As usual and much to Hera's dismay, the weatherman was correct. Instead of typical summer warmth and sunshine, the entire week had been windy, cold, and quite wet. Hera had continued on with her usual rainy weather routine of staying hidden from judging eyes and only leaving when absolutely necessary. But, the whole week something had been on Hera's mind or rather, someone. Hera did think it peculiar that her thoughts kept focusing back to that cloudy day with the Woman in Pink. Certainly she wasn't the first person she had ever witnessed paying attention to a stray. And she wasn't astoundingly beautiful; her face (at least of what Hera could glimpse of it from her window) seemed plain and ordinary. Ordinary wasn't bad though, but still. Hera had noticed hundreds of unique individuals who strolled past her window, but they were usually forgotten in the abyss of nameless faces she'd never get to know. So why was it that Hera had spent the last few days combing the street for any sign of this person? A person, whom by Hera's people watching standards, was rather forgettable. She'd asked herself this question over and over again until she'd become so frustrated and had almost hit Artemis with a flying pillow. And yet… if there was one thing that Hera could almost remember perfectly about the Woman in Pink, it had to be her hair. Her beautiful, glimmering, absolutely silky smooth, majestic mane. But then again, maybe it was a combination of all the little details that had kept Hera on her toes for the past week. Incredible hair & a kind disposition towards cats; a most dangerous combo Hera decided.

However, it was about 2 p.m. on a Tuesday when Hera made up her mind that she had to see the Woman again. She wasn't going to question whatever forces were at work which had managed to pull her thoughts back to the Woman again and again. She figured she wouldn't question herself anymore, and find the Woman in Pink and hopefully figure out why exactly she felt so connected to this Woman she'd never even met. These were the exact reasons she'd given her mother when Athena had come in to make sure her daughter was still breathing and very much alive. Hera had always trusted her mother and knew she was incredibly loyal. So, she was absolutely shocked when barely two hours after their discussion, someone quite unwanted barged into her bedroom. Hera barely had any time to react to the sound of her door being slammed open and her cats hissing at the intruder before she heard an all too familiar, female voice say,

"God, it reeks of cat piss in this place. Blegh."

No. Why. Really, why? Hera asked herself genuinely wondering what she had done wrong to deserve this pain inflicted upon her. Maybe if she pretended she was asleep-

"I know you're not sleeping under there Karpusi. Well, even if you are, you sleep too damn much anyway so I'm technically doing you a favor. Really, you should thank me."

Hera groaned before slightly popping out from under her comforter. Perhaps this was all a dream or really a nightmare. A nightmare and not reality where her mortal enemy was casually standing in the middle of her bedroom, smirking like the total asshole she was.

Hera's voice was a bit raspy as she grumbled, "Adnan."

Adnan's smirk grew wider and triumphantly placed her hands on her hips and said, "Glad to see you too Karpusi. Hadn't seen you sulking around like a loser so figured I'd check and make sure you didn't fall asleep in a park and get abducted or something."

Hera rolled her eyes as Adnan continued to invade her absolute personal space and roam around her room. See, Hera and Adnan hadn't been on a first name basis since they were probably six years old, now they were both almost 20 and truly nothing had changed. Adnan's family owned a kebab restaurant a block down and for some reason, both their parents thought they would get along as children. Wrong. So. So wrong. Ever since Hera first met the Turkish girl, she knew they would never be friends. Adnan was loud and touchy and worst of all the main perpetrator of the jokes against Hera's hair. She could still remember the day when they ran into her mother's shop after being caught in the rain, and Adnan just stared at her in bewilderment. The next few words Adnan said were seared into Hera's mind for years to come.

"What the hell is up with your hair? It looks like one of your cat's hairballs!"

