A few days went by after the small talk the mother-daughter tandem had with each other during the car ride home. Chiaki hadn't seen much of her mother during that span of time, Ara having been preoccupied with work as usual. It was a normal occurrence, so Chiaki was the least bit bothered by it.
The redhead was bothered, however, with the fact that she hadn't done anything particularly energetic the past few days, instead being holed up in her room, playing whatever games on whatever console she could grab, or otherwise drawing away on her tablet. Summer already began, and it was unusually quiet for her.
The reason for this was the fact that everyone was too busy doing their own thing to bother scheduling, much less plan, another family vacation. Even Chiaki's normally passive uncle Ross, who for hours on end would stay down in their gaming room, had agendas of his own to attend to.
During one silent dinner, Ara came home, looking slightly less tired than usual. The woman collapsed on the L-shaped couch, reclining and sighing deeply. Then she turned to her daughter, who sat down on a nearby velvet chair, a plate of half-eaten beef steak with rice set on the mahogany center table. Chiaki seemed to pretend to not notice her mother's arrival, gaze fixated on her phone screen, eyes half-lidded out of boredom.
"Hey," Ara began after a moment of silence. Chiaki grunted, acknowledging her mother's presence.
"I'll cut to the chase then," the woman continued. "How would you like to undertake Assignment 2205?"
"Excuse me?," Chiaki said. Her attention was still on the phone, but she had an eyebrow quirked. "You want me to what exactly?"
"You heard me," Ara repeated. "Do you want to take Assignment 2205?"
"And why would I do that?"
"Because frankly, I'm tired of you whining about doing nothing these past few days. Maybe a distraction is in order for you."
"Okay but... why me?"
"Well... you're kinda the only one available at the moment. That is, if you're willing to take it anyways."
"Suppose I do take it. Do I get paid for it?"
There was a moment of silence as Ara's face scrunched up in thought.
"You'll be rewarded rather... handsomely, I suppose," the woman said after a while, grinning slyly.
"How handsomely?"
"You'll see."
YOU ARE READING
A Saniwa's Duty
FanfictionCOMPLETED: 9-4-2020 Hurray for non-romantic stories with aruji. 'I never asked for this. Well, not directly anyways.' At least, that's what Chiaki keeps telling herself. This is the story of a young girl given a job with heavy responsibility: protec...
