ーEmi was thrilled. She dug through the dresses in the closet that had been two meters or so away from her bed. She held onto the hangers and tossed them left to right, leaving a sound of soft metal being scraped together, though this sound was not painful to listen to.
Her dresses flew and flew and flew. Emi was so indecisive about the dress she was going to wear that day. There was a pink dress, a white dress, and a light-blue dress. She wanted to wear them all but knew she wouldn't be able to. She soon gave up and just sat on her floor, pouting. Her arms were crossed and her lips were tucked together tightly. She was still in her bunny pajamas so anybody that would see her in this state wouldn't be able to take her seriously.
"Oh well. I can just wear a skirt with a nice shirt. Just like mommy," She got up slowly and walked towards her drawers. Inside the drawers, there were a lot of skirts followed up with an empty spot that appeared to be where the pajamas lived. She looked around the inside of the drawer, trying to find the best skirt.
Her favorite skirt had already been used earlier that week. Her dad would occasionally take her out to the park or even dinner, so that meant she had to get fancy. Sure, Hiroko and Emi were keeping today's event a secret from the dad, not because they didn't want him to come along or because it was a special event that he couldn't attendーalmost like a surprise birthday partyーbut because if he found out, he would've been pissed enough to hurt them both. Of course, Hiroko wasn't scared of her husband, she was just scared that Emi would have to go through the pain of being abused and violated with violence caused by the father. She never wanted to see her daughter in that state. Then again, this was their last day together so why wouldn't they go out secretly? It's the last chance they'll ever get, yet, Emi didn't know about this at the time. All she thought was that they were going on another secret hangout.
Hiroko's husbandーEmi's dadーwas not entirely abusive. This act just started around a few years after Emi was born. Some people in this situation would scorn their child because of the sudden change in their partner's personality, but Hiroko has grown to love Emi more than anything in this world, more than her husband. Emi's dad had begun to be abusive nearly around the same time that Emi could walk and talk, and even do her things, so she already began to attend school when everything had begun to happen. It's not that he hated Emi or Hiroko, he just wanted Emi to act more like a boy. He had always wanted a boy, yet, Emi was a girl. So, now that being said, everything seems to be piecing together, in the past and the present. The reason why KazuoーEmi's dadーcouldn't just have another child with Hiroko was that on the seventh or so a month that Emi was in Hiroko's belly, Hiroko could have had a miscarriage. And Kazuo would hate to go through that, even if the baby was another girl. Even Kazuo had a soft spot in his heart, sometimes. This means that Kazuo had to put up with having a daughter, which wasn't all that bad as long as they did boy activities. And doing those activities made him really happy, so happy that Emi didn't want to feel guilty of making him unhappy. So she had one of the biggest jobs as little as six years old. She was the key to her mother's happiness and her father's happiness. The only problem was that both of the keyholes had two different shapes, so that meant her one key wasn't going to be good enough. Any normal little kid wouldn't be able to handle such a hardship like this. Yet, Emi is still strong to this day, even if she has blinded herself.
ーEmi had finally found a great skirt in her drawer. Her mom had checked up on her as she went to refill a glass up with water. She saw how hard she was struggling then gave her some words of encouragement. Emi, oddly, had found the right skirt right after her mom had left. Either way, it made her lose her stress and she slipped into the skirt. Then she just put on her shirt and buttoned it up, all on her own. She was finally ready, well, except that she had to do her hair and freshen up. So she went to do that as soon as she saw herself in the mirror.
"ーHey Emi! Are you getting ready, in there?" Hiroko had asked her. She was waiting outside the restroom door, struggling to put her stockings on. She hung over to her left as her left leg was squished together against her torso. She used both her index fingers to hold the hem of the stocking and she pulled it all the way up, making the color semi-fade from dark gray mixed with the color of her thick thighs, which was a silky, creamy peachy-white.
"Yes, mommy. What about you, are you almost ready?" Emi brushed her hair back. As she looked at herself in the mirror, she almost tumbled to the ground, due to the unstable stool she was standing on. Her body jerked to her right and she swayed to the left to regain her balance, her hair flowing in the warm sunlight that had swum through the air of the bathroom. Emi didn't flinch at this sudden change of balance because of the fact that she had been in this very same scenario a bunch of times in the past, not just to get ready for secret hangouts with her mom, but also hangouts with her dad and preparations for school, in the morning. She didn't usually comb her hair down when she went out with her dad, instead, she tied her hair back as if wearing an incomplete bun that made her head look like a carrot and her hair the green leafy part of the carrot. Almost like one of the characters from a ninja anime that she and her dad would watch together at night when it aired.
