someday we'll find it

Alone.

Mizuno Yui drew in a breath.  Her entire family was staring at her, a cigarette dangling from her mother's fingers.  She opened her mouth to speak before snapping it shut again, vocal cords paralyzed by fear.

"Well?" her mother asked, a terrifying look in her eyes.  "I have a lot of work to do, and you called this meeting you know."

"Yeah," chimed her father, "My time is valuable."

"I- I have something really important to tell you guys."

"Out with it!" said her mother, growing increasingly impatient.

Yui looked to her older brother for reassurance but found none.  He knew what she was about to say wasn't going to go over well.  But she had to say it.  Yui was sick of living a lie.

"I don't have a boyfriend.  Kaito is just a close friend from school."

"This is important why?"

"I don't have a boyfriend because...."  Yui squinted her eyes shut.  "Because I'm gay."

After a minute, she snapped her eyes open to see the cigarette fallen on the floor, and a dangerous look in her mother's eyes.  She looked to her father to see the same, and her older brother began to cry.  "Mama?  Mama, please say something."

"I think you need to leave."

"Of course, I'll go upstairs then..."

"No.  I mean out.  Get out."

"What?"

"You heard me.  You're 16.  Mandatory education has ended.  I don't have to send you anywhere anymore.  Get out of my house."

"But Mama!"  Yui's father rose.

"Get out.  Now."

Yui ran from the room, tears falling from her face.  

====

"You don't have to do this!" Yui's brother yelled as she shoved her things in her bag.

"Masao-chan, you know I cannot stay here any longer."

"Yui-chan, please stay..."

"I'm sorry."  With that she tossed the last of her belongings in her bag and ran down the stairs and out of the house.  Masao was helpless, only able to watch her figure shrink into the night as he slid down the door and began to cry once again.

======

After running far enough so the scenery became unfamiliar, Yui dug around in her bag for her phone and pulled it out.  The battery read 15%.  "Crap," Yui thought, "15%.  I have to find somewhere to plug this in."  Looking around, she spotted a sign indicating a hotel just a half a kilometer away.  Turning her phone off to preserve battery, she began to walk once again in the direction of the hotel.

The hotel itself was nothing to write home about- it was simple, with a generic lobby with the usual free hot drink selection.  After making herself a cup of hot chocolate to warm herself up, she found an outlet and decided to plug her phone in.

Hours passed while Yui desperately searched apartment listings, roommate ads, hotel rooms, for anything that would rent to minors, but she couldn't find any.  Before she knew it, the hotel lobby was closing for the night and a young worker approached her.  

"Excuse me miss, we are closing for the night and you must return to your room now." 

"Eh?" Yui jumped, startled by the young woman.  

"I didn't mean to scare you miss, my deepest apologies," the girl said, bowing slightly before snapping back up again.  

"No, no, no...." Yui trailed off, rubbing her eyes and looking out the window, shocked to discover that it was already nighttime.  "I didn't realize that it was so late."

"Not a problem miss, but I must ask you to return to your room now."

"Oh, my room...."

"You are a guest here, correct?"

"No...."

"Will you be requiring a room tonight?"

"Do you allow minors to stay here?"

"Not without a parent, my deepest apologies."

"That's ok... do you know anywhere that does?"

"No, I'm sorry.  We do reopen early tomorrow morning, and coffee here is always free to visitors and non-visitors alike."

"Thank you."

Yui stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder, exiting the hotel.

=======

As Yui curled into herself on a bench just outside the hotel, another hotel worker approached her.

"Hello, miss?"

"Eh?... oh, hello."

"I am Kikuchi Moa, and I heard that you don't have a room to stay in tonight... do you need someplace to stay?"

"Kikuchi Moa?  Don't you go to Isshiki high school with me?"  Yui looked up, dropping her hood from over her face.

"Yui?  What are you doing here?"

"Oh... uh.... my parents are on a trip with my brother and I accidentally locked myself out of my house."  Moa looked at her skeptically for a moment before deciding to accept what she said.

"Would you like to stay with me for the night?"

"Oh, uh, sure."  Moa offered her hand to help Yui stand up, and they walked off together into the night.