A/N: Welcome to the new version of Chapter 1. Remember, underlined words mean they're speaking in English.
Disclaimer: I don't own OHSHC in any way, shape, or form. My OC's, however, are the product of my own imagination.
Mai's POV
When mom died, it felt like my world had been shattered. She had been sick for a while with a cold, but then it just got worse. The doctor's were useless; refusing to diagnose her with anything because it meant they would have to make room for her in an already overworked hospital. Me and my sisters tried to figure out what it was instead, and our best guess was viral pneumonia. To this day, we still aren't completely sure that was it. But, well. It doesn't really matter now. Not sure it even mattered then, because we couldn't afford any medication that would actually make a dent in the monster consuming kaa-chan's body. All we could do was keep her comfortable until she finally just...stopped.
About two days after the funeral, we learned that kaa-chan left a will. Half our savings were split evenly and donated to the local soup kitchen, the homeless shelter, and the shelter for abused animals she volunteered at. The other half, as well as all her earthly belongings, were bequeathed to me and my sisters, to divide evenly among us. Life moved on as we mourned.
Then shit got weird.
Three days after the will reading, I learned that she had contacted my biological father all the way over in Japan right before she died. I'm not sure what the letter had said, but it was provoking enough to elicit a phone call from the man himself. It was...odd, to speak to him. I had known about his existence all my life, but details were sparse. I knew he was rich, and kind (or at least, I knew that that's what kaa-chan thought of him. I wasn't sure I agreed), and had had two other kids besides me. Sons. My brothers. He had called to first confirm the truth about "Miyako-san", and then to invite me to live with him in Japan. I promptly told him to stuff it. I didn't need his pity, and I sure as hell didn't want it. Only, that first bit was a lie, and he must have known it because he called again the next day; offering this time for me to just come over to Japan to discuss what he called "business". Parental rights and custody mostly, because I was still a minor and him and kaa-chan had never actually gotten divorced.
What could I do? I was only sixteen years old. I didn't have any savings, I hadn't even finished high school. I was lost, and I couldn't afford to be lost, because I had two sisters who already escaped to foster care system, and four friends for whom our home was the only safe place they had. Kaa-chan was a protector, the only mother figure a lot of kids on our block had. Everyone knew that if you had trouble at home, you went to Miyako. She always did right by her family no matter the cost, and I was my mother's daughter.
So I did what I had to do.
...
I pulled in a deep breath, and let it out in a bone-deep sigh. "Well guys, looks like we're here." I grabbed my suitcase by the handle and tugged it out of the back of the taxi with a graceful calmness I didn't feel on the inside. Truth be told, it was a good day to be in Japan. The air was warm even though the country was just on the cusp of fall, the leaves were just turning gold, and the city smog wasn't any worse than home. My neck cracked as I turned to look at my sisters, and then forwards again. I could do without the jet lag though.
It was about five in the afternoon when we had finally arrived at the hotel. It wasn't one I had picked out. The Haninozuka's (or at least a secretary of their's) had called a couple days ago to let me know they had made arrangements for...well, pretty much everything. I looked up, my spine popping again. The building before me was imposing in a way I couldn't put my finger on. It was sort of reminiscent of the newer structures I used to see when I went downtown; tall and gleaming in the sun. But there was something off about it that made it hard to look at. My eyes found their way to my feet.
"Mai, lets go. We can't stay out here all day," Lacy said gently.
I started at the sound of her voice and cleared my throat. I hadn't realized they had gotten their luggage out of the trunk already. 'Come on, pay attention Mai,' I thought. I didn't bother to see if the taxi driver was still there; Lacy was in charge of the money and had likely already paid him. "Ah, yeah. Candy, could you grab my suitcase please?"
"No problem sis. Lacy, can you hold my carry on in your lap?"
"Yeah, pass it here."
