polaris
00. prologue

"Oi. You got the last milk." a man growled behind her. Surprised at the voice that seemed to have appeared from nowhere, she let out a small squeak before calming down.

Akemi paused and reopened the convenience store refrigerator. "Oh," she replied after she checked the empty milk rack, closing the door swiftly to let out a cool swish of air. "Oh, so it seems. If you want, you can take it."

She turned to the man, taking in his bartender uniform and sunglasses while fumbling through her shopping basket and grabbing the milk carton that had been hiding at the bottom of her basket for some godforsaken reason. "Here!"

The man blinked, and the snarl in his mouth seemed to die out within a few seconds. "Uh, thanks, I guess," the man said, his voice almost sheepish as he took the carton from her hand. "You sure you don't want it?"

"Nah," Akemi responded, a smile on her face. "I'm sure the milk'll be happier with someone that loves it more than me!"

The man grunted something she couldn't hear (he grumbled awfully low for someone of his size), so she flashed another smile his direction before walking over to the instant foods section.

She grabbed a handful of instant ramen packets and dropped them in her basket, fumbling with one particular packet of miso ramen and checking the nutritional value on the back. "520 kcal, eh..." Akemi grimaced and grabbed a shoyu ramen packet from the rack, flipping it and comparing the calories.

"Miso's good and all, but shoyu is where the real flavor is," she muttered to herself. "What am I saying? Instant ramen's the same bad stuff, either way. They both taste like cardboard after a few weeks of instant and only instant food, damn." Akemi cursed Raira Academy and their wages. Really, it was enough to secure a proper place to live and occasionally splurge, but she was a woman in her twenties that had wants. It just wasn't fair.

"Oi," called the man who she had spoken to a few moments ago. "I asked what your name is."

She blinked. "Sorry," she apologized, looking rather sullen, "I couldn't hear you..." Akemi looked up at the man with curious eyes. "I'm Morinaka Akemi! And you are?"

"Heiwajima Shizuo," grumbled out the man. He had an unlit cigarette in his mouth that didn't seem to deter his pronunciation at all.

Akemi looked at him. "Heiwashima?" she repeated. "That's interes–"

"It's Heiwajima, Morioka," he grounded out.

"Well, you got my name wrong too! It's Morinaka! As in 'inside the forest!' Not some stupid city name!"

The man–now known as Heiwajima–heaved a long sigh and tousled his hair before letting his hand hang by his side. "Doesn't even matter, it's only one letter."

Akemi shrugged. "Guess so," she replied flippantly as she eyed his hands, "but that letter changes a lot, you know! I never even went to Morioka before, anyway." she paused for a while as she looked around him, checking if he had a basket of his own. "You're only gonna buy milk?"

"It's a convenience store, not a supermarket. It gets pricey when you buy too much."

She looked at all the ramen packets she had dumped in her basket and scowled when she saw the price on the rack. "300 yen for one packet...yeah, you're right." Akemi grimaced as she messily stuffed most of the packets in its own racks.

Heiwajima shrugged. "Just saying. Ja," he said while turning, throwing a look over his shoulder as he walked to the clerk.

"Bye!" Akemi said, not bothering to wave at the retreating figure. Her mind processed what had occurred slowly, and she smiled as she lined up behind Heiwajima, rendering the last few exchanges useless.

She tapped his back. "Hi again, Heiwajima-san!"

"Ah," he responded, looking slightly annoyed as he turned to look at her. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to be intimated at it or not. "You can stop talking to me now. It's getting annoying." He bit into his cigarette just a bit harder, and Akemi inwardly wondered if the cigarette had burst into a pang of bitterness in his mouth.

That's why cigarettes are bad, she felt like saying, but Akemi merely grinned and wisely chose to ignore her thoughts. "As the saying goes, misery loves company!" She shrugged, "Or in this case, misfortune would do just as well. You choose!"

Heiwajima sighed and took a few steps forward as a customer finished paying. "Hn," he replied, grumbling.

Akemi wisely chose to ignore it as she peered at the register. She made a face as she watched the cashier's face turn pallid when he saw Heiwajima, working fast with the previous customer to accommodate him. Was he supposed to be some famous person or something? Why was she the only one out of the loop? It wasn't fair. "Oh, it's your turn."

Heiwajima looked at the line and nodded. "Ja."

Deciding not to pry, Akemi bounced on her heels and waved at him. "Bye, Heiwashima-san!"

"Damn it, woman, it's Heiwajima!"

"It's the same kanji though..."

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