WK 20 themes: aftermath

18. A working life

Living in New York reminds Aya of his childhood, when he'd accepted that life would be a slow battle through school, then part-time jobs to fill the time before the inevitable: a safe, dead-end job as a salaryman.

He'd managed to get as far as the part-time work; the only similarity his present job has with that anticipated career is that he will live out the rest of his days doing it. Here the cool glass of each office window distorts his features into a resigned smile, ages him ten years, shows him the future he never came to have.




3. Identity

Ken's the only one who still has his name, now that Youji's forgotten his own and Aya isn't likely to ever relinquish his sister's. He's not sure if it counts for anything. Hidaka Ken has died too many times. If identity were merely a question of names, Omi's last mission would have been much longer ago.

Here in Britain, he has to get used to different cadences. The syllable barely changes in foreign accents; still, those in Side B all pronounce it differently, and only in Aya's voice does it sound familiar. Even then, though, it never sounds quite right.




2. Flower arrangements

Sometimes Mamoru finds himself staring at the flower arrangements in his grandfather's house, when they wait for a serving-girl to bring out tea, or when discussion has ceased and it is not yet an appropriate time to leave. He has never learnt the classical art, but as far as he knows there is nothing remarkable about them - pale blooms in flat dishes, foreign buds in vases. Mamoru still remembers some of the language, and there is nothing there for him to read.

Once only, he reaches out to remove a withered flower. If Saijou notices, he does not comment.




Bonus theme 4. Urban legends

Ryou reads the papers every morning, over breakfast. Asuka teases him about it sometimes, asking if her cooking is so bad that he must distract himself from it, and he'll grin sheepishly and fold the paper up, saving it for the daily commute. Today she spares him, so Ryou reads about readjustments to the pension scheme, revaluation of the yuan, an underground organisation in Europe that employs assassins.

The last holds his attention where the other two fail; it sounds like the stuff of urban legend. He says as much to Asuka, who smiles. The morning passes as any other.