "We'll be having dinner in an hour and a half."
"Alright, thank you," Sam replied tensely. Hisao responded with a nod before turning on the spot and walking away.
"That was…" Lara began quietly when she was certain he was outside of hearing range.
"Good call on the intervention, that was surprisingly smooth."
"You get used to tactfully dealing with snobby big-wigs when your father sits in the House of Lords," Lara said. Sam regarded her with interest.
"I'm gonna ask you more about that later," Sam looked over at Naomi sternly, "you need to be more careful, you understand? I might be home but I can't get you out of trouble all the time. You need to help yourself too."
"Sorry," Naomi murmured, her gaze drifting downward. Sam smiled and mussed her sister's hair affectionately.
"No harm, no foul," She replied. Lara leaned against the wall and afforded herself a small smile as she watched the two of them. In the background, the sounds of Naomi's clanmates screaming her name could be heard coming through her headset.
"Sorry, I forgot that I was in the middle of-" Naomi began.
"Go finish playing your game, we can hang out after dinner or something. Kay?" Naomi nodded before hurrying back to her bed, where she threw her headset back on and apologized to her online friends. Sam exited the room and shut the door quietly behind her, "So that's my sister. She's a character."
"She seems like a good kid," Lara said.
"She's honestly great when people aren't treating her like dirt. She's also incredibly bright, but the problem is that my parents are ruining the experience of learning for her by forcing her onto the advanced track. She's a little more receptive to things when they're her idea or she wants to do them, you know? Still, I think she's gonna turn out just fine. A lot better than me, anyways." Sam shook her head with a sad smile, "Well, we have a bit of time before dinner and I wanna show you something. I think you'll appreciate it."
"And what would that be?"
"You'll see," Sam said. She led Lara down a separate hallway back to the area where they had entered the penthouse, only they were on the side opposite the den and dining room. Sam led them into the room directly ahead of them to enter a gorgeous, two-tiered library with towering bookcases made of mahogany. It wasn't as big as the library back at Croft Manor, but Lara was still impressed nonetheless.
"Am I this predictable to you?" Lara remarked, glancing around at the countless tomes surrounding them.
"It's not the library I wanted to show you per say, but this-" Sam stopped at a specific section and pulled a red-leather bound book out, thumbing through to a specific chapter within, "you're planning to specialize in East Asian history, right? Here's a cool topic that my grandma used to tell me stories about." Sam set the book down on one of the reading tables and Lara leaned forward to take a better look.
"Yamatai?" Lara asked, raising a brow in interest. Lara picked the book up off the table to better read the words for herself:
Yamataikoku was a country in Japan during the late Yayoi period-
"The Yayoi period was around when the rice culture really started to take hold of Japan. It was also when social classes began to evolve in earnest and people began to unite under powerful rulers," Lara mused before continuing her reading:
Yamataikoku was a country in Japan during the late Yayoi period, first mentioned alongside Queen Himiko in the Wei Zhi in the third century. However, nowhere in other earlier Japanese texts is Queen Himiko mentioned, causing many historians to speculate that the name 'Himiko' may be a moniker for another prominent female political figure. There has yet to be a consensus on which individual 'Himiko' could refer to. There is also much debate about the location of Yamatai, with some pointing to the northern Kyushu region and others claiming that Yamatai is merely another term for Yamato.
Lara skimmed through the rest of the excerpts on Yamatai, stopping on one popular account of the ancient Japanese country:
Many thousands of years ago, Queen Himiko ruled the land of Yamatai. The sun rose at Himiko's command and she ruled everything its rays touched, from the mountains to the sea and beyond. But one day, Yamatai simply disappeared without a trace, forgotten in time.
"I remember reading something about this topic a long time ago, it all sounds vaguely familiar," Lara said, handing the book back to Sam, "but why exactly did you want to show me this in particular?"
"It's just something personal to me," Sam shrugged, "and it's somewhat of a nerdy obsession of mine, kind of like how people are obsessed with serial killers or different types of crystals. My grandmother used to tell me stories about Yamatai when I was younger and swore up and down that our ancestors came from there. I used to be obsessed with reading about it, so I figured it'd be something neat to share with you."
"It's definitely an intriguing topic, I…" Lara looked around them, "Do you have any other texts on the topic?"
"Lots, but don't get too caught up in it right now or else I won't be able to get you out of here for dinner," Sam slapped the book shut and playfully rapped Lara on the shoulder with it before stowing it back in its slot on the shelf. Lara's chest swooped from the contact, and she smiled dumbly before snapping back to reality, "come on. We should probably make an appearance in the kitchen before dinner starts or else my dad will realize I'm avoiding him."
They walked out of the library together and made their way to the kitchen. As they passed the living room, a ray of sunlight beamed through the windows, engulfing Sam in its radiant splendor. Beautiful. Enigmatic. Powerful. Those were the first words to come to Lara's mind as she looked on in awe at her roommate from where she followed. It almost seemed as though the rays were emanating from Sam herself with the way they reflected off her hair, like she ruled the sun itself.
If Sam ruled the sun, Lara mused that she'd might as well be the moon, always following the sun from the shadows, always caught up in her luster.
I got nothing witty to add onto the end so...yeet yeet this continued production's a feat.
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