Kuro set his phone down on the table and rubbed his forehead. Today? He wasn’t expecting the new leasing company to want to meet with him so soon. “This is going to be a long day, isn’t it?” He said to himself as he sighed.
“You are quite busy for someone fresh out of the hospital.” Melanie was writing in her notebook yet again.
“Not like I have a choice. Injured or not I need a place to live.”
“Doesn’t this seem like a good time to request assistance?”
“For what? I don’t need help talking with some company lackey.”
“But will you not need assistance with packing your belongings?”
“One step at a time. I don’t even know how much time I have before I need to find a hotel. And I’m sure that will be an ordeal too. They probably have a list of approved hotels. More like cheapest places in town.”
“If you say so.”
“Regardless, I need to get this meeting over with so I can start figuring out where I’m going to live once my lease is up. I doubt it’ll be easy to find something close with everyone here looking at the same time.”
Kuro slid his shoes on and headed out the door for the second time today. I’m already exhausted and I was looking forward to being home for a while but I guess this is more important.
After a short but tiring walk Kuro made it to the train and found a spot to sit. The train car was mostly empty but Kuro whispered anyway. “Could you do me a favor and avoid picking things up while I’m at this meeting?”
“I already said I would be more considerate of such things. There’s no need to treat me like a child. I’m at least six times your age if you forgot already.”
“I guess I did forget. You don’t really act like a two-hundred-year-old lady.”
“Like I said, I’m quite young for a Fate. I am not an old lady.” Melanie said crossing her arms in front of her.
“Ok, ok. I’m sorry. I’m not used to this, and I have a feeling this meeting is going to be a big pain so I want it to go as smoothly as possible.”
The train came to a halt and Kuro stepped off onto the platform. “Ok, it shouldn’t be too far from here according to the address they gave me.” He found himself in front of a large office building. The chrome letters above the entrance read ‘GT Leasing’. The sooner I can get this done, the sooner I can get home and go to bed. It was only a little after noon but he was already drained. I didn’t think I’d tire out this quickly.
Kuro approached the front desk and a young woman in a mid-length skirt and white blouse led him to the elevator. She gave him simple directions to get to the office he needed and motioned for him to go on ahead. The office he needed was on the top floor and straight ahead after he got off the elevator. This whole thing is a pain in the ass. These kinds of people just want to feel important. He stepped out of the elevator doors into a large hallway with a set of big double doors directly ahead of him. Kuro pushed the doors open and went inside.
This room was definitely set up to accept important visitors. Kuro doubted he would be considered important. The center of the room had a finely made coffee table with a tray of finger food laid out and a crystal pitcher filled with ice water. The couches looked like they were high quality leather and looked comfortable to say the least. On the opposite end of the room there was a young woman in a traditional maid uniform standing by a cart loaded with even more food and drink. I think I’m in the wrong room…
“Please have a seat Mr. Raiku. The Chairman will be here shortly.” The Maid motioned for Kuro to take a seat. He hesitantly did as she asked and sat on the remarkably comfortable couch. Ok, this is getting weird. There’s no way this is just to butter up some poor tenants for a sale.
“You should take some of those treats back with us. The little strawberry cakes look especially good.” Melanie said as she hovered above the food cart.
Kuro looked at Melanie and shook his head. I need to remember not to respond to her or I’ll end up looking crazy.
“If these pastries are not to your liking, I can bring others.” The maid said in a friendly but professional tone.
“That’s all right, I was just thinking I shouldn’t have eaten before coming.” Kuro looked away from Melanie to avoid reacting to her. I don’t think I’ll be able to get used to this.
The double doors swung open and Kuro was surprised to see Mr. Tanaka casually walk in and take a seat opposite Kuro. “How have been, son?” Mr. Tanaka said with a warm smile.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“Hold on, you own the leasing company?”
“Among other things, yes.”
“I’m not the reason you bought those apartments, am I?”
“Heavens no,” Mr. Tanaka laughed and continued. “This leasing company runs with it’s own board of directors and just happened to be buying up the property you reside in. I was informed you made an appointment to discuss future housing and I thought it would be nice to see how things are going.”
“I see. Well, things are going fine for the most part, besides being evicted.”
“All the residents are welcome to move back in after the renovations but that’s going to take some time.”
“I guess that’s why I’m here, where are we going to stay until then and how long do we have to do it?”
“I think I may have a solution that’s better than a lengthy hotel stay. There’s an apartment building I happen to own that’s within your price range and close to everything you’ll need. I’d be happy to get things set up for you.”
“I appreciate that, but I can’t afford much more than what I am currently paying. Besides, you don’t need to go out of your way for me. I can take care things on my own.”
“Well, if you’ve already got something lined up, then it can’t be helped.”
