Titbit

It was a perfect day for rain. It was because of the rain that she could lie to herself and say that she hadn’t cried. But why? What was the point? After all, she was the only one to show up to her mother's funeral. She remembered the words of her father the day of her mother's passing; they were hard to forget.

“I don’t have time for funerals; send the child some money and have her take care of it.” She wasn’t even the one on the phone; however, she could still feel the poison slipping off his tongue.

“What a pitiful funeral.” She muttered, approaching her mother's closed casket and laying her hand atop it. Her eyes fluttered to the pictures beside her mural, each one carefully hand-picked and arranged by herself.

“You didn’t deserve this.” Her long hair cascaded over her face, the rain making it heavier on her head.

“You don’t have time for funerals? What a sick bastard.” She clenched her hands at her side, nails digging into her skin. “He couldn’t even be here for his own daughter.” She snuffled, wiping her face and pulling her hair from her face.

“Despite everything, you still loved him. You gave everything for him, even though he gave you nothing in return. Why? Why did you do this? Why are you leaving me, damn it! Why couldn’t we have just been happy together? We didn’t need him!” She slammed a hand on the closed casket before resting her head.

“You said you loved him. Did you love me? Did you even care about how I felt, watching you kill yourself for him? He should have been begging for your forgiveness, not the other way around.” She felt weak, as if weights were being tightened to every muscle in her body.

“I’m sorry for getting mad at you. I’m really, really sorry.” She slunk away from the casket, a man with an umbrella approaching her from the side.

“You shouldn’t be sitting in the rain by your lonesome.” He pulled out an ID and flashed it to the young Himeno, a blank expression on his face.

“The names Johan Takeba. I’m a relative of your fathers.” He slid the ID into his black trench coat.

“I’ll give you two days to grieve and recuperate. After that, we’ll be moving you and all your things to Yakushima, where you’ll live out the rest of your youth, per your father's request.”

He turned to the casket, eyes falling on the pictures.

“It’s a shame, such a beautiful face went to waste.” He knelt to get a better look.

“Shut your damn mouth!” She charged at the man and swung wildly, only for him to catch her attack with ease. “You have no right to speak about her that way.”

“That’s no way for a child to act.” He stood, his expression darkening. “You’re lucky I’m so gracious as to show a disrespectful child such as yourself mercy. This behavior will not fly in Yakushima. Do anything to taint your father's good image, and you will be punished.” He pushed her away with enough force to knock her onto her back.

“Hurry things up here, I can’t have you spreading any illnesses to my family.” He trudged away, disappearing behind a wall of rain and fog.

Himeno arrived in Yakushima two days later, as planned. A bus took her from the airport to the bottom of a long hill overlooking a desolate town. The climb took a little over an hour, and by then the sun had begun to set. Beads of sweat caked on her forehead, her body unable to sustain most of her weight.

A small house awaited her atop this very hill, an older woman sitting atop a rocking chair smoking a cigar.

“You’re late.” She croaked, her arms wobbling as she propped herself out of the chair. She hobbled over to Himeno, looking her up and down before sneering.

“You look just like her.” She remarked, “Come now, let’s not waste any more precious time.” She turned away, stepping atop the wooden porch of her home and sliding the door open.

It was small and cozy inside, the floor was wooden, except more polished and smooth. There was a singular table off to the side, steaming cups atop it, a TV off in the corner of the room, and set on the floor.

“It’s pretty small in here, I know.” She turned to face her, “Starting tomorrow, you’ll begin putting in work. You see, our family here in Yakushima owns an esteemed food establishment, and all the ingredients are grown and produced by ourselves as well. If you plan to live here, you’ll be working alongside us. You will be paid, of course, but some of your pay will be docked. Think of it as your share of ‘rent.” She paused, as if something were slipping away from her mind. “Oh yes. Your things can stay in the back; you, however, will be resting your head in the living area.”

That night, Himeno unpacked. She held a picture of her mother in her hands, setting it in one of the corners of the living area.

“He’ll pay for this.”

It took many weeks for her to adapt to her new schedule. From early morning to midday, she was in the kitchen of a restaurant handling food or washing dishes. She studied once “home.” After the first couple of weeks, she added a new task to her schedule, and following that, her days were identical.

Wake up, work, study, and traverse the hill. She would wash and dry her sweats and jacket after every run up the hill. According to her estimate, it was about a four-mile trek, taking one trip either up or down the hill, going both ways was eight. Getting up in the morning and heading into town added two miles. Every time she encountered that hill, she ran instead of walking, no matter what.

It was a struggle at first, but as time went on, each trek grew easier and easier.

She did whatever she could to challenge herself. She did push-ups until her arms gave out, and instead of running up and down the hill a set number of times, she would go until her legs collapsed.

Her body was already seeing drastic change by that winter.

She chopped off most her hair one night, tossing the sliced bits into the wind and watching them fly away.

For the next three years, Himeno saved whatever she earned from work, and the moment she turned sixteen, she left Yakushima Island. There was no cake or candles, just as it had been for the last three years. Himeno doubted any of her other family knew when her birthday was; they never bothered to ask. Before her departure, Johan relayed to her a message.

