Bleach Can't Clean All Stains

“Can you fix this… Or is that a silly question? How long will this be fixed?” Providing the costume at the counter, the currently assigned clerk only contemplated us, zipping her lips and staying silent. I wasn’t even asking her. Madame was right beside her, ready to assist us, but…

“You and your mom vanished for years. I was expecting we’ll have a lovely reunion, that you’ll work here. Not to spoil you, this request comes at a price, a high one. Does she have the budget?”

Since we came here, Rise hid at my back and avoided any eye contact. Her shoulders slumped ever so slightly. She pulled her hands from her pockets, her palm opening out empty. “K–Kou-kun, I told you we shouldn’t have come here. I can repair this by myself.”

“Oh?” Smirking, her eyes narrowing too much in suspicion, Madame winked at me and asked in a playful tone, “Did when you started calling each other on a first name basis? Kou-chan, does your mom know this? Or are you bragging about this store?”

It’s just by the time we walked through here when we considered calling each other our first names. Though it’s my little mistake, “You– Aren’t you even embarrassed!?” I exclaimed, my head suddenly jerking back, my face flushed. Looking at the clerk, I complained, “Shouldn’t you be more professional like your clerk?”

“Just to remind you, I make the rules here, kid. Don’t talk about professionalism when you’re paying using your dad’s card.”

She got me. I really intend on using dad’s card to pay. “Fine… Do you even remember her?”

“The one who got slapped by her look-alike?”

“Please. Have some decency.”

She laughed hard, “I’m sorry! I’m just teasing you, Kou-chan. I’m sorry, little girl. Ever since Kou-chan’s a kid, he’s too fun to tease.” After calming down, she analyzed the costume, specifically the dark stains in the affected silk part. “Ten over ten by acting fast to treat the stain as soon as possible. Shouldn’t you be bringing this to the laundry?"

I searched for a picture online of Marionette Sari and presented it to Madame. Based on the color divisions in the costume, washing each part separately through laundry will take weeks. Bringing it to a laundry shop will cause the colors to mix. “We only have a week to prepare for the contest.”

Madame’s smile faltered, slowly exhaling and quietly sighing. “Hence, you request manpower? The material is rich, professional care will be the best option. What you did is like walking using a suede shoe through a flood. The rule, beauty over patience, will only be applicable for one-day millionaires. Do you get my point? One shan’t be using a diamond accessory everyday if they can’t replace it.”

I also had the same doubts like Madame which I couldn’t ask directly. If she had such rare fabric like silk, it’s best to do it at home, where no one could bother her. If she had such bad club members, she would be the first to know how dangerous it is to craft it at school.

Rise grabbed her own trembling left arm, wriggling her fingers. With a slumped posture, her chin dipped onto her chest. “I–I’m sorry… I can’t sew this at home.” Madame may have also realized that she’s hiding her costume from another person. Does it mean Hina doesn't know that Rise’s doing cosplays?

“Personal circumstances, I see. No worries. Bleach can’t clean all stains. The sooner the treatment, the better. Marina, unsew the parts before bringing this to the solution department and call Shiro to handle the sales.” Madame gave the costume to Marina, the clerk who rushed towards the staff room after.

Madame also planned to go to the staff room but before she did, she uttered, “This is a last minute request. I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to finish this.”

Rise raised her head, her stare directing to Madame whose back is faced at us. Stuttering, she then replied, “T–Thank you very much.” She gripped her arm stronger, signs that she might be nervous around her or that she didn’t deserve the help she gets.

Before entering the staff room, Madame announced, “I have a condition though. I hate those who degrade themselves out of kindness. When I next see you, I don’t want to see any freckles on your face. Also, thank you boyfriend. I’m going to be busy.”

Flinching back, Rise stuttered, her face flushed, “B–B–Boyfriend!?”

“S–She called me your b–b–boyfriend…” Even on our way home, Rise was still gently squeezing her left arm. Compared to before, the space between us shrank.

“Don’t mind her. Her mouth has no filters,” I replied. I’ve always been the subject of Madame’s insults. Suddenly, an out-of-context idea popped into my mind. “By the way, do you have something to do later? It’s still early, and this might be a good opportunity.”

Stopping, she gasped and gave me an incredulous stare. In a high-pitched tone, she stuttered, “W–Why?” Her soft gaze felt heavy after I looked at it.

“Can I get your number?” When I asked, she held her breath, her face flushed. As our glances darted at each other, her hand flew over her chest. “Rise, is there something wrong?”

