「Finally.」 Mieko huffed out a sigh as they were out of earshot from the sitting room. 「She’s so noisy, I’m sorry. I wish I could have come alone today!」

Mieko grumbled to herself while snatching the kimono bundle from Lucy’s hands.

「Oh-」

「And so rude! Throwing this at you, who does she think she is?」

Lucy couldn’t help but chuckle at Mieko’s directness. Although at the end of the day Takako was clearly beneath Mieko and it often unfortunately showed, Lucy was grateful she wasn't the only one who found the woman irritating to no end.

「No, it’s okay.」 Lucy laughed again, turning the corner and sliding the door to the washing room. 「I’m sure she has a lot of responsibility, working for a family like yours.」

「Like mine?」 Mieko repeated as she followed behind Lucy, eyebrows taut and forehead wrinkled in confusion.

"Well.” Lucy huffed, banging on the sink faucet until spurts of water began to flow from the rusty pipe. 「You…your family is rich, right? If you have a helper.」

Lucy stopped herself there, trying her best not to make her digging too obvious.

With how Takako and Yuko were already battling it out as soon as they all sat down, proper introductions regarding the Takaharas were yet to happen.

“Ah…hm, I guess you’re right!” Mieko thought to herself as she returned the kimono to Lucy, seating herself on a rickety wooden stool next to the wash basin. 「Sometimes I forget how fortunate we are!」

“Uh-huh.” Lucy reached for the fels naptha and gently scrubbed at the black stain, the knots in her stomach quickly unraveling as ink slowly but surely made its way down the drain. “So what does your family do?”

“My dad does trading!”

“Trading?”

“Yes! Um...World business?” Mieko cocked her head to the side. If only Mrs. O’Halloran were here to help!

“Ah, ok…I see.” Lucy turned her head to give Mieko an understanding nod, holding back a laugh at the contrast of such an elegant girl sitting pretty on a dirty wooden stool next to a tub of milky water.

As she scrubbed, she wondered to herself if Yuko did in fact know any of the Takaharas and she was simply hiding it for the time being.

“This house is so interesting.” Mieko mumbled from her seat. “I’ve never been in a house this old! Your family seems so much fun!”

“Oh, yeah, they’re thrilling.” Lucy shook her head, trying her best to bite her tongue as she began to rinse away the soap.

If only washing away her own problems were this easy.

“Your parents? They are in America? Or here?” Mieko rested her face in her hands, noticing the sudden halt of Lucy’s arms as soon as Mieko’s question left her mouth.

Lucy felt a wave of nausea come over her as the question hung in the air, clearly no signs of leaving until Mieko had her answer.

With a turn of her wrist the water stopped, and Lucy was left with seconds to think of an acceptable answer, one that wouldn’t leave her a crying disaster in front of this privileged, happy-go-lucky girl who could never understand.

“Um, yeah.” She breathed, swinging on her heel and gently hanging the kimono on the drying rail. “Yeah, they’re in America.”

It wasn’t necessarily a lie. They were in America per se, their bodies at least. Lucy had just hoped and prayed tirelessly that the part of them that truly mattered had somehow made their way well beyond the disastrous shitshow known as earth.

“Ah…” Mieko’s palms grew sweaty against her silk-covered knees, not quite sure what to make of Lucy’s curt reply coupled with her motor-like movements.

It was as if Lucy had completely forgotten Mieko was even there to begin with-her blue eyes barely blinked, hands quickly and precisely hanging the dripping-wet kimono dangerously close to Mieko’s shoulder.

The younger girl wracked her brain for another ice-breaker. 「Your parents must be so impressed, and proud! You came all the way here without them, that’s amazing.”

The hair on Mieko’s neck stood to attention as Lucy finally looked her way. Chills ebbed up Mieko’s back at the sudden change in Lucy’s demeanor. The spunky young woman with the charming yet sarcastic attitude Mieko was quickly becoming accustomed to had transformed into a spector-like mute with the flip of a switch.

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The light breeze flowing through the window came to a halt, leaving the two women in complete silence until Lucy found her voice.

「My parents are dead.」 Hands still gripping the sleeves of the damp kimono, Lucy managed to mutter four words before having to swallow back tears. 「That’s why I’m here. It was either one of the backwards men from my town, or my uncle and his girlfriend.」 She crossed her arms as she leaned against the wash basin.

Not a word came from Mieko as she lurched forward, inviting Lucy to tell her story-one that clearly had been bottled up inside without counsel for far too long.

