Rider School - Mariya

I'm recording this because it could be the last thing I ever say.


***

Mariya appreciated the moments where Gridman wasn't bothering her. It meant she could appreciate the fact that her flower store had no customers.

Admittedly, people in the Undercity were only just coming around to the idea that colours other than neon purple and blue existed. She liked to watch the expressions of the people that purchased from her. A few looked like they didn't quite believe what they were doing. The Crimson Fists were sending some her way too, people whom were rough on the outside because life had made them that way. People who were looking for some way to escape that for a moment.

It was nice to see some window boxes, here and there.

But today nobody wanted flowers. This was fine. It meant she got to sit behind the counter on the tall stool, letting the light from the western Window bounce from the shops opposite into her hair as she drew.

She drew from life, mostly. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do with it, but she kept doing it. There were flowers, of course. Cats hid amongst references from the figure drawing lessons she scraped the cash together for. There were the hard edges of Vince's helmet, and the softer lines of his real face. She'd tried drawing Vince's girlfriend and had given up, leaving a few obnoxious swerves of pencil on the pad.

She didn't struggle, really. But between bills, food and her few hobbies, going out didn't happen often.

She was trying something new. She'd drawn half of a face, and was trying to make a rose bloom from the right eye. It was probably a bit too goth for her. Maybe that green lady with the bat wings would appreciate it. It'd make a good tattoo.

There was never any point where she'd wondered why she drew.

There wasn't any point to stopping.

When had she started?

Mariya looked out of the windows considering. A Bioroid in a municipal worker's outfit - an older model with cubic muscles and a slab jaw - ambled down the road. The extended arm darted out like a water nymph's jaw, snapping up a floating piece of paper. She found herself watching the way the sun iridesced from the metallic skin.

Oh, no.

She dropped her head down, making a frustrated noise.

Joshua. Damn it.

Her life was... What was it? It was working here. It was drawing, compulsively. It was listening to synthwave and learning to cook and trying to make people feel better, and playing video games, and Joshua. And Joshua was everywhere all the time and she -

She couldn't hate it. She couldn't hate him. He was so dumb. He was an idiot. It was impossible to overstate it. But he hadn't taken it as an obstacle. He'd somehow weaponized his inability to understand things. The world got out of his way for fear of hurting him.

He kept a cat that snored, and didn't understand music but was trying. He couldn't cook because he didn't eat. He compulsively helped even though he followed every instruction as literally as possible. He'd never been sad and you could hear every exclamation mark whenever he spoke.

He wouldn't understand. It made her want to... cry? Vomit? Scream?

When did her life start to revolve around him?

But he was a hero in training, like her.

Mariya looked up. The clock read 4:55.

Meredith had gone home anyway. It was only the two of them and the older women had trusted her with the keys. As long as Mariya closed up properly...

Five minutes later, and Mariya Sato was on her way to her next Rider School session.