Momo woke up reluctantly, having dreamed that she was home. It was probably time to tell Mina that their study session was over and that they could leave. She opened her eyes and saw that it was light outside, getting up with a start. As she stood up, she looked down at herself and saw that she was wearing her school uniform. It hadn’t been a dream. She frowned and held a hand to her head as she tried to remember how she had gotten home. Her memory was a blur as she recalled being helped by Mina. Her body had been too fatigued to react and she had succumbed to Mina’s assistance.

Yawning, Momo abandoned trying to remember and stretched. She looked at the time and saw that it was already 10:24 a.m. She was late and if she tarried any longer, she would be even more so but she just couldn’t muster up any care. She had slept amazing well and her body felt fresh and reenergised as she changed out of her uniform and took a shower. Putting on her other set of school clothes, she ate slowly and lazed around until there was five minutes left before her bus arrived. She walked out to the bus stop and plugged in her earphones to listen to some music as she waited. The music was a calming companion as she travelled towards school and she lost herself in her thoughts.

Arriving at school, Momo headed straight for the attendance officer’s office to note her late arrival. Having done that, she went to class with an eager mind. The schoolwork was much easier compared to the day before when she had been tired and slightly sleep deprived however after the class, she realised that her increased concentration hadn’t been only due to extra sleep. With an empty mind as she had gotten to school, she hadn’t thought of Mina since after waking up and she found that without the confusing brunette weighing on her mind, everything that she did had been much easier to accomplish. Thinking that there was something in that, she emptied her mind again and headed for her next class.

~

It was after lunch and the second years were out in the courtyard, conducting a mini working bee. As per tradition, the classes were split up and organised into different groups as they managed the school grounds in preparation for the summer. There were many different jobs to be done and a lottery decided the students’ fates. The worst job was aptly named the ‘Toilet King’ and involved washing down the bathrooms and toilets around the school. Luckily, Mina avoided that and managed to pull out the slip that had her raking leaves.

Pulling the rakes across the paved courtyard, Mina was glad that there was no wind. Raking would have been impossible if the wind had been blowing all the leaves around. It was a cool day with the sun hiding behind some clouds and the students milled around, working slowly. Mina stopped raking and pulled out a red flag from her pocket; a signal that someone could collect up the leaves. Someone came soon enough and Mina waved as she recognised Sana dressed in overalls lugging a wheelie bin. Sana didn’t respond to her wave and bent down to scoop up the leaves into her gloved hands then realised that she hadn’t opened the bin lid.

Stepping forward, Mina held up the lid as Sana deposited the leaves. Not content with that, she turned the rake around and pointed it beside the pile of leaves. Sana looked up at her confused, wondering what Mina was doing.

‘If you push it onto the rake, I can lift it into the bin. It would save us some time.’

Sana hesitated then did as Mina had suggested and realised that she was right. They did it again and Sana grabbed up the remainder of the leaves as the pile disappeared. Closing the lid, Mina leaned against her rake as she eyed Sana. The other girl really was quite clumsy sometimes and it was amusing to watch her. Then she saw that Sana was watching her as well out of the corner of her eye. “Is there something wrong?” she asked, wondering if she had missed some leaves somewhere. Sana was caught off guard by the questions and stuttered slightly as she formed a reply.

‘What? Oh no, there isn’t.’

‘Really?’

‘Alright fine. This is unaccustomed.’

Mina cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head.

‘What do you mean by that?’

Sana fidgeted nervously and for a moment, Mina thought she wouldn’t reply. “Well then if you really want to know,” Sana began as Mina nodded, “I didn’t think you would help me.” Mina frowned funnily. “Why? Because you think that I’m a judgemental ?” she commented. Sana mouth fell open at the remark and Mina hid a smile at the response.

‘What? Of course not. It’s just that you don’t seem to be the type of person that would help others. I just didn’t expect you to help me with the leaves since it’s not your job. I wouldn’t think that you would want to dirty your hands…is all.’

Sana trailed off and Mina gave a short laugh.

‘Guess we all change eh?’

Sana smiled at that, glad that Mina wasn’t outwardly offended. “That’s true I suppose. Just seemed a bit out of left field for you considering your past actions,” she said. Mina conceded the point, recalling the time Sana had barged into her classroom to yell at her. It wasn’t a comforting memory and she walked away saying, “Well if that’s all…”

‘Actually there is one more thing.’

Mina stopped and turned back and this time Sana looked more confident in what she was about to say.

‘Can I ask why Momo is going to your house to have dinner?’

‘Oh, she told you did she?’

‘She might’ve mentioned it.’

‘Well yeah, it’s true. It’s today in fact. My dad just wants to thank her for helping me.’

