Chapter Text
The thin piece of cardstock seemed to stare at Mai, or maybe she was staring at it. Taunting her even as it lays still on the center of her coffee table. She sits stiffly at her kitchen counter, far away from its vicinity. Mai numbly looks down into her fresh and warm cup of coffee, nothing looked appealing to her anymore. She dared to glance upward slightly to reach for her phone, doing her best to avoid the direction of the cardstock.
Her back hurt from the constant bending, but it was far more favorable than her eyes catching with the ridiculously expensive piece of recyclable sitting on her coffee table. Mai quickly grabbed her phone and did a quick swivel with the barstool to rest her back against the counter, temporarily banishing her object of ire from her point of view.
It was a Saturday, which means she didn’t have to work, and not having to work meant her friends were messaging her left and right at the chance of meeting up. Mai’s cheeks blushed what she could only assume was an absurd shade of pink as she sees a flurry of notifications from Momo, and quite a few from Miwa as well. She opens her messages and instantly clicks on the group chat with the three women. It seems Momo and Miwa had started planning a fun outing for the day, and were pestering Mai for her opinion.
A new cafe in a popular Kyoto tourist spot, huh? Searching up the name provided numerous social media posts and an address. Scrolling through, it seems the cafe caters to women and female friend groups, Mai smiled. It was small things like this that actually made her enjoy going out. It also seemed to have a traditional style, operating more like a teahouse than a cafe. Mai glanced at the time, 9-o’ clock, plenty of time to go grab lunch. As she navigates back to her messaging app to reply in the group chat, she sees a private text from Momo sitting under it.
‘Did you hear?’
Mai’s mood immediately sours, and the direction of her coffee table, no, that forsaken invitation, seems to bore into her back with a vengeance. As if punishing her for ever looking away and ignoring its existence in the first place. Mai furiously clicked on the message before stalling, what was she supposed to say? Any rage flowing through her body right now is entirely not directed at Momo, yet her instinct was to lash out at her friend reaching out. Mai set her phone down before clutching her hands together, not even realising they were shaking. Her heart felt tight in her chest, like it would burst out at any given moment if there was the right trigger. Tears threatened to spike out of the corner of her eyes, it was all too much. A ping from her phone caused Mai to finally lift her head, it was a message from Momo.
‘Hey, I saw you read my message. Are you okay?’
Mai finally grabbed her phone again to properly respond. Pushing down her panic in favor of giving her friend her attention.
‘Yeah, I’m okay. Yes, I more than heard the news, ‘Mr. High and Mighty’ sent me the pretentious invitation himself. It arrived through mail this morning.’
Momo’s side of the screen stayed silent even after the read receipt stared at her for a few minutes. So she double texted, ‘She’s changing her last name y’know. It was signed ‘Mr. and Mrs. Okkotsu.’’
Momo’s message bubble popped up once before disappearing and popping up again. The constant hesitation made Mai feel even more on edge than she already was. Finally Momo’s message came through.
‘Is that really such a bad thing?’
Stupid, she called out in her head to no one in particular. To everyone else, there was just going to be one less Zen’in in the world, to Mai, it felt like the end of hers.
Mai can still remember the first time she went to the beach, it was with her sister. They were seven, maybe eight. Their mother had taken them on whim, desperate to get out of the estate, and their good for nothing father didn’t seem to care, as long as they returned. The sky had been overcast, which wasn’t unusual for the winter, but it had definitely not been what Mai had imagined the beach to be like. She tumbled around in her yukata chasing her sister’s shadow as Maki walked the shore line, careful to not have the waves lap at her hem.
Mai stared at the sand on which her sister had stepped, making sure to fill her own feet into the tracks left by her sister. Even if they were returning to that hellish estate, it was moments like this that Mai could steal with Maki that made it all the while. Maki suddenly stopped in her tracks, forcing Mai to stand still in her last footprints. Before Mai could ask her sister why she stopped, Maki answered for her, “Hey, look up.”
For the first time during that trip, Mai removed her gaze from her sister’s shadow and looked towards the sky. It was a wedge of geese, lined up in their traditional triangle formation. Their loud honks were carried to Mai even as she was numerous meters below them, straining and prinking at her ears. These geese were crying, yelling, and it made Mai want to roll over and cover her ears. She wanted to call for her sister, to make them stop, to look back down at the ground, at her sister’s shadow. The geese caught her attention again before she had a chance to.
The tail end was missing a member, someone wasn’t going back home were they?
Oh, that’s right…
Her feet were no longer anchored safely in the footprints of her sister, but standing on unstable sand as the ocean swiftly and violently lapped at her dress and knees. She could vaguely hear someone calling out to her, but that didn’t matter anymore.
In the most fleeting moment of clarity, Mai reached out to her aching sister.
Promise me one last thing.
Maki stilled as she looked at her sister with a soft horror growing on her face.
Destroy everything.
Tears began to prick through Maki’s eyes, which was strange. Mai was always the crybaby, when did Maki suddenly get so emotional?
Everything, ‘kay?
Mai accentuated her Kyoto accent as one last teasing remark to her sister. She can still remember Maki practicing and trying everything possible to rid herself of her accent before moving to Tokyo.
Something about wanting to sound less pretentious and more mature. Mai could barely remember anymore.
