#118: XYZ / ep.2
Click. The key turned with a sharp sound.
The door of the Kyodo apartment in Setagaya Ward, however hard it was pushed, caught halfway on the security chain.
Three in the morning. The hour when even the good children and the bad children alike, whoever needed sleep, were fast asleep. Which meant, logically, a phone call or a single LINE message would have done the trick — but unfortunately, the woman standing outside had no such means of waking the household.
Of course, this woman was no burglar. A perfectly legitimate resident of this apartment, in fact.
“How careless of me. If I was going to smash my phone, I really ought to have written down Mikoto’s number at least…”
Charlotte Gabriel’s own memory held exactly two phone numbers.
One, the main line for the orphanage that had raised her. The other — a number belonging to a woman she’d rather have erased from memory entirely. The old regret of wanting to smash that particular memory out of her own skull had already become a thing of the past. Even remembering it now, she felt nothing at all.
Pushing open the mail slot, she called out at a volume just shy of disturbing the neighbours.
“Mikoto~. A cute girl has come home~”
No answer, though. The woman she loved was surely dead asleep, dreaming away. After calling out a few more times, a small rustle finally reached her.
Mikoto had finally stirred. Waiting with cheeks already twitching upward in anticipation of whatever teasing she’d unleash, footsteps padded closer, and then a voice.
“Mreow.”
“My, if it isn’t Mimosa…”
“Hiss!”
The clever household cat, Mimosa. The queen’s pride ran several times deeper than her owner’s, and clearly grew foul the instant she realised she wasn’t the one being sought.
“Ah, wait! Right now I’d gladly borrow even a helping paw from Mimosa! Mimosa, be a good girl and scratch Mikoto for me, would you? The same way you wake me up.”
Without so much as a reply, Mimosa trotted off briskly. Once her pride had been wounded, she’d surely barricade herself in her usual observation-post cat tower for the night. Charlotte was steeling herself for an all-night vigil at the door when a small, agonised “gyaa!” rang out, sending a flutter of hope through her chest.
Seizing the opportunity, she knocked at the door and called out through the mail slot again.
“If you don’t open up, I’ll haunt you, you know~? A cute yet impossibly heavy woman will curse you forever~?”
At that, the entryway light finally flicked on. Someone had woken up, at last.
Charlotte straightened herself up. Her makeup was already half-worn off, so at the very least she smoothed down her bangs, waiting for the once-locked door to finally open.
Her long-awaited love nest, finally within reach again. She already knew exactly what she’d hit her love with first. Quietly, licking her lips with the patient stillness of a predator stalking its prey, she pressed herself against the wall beside the door.
Then, throwing the opening door wide, she lunged straight for her beloved’s lips.
“I’m home!”
“Mmmmph!?”
She wrapped her arms around them, savouring the kiss. A kiss this long overdue set Charlotte’s heart properly ablaze all over again. Pressing close against the body of the one she loved, whose shape seemed to have shifted just slightly since she’d last seen it — and it was right then that something felt off.
Strange. This person’s kissing had gotten hopelessly bad.
Completely forgotten everything she’d once carefully taught.
Pulling back abruptly, Charlotte let out a sigh at the face illuminated in the orange entryway light.
“Why on earth is Aoi-chan in my home…”
“Sh-Shan-nee told me to look after Miko-nee! Also, your kissing’s gross!”
“I’m perfectly capable of a non-gross kiss too, you know.”
“Save all of it for Miko-nee!”
“You needn’t even ask, that’s the plan~”
“Ugh!”
Grumbling and stomping off, Aoi disappeared into the living room. Having left behind everything at Chesha’s place except the contents of her wallet, Charlotte set about washing her hands and gargling, scrubbing off any lingering germs — and memories — along with her makeup. Just then, Aoi came back through the washroom door carrying a hot towel.
“My, how thoughtful. Waking Mikoto too would’ve been even more appreciated.”
“Miko-nee drank herself unconscious. She’s been worried sick about you, y’know.”
“That sounds like a worthy target for waking up, then.”
“No it don’t! Have some shame!”
Aoi was strict about this. Scolded flatly, Charlotte pouted, lips pursed, grumbling.
Still, it was true she’d caused her anxiety. Removing the coloured contacts she’d worn all the way through to match Chesha’s tastes, she tossed them in the bin and pressed the hot towel to her face.
Finally, she felt reborn. Like drawing her first breath all over again, alive anew.
