Chapter Text
Megami sighed, stepping on a stool in her room so the servants could tend to her dress. Another important event was happening that night, from what she understood it was a fundraiser. She quietly stared into a mirror as she thought about the event, they never were really interesting. They never had much to do, what was there to do? She was only 13, but there was just so little to do that she felt ancient. She ran her hand through her hair, it always felt soft when the maids brushed it for her, she hadn’t fully grasped how to do it as well as they do. After a few minutes, one of the maids tapped her on the shoulder, she turned to them and gently nodded at them. “Thank you, Kaede.” she said softly, trying to change her tone to sound a bit kinder. The maid smiled at her and they left her to get ready. Megami walked around her room, debating on what she could do, ultimately she decided to only put on two bracelets she owned. An opal encrusted bracelet and a sapphire encrusted bracelet, they were always her favorites.
It took a while but Megami noticed the lights of cars passing through the mansions gate, it was time. She sighed, leaving her room and walking downstairs to where her parents were, along with her younger brother. The first set of people started walking in, another important family that had just a little less Influence than hers did. Then came the next, and the next, some came in alone while some had children like her parents did. Kids ranging between adult ages and as young as 3 years old. It was surprising how well behaved some of the kids were, she had dealt with the occasional irritating child before so it was nice in a way. After a few hours, the mansion was filled with people and her parents started to walk around. Kencho followed quickly, Megami hesitated for a second before following them as well.
Every introduction was as empty as the last. “My name is Megami Saikou, what's yours?” Echoed through her mind as she repeated it over and over again. Many children were polite, while others had a sense of immaturity and idiocy. She even managed to meet a particularly frustrating kid. Despite her calm and polite demeanor when her parents were around, she Immediately flipped to being a snobbish little brat, at least in Megamis eyes. All she could do was hope that she'd never cross paths with that girl again.
After an hour or so of this Megami looked up at her father, gently tapping his arm and waiting for a response. Her father turned ever so slightly. “yes?” “Excuse me, could I walk around by myself? I would like to see if I can talk to anyone else.” She was silent, waiting for a response. Her father tapped his nail on his glass of wine before sipping and nodding. “You may go.” he said, not even looking her way. “Thank you, father.” She replied, before already being stopped as two people walked over to her father. Megami sighed, introducing herself as usual, before looking at the kid. The kid, despite her clothes looking tidy, had an expression of pure irritation. She looked at the girls face, her left eye was covered with an eye patch, much like a pirate would wear. “Good…evening, I'm Aoi Ryugoku…” she grumbled, before trying to straighten her back as her parents signalled at her.
The girls were quiet for a second as their parents started to talk, Megami looked around briefly before looking back at the girl. “Would you prefer if we go somewhere else? The upstairs floor has a balcony more…away from people.” Aoi perked up, looking at her before nodding. “Sure, why not.” As they walked around, Aoi started to rant, and without even so much as a filter. “Jeez, can you believe they still bring kids to these events? I mean, no offense to your folks I guess, but it's so BORING!” Megami simply nodded as she went on. “Not to mention, everything feels so…set in stone, everyone just feels like they're following a script for what to do, what to say, it pisses me off!” She skipped in front of Megami as they got to the door of the balcony, she sighed before fidgeting with the fabric of her clothes. “Uergh, and don't get me started on whatever it is I'm wearing! I'm more of a tuxedos kind of girl, I think that would be much more comfortable at least compared to this frilly little dolls dress.”
She opened the door to the balcony and looked around her, for a few seconds she felt a sense of relief, of being free. She sat down on the tiles and stuck her hand out in a prince-like way, mostly to goof around a bit. Megami, despite showing no reaction, accepted the gesture and sat down next to her. “Tch, sorry I'm talking this much, but I feel so…” “trapped?” “Yes! That's the word!” She yelped, waving her hand around before sighing. “Maybe it's entitled of me to think like this but…I hate this life, I hate having all this money and being sculpted into this weird mold of what my parents want me to be.” Aoi stood up for a second, pacing around as she talked. “I can't imagine that being poor is the most perfect ideal place to be in either but, maybe, just maybe, if I was born into a family less lucky to be like this, I could be my own person!” She looked back at Megami, who after showing no emotion this entire time looked shocked.
