Behind the Mask

D-day

Today was D-day of the staged Kaiju attack, but it started like any normal day. My family and I sat around the breakfast table, the morning light filtering in through the window. Chiho and Juri were whispering excitedly about a show they had stayed up late watching last night while my mother ate slowly next to me.

The breeze blew the curtains gently, the city spread before me. In a few hours, Gigantron would march through those streets, leaving chaos and destruction in its wake. Wasn't this technically a crime? Planning the destruction of the city just to save my boyfriend?

I shoved some rice into my mouth. It would only be a problem if we were caught, and we weren't going to get caught. By this time tomorrow, maybe it would all be over. Maybe Kenji would be free, and I could turn my attention to the child custody battle. I glanced at the mantelpiece where the papers sat. The thought of Daichi having any part of Chiho's life upset me even further.

I sighed, pushing the rice around on my plate. This was the only way, I told myself. The only way to save Kenji and protect my family. The only way to keep Daichi at bay and maintain the fragile balance of our lives. Ultraman had to appear today, and he had to save the city.

I took a deep breath and pushed my thoughts aside.

When I was done eating, I cleared up my plate and my mother's. Chiho was still eating, her cheeks bulging. I smiled at her. "Don't take too long," I said.

"Okay mama," she said, but since she had a lot of food in her mouth, it came out more like, "Ophay mahma."

"Don't talk with your mouth full," I said, stroking her head before I headed into the kitchen.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. With my unemployment status now official, I found myself in a state of limbo, unsure of what to do with my life. I had some money saved up, enough to allow me to not work for a while, but I had to think of the custody battle too. No judge would want to give me Chiho if I didn't have the means to take care of her, and I was sure Daichi's lawyer would want to take advantage of this.

I opened my laptop and began looking up journalist jobs, narrowing my search to sports. Despite everything, I still wanted to work in sports. I enjoyed it. After a while, I had a list of five jobs on the market, only two with good enough salaries. Moving on to the next step, I began updating my resume before I started applying.

There was a knock at my bedroom door. I paused and called, "Come in."

Juri walked in, smiling. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Looking for a new job," I replied, not taking my eyes off the screen.

"Already bored of unemployment?" she teased.

"Not really," I said, "but I'm going to need a stable stream of income if they're going to let me keep Chiho. If I can get a job before the court date, it will be fine."

"Have you considered not working for someone else?"

I glanced up at her, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Well," she said, walking over to sit beside me, "with the whole drama surrounding you and Ken Sato, I noticed you've gained quite a lot of followers."

I nodded. A lot of people wanted to show their support. Giants fans, Ultraman fans...there were a lot. I considered putting my account on private at some point because of the notifications, but I didn't want anyone to think I was hiding.

Juri nodded. "Exactly. So, why not take advantage of it? What if you started blogging? You could write about sports."

"Me? A blogger?"