Shortly after that incident, Adnan had begun to spread the news of Hera's disastrous rainy do, and Hera's irritation and annoyance sprouted into full on rival territory. No doubt, Adnan was here now to make fun of her. Which is why she was so confused as to why her mother let her in in the first place. Didn't she know if they were in the same room for more than five minutes there was an excellent chance of some kind of fire or explosion about to occur? Hera's thought process was interrupted by the sound of her other cat, Persephone, screeching and then darting out of the room as Adnan had began to reach out and pet her. A look of disappointment came across Adnan's face before she noticed Hera staring at her. Then it was gone within a flash and back came the familiar smirk.

"Your dumb cats have issues." She proclaimed as she sat herself down in the chair at Hera's desk.

Hera gathered enough energy to lift herself up from her current laying down to a sitting position before saying, "My cats are fine. You're the one with issues…"

She then reached for her cell phone and fiddled with it before Adnan slouched down in the chair and asked, "Seriously? You have a guest and you're messing around on your phone."

Hera then pointedly said, "I'm not messing around. I'm calling the police there is an intruder in my home."

Adnan loudly groaned before grabbing an eraser off Hera's desk and chucking it her way. "Holy hell, I'm not an intruder! I need to-'"

Adnan didn't get a chance to finish as a pillow came flying smacking her right in the face. Hera smiled and put her phone down. She fully expected Adnan to yell some expletives half in English & half Turkish, then have a big show of kicking something of Hera's, and finally storming out perhaps taking down one of her mother's vases in her rampage. And Hera was perfectly content with that, anything to get that pain out of her side and far, far away. So when Adnan, although noticeably irritated, stayed put in Hera's chair, she knew something was definitely wrong.

Adnan said nothing but pursed her lips and fiddled with one of her strands of long, brown hair. Maybe Hera was always a little peeved by (only just) her foe's only redeemable feature, her perfectly wavy, never damaged, sun-highlighted locks. Really, Hera was not jealous. And just why-

"Listen, I know all about your weirdo little stalker crush on some chick you've never even met, ok?"

Wait.

What?

But… how?

Adnan rolled her eyes and sat up in the chair. "Don't look so shocked. Your mom told me."

Hera was reeling. How could her most trusted person tell literally the last person on Earth she'd like to know about her secrets? Just barely on the verge of having an absolute fit, Hera shakily said, "I don't have any idea what you're talking about."

Hera could only hope her face was blank as she'd like it to be, especially considering her voice was just about giving it all away. Adnan raised her eyebrows, obviously realizing Hera's lie, and slouched back down in the chair again.

"Listen," She began, looking at the ceiling as though somehow it'd make this conversation less horribly awkward. "I, I've decided I'm going to help you find this chick. Don't read into it or think we're friends now, because we're not. Got it?"

Sensing Hera's absolute confusion, Adnan didn't wait for the Greek girl's response before continuing on. "After your mom told me you've been locking yourself up in here every time it rains… I mean … I felt a little… bad. Then she told me all about this chick in pink or whatever and … yeah. Understand?"

Hera's mouth had been open just a bit through Adnan's entire little confession and truthfully Hera had no idea what to make of it.

She cleared her throat and asked, "Wait… what? I mean… why? And how?"

Adnan sighed and said, "You're talking too much. It's weird." She then got up out of the chair and walked over to the window. She tapped her fingers on the glass looking out on the busy street below before whipping her own cellphone out from the back pocket of her jeans. She waved the phone around showing it to Hera before she quickly typed something on her phone. Hera was about to ask what the hell was actually going on before Adnan suddenly exclaimed, "Ha! See?"

"See what…?" Hera grumbled, thoroughly annoyed now with this entire situation.

"This is how we're gonna find your girl. It's pretty much the entire block in one group text. All we have to do is type in what she is like and someone is bound to respond. You're not the only one who creepily watches the people around here."
Adnan responded, smiling from ear to ear.

Hera had to admit was a pretty good idea. She was also irritated she hadn't thought of it first, although, she was also sure she didn't have the cell numbers of most the usual's on the street. Damn it. Adnan did prove herself to be useful here and not just a source of annoyance and aggravation. But, Hera still couldn't bring herself to reveal what she knew of the Woman in Pink to Adnan just yet.

