What is the city over the mountains
Cracks and reforms and bursts in the violet air
Falling towers
===
"Minako."
The moonlight was pushing through the drapes as Minako stepped into Katarina's apartment, shedding first her coat and then her shoes, scarf, and gym bag. "Yeah?"
"You're late."
Minako looked at Katarina. She was standing in the doorway between the entry and the kitchen, already dressed in pajamas and holding a mug of something. Minako smiled and waved a hand. "I'm sorry!" she apologized, wandering through. "I know you told my parents that I would be in by nine-thirty every night, but.... I just lost track of time. You know me. Practicing volleyball till I drop!" She bumped an invisible volleyball into the air. "Are there leftovers?"
Katarina sighed and wandered into the kitchen, Minako on her heels. "Would you like to talk about it?" she asked.
"Talk about what?" Minako replied, poking her head into the fridge.
"Moving back to Japan. Leaving your friends here. Leaving me." There was a pause, but Minako could feel her eyes at her back. "Where you were tonight."
"There's nothing to talk about." Minako shrugged and came out of the fridge with a bowl of leftover casserole. "Papa knew when we moved here that it would only be a few months. The fact it was a year was a treat." She grinned. "I'll miss you. I'll miss all my friends. And I was practicing volleyball all night."
"You were?"
"Yes!" Minako put the bowl on the table and then her hands on her hips. "Don't you believe me anymore?"
Katarina opened her mouth to speak, but before a sound came out, the phone rang. She sighed and walked over to it. "Hello, this is - oh. Hi." Minako watched her scowl disappear as she untangled some of the phone cord. "No, no, she's here for the weekend. Oh, just watching telly. She practiced volleyball tonight. One moment." She covered the reciever. "It's Alan. He's been covering the case on the drugs out of Bolivia coming into the country and - "
"It's okay." Minako waved her off. "I'm eating, anyway."
Katarina nodded and took the phone out of the room. Even with the door shut, Minako could hear snippets of their conversation and, more than that, Katarina's bell-like laughter.
She pushed the food around in her bowl. There was no reason for Katarina to suspect anything. She'd come home only a few minutes late, she'd had her bag, she'd been more than -
Pausing, she stopped and looked down at the shirt she was wearing. It was inside-out, and the lettering, still clearly visible even in the shirt's current state, spelled out the name of Alan's favorite football team.
She groaned ended up putting her head down on the table. Of course Katarina didn't believe her. She had no reason to.