Aoi froze, unsure of what to say “Ah, sh*t, guess you don't get it either do you?” She sat down again, sighing. But before she could say anything more, Megami started talking again. “N-no I…get it. I don't think you realise just how…much I feel that way too.” She turned to face Aoi properly, giving her her full attention. “It feels so selfish to think, and it feels so painful to wish a worse life upon yourself just to have a choice but…I wish I wasn't always stuck working on whatever the next newest thing my company makes.” She said, running her hand through her hair. Aoi clapped her hands together. “Exactly! Like why do we HAVE to be involved, why can't we be kids!!” The girls nodded almost in sync, resulting in them chuckling a bit. “Hm…Hey Megami, I wanna ask something.”
“Be my guest…though I suppose you already are.” She said, in a more playful tone. Aoi nudged her softly before continuing. ‘’If you had the choice…what would you do in the future? Like what would your job be? I think being a personal trainer would be epic!! Helping people get strong and stuff, being able to fight people without consequences, perfect!” She smiled before looking up at the sky. “Just…I'd love to be able to use physical strength to use one day, for a reason that isn't defending myself against the next stupid guy who thinks I'm weak.” Megami was thinking to herself as she talked, what did she want to be, what could she even be in the first place? What were her options? “I'm not sure…But if I could choose…i'd love something more casual…maybe in another country where no one knows my name or past!” She started fidgeting with her bracelets, thinking of another reality where she wasn't stuck. Aoi wanted to find a way to comfort her, but couldn't think of anything. The two were quiet, at least for a little while.
“What will you do when the event's over? Just…going to move on with your life?” Megami asked, making Aoi genuinely think for a second. “I guess just…do the same sh*t I always do, be a perfect little princess for my parents.” The thought of it made her skin crawl, though Megami felt the same. “Hey, why’re you wearing two bracelets on the same arm?” Aoi suddenly asked, she stared at the gemstones as the moonlight shined down on them. Megami looked at them for a second before taking the sapphire bracelet off. “Huh, I didn't really think about it.” Looking at the bracelet and then at Aoi, she grabbed her hand and put the bracelet on her arm. Aoi was quiet for a second before processing what happened. “h-huh!? Wh-why are you giving it to me???” She yelped out, struggling to understand. “i-its yours you can't just give it away to someone like me-” “but I want to.” Megami said, calmly, trying to smile at her. “I'd…like you to have it. Maybe we can stay in touch in the future, you know? Even if we’re busy, we can still…occasionally see one another.” Aoi was stunned, but she looked down at the bracelet before nodding at Megami. “Alright, gift accepted! And…I hope that after this I can see you again! You’re chill, I like that.” she smiled, Megami felt her body warm up a bit, she felt happy.
As expected, the girls became more and more busy in the future, companies had to do more things and so they didn't see one another much outside of school or company meetings, but when they could meet up it was the highlight of their day. Megami became a lot more formal and quiet as she got older, while Aoi became a lot less caring about what she should be to people. But even then, when together they got to see the softer side of one another that most never even got to catch a glimpse of. As they got older, they started realising a sense of comfort when around one another. Whether they were talking with one another or simply around one another in the same room, it felt like the world stood still for even a bit and they were free from everything. Megami couldn't really tell what it meant though, while she was very intelligent, emotions were hard to understand, in a different way than most things were. Though, Aoi meanwhile knew what she felt, and that it ate her up inside. She wasn't sure if she should feel that for her own friend, no less a girl-friend of hers.
Despite all of that, and all those feelings, the two wanted to discuss those feelings. But they were so busy they just couldn't get a chance to do so in person.
