Midnight Diner

The sign in the diner window was proudly beaming out its message of 24-hour service and all-day breakfast. Only a few patrons were taking advantage of that service, scattered through the floor of the restaurant at whatever random booth or table that seemed furthest from the others.

Miho Saijou was not beaming anywhere near as bright. In fact, she was glowering at me. Ayasa had excused herself a few minutes ago to clean up a little. I’m not sure how she planned to do that, unless the women’s bathroom had extra laundry facilities that they kept secret from guys.

“Touma, you really are a scumbag. Did you call me out here to laugh at me?”

Miho had misunderstood something. Despite the late hour, she was dressed up- not date clothes, per se, but she had still put in way more effort than I had. If I had to describe them, they’d be “I’m-ready-to-hear-your-apology-and-let-you-grovel-in-front-of-me-to-get-back-together” clothes. It was a long, barely-pink skirt paired with a frilly top. These clothes weren’t in style for the new Miho.

“No. Like I said on the phone, I really needed to talk to you about something.”

Miho let out a long, frustrated sigh.

“You really know how to give a girl the wrong idea.”

The misunderstanding had been my fault- my deliberate fault. I couldn’t tell her the full story - crossing the border, getting scammed, getting shot- it was too much for this late at night. It wouldn’t have been possible to get Miho’s attention without resorting to something more drastic. I sucked up my pride and called her asking to meet here, filling my big speech with deliciously vague phrases like “I really need to talk to you” and “I just want to see you.” It worked- Miho was here. It wasn’t going to work ever again.

“First, can you explain why you look like…that? I wouldn’t ever want to let someone I know see me that low.”

I had ditched the denim jacket, but the T-shirt I was wearing under it hadn’t fared much better. I hadn’t noticed it in the dark, but now in the light of the diner I could see that it had been stained with the slime from our escape. I’m not even sure a wash would have gotten that stain out.

“I had a little accident.”

“Let me guess, fooling around with that girl and you fell into the sewer?”

Miho had no idea how close she actually was to the truth. She had given Ayasa a staredown when she showed up. She must have noticed that we were both in a pretty rough state.

“Um, something like that.”

Miho sat back with a huff.

“So, you decided that instead of getting yourselves cleaned up and going home, you’d wake me up in the middle of the night? To gloat? ‘She’s better than you even when she smells like shit?’ Is that why?”

“MIHO!”

That stopped her. She was reading too much into this. Sure, it was my fault that she had misunderstood, but I hadn’t even told her why I was here. She’d probably assume too much and storm out if I didn’t explain myself.

“That’s not what this is about. I wouldn’t call you out here to make fun of you. I’m here because I needed…”

A friend to help. It was still difficult to say that word, like it would be acknowledging that the last two years had been all for nothing. They were all for nothing now- whatever doors I could have forced open by jealousy or groveling were definitely locked shut by my latest deception. Maybe Miho would have come if I had just told her the truth from the beginning.

“I needed help. And I didn’t have anyone I could call except you.”

That wasn’t strictly speaking true. I could have just called Hiroki. He’d have been home by now, and he probably would have had a spare room to borrow- but that room wouldn’t have had anything except maybe a spare futon. Ayasa was a girl. Hiroki wouldn’t have known what she needed right now. Neither did I. Asking my mother or my sister would have given the wrong impression. Miho was the only girl I could turn to.

“Are you going to tell me what happened, then?”

Miho was a bit calmer now, at least on the outside. She still didn’t look too happy.

“It’s kind of a long story. My friend Ayasa ran away from home.”

“Why didn’t I ever hear about this friend?”

Right, Miho would be suspicious of a friend who was suddenly on a first-name-basis with me. I had a feeling that telling her that we had only met a few hours ago would not have gone over well.

“She was a friend from a long time ago. I saw her tonight and some things happened, and now she can’t go back home.”

Miho’s eyes narrowed. Okay, that kind of phrasing probably raised more questions than it answered.

“And so you called me out here?”

“I can’t bring a girl home. I’m already in enough trouble as-is.”

I hoped the implication would be clear to Miho. She feigned ignorance.

“So you need my help to book a hotel room?”

The tone of her voice indicated she knew exactly what I was asking her to do.

“I was hoping…you…could put her up. Just for the night.”

She leaned back, satisfied in making me squirm out a direct answer.

Ayasa returned from the bathroom. Her hair was a little cleaner and straighter now, but other than that the trip hadn’t done her appearance any good. Her blouse looked like it had been stained with splashes of motor oil. Miho had already taken a good look at her before, but she did so again. Now she addressed Ayasa directly.

“So, you’re…Higashiyama?”

“Oh, yes.”

“You’re Touma’s old friend?”

“Yes, I’ve known Touma for a long time.”

Well, a few hours was a long time for some people. I didn’t like the way Miho’s interrogation was going.