“But I’m glad you got home safe. I really didn’t want to see Miko-nee like that ever again.”
Leaning against the washroom wall, Aoi sank down in her pyjamas. Her usually bright, cheerful face had gone tense enough to hint at just how badly Mikoto must have fallen apart.
“I’m sorry for worrying you, Aoi-chan. It’s alright now, though.”
“Sanae-san’s whole operation’s over already?”
Chesha would surely claim it wasn’t. But Charlotte’s own heart had already made up its mind and wouldn’t change.
There was still a flicker of loneliness, admittedly. Even having smashed her phone, returned every gift ever given, thrown out every piece of makeup chosen to suit someone else’s taste — the fact of having once loved her still remained. Even so, only a handful of keepsakes were left now.
She’d deal with those too, soon enough. And both that disposal, and setting off on this new journey, would need the company of the person walking beside her.
“Yes, for the moment it’s over. From here, I’ll take it slow.”
“Thank goodness…”
“Thank you, Aoi-chan. I’ll buy you a reward sometime.”
“Then the new Pokémon game! Get a different version so we can trade!”
Reliable, or just childish — hard to say which. Ruffling Aoi’s half-asleep head, admiring her strange, unshakeable pace, Charlotte started to toss everything she was wearing into the bin — then paused, asking:
“I won’t be wearing these anymore. Do you want them, Aoi-chan?”
“Those clothes are cursed, ain’t they? Then no thanks. Even sellin’ ‘em seems like it’d curse someone.”
“Fufu. Fair enough.”
Blouse, skirt, matching underwear — she bid farewell to all of it.
The clothes bore no fault. Chesha, for that matter, who’d gifted them, bore no fault either. What was at fault was herself, having dragged all of this along until now — no, having refused to face the tedious work of severing the relationship at all.
And so, to wash away years of accumulated grime, Charlotte turned the shower knob.
“So I didn’t even need the hot towel after all…”
Watching her cousin’s girlfriend’s silhouette humming cheerfully in the shower, Aoi let out a breath of relief tinged with a wry smile.
The single bed felt cramped.
Waking up pressed uncomfortably against the wall, Mikoto found her beside her. Sleeping face-down, having stolen the whole middle of the bed through some restless turn. Loosely permed, gold-glinting hair spilled across the pillow.
Mikoto knew, instinctively, this wasn’t a dream.
No need to check. No need for reasons. However many rough nights she’d weathered, she’d trusted, the whole time, that this person would come back.
A soft breath escaped her.
Warmth settled into a heart torn ragged and left cold. Along with the return of lost normalcy, memories of all the days they’d spent together flooded back like a fleeting film reel, and her lips curved into an unbidden smile.
“Welcome home.”
No answer came. Exhausted, deeply asleep, surely — after everything she’d just been through, hardly any surprise there. A bare shoulder peeked out from under the covers, and beneath the blanket, surely, nothing else either.
Had she been left with any strange marks anywhere? A faintly possessive urge to check her whole body welled up inside Mikoto. Even so, her hand never actually reached to pull the blanket away.
She trusted her.
She wouldn’t make that mistake again.
So Mikoto simply reached out and wrapped an arm around her shoulder instead. That warm, familiar body heat, the scent of orange. As she drew her closer, Shandy rolled over, turning her back to Mikoto.
Slipping her other arm into the gap between neck and pillow, Mikoto held her bare skin close from behind.
She never wanted to lose this warmth, this heartbeat, ever again. Burying her face in the back of Shandy’s head, into that soft blonde hair, Mikoto drifted back into sleep.
“Goodnight, Shandy-san.”
The next morning. Waking up in bed, Shandy was already nowhere to be seen.
Knowing her, she was probably hiding somewhere, waiting for the perfect moment to spring a surprise. What kind of reaction would make her happiest? Maybe a counter-surprise of her own was in order. Mikoto wanted to see that usual composed, satisfied face after successfully pulling off a prank, but she also wanted to see that innocent, embarrassed expression from being caught off guard herself.
A happy few minutes, her still-groggy mind imagining her beloved’s reaction.
Right then, time to play dumb convincingly. Steeling herself, Mikoto opened the living room door — and found an enormous cardboard box waiting there.
“Morning, Aoi-chan.”
“Morning, Miko-nee. Food’s ready. Also, package for you. Koto-nee dropped it off first thing this morning.”
