At the Finish Line [Haiji Kiyose] - Run With the Wind

eleven - "my darling"

Rubbing her eyes of sleep as she wanders into the kitchen, Chiyo glances at the clock on the wall and Haiji hunched over a laptop at the table.

"Busy already?" She questions.

Looking up, Haiji smiles at her and nods to the worktop by the sink. "Morning, Chiyo. There's a cup of coffee there for you."

"Nice, thanks, Haiji." She accepts the cup, sipping at the black coffee. "Mmm, this is nice coffee."

He types away at the keys. "I heard you getting up so I thought I'd make you some for when you came in. Didn't sleep well?"

She shakes her head, sitting opposite him at the table. "I got... probably about four and a half hours total. Cars kept going past, I was worried I hadn't switched my phone off and so then I scrolled through it for an hour. Then I was stressing about what work I needed to start and I wanted to make a plan, even though we already did that together. Ughh, it's a constant cycle. I'm just glad I have coffee to get me through today."

Haiji grimaces. "Well, I have some ideas, trust me. Just give it some time and you'll be able to manage everything easier."

"I hope you're right." She sighs, sipping the coffee. "So, have they all left already? It's only 9 am."

He nods. "Pretty much everyone has classes on Tuesday morning. I'm going to head out soon myself, do you need anything for when I come back?"

She shakes her head. "No, I'm alright, thanks. I'll start on some work while you're out and then we'll fix up the room, right?"

"That's the plan." He smiles, closing his laptop screen and standing up. "I'll be gone until after lunch, so, make yourself something if you want."

Chiyo waves a hand. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Have a good class."

Grinning, Haiji waves a hand and takes his laptop with him as he leaves the kitchen and into the hallway.

As she hears Haiji leave and the front door slide shut, Chiyo's phone rings and she glances down at the buzzing phone on the table.

Her eyes widen and she holds her breath as she reaches down. She hesitantly answers the call.

"Hello?"

~

Tapping the pen against her chin and humming to herself, Chiyo's eyes scan the page as her legs swing underneath the kitchen table.

"Tu fais quoi?--are you okay, Chiyo?"

She looks up from the sheet of paper at her mother who is cutting the ends off the flower stems as she attempts to arrange the flowers in a blue, glass vase --failing miserably.

"Mamma, can you help with my homework?" Chiyo asks.

"Of course I can, mon ange." Her mother nods, gathering the stems together. "What are you supposed to do for the assignment?"

Chiyo clicks her tongue, following the question with a finger. "Something about where I'm from, where you and dad are from."

"Ahh," Her mother grins. "Your heritage?"

"Exactly," Chiyo nods. "I need to find out about both yours and dad's backgrounds. What's Japan like?"

Her mother sips from her coffee, placing the mug back down and continuing to cut the stems of the flowers. "You lived there for four years, mon ange, you don't remember?"

Chiyo shakes her head. "Not really. I only remember grandma and grandpa, nothing else."

Tutting, her mother sends her a shrug. "You were very young. Well, I'm sure your father can tell you more when he's back with the pastries. But the Japanese are very focused, hard workers... but they can often be very hard on themselves and fuss over the trivial things --much like how your father is."