"Of course I'm ready. I woke up minutes before you, you know," Hiroko clenched and shook her hand as she squinted her eyes, giving her a face that looked angry. But that completely failed and made her look more cute than angry. And it definitely didn't help when she almost fell to the floor due to the loss of her balance. She was standing on one leg, her right leg, after all.
"Yes, yes, mommy. You are much faster than I am," Emi admitted with a small, little cute grin. She looked at herself in the mirror after a few more minutes. She narrowed her eyes and opened a wide, cheeky smile, "Hee Hee Hee. I'm ready now, mommy!" Emi ran out the bathroom door, which was closed.
"Well, well. Would you look at that? You look just like your mother when she was a little girl," Hiroko smiled widely. She couldn't take her eyes off of her daughter. Their resemblance, at the same age, was nothing to laugh about. They really were mother and daughter, there was no mistake about it.
Emi had walked out slowly, after running towards the door. She had her hands tied in knots behind her. She looked at her mom and said, "So you think I look good, mommy?", she asked then left her mouth open as if she were ready to respond to her as soon as she answered.
"Of course! Why wouldn't you look good?" Hiroko smiled even bigger as a few giggles left her mouth. She was filled with joy, and the temptations of leaving and going out weren't helping at all. "Alright then, let's go now," Hiroko walked towards the front of the house and grabbed her shoes which were on the floor near the door.
Both of the girls slipped on their shoes for the day, Emi had her little backpack on, in case she got tired of holding things. Meanwhile, Hiroko grabbed her purse, near the door, and swung it onto her right shoulder. Hiroko flung the door open, and as she did, the cool, morning Japan airbrushed both of their hair back like waves of ocean water on a warm, summer day.
"It's quite cool today. Isn't it, mommy?" Emi spoke to her mom.
"Sure is," Hiroko said calmly. "Now, here we go!" She took the first step outside the house.
"Mother's outfit consists of straight, tied hair. Oval shaped earrings that look like the moon, a white dress shirt under her favorite black sweatshirt, a tight wrap-around dark gray skirt, black stockings and boots that look fuzzy," Emi went on in her best robot impression as she stepped out, moving her body as if it were missing some oil in her joints.
"And my daughter's outfit consists of straight, short hair. A pink dress shirt, knee-length black puffy skirt, and short-heel shoes.... waitー you're wearing heels?!" Hiroko stopped her robot voice in order to exclaim at Emi. She was shocked by her choice of shoes and sort of jumped back because of it. Hiroko's hair bounced up as soon as she yelped. Her right arm was against the open door, while her left arm hung over her breasts. As for her legs, her left was arched upwards, and her right angled her toward the right. And her torso just twisted a little bit in the direction she was leaning towards.
"Sure am, mommy!" Emi sounded very proud of herself, even though later she would regret even looking at the heels at the beginning of the day.
"Emi, you're going to regret that later, trust me, I would know," Hiroko insisted to her daughter. Hiroko couldn't be any closer to the truth. Hiroko has been a young girl for a while and now she is an adult. And she has never gone a day where she didn't take off her heels at least once during a hangout or trip.
"Nope! I'm going to wear them all day and not complain," Emi seemed sure of herself. As she said this, she had her wrists on her hips and pouted with her lips and narrow eyebrows as her head tilted slightly upward, facing the bright, morning sun.
"Alright, fine. Take them, but don't complain to me once they start hurting your feet. I won't help you nor let you take them off," Hiroko chuckled with a devilish smile and sharp fangs. Her stance had changed to nearly the same stance Emi was in. Hiroko had her wrists on her hips, as well.
Cold sweat appeared on Emi's forehead. She hesitated at the beginning of her next sentence, "Um. Yeah. I won't be complaining at all! You'll see I'll wear them all dayー".
"ーUhhhh. Mommyyyy. My feet hurttttt," Emi slurred her words as her eyes seemed moody but tired at the same time. She swung her arms left to right as she took uneven long and short steps. Her back was hunched forward and her hair was messy for the tired effect.
"See! I told you, you would be tired of it and then start complaining," Hiroko smiled proudly as a tear accumulated at the corner of her left eye, which was interesting because Emi was stumbling on the left side of Hiroko. It's as if her non-sadness tears were attracted towards Emi.
"Yeah.. Ok. Do you want a cookie or something?!" Emi clenched her fist, and had almost the exact same face Hiroko had earlier, just, instead of the smile with fangs it was a frown with fangs. Emi was a bit upset that she seized on the truth of her mother. She was hoping that she would prove herself to Hiroko this day, but maybe not, hopefully, another day.
