At Peace

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Scene Title At Peace
Synopsis At the end of a long day, Asami Tetsuzan receives a special phone call.
Date September 1, 2020

Asami Tetsuzan's Office, Linderman Building


It's been another long, challenging day.

For as much as Asami should no longer be hands-on in her leadership role, unique situations always seem to arise that require her personal attention. It would be an issue only if she minded it, but unraveling the puzzles needing solved always gave her satisfaction the power that leadership alone could not. It kept her nose clean, for the most part, to have her focus driven on work issues instead of…

For just a moment, she misses it, but then her gaze refocuses on her office, and she reflects on her station, on how well she's landed.

And Asami smiles to herself.

It's pushing eight in the evening, the sun dwindling in the sky, which is cue enough for her to find her way out. Everyone else in her department has long-since left, and her superiors know the effort she puts in. There's no one she's here for at this point but herself, and even she is satisfied with the amount she's put out today. It leaves her at peace, assured that even with her early leave time tomorrow to teach fencing at the Center, she's accomplished a good deal this week.

She's in the process of packing up her laptop when her phone begins to ring, the glowing screen on the top of her desk drawing her eye. She pauses at seeing it light up, seeing the characters brought to life while she's slipping her charger into the laptop bag set by her keyboard. Her heart enters her throat, the same way it always does when she receives this call.

ガオちゃん

Her brow furrows, the weight of the unknown pressing down on her. At once, this is a good call and a call with terrible news. It's things are well, but we miss you, and news that her father's had a heart attack halfway across the world. It's something great has happened without you and something awful has happened without you.

Asami loves hearing from her sister, but somehow, she's always waiting for the other foot to drop in their relationship.

She swipes accept on the call, and at first there's no one there at all on the video feed that initiates, just a view of a ceiling that could be anywhere. Arching her eyebrow, she peers down at her phone and wonders…

Then the image flips up, revealing home in the background, and a smiling face to accompany it.

"«お久しぶり、叔母ちゃん!»"

She almost chokes on her heart for a moment, tears stinging the corner of her eyes as she slowly sits back down in her office chair, phone held out in front of her to provide a better angle both for her to see and be seen by. The smile that comes to her is involuntary, infected by the energy put out by the darling young boy on the other side of the screen. Her voice lifts to that coo she swore she hated, but always puts on every time she sees and dotes on her nephew. "お久しぶりだな、現時くん!”

His smile is so bright, so wide. He's missing one of his front teeth. Genji could not possibly care less about how he's accenting that fact, either.

"«アスィちゃん、元気?»"

Asami's gaze softens at how he still clings to that mispronunciation of her name. Only he could get away with it. She emits a tone of agreement, smile pulling the corner of her mouth back just a little further. "へい、あたし元気だよ。" Her eyes search the background for a parent, and find none. With a lilt of curiosity she wonders, "お母さんは今どこ?"

With a sudden scowl, Genji reports sourly, "«仕事中。»"

Clearly this is a travesty. "Boo," Asami singsongs at him, squinting herself at the screen to show she's very clearly on his side in this matter. Work does suck, kid. But then her brow lifts again. "ね," she says to get his attention. "ちょっと英語練習をやって見ようか?"

Genji wriggles in his seat, continuing to hold onto the iPad. She imagines his little legs kicking underneath the table while he ponders his sudden shyness. Finally, he relents with a nod and a tiny, brave: "«まあいいか.»"

Asami smiles warmly, encouragingly. "How are you today, Genji?" she asks him, careful to go slow with the pronunciation of it.

"I am good!" he pronounces back, eyes unfocused as he concentrates on remembering all the right words. "I am going to school soon." Genji's little eyes circle back to the screen, no smile, all sincerity nonetheless. "But I want to say 'hi' first."

It's definitely right at the time he needs to be catching the bus, she realizes with a glance to the current time again. "You know you can call me any time, Genji-kun. But you should go for now. Don't be late for school. Okay?"

If he's at all disappointed, he hides it well, only nodding obediently. At least he got to see her, his cool aunt who lives in America and works with computers and rides a motorcycle— who he definitely doesn't look up to by a worrying amount. Genji relents with a quiet, "Okay. I call you again after school, okay?"

Asami smiles warmly, making a mental note to set her alarm for that such time, even if it was in the middle of the night for her. "Okay. Have a good day."

"Bye-bye, Aunt Asi!"

"Bye, Little Lion. See you soon."

When the call disappears, leaving only the screen of her phone, Asami watches it for a few seconds longer before closing her eyes and leaning back in her chair. She's not left the office, but she doesn't need to to feel at peace right now. Turning back to the window, she sees it's begun to rain lightly, scattered clouds dumping a surprise downpour even though the sunset is still perfectly visible. Rivulets of rain streak across the window glass, forking off in different, gleaming directions. She admires them as much as she admires the horizon she can see from her skyscraper office, the Twin Towers in the distance glinting with orange light.

She takes in a deep breath before letting it out slowly, soaking in the moment. Nothing was perfect, but she had to imagine this was as close as she could get. She missed home, but her sister, her nephew found ways to make sure she was included. Asami was living in a way that was true to herself, even if that meant she was flirting with danger and consequence at every turn.

She would find a way to maintain the balance. She always did.

If ever she left, she'd make sure her family was well-protected in the process.

But for now…

For now Asami enjoys the sunset and the warmth in her soul, at peace with the world and her current place in it.


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