I grabbed the handles of Lacy's wheelchair while the two of them swapped around luggage. Then as one, we marched (well, Lacy rolled) into the hotel. The inside was opulent, downright swanky, but I didn't stop to stare like my sisters. I couldn't. I was too tense to do anything other than focus on moving my shaky legs forward. The desk clerk looked up at my hasty approach and raised an eyebrow that seemed unnecessarily judgy. Or maybe that was just my nerves talking. "Ah, uh, hello," I stuttered out, just barely remembering to speak Japanese. It felt odd to speak it in public after a lifetime of only using it at home. "We have a reservation here…?" 'Damn, that wasn't meant to come out as a question.'
The eyebrow rose higher, and his upper lip curled to complete the picture of subtle disdain. I could only imagine what he thought when he saw us. Three girls dressed in what could only be pajamas, with bed hair and eye bags. All obviously underage and out of place. I knew that we didn't fit in here, but the look on his face still made my breath catch in my throat in anger. Guess it wasn't just my nerves. "Name?" he asked, skepticism dripping from every syllable.
"Watanabe."
His eyes darted towards the computer as his other bushy eyebrow rose to join the first, before both dropped. "Ah, yes, we have you right here. Uh, everything was prepaid for." Dark eyes slid towards me for a split second, before glancing down in faux-submissiveness. "That'll be room 103."
I snatched the keycard from his hand, still miffed. A barely audible thank you was all I left him for his service. "Wowee. I don't know what he said, but it was probably pretty rude, right?" Candy whispered (badly) out of the side of her mouth.
Lacy snorted before I could so much as open my mouth. "Not particularly, but he was fairly condescending. Fucking twat-muffin." She descended into irritated muttering. While Lacy had the best poker face of…well, basically everyone I knew, she was also in the running for "Worst Temper". Unlike her competitors, though, she could control herself until it came time to release the entirety of her vindictiveness. But other than that, she really was a sweet person. Candy, on the other hand, was almost perpetually upbeat. She had mastered the art of laughing off insults to a truly enviable degree, and her anger was usually fleeting. "But whatever," Lacy dismissed with a wave of her hand, "I suppose it's to be expected when you have people dressed like us enter a fancy place like this. I just mean, if we were in America, such a shitty customer service worker would be fired before he could uncurl his goddamn lip, but that's besides the point." The arch of her dark eyebrows and the breezy levity in her voice let us know that that was exactly the point. I pressed the elevator button with an amused snort. Bantering like this made the stress melt out of my frame almost without me noticing.
We shifted into silence during the elevator ride (except for Candy, who hummed along with the generically soothing music). We stayed silent as we made our way towards room 103. Then, we opened the door. "Holy shit," Candy breathed, quieter than I'd ever heard her. "This is…" The room was HUGE. Like, you could've fit two of my old bedrooms in it huge. Two beds were pushed against the wall furthest from the door with beautifully engraved headboards, and a third identical one was positioned against the opposite wall, next to what I could only assume to be the bathroom door. To our right was a kitchenette that could almost be considered just a straight up kitchen, separated from the rest of the room by a partial wall that only came up to my waist and ended maybe seven feet short of meeting the wall to our left. And in front of us, taking up the majority of the empty center space, was a couch and two armchairs arranged around a coffee table, with a TV hanging on the wall in front of them. Everything was either beige, dark brown, or off-white with gold accents. Beautifully neutral. I had known before that this hotel was expensive, but it was only now really hitting me. I couldn't have afforded this on my own, unless I dug into the money mom left for me. A place like this was nicer than anywhere I've ever been.
It made me feel conflicted, because it was the Haninozuka family paying for it. The display of wealth was impressive, but also uncomfortable. This just...wasn't my world. I could feel the gap between me and my biological family widen, suddenly looking insurmountable, and I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what I could do. 'Ha. If the people back home could see me now, freaking out over something like a hotel room, they'd have thought I died with my mother and been replaced by an alien.' My hand wandered up to grip the silver locket around my neck. It had been mom's, but she had entrusted it onto me when she died. Even though I know it wasn't mine to keep, I still couldn't help but be comforted by its weight in my palm. My eyes closed for one beat. Two. Then I took a breath, opened my hand, and tried to stop Candy from wrecking the hotel room.
