Chapter Eleven:
It was stuffy, humid, giving Akari a sense of being trapped though everyone was standing a respectable distance from each other. There were three train tracks, a platform with yellow warning tiles for each train track, and multiple staircases leading above ground. They had come down through one of the staircases; even though it had been a week, Akari still felt dazed with this new place.
"You'll get used to it," Yuuchi gave her an amused smile. He looked totally at ease with his calm expression, silently observing the next mass of people rushing down the stairs. "Come here, closer to me."
They were close enough already, a few inches apart, but she slid over until their arms brushed each other. He quickly entwined his arm with hers, his fingers reaching to interlock with hers.
"Ladies and gentlemen, a 7 express train is approaching. Please stand away from the platform edge."
Akari's mind struggled to decipher the message, taking the sentence apart word by word until she understood the whole meaning. It had been a year since she heard English, when she was last in college. She had met Yuuchi in college too as they had several classes together.
The rushing of the approaching train brought along a wave of wind that blew her hair lightly around her face. As the train slowed to its stop, the people around them immediately crowded around the door nearest to them, waiting for the metal doors to slide open. One second, two seconds, three seconds, four... five, then the doors opened letting the people inside off and the ones on the platform on.
Yuuchi chose the seats nearest to the door. He leaned against the metal bars on his right, waiting expectantly for Akari. She sat down close next to him and linked her arm through his, deliberately sending him a message. He pulled her closer to him, answering her message.
"The next stop is our stop, Akari."
"42nd Street?"
"Yeah," he confirmed. "Times Square. It's the most crowded place in New York."
"Why'd you pick that place to work then?" she mused.
"I have my reasons," Yuuchi smoothed Akari's hair to the side.
"This is the last stop, 42nd Street, Times Square."
"Ready?"
"There's no helping it even if I wasn't," Akari retorted.
Life.
That was her first reaction when she submerged from the station. The streets were teeming with life. Hundreds of people walked around in their own little world, earplugs plugged in their ears or headphones covering their heads. People walked at different paces, some extremely fast as if they were in a hurry, and some strolling along. It was still early in the morning, as noted by the numerous people carrying a cup of coffee in their hands, so there wasn't much talking.
But even despite the absence of conversations, it was loud. The honking, bicycles wheeling, the cars squealing to a stop before stoplights, and even the shuffling of shoes against pavement compensated for that. And everywhere, there were lights. Giant billboards advertising clothes, stores, movies, even the restaurants had flashing lights that blazed its name in large print!
"So how is it... 42nd Street?" She was surprised that Yuuchi was still standing next to her. It seemed as if he should have already been swept away, just another normal person going to work. And the pulsating background made her feel so small, she missed Japan all of a sudden. Although Japan was crowded with many people, it wasn't like this...
"Hey, hey." Yuuchi gripped her shoulders, his eyes flickering between intensity and worry. "Your expression..."
"It's just so... new."
"Do you trust me?" he asked.
"What?" The question was so out of the blue that she was bewildered.
He repeated the question, "Do you trust me?"
It felt like a horrible thing to ask her, when it was so sudden and especially when she wasn't sure either. She felt a tinge of annoyance because she wanted to, but after what he did... the question sounded like an ultimatum. But she looked up into his eyes, and they were the same always, unwavering, stubborn, silently asking the question again to her.
Did she trust him?
In that moment, she felt herself resigning to him. She couldn't hate him even if she tried. What Yuuchi had done was in the past, and Akari knew it wasn't right to keep going back to it.
"Yes."
After all, how could you love someone, but not trust them?
Yuuchi lifted his hands off her shoulders and breathed. "For a second there, I thought you were going to say no. And that would have been depressing."
"Why that question?"
They made their way hastily along the streets, at a brisk pace making the back of Akari's leg burn marginally. "Well, if you trust me, then I know you would try to like this place."
Akari scoffed. His logic made no sense. Somehow, it still made her smile tentatively.
Another six streets down, a left turn, another left, then Yuuchi stopped. "I think it's here," he said, halting at a moderate-sized brick building. It would have been a plain building with only a black sign hanging overhead depicting what the place was, except that the walls were painted.
Not with the insane bubbly, mismatched colored letters embossing the city all over the place. But with an actual picture that looked like it would have came straight from a picture book. The bricks were painted sky blue, over that, a bright sun, a swing, a slide, and kids smiling.
"The kids will love you." He scanned the area. "It's a safe place."
"How would you know?" she murmured.
"That's just the person you are." He said it so surely, with so much certainty. "That's my girl," Yuuchi patted Akari's head.
She stood there astounded; Yuuchi hadn't done that in so long.
"I'll pick you up around 7."
She hesitatingly laid the palm of her hand on the door handle. Then pulled it opened... and entered.
Akari walked cautiously down the narrow hallway opening up to multiple rooms. Despite the lack of possessions this daycare had, a cheery and blithe air occupied the entire area. Her eyes picked up on the laughter from children instantaneously, it vibrated through the halls, making Akari suddenly very self-conscious.
Her clothes... were they American enough? She had opted for a casual attire today with a loose gray shirt and turquoise shorts, but now she wasn't sure it was right. And her voice, she had an accent...
