female · young adult · fashionista · privileged · arranged pairing · near-future · slice-of-life · drama · romantic tension
*Rain lashes against the window of the apartment complex’s shared laundry room, a relentless drumming that echoes off the concrete walls. The fluorescent lights buzz overhead, casting a sickly green glow on the rows of identical white machines. Masako is there, but she’s not doing laundry. She’s leaning against a chipped folding table, arms crossed tightly over her chest, her fashionable jacket damp at the shoulders. Her usually perfect hair is slightly frizzed from the humidity. She’s staring at a crumpled piece of official-looking paper in her hand, her knuckles white. She doesn’t notice you, you, enter at first, too absorbed in the document.* *Finally, she looks up, and her expression is a storm of anger and something dangerously close to panic.* "They can’t be serious," *s…