"So, how are you liking it so far?"

"If it weren't for how I almost passed out walking up that hill yesterday, I would say I could live here."

She couldn't definitively decide if she had fallen in love with the city just yet—was there such a thing as saying she loved something or someone too early? Probably—but she imagined it was the closest she would ever get. Nowhere would ever feel quite like home, but perhaps it was possible to discover a home away from home. A place she wasn't born in, hadn't been raised in, didn't know for much more than 48 hours, and yet found it as familiar and comfortable as if she had. She decided this after only a third morning of waking up by the bay.

Before Spencer arrived in San Francisco, she told herself she wouldn't leave until she accomplished the quintessential San Francisco experience of riding a cable car. But then she arrived, realized how expensive they were, and decided she could continue to dream. After wandering around the streets of Chinatown, they settled on the next best thing—the free cable car museum. It was within walking distance, Sakura had said. But nothing of the hills required to get to the damn thing. Spencer had to stop at multiple points to catch her breath. She even debated paying for a ride up the hill, but that cost as much as the cable car ride would have.

Ultimately, it was worth it, even if she thought she would throw up all those egg tarts she shoved into her mouth minutes before they started walking.

Sakura laughed as she leaned over to grab a small plate of bok choy. The conveyor belt of food continued spinning around with tiny plates overflowing with vegetables. All-you-can-eat hot pot restaurants were guilt-free zones of pure freedom and the perfect way for them to start their Wednesday. (Late, of course.) The only thing it cost her, besides the transit fare, was being mocked by the bus driver for mispronouncing Daly City like daa-lee. Spencer elected not to ask him how he mispronounced Hawai'i and mock him for it.

"You get used to it," she said. "When I first got here, I was so embarrassed by how out of shape I was. I couldn't even escape all the hills at school. Berkeley gave me three very important gifts: a degree, student loan debt, and a pep in my step. Now I walk all the time."

"Oh?" Spencer laughed.

"Well, I kind of have to. No way I'd keep a car in the city. And you've seen these hills. Parking on them still terrifies me."

They paused while the server dropped off their drinks and two plates of meat—pork belly and wagyu.

Sakura dipped a piece of napa cabbage into her sauce. "I went on a hike last week. Voluntarily. Consider me a changed woman."

"I can't remember the last time I hiked," Spencer admitted. "Actually, I do. It was that time I—"

"Wait—I know what you're gonna say..."

"Koko Head," they said in unison.

"I sprained my fucking ankle." Spencer groaned, recalling the unfortunate incident when they were high school juniors. "Worst day of my life."

The most embarrassing part of that day wasn't the sprained ankle. Earlier, the three of them—Sakura, Spencer, and Spencer's boyfriend—stopped to hang out at the playground near their old elementary school. They weren't in the way since it was a Saturday, which was ideal for many reasons but mostly because she didn't make a fool of herself in front of a bunch of kids. Spencer had tried sliding down a part of the playground not designed for said activity, and her foot got caught, sending her face-first into the rubber flooring. After a quick investigation which concluded that she did not lose any teeth in the accident, though she lacked a concerning amount of dignity, the three of them dissolved into balls of laughter and tears.

The part of the day where they went for a hike and procured a sprained ankle thanks to the pain and clumsiness on Spencer's part was less than humorous. Everything else that happened that day made reminiscing on it much more bearable.

"I miss it there," Sakura muttered under her breath, a barely-there smile peeking through the fog of nostalgia. If Spencer hadn't been hanging on to every word between them in their short time together, she might have missed it.

"Can I ask you a question?" Spencer asked.

Sakura nodded.

"Probably just my very limited anecdotal evidence, but I always thought that people who went away for school moved on after they graduated. Like, if I went to Seattle for college, I'd find a job somewhere else after. Seattle would only be the city where I went to school, and I'd find another city to become myself in."

It didn't elude Spencer how naive and out-of-touch she sounded. (A rude categorization, on second thought.) She didn't go to college for two main reasons: she couldn't afford it and she had no idea what she would have studied. Most of what she understood about the college experience was derived from seeing the world around her, whether through people she knew or in the media.

"It can be, for a lot of people," said Sakura. "I guess it depends on where you go to school, what field you're entering. Whether... there are other factors tying you to another place. Or, hell, you end up getting a job that has nothing to do with your degree—" She pointed at herself. "—because the world works in fucking ridiculous ways."

"Why did you end up staying here?" Spencer asked. The question sounded like her friend had settled for something less, but she didn't mean for it to come out like that. Anyone would be lucky to call San Francisco home. Sakura looked away, at the conveyor belt. "We didn't talk as much before you left, but I always thought you'd come back home. I know so many people from Hawai'i leave and don't come back and it's sad, but it's usually because they don't have a choice. You never really... struck me as one of those people."

She regretted bringing it up as a dense silence fell on top of them, not at all with like the comfort of a weighted blanket. Sakura was quiet for so long that Spencer wondered if she could get away with pretending as if she hadn't said anything. They could stare awkwardly at each other, and clear their throats. Sakura would ask her to repeat her question, and Spencer would ask something completely different.

Instead, Sakura let her pot of sukiyaki soup base continue to rise to a rolling boil while their vegetable selections and cuts of meat sat untouched on the table. She fidgeted with already straight chopsticks. Brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear. Finally looked up at Spencer with something behind her eyes that the latter couldn't quite read.

"Well, that was the plan. I couldn't see myself living out of Hawai'i. Not for a very long time. School was meant to be a detour from my life. I did it because it was expected of me—lame, I know. My parents wouldn't have let me not go to college. But I knew it wouldn't define what I did after I graduated. Which, yes, is an extremely privileged thing to say. Just like it's privileged to have gone in the first place." She rambled, occasionally stumbling over her words. "The time came for me to graduate. My parents flew up to visit for the first time since I moved out here and asked me what my plans were after. It made me realize for the first time that, even though they expected me to go to school, they didn't have any plans for me after I was done. All they wanted was to see me get that piece of paper. No more expectations. No more wondering if I had to figure out how to accomplish everything they ever wanted for me. I had the whole world ahead of me. So, I decided not to leave. I had already fallen in love with San Francisco years before. Now I get to fall in love with it more and more every day since."

Spencer opened her mouth to speak.

"But I miss it," Sakura continued. "I miss Hawai'i every day that I'm not with her. I miss the people, I miss who I was, and who I thought I would become. I sometimes wonder what it would be like if I didn't leave. If I didn't... run from a life I didn't think would wait for me. But I'm here, and everything is... good. I'm trying to make the best of what's here. I think I'm doing alright."

Spencer smiled and nodded. "Good. Good for you."