“I’m Miho Saijou. Touma’s EX-girlfriend. Nice to meet you.”

She put a lot of emphasis on the “Ex” part of “Ex-girlfriend.” Ordinarily I might have been upset at such a deliberate slight, but for some reason I was a little relieved.

“Ayasa Higashiyama. It is nice to meet you, Miho.”

Crap. Her Northern dialect was hard to cover up. If Miho thought she was being rude, we were screwed. Booking a hotel was looking like a better option now, though the only hotels that would have let a high-schooler book a room would have been the sketchy love-hotels further south. I’m pretty sure Ayasa would never forgive me if I did that.

“I’d prefer to stick with Saijou for now, Higashiyama.”

Miho seemed to take her blunt introduction in stride.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Miss Saijou.”

Too old fashioned, Ayasa, Too old fashioned. Now she sounded like an old lady. At least she was aware her style of speech sounded odd in the South.

Wait, she had gone straight to addressing Miho by her first name just like she had to me. Did Northerners just do that? Was I getting excited for the wrong reason when she called me “Touma?” Maybe that was just how people talked in the North.

“So you ran away from home, Higashiyama?”

“Yes.”

She might have been able to correct her word use, but her Northern bluntness was still on full display. Miho must have been getting suspicious.

“Why?”

Crap. Maybe it was time for me to step in.

“Her parents are trying to get her into an arranged marriage with the heir to a big conglomerate. She hates the guy.”

Ayasa looked perplexed for a moment. Miho’s eyes lit up. It was the kind of story she loved in romance dramas- a nice lie that might get her to stop probing too deeply into who Ayasa actually was.

“Wow, that actually still happens in real life?”

Ayasa had sorted it out.

“Yes, they want me to leave school and marry this man. He is very old.”

She had figured out what was going on here, but she seemed too unfamiliar with the trope to construct a believable story. Somehow she was still selling it to Miho- though Miho probably was a pretty easy customer.

“Did you give them a big speech? Please tell me you gave them a big speech before running away?”

Calm down, Miho. That definitely only happens in movies.

“Erm..no. I just left.”

Miho looked a little disappointed. Then suddenly, as if someone had flicked a light switch in her, her mood turned back to glowering.

“Are you trying to elope with Touma?”

Ayasa answered before I could recover from that.

“No. He is my friend. He helped me escape.”

Right, we didn’t have that sort of relationship. I barely knew who she was. The only thing we had in common for sure was that we had escaped together and both smelled like shit.

Miho seemed relieved.

“Touma asked me to give you a place to stay.”

“Really? Please help me, I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Something struck me as odd about the way Ayasa was talking. She had been blunt since I had started talking with her earlier in the night, but now it seemed almost like she was playing up her Northern Dialect. When I had spoken with her earlier, it wasn’t so stiff and formal sounding. That was bad. The lies I had told Miho wouldn’t last. I had to control the conversation, somehow.

“Touma. Can I talk to you, just a minute?”

Miho had beaten me to the punch. Was she already aware? This didn’t seem like an optional conversation if I wanted her help.

“Ayasa. I’ll be right back.”

Ayasa nodded. Miho led me out a little ways from the table, next to the open soda fountain.

“Who is she? I mean, who is she, really?”

Shoot. She was onto something, though how much she knew wasn’t clear.

“She’s a friend.”

“A friend- and what else? You think I buy that arranged marriage story? You know that only happens in movies.”

Was I really that bad of a liar?

“Okay. She’s a friend who ran away from home. That much is true. Everything else is…”

A little too complicated to explain. Except it wasn’t. I could tell her the truth right now. We met a little over an hour ago. We talked about music. She invited me to dance. The cops raided the dance. We fled. We splashed through a tunnel and messed up our clothes. We got shot at by a border guard. That was all pretty simple stuff.

“It’s complicated.”

Miho rolled her eyes.

“So why tell me lies?”

“It’s complicated.”

No, it wasn’t. It was all pretty simple. Miho had warned me not to go through with Kanamaru’s scheme. I had done so anyway. Ayasa was here as a consequence of that. I simply didn’t want to admit that she had been right. It was some kind of stubborn pride in me.

“That girl talks funny. Her story doesn’t add up, and you two don’t seem like old friends.”

All true.

“If you want me to put up a weird girl in my house, you better tell me the truth. Who is she?”

I thought about that for a while. Was that even something I could answer? I could say she was a Northerner and that would be true- but what else would be?

“She’s not a bad person. Just in a tough spot right now.”

Was that wishful thinking on my part?

Miho sighed. This time, frustration had mixed with some sort of reluctant acceptance.

“You’re hopeless, Touma.”

She turned back to the table, but didn’t start walking.

“Fine. She can stay, but only for the night. After that, she’s your problem.”