“I don’t exactly have anything lined up, I was planning to see how much time I had before deciding on anything.”
“It’s always good to get as much information as possible before making any big decisions, I can understand that. We’ll just get you set up in temporary lodging and get storage for your things until the renovations are complete.”
“Won’t that be extremely costly to put all the residents up in hotels and store their things? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just wait out their leases?”
“Cheaper? Yes. However, I am an impatient man and that area of town needs a good sprucing up. The sooner the better I say.”
“I suppose you know best with this sort of thing, I shouldn’t be questioning your business. Sorry if that was rude.”
“Not at all, my way of doing things has generously been called ‘unique’.” Mr. Tanaka laughed.
“What do I need to do in order to get prepared for the move?”
“We can help with that. I’ll have Yuri here get you all the documents. Yuri.” The Maid scurried out of the room as Mr. Tanaka nodded to her.
“Thank you for the apartment offer. I really do appreciate you trying to help but I have a few things to figure out first.”
“It’s no problem. I’ll make sure everything goes the way it should,” Mr. Tanaka frowned and wore a worried expression. “Are you feeling all right? You look a little pale.”
The exhaustion hit Kuro hard. He felt light-headed. “I-I’m ok. I think I just need to get back home and rest for a while.”
Yuri returned and placed a pile of documents on the coffee table. “Would you like to sign the temporary lodging document before you leave? We can get things rolling while you rest up.” Mr. Tanaka asked.
“Sure, that was the main reason I came here today after all.” Kuro signed the pages in front him as quickly as he could. I need to go before I get any worse.
Kuro stood up to shake Mr. Tanaka’s hand but his vision blurred and he fell back onto the couch. “I think I might need some assistance getting back…”
“That’s a good plan. We need to make sure you are taken care of. We’ll get you home right away.”
“Thank you, I’ll be fine if I can just lay down for a bit.
“Of course. Yuri get the--” Mr. Tanaka’s words faded out as Kuro slipped into unconsciousness.
Melanie observed as Mr. Tanaka ordered Yuri to call in a Doctor to make sure Kuro was all right. Yuri nodded and immediately did as she was asked, hurrying out of the room.
Mr. Tanaka sighed and looked out a large window that made up the majority of one wall and stared at the clouds. “I don’t know if this is the right way to go about this Kasumi but I’ll keep my promise to you. I’ll make sure she is taken care of, even after I’m gone too.”
Melanie took a few notes as she thought to herself. This is a good time to gain a little context. I should look in on the others as well. Melanie flew through the window Mr. Tanaka was staring out of and took to the sky. She’ll be this way if I’m not mistaken. Melanie quickly soared through the city, passing through any obstacles like buildings and cars to arrive at her destination. She observed as Ichigo spoke to her subordinates in their little office building.
“You three need to get your shit together.” Ichigo glared as she spoke to the three young men in front of her. “You need to start pulling your god damned weight if you want to keep getting paid.”
“There just aren’t enough of us to do all the jobs we have.” A young man in his twenties replied meekly.
“One less idiot in here shouldn’t make that big of a difference. Besides, several of our clients took the discount for delaying their projects instead of hiring another company. So quit your bitching and get your assignments done as soon as possible. Either that or find another job that’s willing to put up with you.”
“Yes mam…” All three replied as they went back to their desks.
Melanie watched as Ichigo went back into her office and sat down in front of a computer. Ichigo let out a long sigh and started typing away with speed and precision.
“How the hell does he take on so many projects? I thought I could cover them all if I pulled a few all nighters but it looks like a few are still going to be late.” Ichigo was speaking to a photograph of young man with dark red hair that was placed in a simple frame on her desk. Ichigo smiled at the photograph, though she seemed a bit sad. “I promise I’ll do things right.”
Melanie took a few more notes as she observed Ichigo typing away and decided it was time to move on. I suppose she will be at home right now. Melanie once again took flight and headed through the city. She stopped in front of a large apartment building not too far from where Ichigo was. This should be the place. Melanie floated through the walls and found who she was looking for.
Mai was praying in front of a small shrine in her room. A photo of an older woman with black and gray hair was neatly placed on the shrine. Melanie watched as Mai lit some incense and began speaking to the photograph.
“Mom, I hope things are going well for you. I am doing much better and I’m sure it’s because you were looking out for me. I’m doing my best to keep my promise to you but it’s harder than I thought it would be. I’ll never forget, ‘No matter what, always pay kindness back two-fold.’ But, how do you pay back that much kindness? I’ll keep trying though.”
Mai lowered her head and prayed silently for a moment. Her phone began to ring and after several rings, she finally answered it. “What’s up dad? Did you need something?”
Melanie jotted down a few more notes and decided it was time to get back to Kuro. It will be fun to see how he handles everything when he wakes up.