The Mingdu slowly docked. The dull thud of hull meeting pier rose through my feet. I changed into Sailor Moon cosplay—white midi skirt. She changed into a light pink midi skirt.
Tsukago waved at the floating interface. "As a girl, I and Sister have arrived in Modu."
The livestream camera panned toward the window. The dock spread out before us.
Container cranes turned slowly in the distance. The sea wind poured through the porthole, carrying diesel and the salty tang of the sea. Voices echoed up from the pier, a tangle of shouts and laughter and the rumble of luggage wheels.
[chat] Modu
[chat] Finally docked 😆
[chat] Daughter's outfit is so beautiful ✨
The Mingdu steadied. The gangplank dropped onto the pier. Passengers poured out of the hatch, dragging their suitcases. Tsukago and I walked among the crowd.
Passing the deck, Zhao Dayong stood by the railing waving at us. His laptop bag was slung over his shoulder, the strap swaying gently in the sea breeze.
He freed up a hand and waved at us.
I nodded. Tsukago waved back.
The exit was packed. A delivery rider crouched beside his electric scooter on the street, refreshing the order page. The voice blaring from his speaker came in broken snatches on the wind. "Dropped again. Only one yuan left. But if I quit, how do I keep making a living?" He yanked his helmet back on. The scooter shot forward.
A row of people stood holding lodging signs. An old man held up a cardboard lodging sign, the characters blown crooked by the wind.
I walked out of the dock and looked back at the ship once.
——The dock is still the dock. The people are no longer the people from the ship.
Beside the exit stood a DMV service window. The counter was brushed steel, cool under the fluorescent lights. I handed over my documents. The clerk glanced at them and pulled a pair of custom plates from under the counter. Kunyao K23, Modu A·00000 and Modu A·00001.
Two matching convertible sports cars waited at the curb. One obsidian black, one cherry-blossom pink. I pulled the door open. The headlights flipped up and flashed twice.
We checked in. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, a sea of clouds churned. Cargo ships moved slowly across the river. The room was on a high floor. The carpet was thick and pale gray, swallowing every step. Tsukago shoved her suitcase into the corner and pressed herself against the floor-to-ceiling window.
I faced the camera. "As a girl, I want to say we've arrived in Modu."
The chat scrolled through a few rounds. Tsukago leaned in. "Sister, someone in the chat says their back hurts. They're asking if we have any stretches."
I turned around. "We do. Dancing on the cruise every day, my lower back and back got stiff too."
I walked to the center of the room, onto the carpet. Tsukago followed. The camera tracked us.
"As a girl, I'm teaching a few stretches today. Survival for the desk-bound."
I bent forward, palms flat on the carpet, arching and pressing my back down. Facing the camera. "If your back hurts, stretch like this. Like someone's lifting you from between your shoulder blades."
[chat] Learned something
[chat] So professional 👏
[chat] Wifey what floor are you on the window is just clouds 😭
[chat] Lat stretch right
Tsukago crouched beside me. She wrapped both arms around her waist from behind and twisted halfway, her side facing the camera. "If your semimembranosus hurts, stretch like this." She extended her left leg, toes touching the floor, and leaned to the other side. "Sister, is this girl doing it right?"
"Point your toes a little more. Just feel the stretch along the back of your thigh." I stood and helped adjust her angle.
"One more for back pain." I turned sideways, one hand on my hip, the other raised overhead and curving to the opposite side. "Side waist stretch. Do both sides."
Tsukago followed. Halfway through, she cracked up. "This girl has no sense of balance." I reached out and steadied her waist. "Put your weight on your left foot." Tsukago held the pose.
I turned to face the camera. "Alright, that's it for stretches. Remember to get up and move if you sit too long, or your back will cry."
[chat] Wifey's side waist line is unreal 👏
[chat] Daughter is so serious ✨
[chat] Starting today
[chat] The cloud sea is beautiful like a painting ✨
I waved at the camera. The room went quiet. Only the distant cargo ship horn outside the window.
In the distance, the dark red crane boom on the dock still turned slowly. The metal shells of the containers reflected the afternoon light. The sea wind poured through the porthole, puffing the curtain up and letting it fall.
Tsukago flopped onto the bed, arms and legs spread like a starfish. She bounced twice and went limp. "Modu. Finally. If this girl had to spend one more day on that ship, as a girl, I would have started charging the seagulls rent."
"You would have evicted them within a week. Too noisy." I unzipped my suitcase. "Besides, this girl knows you would just spend the rent money on snacks."
"Lychee needs a varied diet." She sat up, grabbed the squirrel, and pressed its face against the window, leaving a smudge. "Look, Lychee. Smog. Isn't it beautiful?" She made the squirrel nod slowly.
"It cannot see. It has plastic eyes."
"You have no romance in your soul, Sister." She turned the squirrel to face me and made it shake its head. I threw a balled-up sock. She caught it with the squirrel like a tiny goalie.
She threw the sock back. It hit my shoulder and dropped onto the carpet. "Two points," she said, raising both arms in victory. "This girl is the undisputed sock champion of Modu."
I picked it up and folded it into a neat square, smoothing the creases with my thumb. "You treat laundry like a sacred ritual," she said, flopping onto her stomach.
"It calms the mind." I placed the square on the nightstand. "Something you could benefit from."
Tsukago propped her chin in her hands and kicked her feet in the air. "Modu is huge. Tomorrow we find the next one?"
"We find the next one." I closed the curtains halfway. The sky outside was the color of a fading bruise, purple yielding to black.
She grabbed the squirrel and made it walk along the windowsill, its tiny paws tracing the edge. "Lychee wants a city tour. Skyscrapers, smog, unemployed PhDs."
"Lychee has expensive taste for a stuffed toy."
"It learned from you." She turned the squirrel to face me and made it bow deeply from the waist. I threw another sock. It missed by a wide margin and bounced off the window.