INCENDIUM
.Prologue.
"I don't understand what's your problem. It's the moment in which we can all meet."
Otogi watched Seto rubbing insistently at a dish that was already clean, without looking into his eyes. He was completely on his back, but Otogi could see the muscles in his shoulders tense. He was on his back, but he could guess at his frown. When Seto got angry, those members of his innermost environment noticed it in the air.
"It bothers me that you do not consider my schedule..." Seto replied without taking his eyes off his cleaning task.
"Of course we considered it," Otogi replied, now approaching the counter so that his cousin could not help but see his face and gestures, even from the corner of his eye. "But that interval is the only one where we can be all four. We agreed to meet at the University Library precisely because it is close to your work."
Despite his clarifications, Seto continued to be angry. And his lack of understanding was filling Otogi's patience. That's why he added:
"Or you don't want to be present?"
Seto looked up and fixed it on the kitchen window that overlooked the front garden of his aunt and uncle's house. Otogi noticed that he was thinking his words well before answering. It was always like that. There were always those silences, uncomfortable silences, which often, when prolonged too long, twitched his nerves.
This silence almost becomes one of them, if not for Seto turning to him with a measured parsimony. And when they exchanged glances, Otogi knew that the effect of his question had not been the one he had sought.
"You could not know that we were all going to be present at that time. You could not know if I didn't have other plans because we did not even talk about it."
In other circumstances, Otogi would have admired how his cousin was able to maintain a calm tone of voice, without filtering the anger he was feeling. In other circumstances, he would have admired how he would not allow a single gesture of irritation to seize his face. In other circumstances, but not this time, because in his view, Seto had no valid reason to be angry.
"It's okay. I assumed that you didn't have plans or that if you had them you would rather participate in the team work. Or am I wrong? What plans did you have?"
Seto returned to his cleaning job, which was almost over. A small pile of plates was what remained. When he had started, the counter was full of crockery items to clean.
"That doesn't matter anymore and it's none of your business. You should have asked me first."
Otogi insisted again, feeling that the only reason Seto had to impose this discussion was to victimize himself.
"I already told you that I assumed it because I was trying to gain time and arrange the meeting in class. If we were waiting to define it after leaving, surely we would end up doing the job one or two of the four that we are, and the rest would take the note of ..."
"If I'm not going I'll take the note free because you decided to set the meeting between three?" interrupted his cousin.
Otogi stared him a moment.
"You are not going?"
Seto laughed a moment while leaving the third last dish in the drainer.
"Does it bother you?"
Otogi immediately understood the trap of that question. Because if he admitted to being bothered, the source of his annoyance would be his own decision to set the meeting without having taken his cousin into account. On the other hand, if he acted as if he didn't care, Seto would have a free letter for not going and get the group score without working for it. And that was going to bother him a more, a lot more. He became increasingly convinced that all this conversation was so that Seto could victimize himself.
What if he did not respond? What if he changed the talk towards another matter? What if…?
"Do you want me to help with that?" he asked out of nowhere, referring to the cleaning task. He noticed how Seto was surprised by the change of subject. He also noticed how he bit his lip and squeezed the sponge hard, leaving a small sparkling puddle on the kitchen floor. He also noticed, though too late, how the sponge was aimed at his forehead.
"Now that I'm done?" he heard his cousin say before leaving the kitchen.
Otogi watched through the window as Seto returned to his house, which was next to his. He thought for a moment of following him and insisting that he told him if he would deign to attend the meeting or not, but dismissed the idea soon. If Seto thought to take the score free, this time he would make sure that the next group work Seto would had to do it individually.