Everything seemed to slowly be slipping away from her grasp.
She wonders what Momo and Miwa are doing, it feels like it’s been forever since they’ve done something fun together. Maybe they should go to the salon and get makeovers when she finishes here.
Her hair must be so flat and frizzy right now. Mai couldn’t wait to get home and wash all the humidity off her body, and deftly place curlers in her hair before she sleeps.
Maybe she can convince Maki to curl her hair when this is all over. She came back. She’ll say sorry and fix all this. She promised.
The thought was the only thing keeping Mai warm as the cold water finally surrounded her.
Mai checked, then double checked her message.
‘Hey, it’s me. Can we meet up?’
She sets her phone back down on the coffee table next to the wedding invitation before getting up to pace around her couch. Was it too confrontational? No, she immediately decides, it’s not assertive enough. She needs to demand an audience with her sister, not grovel at her feet for one.
As she reaches for her phone again, the invitation catches her eye. She exhales deeply before picking up the paper, she makes sure to sit on the couch behind her to soften any blow to her nervous system this may cause.
She can’t deny the invitation is beautifully crafted, the paper obviously isn’t cheap. She runs her finger along the edge, it’s blunted just enough to avoid unnecessary paper cuts, that is something only the ever so anxious Okkotsu would care about. On the top of the invitation, right in the middle, is the Gojo Clan symbol, an umebachi, or plum blossom. It made Mai’s stomach churn. She knows Okkotsu was left with quite the fortune and birthright by Gojo Satoru seven years ago, but he can’t be important enough to make this wedding a Clan affair, can he?
In all actuality, Mai had stopped keeping track of the happenings of Jujutsu Society ages ago. With the Zen’in Clan gone, she felt no need to continue her journey as a sorcerer. She graduated along with the rest of her class, but retired from sorcery soon after. She still kept in contact with most of her classmates, who occasionally filled her in on any major happenings she should know about.
Which definitely made Mai question how Momo of all people would have gotten whiff of her sister’s engagement and eventual marriage to some obscure Gojo Clan member. He doesn’t even carry the main family name, he really doesn’t deserve this level of pizzazz. Mai smiled to herself, maybe they were making this such a big deal because of who that fool was marrying. As much as both Maki and Mai hated being Zen’in’s, they can’t deny the prestige their name carries, or at least used to.
She can’t think it's too strange that Momo would find out about the wedding though. Okkotsu is a special grade sorcerer with quite a reputable history, and anything related to Maki would immediately spike her friend’s interest.
Mai continued to examine the invitation, following the lines from right to left. Really she was skimming at best.
‘-very happy to invite you to-’
‘Celebrate the union of-’
‘Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Okkotsu-’ Mai frowned at that.
‘-ceremony to take place at Oharano Shrine, Kyoto.’ They were doing it in Kyoto? Why would they go through all that trouble if they were just going to go back to Tokyo immediately after? When did Maki ever become okay with a traditional wedding ceremony?
Mai continues to skim for crucial information.
‘-reception taking place at the Gojo Estate-’ Mai couldn’t control her frown any longer, why was this such a big deal? They really didn’t need to do all of this ceremonial clan jargon, they were both nobodies in the majority of Jujutsu higher up society. Maki after the fall of the Zen’in clan, and Okkotsu was just a straggler remnant of the Gojo Clan, not even carrying the main family name.
They were respected for their strength as sorcerers, not whatever little title each of them had left. Mai had to will herself not to crumble the invitation in her hand, she can’t imagine any of this to be Maki’s idea, she hates traditional clan ceremonies, she still can’t believe her sister’s getting married at all.
What does Okkotsu get out of all this? Does he enjoy making her sister jump through hoops of fire after she agrees to marry him? All for what, so she can marry an insignificant member of an already dying clan in a society that will never cherish Maki for how strong she really is? Is this just some sort of game to him? Does he get off on the thought of making someone as strong as Maki a wife?
Rage brewed underneath Mai’s skin, even with all the rage she felt directed at her sister’s foolish fiance, she felt even more directed at her sister herself. Why was she just throwing everything that she stood by and believed in for some man? Even if it was just a ridiculous wedding, just one day, one evening, it made Mai so unbelievably furious.
So she can put up with the big wigs for her husband and marriage, but she can't stay and protect you when she promised she would?
Mai immediately pushed those ugly thoughts away; she and Maki had reconciled years ago. Everything was behind them now, they were finally sisters again. Even then, she can’t push away the gnawing feeling of betrayal that burned her skin.
Mai stood up and abruptly headed for her kitchen, she slammed open the junk drawer where she kept pens, screws, and a multitude of other items that had no proper place. Maybe her apartment was turning into a junk drawer of her own. She finally found what she was looking for, a calligraphy pen Miwa had gifted her years ago after finding out Mai had studied calligraphy growing up.
Mai felt too awkward at that moment to explain to Miwa that it was never a fond hobby, but something she was forced to participate in as a woman in the Zen’in clan. She considered giving the pen to Maki, who always excelled in the medium, even when writing the tiniest of characters or most complicated Kanji, but soon realized how backhanded the gift would be.
