Uh Oh!

Ishwari had actually waited outside the church for her. Said it was ending soon anyway, so she didn't mind the wait; but Hoshino can scarcely recall anyone taking the time out of their day to wait for her for her sake. 

She also demanded that Hoshino follow her back after the fact. Judging from the fact that she didn’t even have a tent on her… Hoshino graciously accepted.

Ishwari’s place was packed—her brothers, sisters, and their kids spilling into every corner. Swarm of them, who darted around like caffeinated bees, laughing and squabbling in equal measure. One of them nearly ran her over further in.

The woman in question sat cross-legged on a threadbare rug. 

She had insisted Hoshino stay for the night; she knew how scary it was to land here without any prior family connections and in less than favorable circumstances.

"Go! Shoo! Leave the poor Asian woman alone."

"But her hair is so pretty…"

"One… two…"

The boy laughed and bolted, his giggles trailing off as he ran for the hills.

"Sorry about that, Marco is…"

“I didn’t mind it, in all honesty,” Hoshino said, smiling. “Hehe…”

A long silence stretched between them, broken only by the distant noise of children arguing over a wooden top.

"How did you know I was foreign, anyway? At least, not from here."

"I can tell. Got a keen eye for people like us. It is the desperation, see. But that wasn't what interested me."

"Oh?"

"You were rich and scared. Now that's a potent combination. See, I moved east of Europe to find my fortunes, applying my magicka… uh, industry knowledge. Magicka mining's my trade. Was my trade. When the wars started, I fled here to join the rest of my extended family. I had experience with people that had similar stories to last a lifetime. And I can tell who were the povos… and who were here in more favorable circumstances."

A beat. Hoshino wasn't too comfortable with how easy it was to read her when she held service in a court most of her life.

"…so… government office, get my papers, look for short term stay so I can secure long term stay, then finally go find work. Anything else?"

"Don't forget, find a good job. People like to say sometimes you may not have a choice—but trust me, you'd want to keep looking rather than settle for something you'd deeply regret. Don’t think a fisherman's life's for you, to be blunt."

"Ugh. I wanna vomit just thinking about it. One journey to the west was enough for a lifetime."

"The offer to stay the night still stands. Brother's out on a long fishing job so he will be back only tomorrow."

"I can't possibly do that. Your folks will be uncomfortable with me around."

She raised an eyebrow. "…Only people who'd say that would've had the luxury of a private bedroom. What were you before this?"

"I think you'd look at me less if I were to tell you."

“You’d be wrong,” Ishwari said, raising her cup with mock seriousness. “I’m very open-minded! …Relatively.”

She sipped her chai, watching Hoshino with a sly grin.

“Word of advice, though,” Ishwari said, leaning in slightly. “If you take anything out of today, let it be this: while the shopkeepers and business owners may seem more official, they’ve got what I like to call a stake in the game. It’ll benefit you, sure, but it’ll benefit them more. It’s never purely out of kindness here in New York. That’s how you end up left in a ditch. You are lucky I found you when I did.”

"I understand, Ishwari… but I just don't get it."

"What's there to get?"

“It's just… people here get to choose to be anything they want. It’s America! Why wouldn’t they just… just be good? Start over, leave the past behind? Choose to be better? Nothing is stopping them.”

Ishwari snorted, shaking her head. “Money is. Survival is. It’s the lamest of all excuses, but that’s the hard truth of it. And if everyone else is doing it—cheating, clawing, looking out for themselves—you either do it too or get screwed over. One thing everybody hates, regardless of religion, is getting a bad deal.”

“Jesus didn’t care about deals. He was humble. He bore the cross. He carried the sins of the world. Isn’t this supposed to be a Christian nation?”

"I won't lie, you are starting to sound like one of them sheltered noble girls from Africa and Europe who make them big speeches for the tabloids."

"Would you look at me differently if I was?"

“Not really. But as an explanation for how you could view life the way you do? Yeah. It’d explain a lot.”

“So, because I believe people can be better, that makes me sheltered?”

“Not sheltered,” Ishwari said. “Just… unbroken.”

Ishwari sighed, resting her chin on her hand. “There’s a reason Jesus bore the cross and carried the weight of our sins, girl. It’s an impossible standard for anybody to uphold. It literally took divine intervention.”

“That doesn’t mean people shouldn’t try."

“Yeah, well,” Ishwari said with a wry smile, leaning back against the wall. “Live here long enough, and you’ll change your tone.”

\\

Ishwari showed Hoshino her brother's room shortly after. Shared it with one of his daughters. Poor kid, too scared to even say hello.

She was halfway travelling to Dreamland when the kid finally spoke up.

"You feel weird."

That woke her up quickly. She rubbed her eyes.

"Sorry, child?"

"Your… your Aura."

"I am afraid I misunderstand you. Could you elaborate?"

The kid hesitated. "We… we get taught in school here, uhm, a way to see how people use magic. Mrs Maio said it was for our safety, because streets are not safe and stuff."

She could only let the kid continue, even if the hair at the back of her neck stood at ninety degrees.

"And, well, and… if you do well, you get a good mark in school. So I trained my Aura, and I trained it until I got really good. So now I can feel other people's Aura as well! I got a sticker on my notebook. See? See? I want to go to HAWK and get a good education then get a good job, and then I can help daddy out. He's away all the time, and he's so tired when he comes back."

The girl hung it high, the book gleaming in the moonlight.

"Anyway, people will look at you weird and stuff. Maybe they will find you special. I dunno. But we also get taught to, uhm, mask our Aura as well, so people don’t see it. That way, nobody knows how strong you are! And then… that will teach them not to mess with anyone, because anyone can be strong. But then, if you show everyone your Aura, everyone will know. And then they can plan, I guess. Auntie doesn’t get it. She has no magic, that's why. But that's OK. She's big and strong and can lift me up. Doesn't need magic to beat people up!"

She could only stare at the ceiling. Oh… shit.

"Anyway, good night, miss!"