[Creative Writing] The Girl in White Shoes #ShirokumaLiteratureClub

Akari Motomiya kicked off her white shoes and threw them at the man.

"Stalker, get lost."

The shoes hit the man's shoulder and disappeared somewhere. I really picked a bad time to step outside. It was my break from my part-time job at the cafe 'Hourglass.' I had just stepped out the back door to get some fresh air, and this happens. Who is that guy? I can't just ignore the word 'stalker,' but if he's a violent person, I don't want to get involved. No, it's not that I'm okay with Akari being stalked or anything.

"Should I call the police?"

I asked a safe question.

"What do you want to do? Dad? Kizaki says he'll call the police for you."

"Wait, Dad? Is that guy Akari's father?"

"Biologically, yes. Legally, no."

"So your parents got divorced?"

"Yeah."

"Even if they're divorced, doesn't he still remain your father legally...?"

My voice trailed off. I couldn't say for sure. Am I really a law student?

"If that's the case, then the law is wrong. You hear me, Dad? Go home, just go home. If you come to the shop again, I'll throw a kitchen knife at you."

If it were Akari, she would do it. It seemed her father understood that too. Muttering things like, 'Akari, let's talk, I just want to talk...' his body retreated, and eventually, he vanished into the night city.

Akari let out a sigh and leaned against the shop wall. I walked over to where the man had been standing and checked the ground. The white shoes stood out against the dim asphalt. I picked them up. They looked expensive. At 'Hourglass,' Akari is thought of as a stylish person. People say things like, 'That's an art student for you.' They talk about her sense of color and so on. To me, it just looks like eccentric fashion, but I have no intention of arguing with them.

"Here."

I handed the shoes to Akari.

"Thanks."

"Does that guy want to talk to you, Motomiya?"

Since it was awkward to stay silent, I asked that. Knowing Akari, if she didn't want to answer, she wouldn't.

"It's annoying, isn't it? It seems like he started missing his daughter after getting dumped by his younger girlfriend or something."

"Could it be that they divorced because of your father's affair?"

I couldn't help but think that asking such a question showed the kind of thick-skinned audacity you'd expect from an entertainment reporter, but I couldn't stop my curiosity. My own parents are neither close nor distant; they're the kind of people you're never quite sure are even there. I can't even imagine throwing a shoe at my own father. It's not because I like him, but because I don't have that much emotion toward him at all. Akari's passion is almost enviable. Even if it is a negative kind of passion.
Even if it is a negative kind of passion.

"It's not like that. My dad is..."

Akari looked like she was about to launch into a long story, but then she suddenly checked her smartphone as if she'd just remembered something.

"I have to go."

It seemed her break was over. Akari put on the white shoes she had been holding in her hand.

"Now that I think about it, I'm glad they got divorced. My dad had such nouveau-riche tastes that I ended up attending an elementary school attached to a prestigious girls' university."

"...Prestigious..."

That was definitely a word at the opposite end of the spectrum from Akari.

"We'd have tea parties as kids, saying things like, 'These Pierre Hermé macarons are simply divine, aren't they?' I can't even believe myself that I thought that world was normal."

With a laugh, Akari headed toward the back exit.
I had thought she was just a rough, cheerful, and carefree person who had never known hardship, but it seems Akari has her own circumstances. Even if a parent is someone you're not sure is even there, a parent is still a parent. To think she has to shout 'stalker' at someone like that—she's really going through a lot, too. Thinking this, I watched Akari's back as she disappeared through the back exit. Next time her father shows up, I'll talk to him. I even thought that, but immediately scolded myself. 'Pity is akin to love'—if you pity them, you're in love with them. A senior from my high school days used to say that (Note 1). It means that sympathy is easily converted into love.
Just the other day, I felt sympathy for Iizuka-san, who worked so hard despite being clumsy. The girl who turned out to be stealing money from the register. Akari knows I was about to fall for Iizuka-san. If I were to fall for her now, she'd surely be disgusted by what a fickle man I am.
Good grief. Should I mutter 'stray sheep'? That's another phrase my senior taught me. Stray sheep, stray sheep. A fitting word for me right now... but somehow, I'm getting sleepy. It's like a spell to chant on a sleepless night: one stray sheep, two stray sheep.

#WhatAreYouTalkingAbout

I couldn't wrap things up well this week either.

Note 1: This is a phrase from Natsume Soseki's 'Sanshiro'. 'Stray sheep' is from the same source.


Kizaki's first love, being prone to falling in love easily

The story of Akari and her mother

I participated in the Shirokuma Literature Club.

#ShirokumaLiteratureClub