At the Finish Line [Haiji Kiyose] - Run With the Wind

five - "university life"

Pulling her shoes on in the entrance hall, Chiyo balances her phone between her shoulder and ear. She groans, placing a hand on the doorframe to steady herself.

Hisa laughs from the other end of the phone. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to get my shoes on." She grunts, finally pulling them on her feet and opening the front door. She holds out her umbrella and opens it up once she steps outside.

Although not as hard as yesterday, the rain still pours and she carefully steps around the large muddy puddle out the front of the house.

"Is it raining in Saitama?" She asks her sister.

"How about you come here and tell me for yourself?" Hisa replies. "I thought you were getting here late last night?"

Whilst she's nine years older than Chiyo and they don't see each other often, Hisa has always been Chiyo's sister. She's the daughter of Chiyo's father from his previous marriage and the two met when Chiyo was very young. Hisa lives in Saitama with her husband and two young children --Chiyo became a half-aunt when she was 15-years-old.

Hisa has offered for Chiyo to stay with her in the past plenty of times when their father pushes her buttons. So Chiyo took up her sister's offer yesterday afternoon when he blew up in her face and he stopped paying for her housing.

Chiyo huffs. "Yeah, I thought so too. But, change of plans... I think."

"What do you mean a change of plans? I want to see my baby sister!" Hisa pouts.

Smirking, Chiyo walks down the road in the direction of the town, umbrella in hand. "You miss me that bad? How sweet of you!"

"Not if you're going to be a brat about it." Hisa shakes her head. "But what's changed? You're still quitting University, right?"

"Oh yeah, without a doubt," Chiyo tells her, noticing a vending machine down the road and she fumbles in her pocket for change. "White coffee or melon soda?"

"What?"

Chiyo holds out the coins in her palm. "I'm by a vending machine."

"You didn't have a good night?" Hisa questions.

She sighs. "Every day, Hisa."

"You're lucky you have a job with all this money you waste on those machines." Hisa sighs. "Well, get the coffee then, I guess. I didn't sleep well either if that makes you feel better?"

Narrowing her eyes, Chiyo balances her phone as she inserts the coins into the machine, pressing the buttons on the machine. "I don't appreciate the sympathy card from you --it doesn't even sound like you mean it."

Hisa sneers. "What? I'm not trying to sympathise with you! I didn't sleep well because I've got a three-year-old wetting the bed and a six-year-old in nursery. Being a parent is tough!"

"Oh, and being 21 isn't hard?" Chiyo jokes. "I got the melon soda and seaweed crackers, by the way."

Hisa tuts. "That's from your mother's side, drinking sugary drinks. You French love that stuff."

Stuffing the rest of the change back in her pocket, Chiyo twists the cap and takes a sip of the soda before grabbing the phone from her shoulder. "Why do you say 'you French' like we're a whole other life form?"

"Anyway," Hisa rolls her eyes at her sister on the other end of the phone. "Can you just tell me what's made you change your mind?"

"I've not changed my mind, I'm still quitting Kansei," Chiyo tells her. "But I might not be with you until Monday afternoon... I think?"