Sensing Hera's hesitation, Adnan laughed, "Listen Karpusi. I'm not trying to trick you or anything. I seriously feel shitty about turning you into a weirdo, shut in loser when it rains and not the idiotic, philosophy nerd who steals all my boyfriends from me that you usually are."

"That was one time." Hera started, feeling a little pang of guilt but also a strange sense of achievement as well.

Adnan waved her hand in dismissal. "Whatever. Think of this as my one good, charitable, I mean essentially, holy deed for my lifetime."

If Hera wasn't so disillusioned by this entire scenario that was actually happening in her bedroom, she might be a little touched. But just barely.

"I don't trust you." Hera stated, looking her foe straight in the eye.

Adnan then scoffed. "Well, that's obvious. Given you've practically had your cats trained to attack me upon sight."

"They're not trained and you didn't let me finish." Hera began, "I don't trust you… but this idea of yours is decent… and I do need to find her."

Adnan, obviously taken aback by Hera's sincerity, blinked a few times before nodding. "Um… okay… so what does this girl look like?"

Sometime during the girls' conversation Persephone and Artemis had decided to venture back into the room and both had jumped onto Hera's bed. Persephone sat on Hera's lap and Artemis curled up against her thigh. Hera began to rub the back of Persephone's ears before smiling and murmuring, "She wore pink. All over. And her hair. It… was short like a bob cut? And black. Like ink… or the night sky maybe…"

Hera could practically see the woman now. Her face slightly flushed unknown from either running out of the rain, or from embarrassment of being seen feeding the stray. Her hair tucked behind one ear as she sat in concentration staring at her-

"Oh… I think she was a student too…she was reading a textbook later…hmm." Hera looked over to Adnan, feeling a little floaty and an excitable nervousness. She was however brought immediately down from her cloud when Adnan suddenly started hysterically laughing.

"Oh WOW. Are you serious? Black hair and pink clothes? That oh, narrows it down to hmm, like 3 million people." Adnan chuckled, she then wiped away some nonexistent, fake tears and began rapidly typing on her phone.

"Annnnnd done." She expressed her point with an exaggerated tap at the end. "Oh yeah I told them you're looking for her because she lost her scarf. And before you ask why, not sure people who aren't used to your weirdness are going to be super helpful for a creepo who watches them from her window and gives everybody bizarre nicknames like 'Woman in Pink'. Yeah your mom told me eveeerything."

Even though Hera could feel her patience running thin, she had to admit it was a good point.

"Now we wait and lemme tell you with the info you've got it's probably going to take at least ten yea-"

Suddenly, at least ten pings alerting Adnan of a new message sounded throughout the room. Both women looked at each other in confusion before Adnan quickly read through the incoming messages. Hera bit her lip wondering if this plan was really going to work at all. Perhaps sensing her owner's trepidation, Persephone placed a paw on top of Hera's hand. Hera looked down at Persephone and sighed. "Thank you." She whispered, reaching to stroke Persephone's fluffy back and feeling her nerves calm a bit as she did so.

"Holy shit."

Hera looked to Adnan who was gripping her phone and staring at the screen with intense concentration. Adnan looked up, glanced at Hera and swallowed.

"So uh…you know Feliciano right? The annoying Italian who talks too fast and works as a waiter at La Bella?"

Hera slowly nodded, not too sure where the conversation was heading.

"Well, apparently he talked to a girl a few days ago, just like your chick. Black, short hair. Pink clothes and reading a huge book. I can't believe it to be honest but uh yeah. He says she's a new transfer student from Japan coming to the university 'round here. Eats at the bistro every now and then. Super quiet, always leaves a decent tip. Blah blah blah…"

Hera could feel her heart began to race as she began to ask herself thousands of questions. When did she move here? What is she studying? How old is she? And most importantly what was her name?

"Her name." Hera blurted out. "Does anyone know her name?"

Adnan scrolled through the messages, biting her lip. "Hmm not yet… oh hold up. You know Arthur right?"