Maybe this would be the perfect wedding gift, a vindictive and jealous voice seemed to whisper in her ear. Mai quickly shook her head and walked back to her living room, determined to wash away those ugly feelings of wanting to hurt her sister.
Mai quickly located some ink on the bookshelf next to her TV and arranged it neatly on her coffee table next to the invitation. Mai grabbed a zabuton from the corner of the room and placed it in front of her couch, where her feet previously were. Mai situated herself comfortably before bringing the pen to ink, she dabbed the end a few times to remove the excess that dripped off.
At the very end of the invitation was a prompt asking the recipient to sign their name on the line and mail back to the return address if they were attending. Mai began to write her name in formal Kanji on the aforementioned line.
Truth be told, this was the very first time Mai had ever used Miwa’s gift. The stiff pen felt lighter and easier to control than the bristles of a brush. Mai felt her mind begin to wander to much fonder memories. Even when stuck in the Zen’in Estate, doing exercises and chores that were mind numbingly boring, she always felt a sense of comfort doing it with Maki.
She always enjoyed watching Maki write poems and scriptures in calligraphy. She has always had deft control of her brush, never used the incorrect amount of ink, never once stained her kimono. She’s always had a motivation to be better, to excel, something Mai never once had. Whether it was in calligraphy, or sorcery, Maki desired to prove herself, to be better than what others thought of her to be.
Maybe a part of Mai thought she could sit and watch in amazement at her sister’s effort for eternity, that she would be the only silent observer, the only praise and attention Maki ever needed. She was very wrong.
Mai finished signing her name with a flourish, it wasn’t half bad considering she hasn’t touched a calligraphy tool since she was fifteen. She ensured that the ink dried properly, light tapping her fingers against it to ensure no smudging. She delicately returned the invitation to its envelope before resealing it.
She grabbed her phone and glanced at the time, it was 10 o’-clock now. She reopened her messages and navigated to Maki’s screen. Her message was left unsent, and Mai quickly erased its contents. She needs to be firm with her sister, snap her out of whatever spell Okkotsu has her under.
‘We need to talk.’
Mai sent the message and placed her phone on the coffee table to wait. The reply was almost instantaneous.
‘Of course, where do you want to meet up?’
Mai stumped, she had no idea where she could casually confront her sister on her ridiculous wedding without attracting too much attention. Mai suddenly remembered her earlier group chat conversation and scoured to find the address. Mai scrolled through the website and found that they offer private rooms for groups of two or more. Mai smiled, perfect.
‘Here. We can chat privately.’
The message bubble on Maki’s side popped up, before disappearing again. Then it hit Mai, this cafe was in Kyoto, Maki would have to travel three hours. Before Mai could correct herself and offer an alternative, a message came through.
‘Great. Made a reservation, see you in thirty.’
Mai stared at her screen, wondering how her sister could possibly run fast enough to make it in thirty minutes.
Salt. That’s what the air around her smelled like, and the inside of her mouth tasted like. Everything felt so unfamiliar, unsure of where her body started and ended.
Everything around her was pitch black, but she could hear muffled voices just beyond her field of vision. What were they talking about? Were they talking about her?
She could hear a faint voice reaching out to her, she recognized that voice. It began to appear as a light in her peripheral vision, she felt compelled to reach for it. The light continued to grow brighter and brighter as Mai reached closer, until it completely blinded her vision.
A piercing static and blinding light are what greeted Mai on her return to the world of the living. She squeezed her eyes shut willing the mind splitting headache to go away, hiding her eyes from the brightness of the world for just a moment more.
She could hear a faint voice next to her, singing. Mai quickly recognized the lullaby, the ‘Lullaby of Takeda’. It didn’t take long for Mai to recognize the voice singing it either, for it was her very own sister, Maki.
Mai continued to keep her eyes closed, it seemed Maki hadn’t realized the fact that she had woken up. Mai wanted to cherish the very few moments where her sister would still sing to her. She used to do it all the time when they were children, Mai couldn’t sleep without her sister’s voice lulling her to sleep.
After a certain age their mother became apathetic and stopped singing to them, so Maki took up that role for Mai.
The familiar lines of the lullaby fill Mai’s ears,
“The flurry of cold snow continues,
And a baby’s repeating cry.”
Maki’s voice sounds much fuller and richer as a grown woman than she ever did singing as a child. Despite the fact that both Mai and Maki were taught how to sing traditional melodies and tunes, Maki showed much more of a talent for it.
“Even coming Bon Holiday, what is so joyful.
No clothes and no sash to attire.”
Mai steeped in melancholy for a moment, this lullaby is so dejecting, no wonder their mother would sing it to them so often. The desire to return to a family you had already abandoned long ago, she can only imagine what her mother felt singing this to her disappointing daughters.
As if responding to Mai’s thoughts, Maki continues to sing, her voice reaching impossibly low tones that she could never achieve just a few years prior.
“The baby is so irritable to cry,
That baby’s crying annoys me.”
Mai’s mouth tasted bitter now. Memories of her mother standing idly as their father cut Mai down, fully intending to use her as fodder.
“Baby sitting for a whole day,
That makes me get so skinny.”
Mai’s mind wanders to the years she would spend clinging to her sister’s side. Desperately holding on to the only person in the world who ever cared for her, even now, long after her mother had abandoned her.