“I don’t know.” Lucy mumbled, running a hand through her hair and shaking her head. 「I’m sorry, it still kind of recently happened.」

「No, no, don’t apologize!」 Mieko waved a hand in front of her face. 「Losing both of your parents, I can’t imagine that. My mother is already gone, so I only have my father.」

“Oh.” Lucy frowned. “Your mom is dead?” A pang of guilt shot through her stomach. Although it was clear Mieko had certainly what most would view as a life of luxury, Lucy quickly reminded herself that money could never substitute family.

「Oh! No, no, not dead. She left my father.」 Mieko replied with a matter-of-fact nod. Lifting herself from her stool, her hands moved to inspect the sleeves of her washed kimono.

「I’m so sorry.」 Lucy breathed, her condolences sounding more like a question as she tried to make sense of Mieko’s carefree response.

Is she not close with her mother?

Lucy could certainly relate to such a sentiment, but she would never be so nonchalant about a divorce.

「You still see her?」

「That would be nice, wouldn’t it?」 Mieko humphed over her shoulder, fingers still fiddling with the ends of the kimono sleeves. 「‘Think about your future! A day with her and all my effort will be for nothing!’」 Black strands of hair caught on Mieko’s cheeks as she spun towards Lucy, fully satisfied with her unrehearsed impression of her father. 「‘As if Kazuma isn’t bad enough already, hah!’」

「Kazuma?」 Lucy raised a brow, wrestling with herself whether to laugh along or call for the girl to be sent to the nearest loony bin.

「Oh, that’s my father’s work partner.」 Mieko shrugged. 「And yes, by the way, my father does sound that crazy! It’s no surprise she left him!」 Arms crossed, she humphed again, head down and completely oblivious to the bewildered girl beside her.

"I'm...sorry that happened to your family." Lucy managed to mutter, shifting her attention momentarily to the damp floor below. It had been so long since talks of death and parents had weaseled their ugly heads into a conversation that didn’t start and end in yelling.

「No, no I can’t blame her! If I finally realized I married the wrong person I would leave them too!」 She rested an elbow on the wash basin, eyeing Lucy with a mixture of admiration and envy. “I do wish I could have a family like yours though. Oh-!” A hand shot up to cover her mouth as Mieko realized how her words sounded. “Not your parents, I mean your uncle and Miss Yuko! They seem like a fun pair to be with!”

"I...um-" Lucy was at a loss for words. She twirled her hair like a fool and fumbled for something that would steer the conversation away from her current mess of affairs. Never had anyone told her how lucky she was for living with her "deadbeat uncle" and "trust fund auntie."

“It’s hard, since everything happened, it’s been really long and hard.” Lucy crossed her arms, brain running rampant wondering where exactly to go with this. “You always hear ‘oh, family is all you need!’ That’s nice, and I agree, but money makes things even better. I would know, since we have none.” She made an ‘X’ with her arms, half-expecting Mieko to either laugh at her sudden charades or pity her.

Mieko peered up at the ceiling, a finger daintily pressing against her lips in thought. 「Hm.」 She shrugged. 「I guess you’re right!」

Mieko was never able to recall a particular time when she went to bed hungry, had nothing to wear, nor even a time when she was left alone to her own devices for a day. Something was always planned for her-her meals, her wardrobe, her company-and although she grew to resent the rigid framework of her life, she would be lying if she said it wasn’t a comforting safety net of sorts, cloaking her from the mundane fears of the masses.

“Yep.” Lucy scoffed. Tired eyes studying the flighty girl lost in a daydream, Lucy couldn't help but imagine for herself what a day in Mieko’s life would entail. Food already prepared and on the table before stomachs even started to rumble, clothing laid out and pressed by someone else for the pleasurable day to come, no dreaded laundry.

“Hey, Luce! That thing dry yet or what?” Both girls leapt at Alfred’s voice booming down the hall and into the washing room.

“Um.” Lucy chuckled as she looked at the dripping kimono. “No?” She furrowed her brows and shot a smirk of disbelief towards Mieko.

“We can come back!” Mieko’s hands whipped together in a clap, dreamy brown eyes regaining their fervent glimmer as the wheels in her head turned. “We can come back.” She repeated to herself, half of her brain concocting a game plan to return.

Lucy merely nodded, her thin lips lined in a pondering frown. “Well, of course. It will probably take a day or so for it to dry.” Her words began to trail off as realization hit-forget Mieko, having Takako in their house again? Would Yuko even allow it?

「It’s okay Lu-chan, Miss Mieko can come back any time!」

As if she had read Lucy's mind, Yuko’s cheery voice flowed down the hall, a stark contrast from Alfred’s brash shouting.

Lucy took note of the absence of Takako’s name in Yuko’s invitation.

“Great! Next time, maybe we can stay longer!” Mieko chirped.

She grinned, taking Lucy’s arms and leading them out into the hall.