Wish ~Yato x Reader AU~

Chapter 2: Tokyo

When I said I wanted to move to Tokyo, this was not how I expected things to go.

When I first left Osaka for Tokyo, I had painted a completely different image in my mind. One that was glamorized by the fantasized razzle-dazzle of glimmering neon lights and the hustling of the capital. I imagined finding an almost luxurious apartment in the heart of the city with a balcony that would overlook the bustling streets below. I anticipated having the time of my life in a city I had been thinking about since I moved to Japan, but that dream doesn't match the reality.

The reality is the exact opposite of what I've envisioned over the years. Instead of finding a nice apartment that overlooks the center of town, I am still staying at a cheap motel that is on the not so good side of Tokyo. Even the limelight of this lush city can't disguise this dark part of itself. Cheap, rundown motels. Grungy, dirty fast food joints. Sleazy, nasty nightclubs. Creepy, shady characters. Then again, that's just how it is. This is the cesspool of Tokyo.

I wish I could say I've been staying somewhere somewhat nice, but that'd be a lie. It'd also be a lie if I said I haven't been there very long because I've been here for almost two weeks. That's right. Almost fourteen full days I've been living in the city of my dreams and I'm not a single step closer to where I want to be. I'm practically homeless; the only thing separating me from that status being my temporary "home" in the motel. It may be not much, but at least it's not the streets. Though, after last night, I'm almost left wondering if the streets wouldn't be better.

My...neighbors had kept me up until the early morning hours. They had gone from drunkenly bantering back and forth to loudly -and tone deafly- singing to finally erotically moaning and groaning. Unfortunately, I heard every last light pant because of the measly paper-thin wall that separates us. And with those heavy breaths and breathless gasps, I have been left with the mental scar from my imagination picturing it all. It's not that I wanted to visualize two strangers wrapped in lust, but their volume forced me to. Against my will, my brain painted it all...sadly.

However, none of that currently matters. At this moment, with nothing but caffeine to power my sleep-deprived mind, I am ready. Ready to turn my luck around and hunt. Hunt for reassurance. Hunt for stability. Hunt for security. That's right. Today -much like the twelve days prior- I am on the prowl for a job.

Despite where I'm staying being cheap, it is still drawing from my meager savings. And with no occupation to replenish that dwindling fund, it's only a matter of time before my bank account reads a flat zero. Which goes without saying, I don't want to see. So, after twelve days of having no luck with even being able to grab an application due to them not hiring, I'm hoping luck will turn in my favor. I'm hoping that today will be the day that I snag something. Hopefully, anyway.

I shake those thoughts from my head and make my way across the street as the crosswalk signal flashes. My gaze scans the surrounding stores and restaurants which circles me. Hopes are high. There are so many places here that one of them is bound to be hiring. At least, that's what I choose to tell myself as I exhale a haggard breath. I'm tired and it's not just from my lack of sleep from last night. Stress and anxiety have taken a toll on me, but I'm hoping today that'll all change. Things will look up from here on out. That's all I need to believe.

I tighten my clutch on my bag's strap and exhale one more time, beginning for one of the stores. Here goes nothing.

***

It's hopeless.

Everywhere I went...everywhere I stopped by...they all met me with the same response. Not hiring.

Each time I heard those words, the more distressed I became until that anguish transformed into the utter devastation I feel now. Nowhere is hiring. Nowhere is even willing to so much as give me a single application because they aren't looking to bring new people onto their crews. No stores...no shops...no restaurants...no cafés...no cafeterias. Nowhere. Much like the days prior, I am still left with that same outcome. Hands empty and my pocket becoming lighter and lighter.