8 Days a week, Part I [Mariko work - morning]

Today was a day just like any other. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Mariko was thankfully, blessedly, alone. Well, alone in the sense that Shouhei wasn't with her at the moment. It wasn't that she didn't like spending time with Shouhei. No, Spending time with Shouhei was pretty easy. But she also enjoyed spending time by herself. She had her own affairs to settle, after all. She couldn't live with Shouhei forever, despite how much he desired that. But the thought of living in a space that belonged to him forever ground against some core part of herself that she couldn't express into words. She needed to own her own space. And fill it with her own spoils...

So, she was working. Sure, sure had already got a job working with Shouhei at the bar. But...it wasn't nearly enough. She needed something else. Shouhei had classes most mornings..and Mariko was done with those. She'd gotten a scholarship to attend Seven Stars, but now that she was here, and saw the state of the city, she couldn't bring herself to attend an academy owned by the very people who seemed to be oppressing people like herself and Shouhei.

beep beep Mariko's attention was arrested by the check out line moving. She moved with it, doing her best not to disrupt the efficiency of the process. This particular grocery store, Islaldi, was a very efficient place, and she could appreciate that.

What was she doing in a grocery store? It was a strange thing, but she had found an app online that allowed her to work for people buying groceries, fast food, and other things, and delivering those things to the people in question. They paid for the merchandise, and the service, up front, and they tipped fairly often too, said the raters of the app online. It wasn't the most glamorous work, but it also kept her off the radar in a clean and safe way. She wasn't doing anything shady, underhanded, or murderous in the slightest.

Which, for Mariko, was a step in the right direction. She found it felt good doing such mundane things. One of the women behind her in line struck up conversation, and she realized she could match the conversation easily with the stranger. "Oh, sweetie, are you a student at Seven Stars? I have a niece that attends there, you see..."

"No, ma'am, I graduated overseas. I only just recently arrived to Endymion."

"Oh really? That must have been quite the journey. I've heard that some other countries made it out of the divide better than we did, bless their souls. Why you'd come to a devilish place like this is beyond me, though. Do take care of yourself, dear, and make sure you don't stay out after dark."

Mariko nodded and smiled lightly at the woman. "I have family here. And I'm sure it isn't all that bad, miss. There are plenty of good people here." No, the woman was right, Endymion was a shithole, but it felt nicer to play it off like a normal visiting citizen would.

The woman gathered up her own groceries out of the cart beside the check-out, and Mariko quickly paid for her surrogate purchase and left the store. It was only a few blocks to the address she was meant to deliver it to, and she took a quiet moment to wonder what reason they may have had not to simply make the trek themselves. There were a dozen possibilities, really. When it came right down to it, it really didn't matter much, did it? A job was a job. And if there weren't lazy people in Endymion, then she wouldn't have this gig at all.

It was two and a half blocks to be precise, and the narrow Machiya-style home she was delivering to made her feel suddenly nostalgic for home. Not the home of the past year, but a home much farther back, burried in her memories. Cicadas in summer and icecream. Skipping rocks into the river from the high walls of the canal. Walking barefoot back from dance recital with shouhei because the warm dirt soothed her aching feet...

"Miss? Are you the delivery girl?" Mariko hadn't realized she'd spaced out. For a moment, she hadn't been in Endymion at all, but swimming through the floodgates of memory. It was dizzying.

"Y-yes, Ma'am. My apologies, I'm still...waking up." Mariko's eyes drifted down the crack in the door, and saw the wheel chair through the gap. Her first thought was that this person must be a divide victim, but she did her best not to stare, instead quickly returning her eyes to the woman's face.

"I usually get my grandson to help with these things, you see, but he's gone off to join the border Cadets, and he isn't around as much. You were very fast. I appreciate that."

Mariko handed off the groceries quickly, and offered a small bow to the woman, out of habit. "It wasn't any problem. Thank you for your patronage." Mariko returned politely. When she lifted her head back up, the woman was offering her a tip, which she graciously accepted with another bow.

"So formal." The woman chuckled a little, "Good day, miss."

"Good day, Ma'am." Mariko returned, as the door closed in front of her. Well, this was easy. She wasn't expecting to feel like she was also helping people as well. It was sort of nice. Different from what she'd been used to lately, certainly.

She continued on her way. It turned out there were, as she had expected, lots of reasons people used this service. One man's apartment door billowed bitter-smelling smoke like a chimney when he opened the door to collect his coveted chicken nuggets. Another man attempted to ask her out on a date, almost ignoring the over-counter medicine she'd procured for him from the pharmacy down the street. Another lady's house was a cacophony of screaming children, and she looked about 10 years older than she probably was.

All in all, Mariko decided that she was enjoying the experience. You could meet all kinds of people in the city this way. She had already learned a little bit. Think about how much more she could learn if she was more pointed in her execution...

As the morning drew to a close, Mariko sighed to herself and stretched. It had been a nice work out, but she had dedicated the rest of her day elsewhere already, and it was about time she got on with it.

[WC: 1109]