The pain across Maki’s face as she finally left the Zen’in Estate, unable to face her sister.
“Wishing to get back to my home in a hurry across the border,
That’s my parents’ home which can be seen far away.
That’s my parents' home which can be seen far away.”
Maki let out a shaky exhale as the final note drifted from her lips. Mai was about to open her eyes and reveal herself to her sister before another voice spoke up.
“You have a beautiful voice.”
Mai immediately bristled, but kept her eyes shut. The voice was masculine, there was no doubt. What made Mai so on edge is that it was so familiar, like she had heard it before, and it was impacting enough to make her skin crawl upon hearing it again.
Mai was disgusted in the way he commented on her voice, that a man even had the privilege to hear her sister sing, something she had only ever done for Mai before. How dare he sit there and listen to her sister’s voice, bask in her presence in a way only she had.
She heard Maki laugh, “Yeah well, I doubt the tune I was singing was very beautiful.”
They seemed to be cutting something, as Mai could hear the sound of knives hitting ceramic plates, it soothed her.
The masculine voice responded with the same easiness and casual tone as before, “Well if you don’t like the melody, why sing it?”
“It was a lullaby Mai would make me sing to her as a child, our mother used to, but she stopped after a certain point.”
“She used to sing about how you made her feel hopeless?”
Whatever Maki had seemed to be cutting hit the plate with a thud, and that thud is what filled the silence for a few moments.
“Yes, she did.”
There was a scraping noise as what seemed to be a chair being dragged across the floor before the masculine voice spoke up again.
“Do you like singing?”
“I’ve never really given it that much thought, it was always just something I was taught to do.”
“Well, a fair bit of advice-”
Mai heard Maki scoff at that. Before Maki and the masculine voice shared a few giggles between one another, Mai wanted to throw up.
“Don’t let the dead, or the living for that matter, determine what songs you get to sing.”
There were a few moments of silence where the only sounds filling the room were the sounds of what no doubt was fruit being cut.
Maki finally responded, “Sounds like you have experience. Care to share with the class?”
The masculine voice let out a breathy laugh. “Nah, I just used to dabble a bit in the performing arts awhile back. I was terrible!”
Maki groaned a bit, but it was mixed in with a mirthful sigh. The masculine voice hid a small chuckle in his chest as the two continued their banter. It made Mai so sick, someone touching Maki’s heart strings in ways Mai was never able to grasp even after all these years. Maybe Maki was Ms. Takeda, and Mai, her irritating and ever crying baby holding her down.
Unable to hold back any longer, Mai finally opened her eyes. She turned her head to the direction of where she initially heard Maki’s voice.
Maki was there, sitting on a stool while peeling an apple with a pocket knife. Her hair had gotten longer, how long has it been? It reached her shoulders now, with her messy fringe turning into side swept bangs. Scars still littered her skin, but she looked healthier than she did back at the Zen’in Estate. She also wore the most charming smile, it made Mai’s heart hurt.
Turning her eyes to the right she finally sees the mystery man she had been hearing the whole time, who had the audacity to listen to her sister’s voice. She now knows exactly why he irritated her so much, Okkotsu.
She recalls first meeting him over a year ago at the Summer Exchange event, he had completely soloed the entire Kyoto Tech. He certainly earned his keep as a Special Grade sorcerer, but he was in no way projecting that confidence. Constantly hunched over in fear, hair slightly covering his eyes, an anxious energy to him that never seemed to dissipate. He was always near or around Maki, practically attached at the hip, she always found it amusing how he was always a few inches shorter than her. Mai always thought he looked super punchable.
All of that seemed to have disappeared now. He was wearing a kimono instead of his uniform, but he still sat tall and straight in his stool. His hair was longer now, and combed neatly to the side, not covering an inch of his face. His shoulders and back were broad and strong, most evidently from intense training. Mai also stared in shock at how he had grown a few inches on her sister even sitting down. Talk about puberty hitting like a truck.
What Mai found most peculiar were the stitch marks across his forehead, that was most definitely not puberty. How long has she been out?
Okkotsu caught Mai’s eyes before Maki did, and his immediately went wide. Maki turned around when she noticed him staring into the distance instead of engaging in their conversation.
Immediately, Maki almost dropped her knife and apple trying to stumble over to Mai’s bedside. Okkotsu, swift as lightning, grabbed each item before it hit the floor, while grabbing Maki’s waist with his other hand to stabilize her before she could fall.
Okkotsu gently placed the peeled and cut fruit along with the knife on the nightstand next to Mai before offering Maki his hand to help her walk. Maki took his hand heavily and began making staggered steps towards Mai, under any other circumstance Mai would scoff at Okkotsu acting so familiar and fresh with Maki, but one look into her sister’s eyes erased any of those thoughts from her mind.
Tears pricked and flowed from her eyes, her legs shook, words were barely escaping her, coming out in short gasps and incomplete syllables.
When Maki finally got close enough, she collapsed on top of Mai, tears flowing from her eyes and staining Mai’s gown.
“M-Mai.. Mai.. Mai..”