“Huh, Kotone did…”
Ha. So “Kotone sent it” was obviously a lie. Mikoto had to fight to keep her cheeks from breaking into a grin.
A cardboard box more than large enough to fit a whole person. And surely Aoi was in on it too. She was probably hiding inside this very box right now.
Might as well drag it out, then. Shandy would surely enjoy that more.
“Wasn’t it hard carrying something this big?”
“Sure was! Weighed a ton! Felt like I was doing a workout!”
“Shouldn’t be that heavy, though~?”
“Yeah, right.”
Just as Mikoto was mulling over the perfect timing to open it, she realised something.
She’d already fallen right into her trap.
“Fufu, good morning, Mikoto.”
“Wait, isn’t this supposed to be the part where you’re hiding in the box!?”
Dressed in her usual, effortless long T-shirt, Shandy laughed like a scattering of bells. Narrowing her eyes into a crescent moon shape, she’d already delivered a surprise morning kiss and now, theatrically, launched into detective mode.
“You correctly predicted I’d set up a surprise. Splendid judgment. And there, conveniently, sits a box in the living room. So, naturally, you concluded I must be hiding inside it.”
“So you outsmarted me by not doing that?”
“There’s no ‘outsmarting’ involved here whatsoever. Frankly, I find this outcome rather disappointing. How many years have you spent by my side now? It’s a little insulting to be thought of as such a soft touch that I’d hide a surprise in something this blatantly suspicious-looking.”
Thinking about it, that was entirely fair. Shandy always stayed one step ahead of Mikoto. A woman whose very core was steeped in mischief, delighting in seeing through Mikoto’s thinking specifically so she could betray it.
Biting her lower lip with a muttered “grr,” Mikoto found even the frustration of being outmanoeuvred nostalgically endearing rather than genuinely irritating. Simply seeing Shandy stay so completely unchanged made her happy.
“Then teach me more of your tricks, so I can learn.”
“Fufu. As you wish. What sort of Game shall I propose next?”
“I’ll leave that to you. Though I do have a fondness for sweet things.”
“My, weren’t your cocktail preferences supposed to run dry? Wherever did you pick up a taste for sweet?”
“There happens to be a lovely woman who keeps trying to get me hooked on sweet ones.”
“How jealousy-inducing. And what’s this woman’s name?”
“You, of course. Sh—”
“Both of ya, hurry up and eat before it gets cold!”
Aoi, the utterly unbothered live-in freeloader-slash-NEET, cut in, and Shandy let out a sigh, apparently having her fun spoiled.
“Honestly. What a naughty child, interrupting a sacred rite of love.”
“You’re the naughty one for not eatin’ your breakfast!”
The meal laid out for all three of them was a classic Japanese one-soup-three-sides spread, heavy on the vegetables in particular. Every last vegetable ended up piled onto Mikoto and Aoi’s plates, while Shandy simultaneously confiscated Aoi’s grilled sausage, earning a protest of “hey, that’s my octopus sausage!”
The quiet, extraordinary night alone had ended, and the usual noisy everyday life had returned.
“Wait, hold on. So what was in the box Kotone supposedly sent?”
“Well, why not open it and see? At least it didn’t smell of peaches, so I’ve spared it from being burned alive.”
Gingerly breaking the seal, Mikoto opened the box, and—
“Don’t play tricks like this, Kotone, seriously!!”
—inside sat a set of well-worn dumbbells and various strength-training equipment.
Kotone, of course. Presumably she’d bought a huge haul, gotten bored of it, and shipped the whole lot off elsewhere.
“…Aoi-chan, want any of this?”
“Don’t you two go treating me like I’m your household trash can!”
Kotone, treating even her own sister’s home like an extension of her family storage unit, clearly had no shame whatsoever.
Before heading in to work, Mikoto received a message on her phone from Sanae: “Please refrain from coming into the office today.”
According to her, they’d obtained valuable intel, and the entire operation was currently undergoing a major overhaul. The whole Touko-scripted farce had originally existed purely to flush out Chesha’s collaborators — and apparently the new information was substantial enough to render that entire operation unnecessary. Things were moving fast.
“So, guess I’m suddenly free.”
“Then how about a date? There’s a fair bit I’d like to get done outside, in that case.”
Having just finished getting ready for work, Mikoto — figuring that sounded reasonable enough — pulled Shandy up from the bed, where she’d started reading manga. Wrapping her arms around that slender, delicate frame, bare skin under nothing but a single T-shirt, made her want never to let go, and Shandy, catching on, gave a wry laugh.
