PLIGHT

     It was already creeping into the evening hours of the day, and the sun had begun to sink below the city horizon. Tsubaki thanked Akazawa for stopping by, mentioning how it eased the stress of keeping Yumeko entertained all by herself.

     “Is a ten-year old that much to handle?” Akazawa chuckled. “Not just a ten-year old,” Tsubaki maligned, “this ten-year old.”

     Shifting topics, Tsubaki then suggested that Akazawa visit a doctor to deal with her migraines, venting, “I’m just a member of a research team; I can’t prescribe medicine or anything.”

     “Well, I needed an excuse to see you in person since you’re always dodging everyone,” Akazawa argued, “but, if you do ever need a third wheel I’m just a phone call away.”

     Tsubaki quietly nodded, to which Akazawa then gracefully turned to Yumeko and said, “Hey, I think it’s time for me to have my phone back now.”

     Ignoring her request, Yumeko abruptly shoved the phone into her face. “Koko wa doko?” she asked with a taintless expression of excitement. “Oh, that’s Shinmirai, it isn’t far from here,” answered Tsubaki.

“Can we go there?”

“Not today, that’s for sure.”

“Nande?!”

“Yumeko, it’s already late and we’re heading back to Inagi tomorrow. There’s no time. Now, give Akazawa back her phone.”

     Yumeko jerked her hand back, tucking the phone underneath her arm. Tsubaki slumped her shoulders and rolled her head backwards, unwilling to play back and forth with Yumeko’s tantrums. Yumeko on the other hand was prepared to defy Tsubaki at every turn. Drawn in by the ten-year old’s innocent appeal, Akazawa nudged Tsubaki on the shoulder. “You could take her tomorrow; it’s supposed to be warmer than usual,” she appealed. “It’s not that I don’t want to take her, but that I can’t… I don’t have a choice,” Tsubaki returned. Lowering her voice, she continued “My sister just fell off the radar.”

     Trying to recalibrate following the words that were just thrown her way, Akazawa questioned, “What is going on?! When was the last time you tried reaching her?”

     “Recent enough, that’s for sure. I even contacted all the friends I could think of, and I got nothing.” Tsubaki retorted. “Doesn’t that sound strange to you?”

     Akazawa, now finding Yumeko’s presence an enigma, worryingly mumbled, “It is scary to think that she’s here alone,” then suggested, “Maybe you should just try again. Something could’ve changed since you last checked. Someone might know something now.”

     Tsubaki twisted her mouth sideways as she brushed her hand through her hair. “I honestly don’t think anything happened to Mitsu. You don’t understand… she can’t always be trusted.”

     Akazawa sprinkled an expression of curiosity on her face. “Well, that’s something I’m hearing about for the first time.” Reluctant to dig in deeper, Tsubaki pressed onwards. “Either way we can’t just hang out here for another day. We’ve gotta go back.”

     The two of them turned to Yumeko who was sitting on the steps still scrolling through pictures on Akazawa’s phone. “Then, would I sound crazy if I suggested calling the police?” Akazawa injected; but Tsubaki simply swirled her head in ignorance. “Yeah, and maybe we should check our hats for bunnies.”

     “Well, I suppose if you’re not that concerned then you might as well take her to Shinmirai,” Akazawa then suggested, “she did come all this way.”

     Tsubaki stepped over to Yumeko, passing a glance towards Akazawa while shaking her head from side to side. As she crouched down in front of her, Yumeko notably didn’t bother to look back at her. “Yumeko,” Tsubaki called, still with no reaction. Tsubaki grabbed Yumeko’s hand and slowly pulled Akazawa’s phone from her attention. “I’m sorry, but maybe next time I can take you there. Right now, is not the best time.”

     Akazawa held herself firmly where she stood, maintaining a sense of both physical and mental distance from the two. Yumeko peered up at Tsubaki, then sunk herself back into Akazawa’s phone, actively trying to ignore the bad news. Tsubaki sincerely wanted to keep Yumeko happy but knew it wasn’t plausible to watch over her any longer than she needed to. Yumeko turned her face away from Tsubaki as tears began to weld up in her eyes.

     “I’ll let you borrow my car. Will that help?” Akazawa tentatively asked, cutting in between the two. Tsubaki folded her arms and rested them across her knees.

     “I’m driving into Nokakushi tomorrow morning, but it’s better not to have to bring the car with me to work afterwards. All you’ll have to do is pick me up on your way back. It’ll save you the trouble of public transportation.”

     “It’s faster on the train,” Tsubaki quickly noted. “Yeah, but… it has its perks,” Akazawa argued.

     Tsubaki laid her head down on top of her arms and slowly weighed her options, creating a jarring silence amongst the three of them. It was like watching a drip of water hang on to the edge of a faucet. Clinging on until the very last second, when it’ll eventually fall and come crashing down. Akazawa could almost sense the conflict within Tsubaki. Her fighting to hang on for as long as possible; but knowing that the fall was inevitable. Questioning herself whether or not the impact of the land will be a sad tragedy, or a beautiful kind of pain.

“Sure…”

     Tsubaki struggled with tearing Yumeko down any further and eventually gave in on behalf of Akazawa’s persistence. “But we’re heading back to Inagi afterwards. So, it’ll be your last day here in Megiri. Try and enjoy it.”

     Yumeko immediately snapped back into her enthused self almost instantly. Akazawa wrapped her arm around her shoulder, congratulating her as the space between them had finally lightened up.

     “Yatta!” Yumeko cried out in enjoyment, as both Akazawa and Tsubaki took pleasure in admiring her delicate smile. Yumeko, much like Tsubaki, had the impeccable ability of affecting those around her. A characteristic that Tsubaki found both a blessing and nuisance.

     “Tsubaki?” Femto surprisingly called out from the apartment window next door. “It’s a bit cold out, maybe the young child should go inside.”

     “Thanks, Femto-san, we’ll head in soon,” she kindly replied.

     Akazawa spent not an extra second wasting Tsubaki’s time as she quickly said her farewells. “I’ll text you about where to meet in the morning.”

     Tsubaki and Yumeko both waved as Akazawa made her way down the road. Soon after heading back inside as Yumeko clenched onto Tsubaki with her mind afloat.