kiko |alice in borderland [on hold]

ii.

kiko's point of view
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As always, the world never worked in Kiko's favour. The girl couldn't believe her luck -or, in this case, lack thereof- when her phone started ringing right in the middle of her busy shift.

As usual, the phone was safely tucked away in her bag just under the main counter, and, luckily for her, her aunt had gone out to eat lunch with her equally insufferable friends. Otherwise, she would be snooping around the phone while cussing Kiko out for being irresponsible and a brat.

How that related to a simple phone receiving calls and texts, Kiko would never understand.

Instead of allowing her curious self to take a break, Kiko continued with her chore. The young woman had been wiping the floor off of any trace of human hair while her coworker cut one of their customer's hair. Not a bad chore for someone who enjoyed cleaning a little too much to be considered a hobby.

While she wiped and cleaned, her phone kept buzzing and ringing with text after text, random calls, and possibly a couple of emails too. Who they were from? The girl had no idea as she would be burned alive if her boss -and aunt- found her glued to her phone instead of glued to the broom.

In her head, Kiko tried to guess who was trying to reach her so desperately. She wasn't a very sociable person and her social media platforms mirrored that: yes, she had an Instagram account like any other person her age. However, notifications were turned off and she barely interacted with anyone there. At least not willingly.

Kuina was an exception to that. If she needed anything, all she had to do was stick her head outside the salon's door. Her best friend would never spam her phone like that unless she had found the perfect meme to send her. And even that didn't require such intense spamming.

The broom was still scooping hair from the floor, Kiko's hands and arms working on autopilot as her thoughts guided her back to the phone. It was silent at the moment, it had been like that for about ten minutes until she acknowledged the deafening silence.

Perhaps, whoever was trying to reach her so desperately had simply quit.

Her mind was once again snatched from the object when her aunt reentered the salon, her despicable friends following behind like ants running after a sugar cube. Looking around, Kiko realised that she was alone, her coworker taking a break outside after finishing their last customer's hair.

Kiko hadn't been slacking but her aunt needed to look bossy and bitchy in front of her little followers. So she did the unthinkable.

And slapped Kiko in the face.

"I've been gone for hours and this floor is still a mess." The older woman laughed sarcastically while the three minions behind her copied the sound. "What have you been doing?"

Kiko's mouth was hanging wide open, yet no words escaped from her parted lips due to the pure shock the girl was feeling. Her aunt had never physically attacked her; verbally, nearly every single day with insults regarding her good-for-nothing mother and her deceased father. But the older woman had never laid a hand on her niece.

That was why Kiko merely turned around, placed the broom near the counter, and left to tend to the dirty towels near the back door. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears, still listening to the hammering sound of her aunt's screechy laugh while the woman shared mischievous looks with her friends.