Mai moved her arms, they felt stiff and hard from what she can only assume is weeks from not using them. She gently wrapped them around her sister, only to find Okkotsu’s hand already there, gently rubbing circles into Maki’s back. Mai glared at the man, narrowing her eyes, but he didn’t seem to notice, keeping his gaze on Maki herself. After a moment, Okkotsu excused himself. “I’ll let you ladies be. I’ll be right outside if you need anything.”
Maki hummed in acknowledgment, but showed no sign of moving from her sister’s side.
Mai couldn’t ever imagine needing something from him, so she just ignored him. All Mai ever needed was right here in her arms.
It was 10:20 AM, there was still plenty of time for Maki to appear, but it didn’t help Mai feel any less on edge. She had passed the post office on her way to the cafe, and dropped the invitation in the ‘To-Be Sent’ box. Even if she disagreed with the whole affair, there’s absolutely no way she will let her sister get married without her at least trying to reach out to her one last time.
She regretfully had to inform Momo and Miwa that she couldn’t hang out today, but promised that she would reach out soon. Mai hated having to turn her friends down, especially when she would want nothing more than to be around them. Mai’s shoulders sagged as she made her way to the reception desk, it would be really nice to have Momo here. Her friend would no doubt understand what she was feeling right now, and would one hundred percent support her.
Though…
Momo’s text message earlier still made Mai’s face flush with emotion.
‘Is that really such a bad thing?’
It makes Mai want to roll her eyes so hard they get stuck in the back of her head. Of course, changing your last name to anything else when being a Zen’in your whole life is undoubtedly a huge upgrade. That’s not what made Mai so frustrated, it was about the principle. Under any other circumstance, Mai would’ve never had a problem with Maki changing her name.
The hostess finally turned to Mai’s direction, and politely addressed her. “Hello, welcome in. How may I help you this morning?”
Mai gave her full attention to respond, “Hello, I have a reservation for 10:30, a private room. My sister isn’t here yet, but she should be soon. It’s under her name, Maki Zen’in.”
The hostess turned and looked down at her tablet, expertly switching and flipping through tabs with only a few delicate fingers.
Mai took this moment to fully admire the cafe, it had a very traditional style, and seemed very true to what the pictures on social media had portrayed. True to its advertisements, Mai only observed groups of women sitting around enjoying cups of tea and pastries. It makes Mai wish that she was going here to hang out with friends, instead of confronting her sister.
When was the last time she and Maki had genuinely hung out outside of occasionally bumping into each other whenever Maki would be in Kyoto on a mission? Mai had tried to introduce Maki to her friends before, but they never quite stuck. No doubt due to the bad blood accumulated between them at the Summer Exchange event in their second year. Miwa still harps on about that.
Maki always seemed really close to that Kugisaki girl, even after graduation. Pretty sure she just posted a photo of them drinking, congratulating Maki on her engagement. She still had that obnoxious copper hair, though she supposed her eyepatch gave her a cool girl edge.
They would still text each other all the time, calling used to be more of a common occurrence, not as much anymore. Mai anxiously fiddled with the waistband of her skirt, she didn’t like thinking about her and Maki growing apart, especially not in this context. Would there be a day that Maki just stops texting and calling entirely? Will Mai reach out one day and Maki will say she can’t talk because she’s busy with her husband? Will Mai try to get Maki to be with her, and have Maki say she can’t because she needs to attend to her children? Mai shakes her head, that’s not happening, Maki isn’t just going to leave, that’s what she’s doing here, reminding Maki of what and who is really important.
Mai turns her head back to the hostess, who is furiously tapping on the screen of her tablet. Mai raises her eyebrow as the hostess’s face starts to contort in confusion.
The hostess sheepishly hides her face behind the tablet once she senses Mai’s annoyance. “I-Is there perhaps a-another name the reservation could be under?”
Mai’s heart drops to her gut, this can’t be happening. Had she gotten the address wrong and sent her sister to another cafe? What if it’s all away across town? Maki had traveled three hours worth of distance in thirty minutes to meet with her, she can’t miss this. Mai begins to panic, drawing out her phone to double check.
The hostess steps in gracefully, “Don’t panic ma’am!”
She does a couple taps on her tablet.
“You said the reservation was under the name Maki, correct?”
Mai nodded, “Yes, that’s my sister.”
The hostess hums in confirmation, “Are you absolutely sure the surname for the reservation is Zen'in?”
Mai scoffed, “Yes, that’s been her name for as long as I have been alive.”
The hostess thankfully didn’t react to Mai’s attitude, “Well, you see…” She turns the tablet to face Mai.
The hostess hovers her finger above the 10:30 time slot, “I have a reservation here for a Maki Okkotsu, not a Zen’in.”
Mai sees red, if she could’ve, she would grab that tablet and crush it with her bare hands. Instead Mai stands up straight, giving the hostess a hard stare, “Yes. That is my sister. Zen’in is her… maiden name.”
The hostess immediately perks up, “Oooh are you two celebrating her marriage?”
“Barely an engagement.”
The hostess seems undeterred as she starts clicking confirm on a bunch of popups, “Whatever the occasion, we offer multiple packages catered to brides and their parties. Would you like to browse?”
Mai frowns, “No.”
The hostess just laughs as she tucks her offending tablet under her arm. “Well, if you or your sister change your mind, just let me know and I’ll be more than happy to assist you!”
