Another day, another job interview.
Although Kyouko had survived being literally hit by a car, her life after was... an empty shell of what it had once been. Her daughter now lived somewhere else, her family was driving her insane (with the exception of her father-in-law) and even though she was only 33, she could not, for the life of her, find a job.
Of course, the reason why was obvious. After being hit by a car and then being in a coma for months on end, and then being on medications that made her forget almost everything after for practically a year...well, no one would want to hire her. The Japanese job market was competitive. One flaw and it made everything that much harder.
And Kyouko had many flaws.
She had been able to land a job at a local florist store, which was just weird and uncomfortable. The owner was this plump, sweet woman and Kyouko couldn’t help but feel like she was the kind of lady that she would’ve stolen from back when she was The Red Butterfly. But the kindness was contagious and her innocence reminded her of her daughter, so before she knew it, the rough edges had worn off.
Because those rough edges had come back. In full force. After her accident, she had woken up as that gang leader again and it worried her. At her core, in her center, was she still that angry kid, screaming at the world and begging for it to notice her? Had she not grown at all since then?
Adjusting the bag in her hand, she turned the corner towards Uo’s store. She got a great family discount there and could use any savings she could get, so she often shopped for basics and nonperishable items at her convenience place. Although her daughter didn’t live with her at the moment due to lack of funds, she and her two best friends still came over almost daily. Lately Uo had been coming by herself. Kyouko had always had a special relationship with Uo: she just reminded her so much of herself that it was insane that Uo wasn’t her own kid. And now that kid had found a man.
Well, she found him once. Just once. She hadn’t really seen him since.
Apparently he reminded her of Tooru, which just brought a smile to her face because her daughter was perfect, of course. She was anxious to meet this “mystery man” but with every passing day, Uo seemed less and less hopeful to see him again. Watching her suffer made the redhead suffer in return. All she wanted was happiness for those three girls, even if she couldn’t find it for herself.
Looking up, a man caught her eye. A man who was standing right in front of Uo’s place of work and matched the physical description that Uo had given of him so perfectly that Kyouko literally stopped walking.
It’d been weeks, hadn’t it? Why had he suddenly shown up out of the blue now? And why wasn’t he going in? Oh no, he wasn’t some kind of wimp, was he?
She racked her brain, trying desperately to remember his name. She was definitely going to call him out and see if this was the guy in question. If there was one trait that Kyouko consumed, it was boldness.
But what was his name? What was his-- Kureno.
“Hey,” she called out to him as she walked closer. Although a smile was on her face, she was sizing him up, wondering why he had disappeared (according to Uo) and what he was doing there. “You wouldn’t be Kureno, would you?”
