Mauve

“Hey Mashiro, what are you going to do after high school?” a girl asks.

I silently continued sketching on a piece of paper, ignoring her.

“Are you going to continue drawing?”

I stopped. This question in particular seemed to bother me.

“Well, there’s nothing else I’m good at so…” I replied, promptly resuming my sketch.

“...I see,” she said, “you’re still planning on going to the art school in Tokyo?”

I silently nodded.

“But your parents won’t—”

“I KNOW THAT!” I suddenly shouted, slamming my pencil on the table, “I know that…”

“Then… how are you going to get the money to afford it without them?”

“...I’ll figure it out,” I said.

Surely, I’ll figure it out.

“Why does it matter to you anyway?” I asked.

“Well, I was hoping to change your mind,” she said, “my family can’t really afford to move me to another city either, so I was hoping that we could both go to the nearby university in Nagano.”

“And study what?”

“I don’t know… business or something?”

“See, even you don’t know what you want to do.”

She frowns.

“Well it’s better than trying to pursue art!” she shouts, “at least business can help me make a living! What do you intend to do with an art degree!?”

I turned away.

“If you’re going to keep sounding like my parents then piss off…! If you want to give up on art then you can go get yourself a business degree and leave me alone. I’m going to keep pursuing art no matter what…”

After all, this is all I have going for me.

“...Geez, I was just trying to help,” the girl says before leaving me alone in the art room.

As I watch her leave, I sigh and slump down over my sketchbook.

Ah, I’m tired of this…

                                                                  -✧─✦-. ⁺【❤】⁺ .-✦─✧-

I silently walked down the narrow streets alone.

Ueda was a large town but it was very quiet and spread out, making it feel like a small one. News and gossip spread quickly amongst the townsfolk, and there weren't too many opportunities around. It had always been my dream to move out one day and go to a big city like Tokyo, not only because of the prestigious art schools located there, but also because I’ve always wanted to live in the city.

I kicked a small nearby rock, watching it bounce along the street. Three years had already passed by, and before I knew it I was about to become an adult, and yet that dream of mine still felt so far away.

“Are you going to continue drawing?” the words repeated in my head.

It wasn’t just my ex-friend that asked that; I had also heard it countless times from the real adults around me.

Of course I am, I thought.

I had to—there was nothing else in the world that captivated me as much as making art did. It was the only thing I was good at, and the only thing I was willing to put the effort in perfecting. If my parents didn’t support that, then I was just going to have to support the dream myself.

Suddenly, a notification audibly rings from my pocket and I quickly reach over to pull out my phone. My eyes sull upon seeing the message.

Rejected again huh? I thought, putting it back in my pocket.

“I’ll figure it out.”

The words I said echoed back at me in the form of a sharp thorn at my side.

Simply just ‘figuring it out’ wasn’t the hard part. Naturally, if I wanted to be able to afford to go to art school without my parents’ support, I had to get a job somewhere—the problem was finding a place that would accept such an unqualified person like me.

I let out a sigh, silently trudging the rest of the way back.

“I’m home!” I called out as I entered my house and took off my shoes.

It was silent.

Just as I thought, no response.

“Welcome home, Mashiro,” I suddenly hear the familiar voice of an old man.

I smiled upon recognizing the only voice in this town that made me happy.

It was my grandpa.

He lived in the nearby small town of Tomi and sometimes came by to visit.

“How’s the job search going?” he asks, slowly appearing from the corner as he wobbles over.

“It’s… going fine, grandpa,” I said, “don’t worry yourself over me. You should focus more on your health.”

He smiles.

“You know you can’t lie to me, my child. If you’re having problems looking for a job, you can always let me know.”

I slowly slumped my backpack onto the ground.

“I… I’m having problems,” I softly admitted, “but… I don’t know what to do from here. Every job I’ve applied to has already rejected me, and any smaller job doesn’t pay enough to get me into art school in the time frame I want.”

“Hmm…” he mumbled, “I think I might have a job for you.”

“Really?” I asked, “you found one?”

“Yes, in fact, that’s why I stopped by to visit today. I heard an aspiring businessman recently moved into the town, looking to start up a small automotive factory, and I wanted to welcome him in as one of this town's elders. From what I heard from him, he’s willing to hire anyone since factory work is quite menial, and I figured that it might be a good job for you if you’re struggling to find work. They’ve been open for a few months now, and I heard the pay is good. I can refer you to him if you’re interested.”

So the only job I have a shot at is one that’ll just accept anyone huh? I bitterly thought, but I suppose I can’t complain. It’s my fault I’m like this anyway.

“Sure,” I said, “I’m interested.”

“Good,” he said, “now let’s go eat. Your parents are waiting for you in the dining room.”

They were in there the entire time? I wondered, but of course… I shouldn’t have expected them to want to speak with me.

I nodded my head and followed him in.

                                                                  -✧─✦-. ⁺【❤】⁺ .-✦─✧-

“N-new recruit, Mashiro Fujimori speaking,” I introduced myself, “it’s nice to meet you all.”

For a moment no one says anything, but then they burst into laughter.

“Welcome, welcome,” a big man says, “there’s no need to be so formal around here—we’re all family. I’m the boss of this factory, Mr. Ichikawa. You’re the one your grandpa was telling me about right?”

“Y-yes,” I replied.

He gives a hearty laugh.

“Hahaha! There’s no need to be shy. There’s no shame in taking a factory job after all. We’re all here for our own reasons. Your grandpa tells me you’re trying to pay for art school right? How much does it cost?”

“About 535,800 yen a year… and then there’s the admission fees, and costs to move over to Tokyo…” I trailed off.

“Hmm… that sounds about right,” he says, “how soon do you need it?”

“Well, given that the semester starts in a month, I assume I’m not getting that much by then, so I’m willing to take a gap year and work during that time instead.”

“Hahaha! That’s certainly the reasonable option! I’ll pay you about a million yen a year then—the standard wage for newbie factory workers here. I still have a lot of money left from the investment so even though we’ve only started production a few months ago, we can afford the base wage for our small team. Recently however, our production is starting to boom, and if we continue this trend, we might be able to increase the wages for everyone. You’ll hopefully be able to afford 2 years worth of tuition fees and pick up another job in Tokyo to pay the rest by the time you leave. If you do well here, I’ll even put in a good word for you for your next job to make it easier to get one.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. It was such a generous offer and it made me suspicious of it.

“But why?” I asked, “not that I don’t appreciate this opportunity, but why are you so willing to go out of your way for me?”

“Hahaha! Not only for you,” he said, “I’ve given a similar offer to everyone here.”

He gestures over to the rest of the employees, each one giving me a friendly wave.

“It’s like I said, we’re all here for our own reasons. No one here seriously wants a factory job other than me, and that’s only because I’m the boss of it, and because I’ve always wanted to own my own factory one day. We’re all here using this place as a stepping stone to pursue our own dreams—in fact, you’re not even the only one here who’s trying to go to art school; Itsumi over there is also doing the same.”

He points over to a girl with straight black hair and she waves over to me again.

Another person in this town also wants to go to art school? I wondered, how come I never met them before?

“So,” he said, “are you ready to learn the ropes of your job?”

I nodded.

“Great then, follow me.”