The hostess gracefully steps to the side and points her straight hand forward, signalling Mai to follow. “Right this way, ma’am.”
Mai wordlessly follows the hostess through the halls, she could not deny the place was beautiful. Most of the cafe was communal, with the private rooms being placed in the very back. As Mai walked through the halls, she could hear the laughing, screaming, and whispering of women behind their private screens.
Abruptly, a screen door slides open as an older woman in a tomesode stumbles out.
The hostess stops to catch the woman, she seems to be laughing. “Mrs. Kayama! Are you alright?”
The older woman, Mrs. Kayama apparently, only brings her hand to her lips and muffles her laughter. “Oh, I’m quite alright dear, the girls have had just a bit too much to drink. I was just about to go request some water for the table.”
Mai raised her eyebrows, drinking, before noon, and so heavily too. The hostess seemed to talk Mrs. Kayama out of walking all the way to the front, ushering her back into the private room. Mai couldn’t help but steal a glance at the women, most were young, and wearing fun colored formal kimonos. At the very center was a woman dressed in a completely off white furisode, her obi being the most brilliant shade of gold she’d ever seen. She glowed with a radiance Mai had never seen before, it almost made her blush.
The stench of alcohol quickly made Mai recoil, but she was glad the women were obviously having fun.
Once the hostess finally closed the screen door, promising to have a server come over with water, she finally faced Mai.
“I apologize! Mrs. Kayama is celebrating her daughter’s engagement, everyone was quite excited. I assure you, most of our patrons aren’t such heavy drinkers.” She bowed profusely a couple times, really trying to get her message across.
Mai understood that the hostess was just trying to save the reputation of the cafe and its benefactors, but what dampened her mood was not the women celebrating, but what they were celebrating. Of course it was a wedding, it always had to be. Mai wondered if Maki would wear something similar at her wedding reception. She quickly banished that thought, and focused on getting to the room.
It was only a few moments before the hostess stopped to kneel before opening the screen door to the room Maki had rented for them. Mai immediately noticed the difference in quality from the room she saw previously with Mrs. Kayama and her daughter. This room was far more spacious, with a beautiful view of the chaniwa through sliding screen doors. This room was heavily isolated from the loud communal area, and standard private rooms.
Mai doesn’t even want to think of how much it cost to reserve the room. What kind of woman did Maki think she was, to be able to spend money so frivolously. It’s not like she was loaded, and she wasn’t marrying anyone of standing to support these kinds of expenses. Something else she’ll give Maki a good lecture on once she gets here.
The hostess gives Mai a moment to take in the room before speaking, “Is everything to your liking, ma’am?” Mai gives a curt nod, she didn’t really have any expectations in the first place, but this far exceeded them.
The hostess nodded as she began to close the screen door, “I will escort your sister here once she arrives.”
Mai nodded, “Thank you.”
Once alone, Mai finally allowed herself to sink into the tatami mats on the ground. The table was quite spacious, with plenty of room for many more people than just her and Maki. No doubt this room was meant for more than two patrons, probably only adding on to the expense.
Mai noticed there were a pair of menus sitting on the table, for the both of them, naturally. If Maki was going to be so comfortable as to spend such a ridiculous amount of money on this room, might as well get her money's worth. She busied herself with the menu, trying not to count down the seconds till her sister would arrive.
It was 10:35 when there was a light knock at the wood surrounding the screen doors. Mai half expected it to be the food she ordered. The screen doors slowly open to reveal the hostess from earlier kneeling on the ground, with Maki behind her.
Mai immediately perks up at the sight of her sister, food temporarily forgotten. Mai stands to welcome her sister inside, while also making room for her. Maki bowed slightly to the hostess in lieu of a ‘thank you’. The hostess simply waved her hand in a ‘no, thank you’ gesture.
“If you ladies need anything, we’ll be back to check on you very soon.” The hostess then closed the screen doors. Mai could see her silhouette stand up and walk back to the direction of the common area.
Mai took a moment to fully take her sister in, she was dressed traditionally, which seemed out of place to Mai. Maki wore a beautiful purple tinted kimono, with a beautiful gold stained obi that matched her eyes wrapping around her mid section. Upon closer inspection, she noticed along the hem and sleeves were painted plum blossom flowers, and embroidered dragon flies. Her hair was styled neatly, pinning back to keep her face uncovered, but letting the length fall across her back.
Before Mai could say anything, Maki leaned in for a hug. “Mai… it’s so good to see you.” Whatever Mai was going to lecture her sister about, what gripes she may have had, disappeared in this moment with her. Maki fully embraced her sister, taking her in a tight hug as her arms wrapped around her shoulders. Mai had to settle for resting her hands against Maki’s upper back since her kimono made it hard to properly embrace her.
They just stood there for a few moments, before feeling it was time to let go. Mai felt star struck, and a little tickled. What did she even want to talk about with Maki again?
“Have you looked at the menu? I was browsing it online on the way over.”
Maki began to make strides towards the table, opening up the sliding doors to the garden and pulling up her own zabuton.
Mai sat down, entranced. “Oh, uh, yeah. I already ordered some stuff, lots of rice for you, don’t worry.”