It has been a few hours since Hiroko and Emi had left the house that morning. They went shopping in a bunch of stores, and now they were heading to lunch. Well not really lunch since it was closer to dinner time. They had, yet, some more shopping, then they were going to head to an arcade to finish off the day and get back home before Kazuoーagain, Emi's fatherーgot back home from work.
So far, Emi had bought a couple of items from her favorite animes. Such as a straw hat with a green ribbon, a little magical cat plushie that had the name Pucc and a manga that was about a teenage girl learning how to be a murderer at an academy in Japan. It was called something like "Dying"… or maybe "Dead"… "school"? "Institution"?? Emi would easily forget some things when pain occupied her mind.
"Oooo, a cookie would be nice! But we're about to eat lunch-dinner," Hiroko pointed out. She kept on walking forward, with her eyes closed and some drool dripped from her lip. She must really want a cookie. Chocolate-chip cookies were one of her favorites.
"OOO! Can we get chocolate-chip cookies for dessert?!" Emi had exclaimed as if all her pain had gone away in an instant. She jumped up forwards and grew a giant smile and a few strokes of blush on her cheek. Her eyes sparkled as well.
"Hmmm. I'll think about it. Well I already know I'M getting one, I still have to think about getting you one," Hiroko had smirked arrogantly as she shrugged her shoulders and faced her palms to the sky.
"What?! That's totally not fair!!" Emi shouted, almost loud enough to catch the attention of the other civilians walking around them. She threw her hands down to her sides and pouted.
"Yes it is! You're the one complaining even after I told you not to wear those heels. And guess what?! You totally wore them anyway, I have to teach you a lesson anyway. So totally fair!" Hiroko crossed her arms and looked to her right as she pouted with her eyes closed.
"Totally is not!!" Emi kept on jumping up and down angrily, almost tripping herself on the concrete sidewalk that wrapped around all over Tokyo's surface.
Both Hiroko and Emi didn't notice, as they walked to a nearby restaurant, the figure following them from afar.
ーEmi sat across from Hiroko at a two-seat table. Emi just ordered her typical mild-spicy yakisoba(やきそば) and Hiroko had ordered, something she hasn't tried, surprisingly, sukiyaki(すきやき). Both of their plates had noodles in them, but to be more specific, Emi's had some shrimp, octopus, cabbage, and more than usual spicy ingredients to top it off. Every time Emi went in for a bite, she held the chopsticks in her right hand and held a small bowl of rice in her left, then grabbed the noodles and other ingredients with the chopsticks. Then she would blow on it one or two times then place it in her mouth. She slurped it quietly and slowly to make sure it didn't come to her fast enough to smack her in the face and then leave droplets of the sauce flying through the air. She didn't want to get dirty after being clean for the whole day, so far. Although her method of eating kept her from getting messy, it did give the noodles a lot of time to let the hot sauce soak into Emi's lips which had made it tingle quite a bit. It didn't bother her too much, as long as she didn't get dirty.
As for Hiroko's dish, it contained fatty beef, vegetables, tofu, and the noodles that were simmered in the essence of sweet sauce. The aroma of the dish gave off a tingly feeling in the nose, and this same smell pulled in Hiroko's mouth towards the bowl and her chopsticks, she couldn't get enough of the hook, so she went in for the bait. The dish was so fulfilling that she couldn't help but lose her posture and slump back into the chair. She continued holding the chopsticks in her right hand as she rested her left hand on her left cheek, she was blushing all over with happiness. The noodles were so warm and let off some steam, while the vegetables completed the emptiness on the tip of her tongue. The juice that was soaked inside of the vegetables pushed all the food into the back of her mouth as if it were a wave. It truly was an amazing dish for her.
"Oh myyyy. Thisー This is amazing!! Would you like a taste, Emi?" Hiroko couldn't enjoy this plate all by herself. She had to share the amazingness with her daughter. She straightened her back, again. And grabbed another clump with her chopsticks, she then extended her arm across the table towards Emi.
"Oh. Alright," Emi went in for a bite. She slowly put her mouth on the noodles and tried to slurp it slowly, like how she did with her own dish. But the second the noodle touched the inside of her lip, she was surprised and slurped it all up. Her eyes dilated and she blushed just how Hiroko had a few seconds ago. "Wow! That's amazing, mommy!!" Emi really loved the noodles. The taste had hit her almost the way it had hit Hiroko, but she didn't taste the vegetables or other ingredients that swam throughout the bowl.