“We won’t be able to go anywhere like this, you know.”
“Wanna stay like this just a little longer. No good?”
“What a spoiled little thing.”
Expecting Shandy to hug her back — instead, she found herself tickled at the ribs and neatly escaped the embrace. Having thoroughly savoured Mikoto’s flushed, breathless reaction to the tickling, Shandy vanished into the washroom.
Whatever had stopped her from lingering in lazy affection wasn’t necessarily about Aoi watching. Perhaps she simply had priorities of her own to attend to. Sipping the coffee Aoi had made, Mikoto absently watched the morning news shift over into a variety show when Shandy, finally ready, reappeared in the living room.
“Now then, shall we head out?”
Her outfit today was solid black. Beneath the hem of an oversized, baggy hoodie, black-stockinged or tighted legs extended down. Her makeup, too, ran stronger than usual — sharp, cool blue cat-eye liner. She looked about fifty percent more aggressive than usual.
“You look great… but is this outfit for a concert or something?”
“I felt like exploring a new version of myself.”
“Ah, is that so…?”
The reasoning wasn’t especially clear. Then again, it never really was, so Mikoto simply accepted it at face value.
But surprisingly, her intent became obvious almost immediately.
“Eh, moving house? You’re giving up that apartment!?”
“Yes.”
Seen off by Aoi at the door, Shandy’s destination turned out to be a real estate chain just a short walk from home in Kyodo. The moment she stepped inside, she rattled off, without pause, exactly like ordering at Starbucks: “corner unit,” “2DK or larger,” “second floor or above,” “separate bath and toilet,” “pets allowed” — then turned to look at Mikoto.
“That apartment’s registered under Chesha’s name. Continuing to live somewhere like that would be a fool’s move, wouldn’t you agree?”
“I thought you were living together with me there just to spite her…”
“Well, that was part of it too, admittedly. Also, the rent’s been free.”
“Wait, hold on. Free…?”
That was strange. Mikoto had been handing Shandy money every month, calling it rent. So where exactly had that money been going, then? Shandy stuck her tongue out silently in response.
“That’s basically exploitation…”
“Fufu, just teasing. I’ve saved every last yen of it. Well? Quite the devoted wife, aren’t I?”
“A devoted wife wouldn’t need to deceive anyone, though…”
“My, you’re not familiar with the classic rakugo tale Shibahama, are you? A wonderful story about a wife using clever wit to reform her drunkard husband, who spends every day sozzled.”
“The roles here are reversed!”
Which of them had spent every day of the past month sozzled hardly needed stating, but the staff member returned with a list of pulled-up listings, and Mikoto held her tongue. Even Mikoto herself couldn’t pretend the current situation was ideal. It was sudden, admittedly, but if this was Shandy’s decision, she wanted to go along with it.
“…Something a little newer would be nice. Also, do you have anything with auto-lock?”
Shandy’s profile looked, ever so slightly, brighter than usual. Unlike her recent struggles to shake herself free of Chesha, she seemed genuinely excited now, stepping into a new life. Perhaps that was just what Mikoto wanted to believe, but the fact remained: Shandy really was trying to change.
New makeup. New clothes. New home. A new life.
And a partner to walk that new life alongside her.
“Do you have any preferences, Mikoto?”
“Kyodo’s fine with you? We could move somewhere else too, if you wanted.”
“The neighbourhood bears no fault. And besides — this place is full of memories.”
Kyodo was a town they’d walked through together, every street of it. Memories filled every corner. Shopping trips, visits to the shrine, that one time they’d somehow ended up jogging all the way to Yoyogi Park. Her quiet way of implying she had no intention of throwing away those days spent with Mikoto was, in its own way, endearing.
Mikoto took Shandy’s hand under the desk, out of the staff member’s sight. Getting a small, mischievous smile in return made her happy too.
They spent the rest of the day touring the listings they’d shortlisted, and by the third candidate, Shandy nodded in satisfaction.
“I think this one’s the one. What do you think?”
“You’d decide on it regardless of what I said, wouldn’t you.”
“How well you know me. I am a selfish woman, after all.”
And so, the new home was decided that very same day. Barely a hundred metres from their current place, if that — practically no move at all — but Shandy’s expression was radiant. If that was enough to make her happy, Mikoto figured, then that was more than enough, and she found herself smiling quietly too.