Starlight

Prologue 2 - Hard Home (Mei POV)

"Eugh..."

I peer up from behind my newspaper, Elysia is hoisted onto the counter on her knees scouring the cupboard for snacks. "Ely what are you doing?" I inquire jokingly, how is she always hungry?

"Where's all the rice cakes!.. We don't even have any instant ramen!" She replies sitting back on her heels in defeat. I can't help but let out a chuckle "Get down from there, you're gonna hurt yourself!" I get up from my seat and help her down from the counter top, she's just recently become tall enough to see over the counter now and I can't get her to stay off it... Time to hide the food elsewhere.

"We might have some soy sauce still..." I murmur to myself, Elysia lets out a pouty sigh and walks to sit down at the table, she picks up the newspaper and examines it closely. "Where's the cartoons Big Sis?" She asks. I follow her to the table and peek over her shoulder, "Well today's newspaper doesn't seem to have them this time." I reply. Truthfully that newspaper is from last week and I found it still sealed in its thin plastic casing on the side of the road by the rice fields this morning. She looks at the words inscribed on the paper with a puzzled expression across her face. "Can't you read me the stories then at least?" She says, the defeat in her voice is palpable, she really likes the comic strips. I snatch the newspaper up and stand across from her, "Just a bunch of boring grown up stuff! I'll tell you a fun story later!" She shrugs her shoulders and nods softly. I'm sure she's grown bored of our little routine by now, she's a growing girl and I'm entering adulthood soon myself, I need to find ways to stimulate her so she doesn't get stunted... As I ponder different ways to make life a bit more exciting, a crude knock at the door echoes down the hall.

"A visitor!" Elysia exclaims, she hops up from her chair and bounds down the hallway. "Ely wait!" I run after her and as I turn the corner see she's already opened the front door, standing before her are 3 tall men in fancy grey clothing. "Is your mother home?" I hear faintly from outside. "No but my big sis is here!" Elysia replies naively, it's just occurred to me that I clearly haven't stressed the concept of stranger danger to her before now. I quickly approach the door and pull Elysia inside behind me. "What do you need?" I ask, closing the door slightly between us.

"Hello ma'am, are you able to speak for a moment?" The strange man in the center asks, tilting his head slightly to peer through the crack in the door at me. "What for?"

"Your house."

I take a few steps back and open the door wider, "Come inside." The 3 men follow me through the house and take a seat at the kitchen table. "Can I get you three anything to drink?" I ask. One of the henchmen look as if he's going to reply before the main man cuts in. "That won't be necessary, this won't take but a moment." He replies, glancing around the room with disdain in his face. You can tell these guys aren't used to this standard of living, they smell like starch and cologne.

"My name is Mr. Hattori, We are here to discuss repossessing your home." He says bluntly, interlacing his fingers together, his posture is so poised.

"Repossess?" I inquire, not quite sure what he's getting at.

"Miss..." He glances down at his file before continuing. "Hanada, your parents died here 3 years ago, are you aware they didn't leave the home to you before their passing?" He says, the words coming from his mouth rain on me like bullets but to him, this is just another day on the job.

"What do you mean? The house belonged to my parents, it belongs to me now, right?" I reply, trying to restrain the panic in my voice. Mr. Hattori takes a deep sigh and flips through a few more pages leisurely. "Well miss Hana-" I cut him off abruptly, "Mei is fine."

He purses his lips and leans back in his seat. "Mei." He takes a brief pause before continuing for sarcastic emphasis... Can't stand pretentious jerks like this. "Your parents do not actually own the land in which your home is on and we haven't received payment since they passed, imagine our surprise recently to find they've passed without so much as formal death certificates?" His tone has progressed from dismissive to threatening.

"A few kind people in the community helped lay my parents to rest, I didn't find it necessary to tell anyone they passed. I've lived here alone since they died you can't just come take our house!" I say, this time the desperation in my voice is unavoidable. Out of the corner of my eye, a bushel of pink hair peers from around the door way, she's so nosy. "Well not alone, I take care of my little sister here too... We wouldn't have anywhere else to go."

"Forgive me miss Hana-.. ahem, Mei. But this situation is beyond us at this point, you can pick up the payments and pay back what your parents owe us or unfortunately you'll have to leave."

"Surely we can pay it off right? I'll work the rice fields solo if I have to, as long as we can stay." The idea of leaving the one place that has kept us safe from the world all these years... I'm not leaving that easily.

"Mei your land hasn't been used for farming since your parents died. It would cost more than you have now to prepare for the season, not to mention we would need to wait till next harvest before we would ever see the 'potential' payout of your harvest... which might I add won't be enough to pay what is owed. Do us a favor and make this easy for everyone... Including your little sister, start over somewhere fresh." The strange man taps his finger against the tables edge, he's a jerk but he seems visibly uncomfortable with this conversation... Maybe he has a conscience after all?

"Somewhere fresh... Tell me sir, how fresh are the underpasses in the city this time of year? I'm sure the wafting smell of sewage is lovely!" All three of the men look considerably taken back by my sarcastic outburst, maybe I went too far. I reposition myself in my chair nervously and try my hardest to regain composure. "I apologize... I just need you to understand that there is no 'fresh start' for us..." I rest my hand against my forehead, this entire situation is draining me already and I haven't even begun planning on how I intend to take care of Elysia and I.

"We know this isn't an easy situation to be in. We are truly apologetic, we wish the best for you." The three men rise from their seats and prepare for the door.

"Hey where are you going?" I follow them into the hallway frantically trying to nudge between them to block the door way. "Listen there's got to be a compromise we can make here, right guys?" They don't even look my way and continue emotionlessly walking towards the door.

"Good day Miss Hanada." Mr Hattori says bluntly before exiting with his two silent colleagues. I grit my teeth and stick my upper body through the front door way, holding myself inside by the frame. "You're not taking my damn house!! And it's MEI!" I yelled angrily, thinking that'll show them... If I didn't know better I'd say they're just scammers here to take advantage of a young girl and her even younger sister... Come next month we will be living here issue free I'm sure of it, they can't just take our house, is that even legal?!

I push away all the messy thoughts clogging my mind and retreat to the living room to rest my nerves for a bit. Elysia is waiting quietly on the floor beside the couch, her head is resting on her arm which is leaned against the sofa cushion, she looks just as exhausted as I am. "Oh Ely..." I murmur before plopping down into our old couch, the springs creak loudly underneath my weight.

"Are they going to steal our house big sis?"

I open my eyes gently to see fluffy headed Elysia looking up at me from the floor, I've never seen a kid that young look so stressed. "No Ely... They're just some conmen who are trying to scare us!" I reply, massaging between my eyebrows with my index finger and thumb. She leans back into the couch cushion beside me and lets out an adorably tiny sigh "Whew okay, I don't wanna leave." She says.

"Me neither."