二十二 ❀

[naicha]

✿ action 1
<sub>[ When the cherry blossoms disappear, Taiwan holds her breath. Japan always adored things that come and go so easily. Now he was one, too. She should've known better than to expect this the least. Watching his figure put on his coat and walk out the door, Taiwan knows it's not him. And stay out! Taiwan thinks as she slams the door shut. She feels like flicking his drone on the forehead for his remarks. "Be a good wife and make him dinner?" Ooh, the nerve! ... This makes her miss the real Japan already. Hm? What? She's not going to cry, that's silly. Even so, no matter how many times she's learned how to stand on her own, she can't help but feel abandoned. It's okay, though. Not that it hasn't happened before.

At the cafe, it's business as usual. Employees will find that there are no costumes for them to wear, though, if they don't already bring their own. Behind the counter isn't Japan typing away on his computer, but Taiwan, accounting everything by hand. She lifts her head up whenever a customer passes by. ]</sub>

Welcome!

_{[ With no makeup masking her troubled state, Taiwan quickly ducks back into her work again. She isn't even eating anything. She does try her best to put a smile on her face, though. Look! It's as if nothing happened at all. ]}

✿ action 2
_{[ Two siblings are walking around town together, but there's something odd about their dynamic today. ]}

And he was like, "Ah, is that so." And then I was like, "Yes! Yes, it is so!" Ooh, but I tried and tried and he still wouldn't let me and I was so mad that I could... _{[ p-punches her palm ]} hit him...! But I didn't 'cause I'd feel a little bad, you know. Oh! I was gonna say sorry for calling him a stupidhead today, but when I woke up and checked on him, all his stuff was gone! Just like that. It's not fair, you know, I mean- _{[ She waits for a witty, candid response, but nothing. Her voice is full of anger. ]} Hey! _{[ Then worry. ]} Hey, say something...

_{[ It goes on like this until Hong Kong's drone arrives at work. Very upset with this turn of events, Taiwan starts her walk home looking a little glum. She's not exactly looking where she's going, so she might bump into you, a drone or a pole. A detour she makes to the elementary school's playground is where others may find her hanging upside down on the monkey bars. ]}

✿ phone/action for 1245 williams road

Hello... Um, _{[ There's the sound of Taiwan wiping her face with her sleeve. ]} um! _{[ She takes in a deep breath. ]} Japan's... gone and stuff. If anyone wants to hit him, you don't have to, 'cause I already did. If anyone's worried about the cafe, I'm taking over, you know! I mean, until he comes back...

Ahaha, I feel a little dizzy! I think I'll go lie down now.

_{[ But she can't stay still! After the call, she'll be around the house, arranging all the clothes they have by color and sorting the records and books alphabetically. ]}

Comments

[prpl_assistant]

(Miss Pauling nods. She glances around at the cafe; there didn't seem to be any other new customers, and all the other ones were already busy with their food and/or drinks.)

/How about you sit down with me for a while, Miss? Take a break. There's no one else who needs their order taken at the moment, so I think you can take a breather.

Would you prefer Mandarin instead? Though I'll have to admit, I'm barely fluent in it./

[naicha]

_{[ Taiwan is relieved to hear all of that and takes the woman's suggestion. Upon hearing the offer, she switches to Mandarin, too. ]}

/Oh, is that okay with you? I'll try to keep it simple./

[prpl_assistant]

(Miss Pauling smiles back and switches to Mandarin.)

/Thank you. Maybe I can...better my Mandarin as well. Please excuse me if I mess up some words, or if I sound rude. I can understand well, but my speaking requires some work.

So...what's wrong? Do you need someone to listen?/

(She inwardly winces. Her Mandarin was horribly rusty. Half of what she said could've been said a whole lot better, but at least the sentences still made some sort of sense. She really hopes that the young miss wouldn't be too put off by how blunt she was sounding now.)

[naicha]

_{[ China would have said something, but Taiwan doesn't seem to care. ]}

/Nothing. ... Okay, it's not nothing, but it's really stupid, it happens to people all the time, so it shouldn't bother me, you know. He's been around for so, so long, so it's kind of.../

[prpl_assistant]

(The young woman didn't implictly say what it was that happened, but Miss Pauling can sort of guess what it is based on what she just said and how upset she seemed.)

/Did someone you love get.../

Her eyebrows clicked together as she struggled for the word. Was there even a word in Mandarin for drone? She'd have to come up with the next best thing.

/Did someone you love get...turned into a robot and taken away? So that he's here, but it's not him but a robot?/

[naicha]

_{[ Taiwan raises an eyebrow. ]}

/Robot? No, silly, he's a drone!/ _{[ She can see why Taiwan didn't mind how direct she was earlier. Her tone gets a little sadder now that she's said it. ]} /Yeah, he got droned... But it's okay, I know he'll be back soon./

_{[ No, she doesn't know that for sure. ]}

[prpl_assistant]

/Ah, I'm sorry. I couldn't think of the word for it. Yes, I was meaning to say "drone."/

(So she was right. Someone dear to the waitress had been droned.)

/Someone told me that those who become drones get to go home. Maybe that's where he is now. So he does not have to suffer in Mayfield anymore./

(She really hoped that she could comfort her with her horrible Mandarin.)

