This is Ironic

I let my head fall back and rolled my eyes. “She promised not to…”

“Promises are made to be broken, no?”

I slipped my wallet out of my pocket. “I get half you get half?”

“This works for me.” 

“Are you sure this is the quickest way to the library? I’ve never been on this street before…” The street Fujioka led me down wasn’t sketchy or anything, just a more out-of-the-way road. I’ve been to the library plenty and of course memorized the optimal route—this though… this wasn’t.

“Yes. To get there with no disturbances, we need to take this route.” She yet again paused right before the next storefront and peaked through the glass, then carrying on.

“I think the police are going to have a word with you and slow us down by a lot… What’re you doing?”

“Walking, obviously. Has it been that long since going outside that you’ve forgotten what walking is? Makoto I believe it might be time to take a breather from writing.”

“What!? You’re the one sayin’ I’m behind schedule!”

“All things in moderation, Makoto.”

“Eh— You—” I stopped in my tracks—she’s the one being absurd! Not me!

Fujioka quickly felt my presence beside her drop away and turned toward me in a flurry. “Makoto, there is no time to be dawdling. Every second we’re not moving is one she could—”

We both froze.

“She could what…? W-who’re we talking about?”

“Oh uhm, I was just expecting to get interrupted by—” Fujioka ended her sentence early.

I scrunched my face and shook my head. “There’s no one around us. I haven’t seen another person in almost ten minutes.”

“Right… Sorry… It’s usually when I say things like that she—”

“Chihiro-chan?” We both whipped around to the voice that called her given-name from behind. “Ah! I knew that was you!”

I wouldn’t describe the atmosphere as awkward… more tense? Like an uneasy truce in a war. Each side waiting for their trigger to explode at the other with me caught between. Fujioka and I sat opposite of a woman in a suit—it was as if she was playing character, you know the type I’m talking about, right? Short black hair, indirectly condescending, single, the perfect side-character.

My illustrator sat next to me in another diner’s booth wrapping her fingers on the table, refusing to make eye-contact with the woman. The woman, refused to break eye-contact with her and calmly stirred a cup of coffee.

“Heh… uhm… I never got your uhm… name… Ms…?”

“Iijima Mari.” She was obviously older than us by a lot, but not quite enough to have wrinkles in the corners of her mouth when she smiled. “And I’m assuming you’re boyfriend-kun?”

I glanced at Fujioka then back at Iijima. I used my right hand to obscure my senpai from seeing my left one point at her and whispered, “Are you asking if I’m her boyfriend?”

She nodded.

“I’ve found it’s best to not ask stupid questions around her… She gets like reeeally mad.”

The little smirk Iijima had been wearing vanished—Did I say something? “Chihiro-chan!”

“Hm? Did I hear something…? Oh Iijima-san, what a pleasure. I was simply unsure if it was you as you’re usually busy bumming meals off of cheap men or watching Korean T.V shows.”

“Hmhmhm, very funny, good one… Who’s this?” She shoved an accusatory finger in my face.

“My boyfriend, didn’t you hear him?”

“He denied it!”

“Then he’s whatever you wish him to be.”

“What I think he is then, is another distraction and time-waster for you.” Oh, I might die from an irony overdose. “Doesn’t matter if he’s your little assistant or brother or what, the fact is you haven’t taken a job in over a month!”

“...”

“Chihiro-chan, Chihiro-chan, come on, level with me.” She leaned in.” Professional to professional. If you’re not cut out for this industry and all washed-up already, just admit it. I’ll cut my losses and we’ll go our separate ways.”

The more I listen to her, the more and more she feels like a Yakuza rather than an office-lady… Looks can be really deceiving, it’s scary.

“Is that so, Iijima-san? So I’m not the reason you were moved to a high-rise corner office? Or the reason you were able to settle the divorce in your favor? Or maybe I’m the reason you drive a corvette and live the life you do. Maybe you don’t hold and leverage with me and I’m the one allowing you to play manager with me because I feel bad.” Fujioka was more than out of her seat, she was practically standing on it.

“You’re uninvited from the illustrator's dinner.”

“A-ahem— What I meant to say was, I’ve just been a bit busy lately, you know, school and all.”

“We both know damn well you could’ve graduated during your first year.”

I get a strange sense that Iijima is riddled with “red-flags” as they’re called, but she’s very pretty so it’s nothing much to worry about, right? “Excuse me,” I squeaked out. Both of the women directed their icy-glares at me. “Fujioka-san, who is this?”

“This shitty old woman is Iijima Mari… my… m-m-m-manager.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Iijima regained her smile. “And who might you be?”

“I—I am Kiyotaka Makoto… Future star writer and president of Kagoshima Municipal High School’s writing club!”

“...Wonderful… You caught a really nice one, Chihiro-chan.”

Fujioka cleared her throat. “He is not my boyfriend… I am simply helping him on occasion with his writing. Being a good samaritan, something you’d know nothing about.”

"Haa— Just be straightforward with me, okay?” Iijima’s tone did a complete one-eighty. “You’ve responded to me once or twice this month, and haven’t returned a single call. Are you looking to get outta the industry? Did you find a new manager?”

Fujioka let her eyes wander around the room, they landed on her lap. She mumbled something even I couldn’t hear.

“Chihiro…”

“I’m currently wor—” She trailed off.

“You’re what?”

“Currently working on a project…”

“Oh, actually? You could’ve just said s—” Iijima froze, as if she made the biggest breakthrough in human history. A breakthrough greater than deciphering the Nazi codes in World War II. Her stone-cold eyes slowly drifted onto me. “Kiyotaka-kun, right? What did you say you were the president of?”

“The writing club.” Finally, someone cares. My position as president is no easy job.

“And Chihiro-chan, you just so… happen… to be working on an illustration project I’m assuming for someone you refuse to tell me about?”

Fujioka meekly nodded.