Chapter Text
Jaiden had slept for what seemed like forever, she ended up waking super late into the day. When she went out of her room to eat breakfast, she found some clothes sitting at the foot of her door. She smiled. They must've been from the woman at the front desk. She'll make sure to thank her later.
The clothes were simple; a black shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and some socks. Luckily her shoes were still intact, and so what she had was what was gonna have to do for now. Before Jaiden set off to the lobby, she realized she had a problem. Her wings. It'd probably be the best to hide them in her shirt again, after all she wasn't sure if the people in this city would freak out if they saw them. She tucked them away like she used to, now becoming more difficult after not doing it for so long, and finally left her room to the lobby.
-
When Jaiden made it downstairs, she saw significantly more people than yesterday. Maybe because it was morning. She quickly headed to the small cafe down a hallway to pick up some quick food; bacon and toast, simple enough. After eating, she headed back to the main lobby and straight to the receptionist desk. The woman she saw yesterday was there again!
"Uhm- good morning miss!" Jaiden exclaimed walking up to the desk just like the night before to gain the woman's attention. It worked well and when the woman spun around to see her, a smile immediately appeared upon seeing Jaiden. She made it to the desk and asked, "Is there anyway I can repay you for helping me?" The woman looked at her before giggling at her statement. Jaiden was taken aback by this reaction, wondering if she said something wrong?
"Ah dear, your face! You gave me money, I help you. Good?" She put a thumbs up and once again gave a big grin to Jaiden. That was surely not the way she wouldve expected this conversation to turn out, but she was glad the woman was kind-hearted.
Even though they kind-of settled on an agreement, Jaiden still felt like she needed to help in some way. "Though... You probably need more help, yes? Maybe a job and uh..." She looked like she was thinking hard, perhaps trying to remember a word. "...Japanese lessons!" Jaiden was half dreading the idea, but if she was going to be staying in this city for who knows how long trying to find her 'brother' she'd need to know how to get around. If she wasn't able to help she was glad the woman was willing to help her with her basic needs anyway.
The woman pulled out her phone and started typing something into it. Jaiden waited patiently. "If you want, I can give you job here? And with the money you get, you can do lessons and buy a phone! You can stay and eat here too." This was surely a big offer, why was this woman so willing to help someone she just met? Jaiden didnt understand. Whenever residents of the island gave her some sort of offer, there was always a catch. Most of the time it was for the others benefit. She wanted to understand, she needed to.
"Why... do you want to help me? Is there a catch to this?" Jaiden stared at the woman, who looked up from her phone. "A... catch? I do not know what that word means, but uh- you look like nice girl and I want to help!" It truly was such a simple reason. One Jaiden couldnt grasp or understand yet. For now though, she'd go along with it, never letting her guard down. This woman though, seemed sincere. "...Can I ask for your name?" Jaiden asked, hoping to give her a proper thanks. The woman said something, smiling after, but Jaiden couldn't hear her. She felt bad to ask again so she decided to continue to call her miss or ma'am.
-
Jaiden soon applied to work at the hotel and of course; got the job. She worked in housekeeping, it paid decent enough and it was easy work.
She was very grateful for the woman, she helped her sign up for japanese classes and set up a bank account. Somehow, Jaiden was already a legally registered citizen of japan, even though her farthest memories go to her living in America. She didn't question it, it was probably the doing of Jacob anyway.
Surprisingly Jaiden was picking up the language in a short time, only after two weeks was she already speaking it well. Its like something clicked in her head, or an old memory unlocked. It was weird.
Besides the weird language thing, she was quickly able to save up enough money to get some new clothes and a haircut by the two week mark. She was grateful not having to look like a disaster anymore. To pay the woman back for all her help, she would do anything she needed.
One day when Jaiden was walking back to the hotel after running some errands for the woman, she suddenly felt a drizzle of rain starting to come down. Worried that it would start to pour soon, she quickly looked around to find shelter. At the corner of the street she spotted a small cafe, it looked like a comfortable place. Soon the drizzle came down harder and she ran inside as quickly as she could.
Catching her breath as soon as she stumbled in, she set her bag of groceries on the floor to inspect them before herself. Only a few things on top were slightly damp but besides that everything else seemed to be dry and good. She sighed in relief. Finally getting up she was able to get a better look at the inside of the cafe.
It was a very cozy place. there were only a few customers, she saw a blonde haired boy and a dark haired girl, sitting at a booth across from each other. At the counter, a girl with pink braids was sitting and talking to a older man across the counter from her, making coffee.
She picked up her bag and walked over, sitting at the end of the counter away from the other customers. Taking out her wallet to account for any leftover money, she found a few extra yen she could use. She wasn't hoping on spending any more that day but it would be rude not to get at least something.
She saw the old man glance over to her from a distance, stopping the conversation with the young woman. He picked up a book-like item and walked over to Jaiden. "Hello ma'am." Menu in hand, he handed it to her. "These are our specialties for the day." He pointed to a neatly written note on the front of the menu. Jaiden took it from the man and flipped through it. They had a lot of good options. After looking at all the pages she landed on a simple cup of coffee. It didn't appear to be too hard to make so she could hopefully be out quickly.
"Just a cup of coffee please." She turned the menu and pointed to the picture of the item she wanted. The man nodded. "Of course ma'am. I'll get started right away." He grabbed the menu back and walked to the middle of the counter, placing it down. Quickly he got started. Jaiden sighed from relief. 'Thank god the lessons were paying off', she thought. 'I should be out of here in no time, well at least before the rain stops'. It was still pouring pretty hard outside.
The man finished making her drink quickly, and slid it over to her in no time. "How much will that be?" Jaiden asked, pulling out her wallet. "896 yen." He said. She pulled out the money and left it on the counter with a tip for him to pick up, and in return picked up the drink. She brought it to her mouth and attempted to drink quickly.
Jaiden almost choked on her first sip, of course from it being hot and drinking too fast, but she didn't expect it to taste so well for it being so cheap. The rain was still pounding outside, so maybe it'd be okay to take her time.
Before she could continue to enjoy her coffee, her phone lit up with a text message. She set her drink on the table and lifted up her phone. It was the hotel lady. Her text read, 'Are you okay? I hope you and the groceries got out of the rain alright, text me when you can.' Jaiden smiled a bit. She was glad the woman thought of her. She texted back, 'Yes, the groceries and I are alright. I'm in a nearby coffee shop and will be back when the rain clears up :3.' She set her phone back down and continued to sip her coffee once again, now deciding to listen in on the other customers conversations.