Sana didn’t reply and instead took off her gloves and put her hands on her hips, facing Mina.

‘Alright. What are you trying to get at?’

‘Excuse me?’

‘What are your intentions regarding Momo? Why are you spending so much time with her all of a sudden and why is there a need to go to your house for dinner?’

Mina was speechless at the sudden questions and took a few seconds to reply. Holding her hands up in defence, she tried to look as harmless as she could. “Like I said, it was my dad who invited her. We didn’t really get a chance to have a say in the matter. You know how it is,” she said to Sana. Narrowing her gaze, Sana took a step forward to eye Mina more closely and there was an awkward silence as she did so.

‘If nothing else, I’ll say this. You already know that Momo is an orphan and that she needs to study hard to get into a good university unlike us rich kids who will likely inherit large multi-million dollar companies and in your case billion. So I ask you that you think about that when you make Momo do something.’

It was quite a serious warning from Sana and Mina tried to think of something to say but the moment was ruined as Sana stumbled for a step, tripping over an untied shoelace. Mina held a straight face, thinking of answering to someone as clumsy as Sana but she kept her tongue in check and nodded obediently. “You’ll hear nothing bad of me,” she said meekly. Her reply seemed to satisfy Sana as she straightened up with a wry grin.

‘Sorry if that was a bit upfront but Momo is a good person who hasn’t been dealt the best lot in life. I just wanted to make sure that you weren’t taking advantage of her.’

Mina nodded in understanding and for the first time, she truly felt that Sana had accepted her. She grabbed her rake and headed to another spot to clean, the other girl following behind while pulling the bin.

~

‘Well looks like you’re finished. You worked hard. Well done.’

Momo congratulated Mina who nodded despondently. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “I would’ve thought that you’d be happy to be through with those worksheets and these extra study sessions.”

‘Oh yeah. Sure.’

Momo shrugged away any thoughts at why Mina was reacting strangely to their sessions coming to an end. She had declared to herself that she would avoid spending unnecessary time thinking about Mina. Looking around the room, she glanced up at the clock. “Well it’s only been half an hour,” she said. “Did you want to do anything or do you just want to head off? I still have to go to my job so I have time to kill.” Mina looked up and blinked at her.

‘Um Momo, did you forget that you’re invited for dinner tonight?’

‘Oh. That’s right. It just slipped from my mind. So what’s the plan?’

Momo silently chided herself for her gaffe, remembering that she had contacted her manager on the weekend and been granted a day off work.

‘I was thinking we drive over right now and just wait until my dad gets home for dinner.’

Momo nodded and packed her stationery into her pencil case. She swept the eraser rubbings off the table and slipped on her schoolbag. Mina was ready and waiting and she flicked off the light switch as they left the room and walked out of the library. The librarian who was on duty at the front desk looked up from their book and raised an eyebrow at them. “Done so soon?” he remarked. Momo smiled and nodded.

‘Yes. Bit of an early finish this time.’

The librarian gave a distracted wave, already engrossed in his book again and Mina led them towards the car park. Wanting to carry her bag with her, Momo sat down and engaged her seatbelt as she waited for Mina to put her schoolbag in the trunk before leaning forward and holding onto the front passenger seat. The chauffeur turned to her curiously and she looked at him with shining eyes. “I remember you helping me yesterday. I was very tired and didn’t get much sleep so thank you for that Mister…. Um, sorry but what is your name?” she asked awkwardly. The chauffeur nodded at her thanks and supplied his name.

‘Mr. Song. Song Soojin at your service ma’am.’

The chauffeur tipped his hat and Momo thanked him again, this time using his name.

~

Mina sat in the back of the car as Momo began to thank the driver and her eyes widened with shock as she realised that she didn’t know his name either. It was such a basic thing to know, someone’s name, and yet Mina was completely unaware. She filed away the name for future use and as they drove towards her house, she couldn’t help but feel that Sana was completely justified in her words earlier in the day. Saying that helping someone was unusual for her was a very real reality and she felt that she had somewhat been wrapped up too much in her bubble of privilege.

Making a plan to somehow find out the rest of the staff’s names, she was slightly nervous at the prospect of Momo visiting her house but looked forward to it at the same time. She concentrated on trying to not do anything stupid as Mr. Song navigated the peak hour traffic and soon they had arrived. She glanced at Momo from her peripheral vision and awaited her response.

‘Wow.’

It was an unconscious reaction from Momo as the car passed through the gateway to the Myoui residence. They drove up the driveway that cut a lazy path through large gardens that were dotted with statues of angels and well-trimmed hedges. Lamps lit up the area with a yellow glow and some sort of greenhouse co