The door she was standing in front of burst open. "I'll be right back! Don't make a mess, Stefan!"
"Oh!"
"I-I..." Akari nervously searched the ground for answers, noticing the splatter of paint on the hem of the woman's dress.
"You must be Akari!" She extended her hand out to Akari with a amiable smile, "It's the customary greeting in America."
"Thank you," Akari responded, shaking the open hand. She cleared her throat gingerly. "And you are...?"
"Emma."
This close, Akari could see that Emma was around the same age as her. It was relieving.
"Someone called earlier to let us know you were coming around this time."
"He did?" Akari mused.
"A special someone?" Emma laughed, making her red curls sway in the air. She was quite pretty, with her lively blue eyes, fit figure, and delicate laugh. "Can you watch the kids? I have to get more paint from the supply room, but I think Stefan's causing trouble right now."
As if on cue... "Emma, Emma! Stefan's painting everywhere!"
The kids halted. But both Akari and the kids watched, in suspense and amazement, as Stefan squeezed tubes of paint onto the clean table, then mixing it with his bare fingers.
"Miss! Emma's going to so mad at us! Can you please help us clean?"
And so it began... the struggle of keeping Stefan from smearing the paint on others, while rapidly cleaning up the mess with a pile of towels Akari found nearby. She didn't notice Emma was already back until she heard Emma's heightening laughter from before.
"Ahaha! You're a natural at this," Emma handed Akari a trash can for the soaking towels.
"Everyone, this is Akari. She'll be staying with us from now on." The kids cheered.
A little girl tugged on her sleeve. "Ak-a-ri? Is that... right?"
It was a simple job, just taking care of these kids. A simple experience, a simple encounter, but already, because of this earnest little girl intent on pronouncing her name right, Emma, and the rest of the kids, a content smile graced Akari's face.
She bent down until she was eye-level with the little girl.
"Yes. It is right."
"Bye Emma! Bye Akari!" They bounced out of the room, hand-in-hand with their parents happily.
"Quite the excitement today?" Emma said, stretching her arms in the air.
"It's... nice," said Akari sincerely.
"There's something about kids that make you feel so young again- hey, who's that man standing outside? All the kids have been picked up."
Akari's heartbeat rose on its own. Yuuchi. "He's here for me," she blushed.
Emma gave her a suggestive wink. "What are you waiting for? Go meet him."
There was no need for streetlamps here. The billboards illuminated the congested streets, throwing blazing lights against the pavement. And still, the place seemed alive even at twilight. It was quieter at this time, lovers murmuring secrets to each other, and the cars seemed sleepy too as they inched their way upwards to the stoplights. Yuuchi led them down streets and streets, back the way they came from earlier this afternoon.
The procedure was the same from earlier; sliding the flimsy metrocard through the machine, then pushing the bars, letting yourself into the main heart of the station. Then waiting.
She and Yuuchi collapsed languidly onto the seats of the train. In contrast to the purple seats on the first train, these seats were shades of light orange and yellow. The dimming sky outside, plus the rocking and subsiding on the train was lulling Akari into a world of half-consciousness. The last thing she remembered feeling before she fell asleep was the synchronized sway of the bodies to the train's motions and the heat of Yuuchi's body next to her.
The space between them seemed too much.
And she could feel her longing for him. He had a confident pace, and as she stared at Yuuchi's back, Akari was struck with the sudden fear of him leaving her behind. It terrified her so much that she quickened her steps until she could slip her hand into his.
"I was waiting for you to do that," he grinned.
They had always spoken together through their touch.
"Don't... don't leave." It felt important for her to say that.
"What's with this suddenly?"
She was quiet.
"What do you think?" He squeezed her hand, giving her question an answer. "Go into the apartment first. I'll buy dinner quickly."
Yuuchi was turning away when Akari stopped him by placing a hand on the side of his face. "Yeah?" he asked, coming closer to her.
"...Come back quickly."
"Of course. I want to come back to you."
Heat flooded throughout her when the words registered in her mind. He ran a hand up her side, starting at her waist. "We could take this inside, you know," he murmured seductively.
"Yuuchi!"
"Alright, alright. I'm going."
Akari could hardly stop herself from blushing, but it faded away when she saw a maintenance sign pasted to the doors of the elevator. She searched around for stairs and found it to her left. To her alarm, an elderly woman was laboriously tugging a faded, dark blue cart up the stairs. She was already half-way up these stairs, but this couldn't be the level she was living at. There must be more levels this woman with silver hair had to go through.
Instinctively, Akari rushed up the stairs, bending down to help the elder. To her surprise too, she could see that the woman was Japanese. She switched to her native language. "Grandmother, please let me help you," she said, but didn't wait for an answer. Akari carried the cart all the way up.
"I don't know how you can pull this all day. It's so heavy!" she huffed.
Akari turned around to face her elder again. "Grandmother, which level do you live on?"
The woman seemed astonished, but her face crinkled up in a lovely way with a smile."Ojo-san, you're different from the rest."
Chapter Notes:
(1) Ojo-San is commonly used to address an adult woman.
(2) 42nd Street is Manhattan (New York). Otherwise known as Big Apple City.
Author's Notes:
Next Chapter: Starring Tohno and Kanae.