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Nira

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Nira shivered, her thin summer school uniform doing little to insulate her from the cold rain. Right now, she should have been at her graduation ceremony, giving a speech and receiving her diploma, and being applauded for being at the top of her grade. Instead, she was now sitting in a phone booth fifty kilometers away from home, her clothes drenched with rainwater with a couple thousand yen to her name. But more than anything, this was what she wanted. It was a stupid decision, and absolutely impractical, not to mention destructive to her long-planned future, but there was more to life than that. For all her parents did for her, all their expectations were crushingly unbearable, but she endured them. She couldn't keep doing that anymore. She had dreams and a passion for art that far surpassed any flimsy motivation for being a surgeon. That's why Nira was here, throwing her life away in the middle of Tokyo after her dad threw all her art supplies into the trash. She'd even left her phone with a note back home because she didn't want to owe her parents anything. She wasn't a kid anymore, she could live on her own. Even if she was functionally homeless right now, she had the skill and dedication to become a manga artist, and she just needed to seize the chances that came her way. Well, not that any have come yet. "Job, McDonald's or something, apartment... then interviews." Nira recited to herself like a mantra—her plans for the future. Probably a bit vague, but it would have to do. If worst came to worst, she'd just go beg on the street or something. She was a fully grown adult, and the police weren't going to drag her back to her parents. Just... had to tough this particularly insufferable night out on the streets. Clinging to her bag like a makeshift blanket, she rested her head against the glass of the phone booth in utter exhaustion. Hopefully, she'd fall asleep soon. As her eyelids fell shut, footsteps echoed on the streets, the splashing of water distinct from the continuous chattering of rain from the sky. Opening her eyes and sitting up, Nira moved her bag to the side to regard the stranger. Some salaryman coming home from overtime, maybe? Regardless, she was going to press her luck. "Sorry. Mind sparing me a bit of money?"