“Your father was kind enough to maintain your mother's old house. You can take it for yourself and get onto your feet; beyond that, don’t expect hand-outs anymore.” She could hear his cold tone through the words on the paper.

Everything in that house was just as they’d left it. It was cold, and dust clouded almost everything, but she didn’t bother with cleaning any of it. She stepped into her mother's old room, eyes falling on the small bed in the corner, neatly made, then the paint-stained desk across the room. There was a small lamp hovering over the myriad of art supplies. She dropped her things to the floor and landed face-first on the bed, tears streaming down her face. She clutched the blanket between both her fists, roaring into the covers.

Another week passed. Himeno found herself sitting in an office chair, in front of a desk, wearing an uncomfortable suit. The man in front of her held a small stack of papers, scanning over each of them with deep intrigue.

“Yes… Oh! Yes! This is fantastic indeed.” The man cleared his throat and set down the papers, the wrinkles on his forehead intensifying as he leaned inward. “I don’t get to say this very often, but your evaluation results are deeply interesting. You passed the physical and mental evaluations with flying colors; however, you failed your magic evaluation. Despite your failure, the results for those are still very interesting. You’ve an extremely vast reserve of mana, not only that, it seems your body is capable of autonomously producing mana to make up for your physical incapability.” He looked over the papers once more, then back at Himeno.

“With some refinement and training, I think you could fly through the ranks as a dungeon crawler.”

Her eyes lit up, “Really?”

“Really.” He repeated, “If you’re looking to be a permanent member, I can assign you to the Takeba group or maybe even the-”

“The Takeba group is perfect.” She cut him off.

“Great! I’ll contact the Takeba group right away and see about having you brought on as a junior dungeon crawler.” He stood up and stretched his hand outward, “It was a great pleasure meeting you, Ms-” His voice trailed. “How did I not notice before?” He chuckled nervously, “The last name, and that appearance, you must be Big Boss Takeba's daughter!”

She winced at his words.

“Sorry, but you must be mistaken.”

“Uh- Are you sure?”

“Quite, I’ve never met this ‘Takeba’ person in my life.” She stood abruptly, “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Later that night, Himeno was startled by the sound of thunder-like booming at her front door.

She approached cautiously, leaning forward and staring through the peephole. On the other side was a tall woman with pale skin, her hair blonde and her eyes golden-brown.

“I’m a representative from the Takeba group. Would you please let me in?”

Himeno hesitated before opening the door.

“You’ve caught me at a pretty bad time. I’m in my pajamas.” She remarked.

“That’s quite alright.” The blonde woman was wearing a white button-up with black khakis, her hair tied into a long, flowing ponytail.

“The names Sasha Linda, I’m the left hand of the Takeba group.”

“Isn’t it usually the right hand?”
“Usually.” She leaned to the side, peering into the house. “Are you alone?” She asked with a smile.

“Yeah.”

“Good.” That smile faded, “I need to ask you a few questions. In a different type of situation, you never would have been accepted into our group, especially given your position as the boss’s daughter. However, thanks to our recruitment manager, rumors of the boss having another daughter have already begun to spread.”

“Another?” Himeno looked deeper into those golden eyes, realizing they were just like hers, “You’re the homewrecker's daughter.” She hissed.

“I’d be careful with your words, after all, I’ll be your higher-up starting next week.” She tilted her head to the side before continuing, “I have no Idea your intentions in joining the Takeba group directly. I can only imagine what type of petty game you’re trying to play. Whatever it may be, there is one thing you must do under no circumstances, otherwise you’ll be forced to resign. The rumors that you’re boss Takbea's daughter should remain just that, rumors. As far as everyone's concerned, you just happen to share a last name.” She held her hands tightly behind her back.

“I never planned on claiming that bastard.”

“You’re telling the truth?” She sounded confused, “Now I am curious as to what your intentions are.” She hummed silently. “Well then, now that that’s settled, you can look forward to being a junior member of the Takeba group starting next Wednesday.”

“Wait a second.” Himeno interjected, “Do you know what he did to me? To my mother?”

“I’m aware.” She answered coldly.

“Then how can you sit here and run his errands like his lap-dog? He killed my mother, he abandoned me!”

Sasha's expression soured, her eyes narrowed on Himeno.

“I didn’t come here to argue the morality of my father's actions, his past is of no concern to me. However, I would like to clear up that proclamation you made regarding my father killing your mother. You see, from what I’m aware, your mother died due to illness. My father paid for her medical bills out of the kindness of his heart, yet, like a fool, she continued overworking herself, doing the very thing that landed her in the hospital to begin with. And for what? To prove a point? To earn your father's love?” She smiled disparagingly, “It was moronic; her own actions led to her death. My father is a genius, a person capable of shifting the balance of the entire world. An unfortunate consequence of that genius was your abandonment; you didn’t fit into his vision of the future, so you were discarded.” She made that last statement bluntly. “If I could offer you one piece of advice, don’t be like your mother. Whatever it is you wish to prove or achieve, I suggest you rethink it. Chasing after my father won’t make you any happier.”