Maki turned back and smiled at her sister, why couldn’t every interaction they had be like this one? As if on cue, something on Maki’s left hand caught the light of the sun and temporarily flashed Mai’s eyes. Her engagement ring. It felt like cold water being dropped onto her back.
“How’d you get here so fast?”
Maki sighed as she continued to browse the menu, “What do you mean?”
“What do you mean ‘what do you mean’? You live in Tokyo, we made plans at ten, and here you are at ten thirty.”
Mai gestured with her ceramic tea cup, “Last time I checked Tokyo is three hours away, and that’s by bullet train.”
Maki started to serve herself some tea. “What makes you think I didn’t just run?”
“My ass you ran.”
Maki shrugged and winked. “You’d be surprised at what a perfect heavenly restricted body can do.”
Mai sat back for a second, running through some quick numbers at how possible it was for her sister to run that fast.
Maki blanched, “Oh course not you idiot! You think I can run that fast wearing this?! I’ve been in Kyoto this whole time.”
Mai was quick to recover at that last statement, “You’ve been what?!”
The screen doors suddenly burst open with the delicious smell of tea and food wafting through the entrance. “Excuse me, ladies!” a familiar hostess calls as she begins setting up the table for dining.
“What did you end up ordering, Mai?” Maki innocently questions.
Mai refuses to let their conversation get derailed, she ignores her sister’s question. “What do you mean you’ve been in Kyoto this whole time? Not one ‘Hey sis, what’s up, I’m in town, let’s go out!’ or ‘Gonna be around, I’ll see you when I can!’?”
The hostess anxiously looks between the two women as she rushes to finish setting up the table.
“Well, don’t know if you’ve heard, but I’ve got a wedding to plan! So excuse me if I’ve been pretty busy. By the way, did you get the invitation? You need to RSVP.”
Mai put her chin in her hand, “Yeah, this morning. I burned it.” She lied. The hostess choked a bit as she attempted to pour Maki some more tea.
“Unbelieivable. Y’know, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was in town, I’ve been busy, but we’re going to have so much time to hang out AFTER the wedding! Which you WILL be attending!” Maki pointed an accusatory finger at Mai.
Mai slammed her tea cup on the table, her feelings from earlier this morning resurfacing with a vengeance. “Why are you even getting married in Kyoto?! Why are you two making this such a big deal?!”
The hostess was scrambling with her cart, trying to remove the empty cups and replace tea pots faster than the two women could drink through.
Maki gawked, refilling her cup of tea, “What are you talking about? Me and Yuta getting married?”
Mai groaned, “Yes! No! It’s everything!”
Maki raised an eyebrow, “Everything?” Mai could immediately tell from her tone she wasn’t amused. Good thing Mai wasn’t kidding.
Mai took a big gulp of her tea before refilling it. “Why are you even having the ceremony in Kyoto if you and your foolish fiance are just going to go right back to Tokyo anyway?”
Maki opened her mouth to interrupt, probably to protest Mai’s choice of words against her fiance. Mai didn’t stop. At this point, the yelling had started to gather an audience outside. A waitress poked her head inside the room to gauge the damage. The hostess frantically waved her arms back and forth in an ‘X’ symbol. The other waitress quickly took the hint and closed the screen, ushering the bothered patrons and service members away from the scene.
“Why are you having the reception at the Gojo Estate? Okkotsu doesn’t even carry the family name, he holds NO title among the clans! He has no right to be making you jump through all these political hoops just to marry him!”
Maki’s grip on her cup tightened impossibly, the hostess could swear she heard the ceramic cup crack slightly. She hid behind her tablet as the two women dug into each other.
“Above all I’m most disappointed in YOU! How could you just be throwing everything away for a man?! You rose to become one of the strongest sorcerers of this generation by defying one of the great clans! Now you're changing your name?! How could you be so okay with him making a wife out of you like that?!”
Maki’s teacup shatters in the palm of her hand. Thankfully her iron clad grip prevented tiny pieces from flying across the room, but left a bloody mess in the palm of Maki’s hand. Mai flinched, rarely did she ever see a manifestation of her sister’s anger turned physical. Maki was the kind to stay calm and collected as she hurled insults. Never has an act of physical violence been not calculated for Maki, until now.
Maki slammed her bloody hand on the table and raised her voice incredibly loud. “Maybe because he’s not some no named nobody! He’s the CLAN HEAD!”
Mai nearly dropped and shattered her own teacup in surprise. “What…” her voice was barely above a whisper.
Maki groaned, “Yes! How out of touch are you?!”
Maki didn’t relent, much like how Mai didn’t earlier, they just kept digging into one another.
“And I’m not just having the wedding in Kyoto! Mai, I’m moving here!”
Suddenly everything made sense, why Maki has been in town for so long. Why Maki was so sure they could hang out after the wedding. The traditional ceremony, and reception at the estate, this ridiculously expensive room, all backed and funded by the Head of The Gojo Clan. Even looking at Maki now, she probably came from the Gojo Estate, dressed so traditionally.
Maki stared at her sister as if she was looking at a ghost. “Is this really what you think of me? That I’m just throwing my life away because I’ve chosen to share it with someone else, someone else that isn’t you? Does that make me less valuable to you?”
Normally Mai would refute, say anything in her defense, but now all she could do was numbly stare at the shell of her sister. Maki never cowered, or wavered. However, here, she seemed wounded and weak, like a critical attack struck her from behind.
