Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante,
Had a bad cold, nevertheless
Is known to be the wisest woman in Europe,
With a wicked pack of cards.
===
"I'm still not sure I understand."
Alan smiled politely as he finished the last morsel of biscuit, licking a crumb off his thumb. "Understand what, Mrs. Aino?"
The flat owned by the Ainos, Minako was well aware, was small and cramped for three people. Alan alone could fit comfortably there, but the living room felt nearly claustrophobic as they shared tea and biscuits in the afternoon. Artemis, napping in a spot of sunlight, flicked his tail lazily. Minako envied him. He could flick his tail. She was caught twisting her napkin.
"Your...friendship. With Minako." Emi Aino was a small woman, pretty in her age, with an easy smile and fair features her daughter had inherited from her. But right now, her smile was pinched and her English, excellent, was almost stilted and overly formal. "Are you a friend of Katarina's, or did you meet some other way?"
"Ah, that question." Alan set his tea cup down and leaned back comfortably on the sofa. "I gave a bit of a talk on journalism at Minako's school a few months ago. She was very curious. We spoke for hours on a variety of topics. She sometimes even goes so far as to come down to the newspaper offices." He chuckled. "She's a curious one, this doll of a daughter you have."
Minako shifted and blushed as her mother blinked and said, "Really?"
"Absolutely, ma'am. I think she'll make a right newspaperman in her lifetime."
"And here, I thought Minako wanted to sing and act."
Alan paused for a brief moment, his smile faltering for just the briefest of seconds. "Well, everyone needs a back-up plan. I wanted to be the first man on Mars, and then I became more...sensible."
"Mmm."
"Mmm?" Artemis asked when Minako recounted the conversation to him hours later, lounging on her bed in her closet-sized bedroom with her fingers laced on her stomach and eyes trained on the ceiling. "That's all she said?"
"All of it." Minako rolled onto her side and sighed. "Artemis, if she knows, then I - "
There was a light tap at the door and her mother's head peeked around the doorframe. "Minako?"
"Hai, okaa-san?"
She smiled slightly. "I just wanted to say that...." She paused and seemed to struggle to find her words. "He's a good friend."
"Mama - "
"No, Minako. He is." She nodded. "Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes."
"Hai, okaa-san."
Once the door closed again, she groaned and buried her face in a stuffed toy.
"You're lucky you got the response you did," Artemis half-chided.
"Mmm," she replied, and heaved a sigh.