Lacy's POV
I have to admit, my jaw dropped a little when I saw the room. Everything was elegantly arranged to maximize the square footage while not looking empty, and the colors weren't gaudy or ostentatious. I mean, if I were to have a go, I probably would've taken out all the brown and done a dark blue to keep it from looking so monotone, but that's just me. Really, it was a beautifully designed space.
Yeah, okay, I'm a little into interior decorating.
"Geez, the Haninozuku's went all out, didn't they? Or maybe not, I don't know how rich they are," Candy babbled, jumping onto one of the beds. I couldn't help but giggle at her ongoing commentary; increasingly casual as she begin jumping from one bed to another.
"Hey Candy, c'mon, don't do that," Mai half-squealed. Candy backflipped pointedly and stuck her tongue out. Mai slammed the door behind her, practically tripping out of her shoes in her haste to latch onto Candy. By this point in my life I had realized that trying to keep our red-headed sister still was a gesture in futility, but Mai still held out hope of being able to even remotely mitigate the damage she caused. Still, it was nice seeing her break out of the shell of apathy she had hidden herself in after Mom died. I watched the impromptu wrestling match the two had fallen into for a bit, before I indulged in my favorite pastime: guilt-tripping.
"Oh wow guys, way to go. Leave the cripple to bring all the luggage in. Sisters of the Year, you two are. You two should be ashamed. Seriously, so ashamed." Man, I was so full of shit. Guilt-tripping them into doing my bidding hasn't worked since the first day I met them, and the absolute flatness with which I delivered my lines wouldn't have convinced anyone. But it had the intended effect of breaking them out of their tousle and getting them to help me with our bags.
The two scrambled over, breathless and giggling. "Which bed do you want?" Candy asked, hefting up both of our suitcases at once. I looked over, considering.
"Hmmmm. I think I'll go with the one that's the furthest from you."
She gasped in mock outrage, flinging my suitcase like a discus at the bed nearest the bathroom quicker than Mai or I could flinch.
"DON'T FUCKING DO THAT!" Mai screeched. "If you break something we can't pay for, I'm going to kill you!" All she got was a cackle in response.
…
"Well, it's a little more homey now. How long are we staying again," Candy asked. She had calmed down and was toeing her shoes off, having completely forgotten about them until Mai reminded her. We were finally settling in for the night. Unpacking itself hadn't taken too long, but we kept padding the time with banter and Japanese TV. Me and Candy were cuddling up together on the couch, me reading and her giving a running commentary on the commercials. Mai was laying on her bed, curled into herself over the covers. I felt a lump in my throat when I looked over to see her so isolated, but introversion was in her nature, so I didn't protest.
"Until me and the Haninozuka's work out a deal, I guess. The guy I talked to on the phone didn't really mention how long we would need to stay in Japan." Mai glanced up at the ceiling, expression thoughtful. I side-eyed her from my place on the couch. Her eyes were glassy. "I'm sure they won't keep us here long."
A/N: What'd you think? Already, you can see the huge changes I've made and we get a better feel for the characters than last time. If you see any errors or typos, please point them out! I don't have a beta and as much I edit and proofread, I'm only human. Also, like I said in the earlier version of this chapter, I'll likely be manipulating the time between episodes so I can fit the story in comfortably. However, I won't be changing the order of the episodes. I'm also going to be adding in some characters and potentially plot lines from the manga. If you think I should continue this story with the manga after the last episode, please tell me in a PM or review.
With that, the rewrite (and then subsequent continuing to write) is underway. Uploads will be sporadic, but reviews motivate me! So if you have something to say, don't be shy :)
MJM out~