[naicha]

/I know, I know./ _{[ She sighs. ]} /But I didn't expect him to go so soon. 'Cause... he said he wouldn't get droned! He said he wouldn't! And he's just, um, a really close friend./

_{[ She's not even sure if he did, but she wants to believe that he made such a promise. Then she could have someone to be angry at. ]}

[prpl_assistant]

/It would not have been his choice. Sometimes...people just have to go, not because they want to./

(She feels her throat constrict slightly. This sounds a bit too close to home for her as well.)

/I think...if he was your good friend, he would not have wanted to go. If he could have, he would have, umm...fought back very hard to stay, because he is your friend and he would not want to leave you. But Mayfield is like that, and we don't have much...much control. Maybe if he knew that he was going to be taken away, he would've done all he could to stop it./

[naicha]

/Yeah, he would've, wouldn't he? Hehe.../

_{[ There aren't any tears, but she sniffs. ]}

/I don't know...! No one's left now but I still have to see them everyday. It's not fair. Everyone's always leaving me behind and I know it's not their fault, it never is./

_{[ She says the last part quietly. ]}

[prpl_assistant]

/Life is never fair./

(Under the table, her hands grip each other tightly. She shows no outward sign of her own distress to the young miss though.)

/No one wants to be hurt, or left behind. But sometimes that just happens. All we can do is carry on.

I...I don't know whether this will help, but anyone who cares about you would never want to leave you, if they could help it. And like you said, maybe one day he'll come back. Or maybe, one day we'll all get out of Mayfield and go home together.

For me, I think that no one ever truly leaves you forever. They're just waiting for you to join them, that's all. But until then, all that we who were left behind can do, is to keep trying and to keep living, in a way that would make those who have left proud of us. So that when we meet again, we can smile and laugh together./

[naicha]

_{[ Her throat tightens as well. She's got to live on and on, she already knows that. It's what she's always been doing, but not in a place without Japan, or anyone she knew, for that matter. It's hard to accept, but like how she's dealt with loneliness before, she'll learn. ]}

/Right. It'll take some time, but I'll get over it soon! _{... We've got to keep living...} They'd never want to leave me? Really?/

[prpl_assistant]

/If they are your good friends, then no, they would never want to leave you. Like how you would not want to leave all your friends as well.

A wise woman I spoke to said that Mayfield wants to...break us. To make us sad and to make us give up. So I'm going to try my best not to be like that, even if Mayfield takes away all my friends. Because I know that someday, all of us will be able to go home; we just have to wait for that day.

I'm sure that you have other friends as well, friends who are worried about you and want to see you happy. Your friends who have left would not want to see you upset as well. They would want to see you happy, even in this sad place.

We can be sad for a while when people leave, because it IS sad, but then we have to carry on. For them and for those are still here, and for ourselves as well./

[naicha]

_{[ Taiwan understands all too well, but as a nation, she is still young, and youth just isn't used to this. Like a child that halfheartedly listens to the words of adults that have been repeated to her over and over again, Taiwan nods to get by. ]}

/Mm. I'll be fine by tomorrow.../

<sub>[ The truth is she'll probably forget she ever frowned by then.

... What Miss Pauling says about her friends never leaving her, that's something she wants to take to heart. She clenches a fist near her chest. ]</sub>

[prpl_assistant]

/Are you sure you'll be fine, Miss?/

(Miss Pauling doesn't believe that she'll be alright by then. Losing someone isn't something that you get over just like that; it takes time to heal.)

/If you still need someone to talk to, I'll be around. Just call./

[naicha]

_{[ And Miss Pauling's right about that. ]}

/Okay... Um, what's your name?/

[prpl_assistant]

/Miss Pauling. What is your name then?/

[naicha]

/Thank you, Miss Pauling. I'm Taiwan!/

[prpl_assistant]

/Taiwan?/

(She suddenly recalled that the young woman had earlier mentioned a "Hong Kong" as well. She must be one of the nations then.)

/Nice to meet you, Miss Taiwan. Do you come from the same home as Mr Lithuania, Miss Ukraine and Mr Russia?/

(She extends a hand, thought she had to admit, shaking hands with a country was not one of the things she'd ever imagine she'd do in her life.)

[naicha]

_{[ Taiwan shakes Miss Pauling's hand, though not as enthusiastically as she normally would. ]}

/Nice to meet you, too! Yeah, I am. I mean, we're not in the same area, but we're from the same world and stuff... A lot of people here don't know about us for some reason./

[prpl_assistant]

/Well, most...worlds don't have countries who are people at the same time. It was very strange to me at first when Mr Lithuania answered the phone the first time I came here./

[naicha]

/Ah, Lithuania! He's a nice guy. You should meet everyone else, too! There are a lot of us here, you know. Like America and Canada and Japan...

Oh. Oh yeah, hehe. Japan's not here anymore./

[prpl_assistant]

(She caught the change in tone and Taiwan's fake laughter when Japan got involved. It isn't hard to put two and two together to figure out which friend of her's just got droned.)

/I'm sorry. I didn't mean to remind you, Miss Taiwan./

[naicha]

_{[ Taiwan looks away. ]} /It's okay. It's not Miss Pauling's fault./ _{[ She's the one who keeps remembering. ]}

[prpl_assistant]

(Yeap. Definitely not going to be fine by tomorrow. There has to be a way to cheer her up...)

/...Miss Taiwan. Would you like to learn how to skate?/

(She's not that good at the comforting, unfortunately. But she knows that she can't let Taiwan think too much about it. Getting her preoccupied and too busy to think about Japan would help her at least get over it.)