Hera cocked her head to the side, trying to remember a face to go along with the name before shaking her head. Adnan rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, you need to pay more attention to people who are alive. Anyway, he works at the bookstore next to that new patiss- paties- whatever the French sweet shop?"

Ah. "Mr. Caterpillar?"

Adnan looked at Hera incredulously before almost falling over laughing. "Oh shit, Mr. Caterpillar! That's a good one Karpusi. I'm gonna have to use that next time I see him. Oh man…but anyway, I guess your girl checked out like ten books the other day. I guess it got Arthur all hot and bothered seeing nobody goes into that old shop unless they've got a camera crew and a priest."

Hera gave the Turkish woman the most bland stare she could muster, before Adnan scoffed, "Alright no fun. But anyway, he knows her name."

"And?" Hera swallowed, clutching onto the sheets.

Adnan looked at her phone then back to Hera. "You sittin' down?"

Hera was almost at her tipping point. "Can you jus-"

"Sakura."

Hera stopped and loosened her grip on the sheets. "What?"

Adnan held out her phone so Hera could clearly read the text. "Sakura Honda. That's your girl's name. Happy?"

Hera was beyond happy. She felt something indescribable upon hearing the Woman in Pink's real name. Sakura. Sa-ku-ra. Beautiful. Hera had to recount all the information she'd just learned. One: Sakura Honda was the woman she saw feeding the stray. Two: She was a university student. Three: She was from Japan. Four: She liked to read apparently. Even if this information wasn't an entire biography, Hera already felt even more focused on finding Sakura. Even if just to say hello or open a door for her, Hera knew she had to find her again to hopefully decipher this unbelievable connection she felt to this woman she'd only seen for a few brief moments.

Adnan had begun to notice the glazed over look on Hera's face and laughed. "Listen up, this was a one time deal ok? And don't go 'round telling people we're pals ok? Besides, you should watch yourself."

Hera snapped out of her inner monologue to glare half-heartedly at Adnan. "What do you mean?"

Adnan smirked and put her phone back into her pocket before stretching her arms. She began walking towards the door and out of the room before she stopped and proclaimed, "Yeah, I got you your info. But, hey, now I know about this Sakura as well and who knows, she might be into Turkish girls."

And with that Hera watched Adnan saunter out of her room, laughing all the way down the stairs. Hera shook her head at the antics of her childhood rival. Artemis and Persephone then also got up and stretched only to leave the bedroom as well probably in search of their dinner. Hera moved up to the window by her bed and looked down at the not-so bustling anymore street below. It was unfortunately foggy today and most shop windows were blurry with steam. She could just barely make out the lights and figures inside each place. Down the street she could see the Bacon Brothers closing up their food truck for the day. It must've been slow for them to close up so early. Ah. And there was Mr. Caterp- Arthur. Right. There was Arthur locking up his shop for the day, bundled up in a coat far too big for him and a hat ill suited for his head shape. Hm and the boutique a few shops to the right was the only store with a covering and people not wanting to be caught in the rain had begun to congregate there. Two strangers were laughing at the soggy state of one another. A mother zipped up her child's jacket for probably the umpteenth time.

Hera truly enjoyed this. All of these strangers were so interesting their own ways, she couldn't help but be drawn to them. Only a few moments later, did Hera see the two strangers from the covering sprint together under one small umbrella towards the metro. It was only then that Hera realized what she absolutely has to do if she ever wanted to meet this Sakura. She was going to have leave the safety of her comforter, bedroom, and cats. She was going to have to face the dreaded humidity, liquid death, and impending humiliation, all to fulfill this almost magnetic pull towards a certain Japanese university student. Hera could not sit in her bed all day long. She couldn't wait one more second, she had to go outside.

ah an update yes! i did not forget about this fic haha
this chapter is super dialogue heavy (sorry about that) but the next ones will probably not be like this one
also i'm thinking 1 more chapter plus an epilogue chapter !
thank you so much for reading, favoriting, following, reviewing, etc.!
i appreciate it so, so much!
**listened to Best Friend by GECKO primarily while writing