She shook her head excessively and held her shaking hand out. I gave her my phone on the dial pad screen. When she finished typing, she gave it back to me. As a test, I called the number and, from her pocket, heard the same ring tone that I set. “Hera? Are you playing FCO5 too?” Hera was the character who had the meme voice line used in our ringtones, potent in waking someone up.

In reflex, she pressed the power button of her phone through her pocket. She hid her face from me before explaining. “I–I just found the ring tone cute.”

“Nice! I’ll call you once Sera is available for visit. I’ll be glad to introduce you to her.”

“S–So that’s what it was. Why are you asking if I have something to do later?”

“I thought this would be a good time to visit her, but it seems like we’ll still be enemies until next week.” I don’t want her to visit Sera while Izumi is still there. I don’t have the right timing to explain it to her yet.

Squirming her arms and shaking her hips, she asked with a faraway gaze, “D–Do you have something to do later? If not, I wanted to show you something.”

Just a few walks away, we stood before the railings of the suspension bridge near our school, my arms wide open like a plane dividing the fast breeze that passed through me. I witnessed the last ray of the sunset before all the clouds turned blue. “Freedom… this made me wish I had wings.”

Rise chuckled, “Nearly similar to what I’ve said when I first came here.” The air cleared her forehead, her hair weaving backward. Goggling the sunset, she uttered, “A pigeon so light, I own this flight. My sister was the one who introduced me to this place.”

I rested my arms on the railing and leaned towards the spectacular view, deafening the noise of the cards passing behind us. “In her live streams, I always felt her forced smile that emits coldness. The way you giggled right now, that’s not how she laughed. I’m not comparing you to her, and I know how different you two are, but… from what I could see, she’s severely tired.”

“A pigeon so light, …I don’t even know if the path she took is right. But if we followed the opposite roads, with me shouldering the burden of her career, would I regret it?”

“Unless you don’t want it, you’ll reject it.”

“Tell me! These chains locked my arm in a life-time paralysis, a torment sent by the Gods to challenge my soul. Bedridden since birth, I’ve always been society’s outcast. I’m taught of the impossible recovery; hope left me hanging on the hospital bed. I awoke on the darkest days, remembering all the doctor’s faces, names, and their tones. They decided my fate would be permanent. But I… I never let myself down.

“Because there is you, Nee-sama! I saw you not giving up. I’ve heard you’ve restrained yourself from eating for weeks to save up for my medical bills. Covered in dirt, you still visited me after selling rare bottles from the dumps. Every moment I see you struggling to help my recovery, I’m happy… but I drown myself in regret, wishing you don’t have to do this to save me. You’re the reason the nerves in this arm won’t go away, struggling to unlock the chain from the endless nemesis. These restraints were… they were Nothing!”

“The agony, the despair, it’s all nothing… Nothing if my love for you would save me from this endless pit of anguish. No matter if obstacles flood my way towards you, I will… I will do what is just… I will save you…”

As ‘The End' text flashed on our television, Sera, who currently sat beside my bed to watch The Heroic Witch, sniffed and shed tears. “If that incident didn’t happen, Asami should be the hero saving the people. Momoe wouldn’t be doing something she didn’t want.”

The Heroic Witch is a tragic story about the right purpose, but in deeper analysis, it’s about contentment. Momoe and Asami were witches in training. Since their bloodline only produces one offspring, their existence was defined by a miracle. Though Asami wanted to be the Heroic Witch, a harsh accident made her body immobile. To protect Asami and find ways to cure her, Momoe took the title of the Heroic Witch, and that title will be a lifetime commitment to protecting the citizens.

When I first watched it, I questioned the difference between wants and needs. Should the necessary always come first? What are the rules even? Like math, even in different processes, would the answer to a problem always be the same? When the Anime was first shown, the theme sparked controversy globally, affecting politics within work, undiscovered talents hiding within poverty, etc.

To a person, what does a purpose even mean?

“Do witches exist in your world?” I asked.

Wiping off her tears, Sera replied, “I don’t know… For us, witches are experts in alchemy, most are trained to become supporters at war. It’s the first time I’ve seen one riding a broom. Is this how you thought witches are?”

“We have the same thought about witches. The director of the Anime is just blinded in elementary fantasies.”

“When you watched this, what were your thoughts?”

I sat straight, witnessing the DVD cover of The Heroic Witch in Sera’s palm. I laid a hand against my breastbone and sighed heavily, my expression was somewhat pained. Though the ending is proper, where the mass is saved, it costs the life of her sister. However, if the script is flipped, that wouldn’t be morally right. But in this world of illogical thoughts, there’s a gray area of decisions that we are just unaware of.

“If I’m able to manipulate the story…

“It should have a happy ending…

“Else, it shouldn’t end just yet.”