生き甲斐 (ikigai)
(n.) A reason for being; having a sense of purpose in life and a feeling of well-being.
𝘐𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩...
A girl who joined the Astral Express, trying to run away from her strict mother. She found friends and a better...
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𝖭𝗈 𝗈𝗇𝖾'𝗌 𝖯.𝖮.𝖵.
"So, my dear, Y/N, how was your study today? Did you finish the assignments that mommy gave you?", the red-haired woman asked her daughter. The daughter looked up momentarily before answering her mother's question with a simple 'Yes, mother.'.
The young girl take a bite of the food before looking outside of the window of the dining area. From afar, she can see the Qlipoth Fort, the said heart of Belobog, the City of Preservation.
"Did you also finished your training?", the mother asked as her daughter answered with another simple 'Yes, mother.'. "That's great. I expect nothing less than my daughter. Now, finish up your dinner. After that, you need to get ready to go to sleep. You need to get your eight hours of sleep, after all", her mother ordered.
The girl finished her dinner before heading to her bedroom. The girl changed into her pyjamas before slumping her exhausted body to the plush bed.
"*sigh* I wish I can run away from all of these...", the red-haired girl mumbled to herself, hugging one of the pillow arranged on her queen-sized bed. She looked out of the window of her room as she saw the view of the only forest in Jarilo-VI.
From afar she can see a train broken down as a red-haired woman was fixing it. 'Hmm... I'm pretty sure I haven't seen that woman around.' She let her eyes wandered a little more as she saw a man, probably in his middle age; checking the condition of the train. 'Even that man she's with... This must be the Astral Express that mother mentioned before during lunch yesterday.'
'According to the meeting that mother and Lady Cocolia had yesterday, the Astral Express had made a sudden stop at Jarilo-VI because of a technical problem with their warping mechanism alongside their engine after a rough fight at their previous stop', the girl thought, laying her head on the window sill. She watched as the red-haired woman and the middle-aged man fixing their train.
𝖭𝖾𝗑𝗍 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝗇𝗂𝗇𝗀
A knock was heard from the door of the girl's bedroom, waking the girl up. The girl opened her eyes, realising that she had fallen asleep while watching the Astral Express being fixed.
"Lady Y/N. Please wake up and get ready. The madame will be waiting at the dining area."
She glanced outside of the window, to see that the Astral Express is almost fixed. She stood up from her sitting position before fixing her bed. She did her daily routine before heading out to the dining area.
The 16-years-old girl walked into the dining area as her butler pulled out a chair for her to sit on. Her mother was already seated in front of her as a maid bring in a trolley of their food. The maid served their food as the mother and daughter have their breakfast.
After breakfast, the red-haired girl walked to her study room. On her way, she saw the same red-haired woman from last night checking on the Astral Express's condition before continuing her walk to her study room.
𝖫𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗇𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍
The red-haired girl decided to sneak out of her room that night to have a closer look of the Astral Express. She climbed down the window of her room using her bed sheets that she tied together before landing on the ground.
She walked into the snowy forest as she saw the Astral Express and the red-haired woman from yesterday. The woman; feeling the girl's appearance turns her body around to face her. "Oh, what can I help you with, miss?", the red-haired woman asked. "I'm just curious about the Astral Express. So, how is its condition?", Y/N asked.
"It was damaged quite badly, but we're almost done with the repairs. We might need a few more days to fix it. Say, you weren't here because you're just curious, right?", the woman asked, catching the girl off-guard. "...You're right. I'm not just curious. My name is Y/N Rosehearts. I'm... wondering if could join your Astral Express", Y/N said, getting straight to the point.
"Well, my name is Himeko, the navigator of the Astral Express. The man over there is Welt Yang, my companion", the woman, now known as Himeko said, pointing at the man, now known as Welt Yang. "Well, anyone is welcome at the Express. We'll be here for the next three days. We'll be waiting for you, Miss Rosehearts", Himeko said before going back to fixing the Express.
The teenager only watched as Himeko struggled to fix a part on the Express's wheel. "That one should go over there", Y/N stated as Himeko did what she said, successfully fixing the wheel. "Thank you for the help", Himeko said with a smile. "It's... no big problem. It just slips out sometimes", Y/N stated, taffy dusting her cheeks as she covers her face with her hand.
The red-haired girl looked at the watch she's wearing, seeing that it's almost midnight. "I-I need to get back now. Please excuse me", the girl stuttered before walking away.
"Isn't she a sweet one, Welt? I really hope she would join the Express", Himeko hoped, looking at Welt. "She sure is. *sigh*. Let's call it a day for now. We both need sleep", Welt said, standing up from his crouching position.
𝖳𝗁𝗋𝖾𝖾 𝖽𝖺𝗒𝗌 𝗅𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗋
It's currently Y/N's bedtime as she packed her stuff, finally deciding to run away from her mother's controlling grasp. The girl opened the window to the garden as she threw out the bed sheets that she had tied.
Y/N climbed down the bed sheets as she walked to the forest where the Astral Express is. The girl saw the train with Himeko waiting outside.
Himeko saw her as the woman waved at her. She waved back awkwardly as she held her duffle bag in one hand and a staff that her mother gave her on her 13th birthday in another hand.
"Welcome to the Astral Express, Miss Y/N."
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