Mai’s attention was brought back to the present when she heard Maki wince and hold her bloody palm close to her chest. The hostess, who was still in the room for some reason, was immediately on it.
“My lady! Please wait here! I’ll grab some first aid!”
The hostess ran out the room at top speed, desperate to leave the nuclear warzone that was Maki and Mai. Mai crawled over to Maki, desperate to access the damage, emotional and physical. Mai gently tried to reach for her sister’s hand “Here let me…”
Maki immediately flinched her hand away, giving Mai a nasty look. Tears were threatening to spill from her eyes. “Y’know, I’ve always known you’ve never liked Yuta. That you never liked us together.”
Mai could do nothing but look at her sister’s lap in shame, unable to meet her eyes.
“But I thought! I really thought! That for once in our lives, you’d be happy for a decision that I made, and give me no push back! That you wouldn’t try to impose your feelings, prejudices, or desires onto me! That you’d just be happy for me!”
Maki got closer as she unloaded her words, forcing Mai to make eye contact, as if she was searching for something there.
“Obviously, I was wrong...”
Before Mai could respond, the hostess came sliding through the screen doors. “My ladies! I returned with first aid!”
Maki stood up silently, and Mai could see that she had stained her kimono sleeve with blood. Maki bowed deeply, “No need, ma’am. I’m just about ready to leave now, I’ll pay the tab, and the damages.”
The hostess sensed the sad energy in the room and awkwardly waved her hand with a bow, “Please, it was just a single cup. We replace those all the time…”
The hostess gestured towards the table, still completely untouched save for the blood stain on Maki’s end of the table. “More importantly, neither of you have touched your food. Would you like to take it to go?”
Maki shook her head, “No, thank you. I’ve lost my appetite, so I'll leave the food to my sister.”
Maki bowed deeply to the room before walking through the sliding screen doors. Maki’s hand was still trickling with blood as she walked away.
Mai finally looked back towards the table after her sister had disappeared from her field of view.
The hostess meekly spoke up, “I know this might be a bad time, but would you like to take anything to go?”
Mai glanced at where her sister had been sitting, Maki hadn’t touched not even one of the many rice dishes Mai had ordered for her.
Mai groaned into her hands, willing tears to not spill. “To go…”
“Why would you return?” Naobito’s voice sputters through his mouthful of alcohol.
Maki’s voice pierces through the air, sounding extremely clear even through the walls. “So I can become the head of the Zen’in Clan!”
Naobito bursts into laughter, barely able to contain himself. Mai hears him wheeze before yelling back at Maki, “If that’s the case, I’ll put so many obstacles in your way that it’ll be a miracle you’ll manage to survive!”
Maki’s footsteps began drawing near, signalling she was walking away. “You can do as you please.”
Mai brought her knees up to her face, wrapping her arms around them. “Liar.”
The sun had begun to set when she finally saw Maki again, in their shared room. Mai slammed the screen door open, revealing Maki sitting on the ground, packing clothes into a suitcase. Mai didn’t pass the threshold, she only stared at the girl she thought was her sister.
Maki didn’t react to Mai’s presence, she grabbed a hoodie and made a half attempt at folding the too thick garment into a neat square. Mai doesn’t even know where Maki could’ve gotten clothes like that, the two sisters almost exclusively dressed in traditional fashion. Just more stuff she’s kept from me.
Mai leaned her hand on the frame of the door and glowered at her sister, determined to take up as much space without actually stepping in the room at all. Maki’s hands faltered just a bit as she packed a spare hair brush into her suitcase’s side pocket. Her hands went right back to being steady as she began to squeeze her entire life into the world's smallest bag, the sound of the zipper going around the case being the only sound filling the room.
Mai couldn’t take it anymore. She turned around and stalked towards the inner garden, grabbing one of the many smooth stones laying on the ground. She stomped back up the steps of the engawa. The door to their shared room was still open, she finally noticed how Maki’s futon was gone.
Mai hurled the smooth stone at her sister, hitting her upper back. It barely made a wrinkle in her hakamashita, but it was enough to finally make her sister turn to face her.
Maki turned around with a growl, hackles already up. “What’s your problem?!” She yelled.
Mai was determined to scream even louder, to drown out her sister’s cries. “LIAR!” Her screams were high and shrill, taking Maki aback.
“You promised to stay by my side forever! To protect me! Now you’re just leaving me here?!” Mai stomped her foot and waved her hands around her face in frustration.
“Liar liar liar!! You’re a liar!” Tears were spilling now.
Maki silently stood up and lifted her suitcase off the ground, her gaze fixed forward, beyond Mai.
“I can’t hold your hand forever, Mai.”
Maki walked past her, taking a turn and walking along the engawa. Mai stood frozen in place, staring in the room that used to belong to two little girls, two sisters, and friends. Were Mai and Maki ever really friends, or just victims of circumstance? Maki was certainly Mai’s friend, has Maki ever considered Mai a friend?
She didn’t know anymore.
It was a week after Maki had left that Mai had begun packing her own suitcase. She heard Maki traveled to Tokyo Tech. She certainly made good on her promise to not hold her hand anymore.
Mai had never felt more alone.