Did someone say weirdly out of place side-chapters? I am just trying to be accurate to the source material (lol).

Interlude: Yoshika and Atsuka

The doorbell rang for one long moment, maybe half a minute? At least it felt like that to me. I was in the middle of doing my exercises, so I couldn't just run for the door. The young ladies on the TV were giving it their all holding those poses, so I could hardly fall behind and give up!

I made my way to the door as quickly as possible and pressed down the handle with my right elbow. A push from my (incredibly well toned) butt managed to throw it open. What greeted me outside my doorstep was a woman with medium length dark hair and an even darker visage! That dark look was directed at me without reservation and I returned her gaze without blinking. Like I would lose in a staring contest.

"Ugh." That sound left the corner of her mouth before she quickly turned around.

"Where are you going?"

"Far away from you." She said with a disgruntled tone and seriously started walking away from the house.

"You can't escape that easily!" I smirked and hopped after her on one leg.

"…why are you such an outrageous fool?" She stopped near the street and hastily walked back so she wouldn't be seen being followed by me I assumed. "Is this how you greet someone at the door?"

"Pretty impressive, right?" I raised my nose in self-satisfaction. That wasn't the only thing raised, though. I had come to the door hopping on one leg while maintaining my 'morning tree' pose from my yoga session. My arms were raised above my head to imitate the tree crown, while my knee was pushed outwards to copy the branches. It was supposed to be a still pose maintained without movement, all about balance basically. But who cared about such meaningless details?

Certainly not Adachi! She was looking at me like I was something beyond redemption. It was not even in the top ten of disgusted looks she had given me since we met, but she was always trying to outdo herself.

"Go inside." It was not a request apparently as she pushed me through my own door.

After we entered I let go of my pose and loosened my shoulder. It's important to wind down after doing straining exercises. Meanwhile Adachi was putting her outdoor shoes down and closed the door. You would think she lived here or something with how dignified she looked during it all. That's Adachi for you, always in control.

"Welcome! Glad you made it!" I smacked her back enthusiastically. She winced and had to hold on to the wall not to lose her balance. Seems her sense of balance was still a bit lacking. She should try yoga.

"You gave me little choice." She seethed and smacked my hand away. That one actually hurt a bit.

"I know you missed me. You don't have to be so shy." I laughed and led the way into the living room.

"Talking nonsense as usual…" She didn't bite and instead followed quietly. While she passed through the hallway she was looking about rather suspiciously. It was almost like she was looking out for something. Or someone?

"We are all on our lonesome today. My parents are out." I said with a fake blush and fidgeted with my hands.

"Don't your parents live in the countryside?" Her realistic response was lacking. This wasn't a one-woman act, you know?

"Right right. Nobody else is going to pop up either, though. This house is as empty as your make-up supplies. Got tired of hiding the wrinkles?" I dodged her hand at the last second.

"Insufferable." Veins were popping off and Adachi was in a very Adachi mood. Wonderful.

"If you care so much, my dear husband is on a business trip, my youngest is at some convention, don't ask me what it's called, and my oldest is out on a date." I counted down my fingers and was sure this took care of all family members. For some reason it felt like I was missing someone. There was a tiny gluttonous hole in my mind. Did I want a pet that badly? Someone who would eat anything I threw at her and just come and go as she pleased…

"I did not ask."

"Oh, just who do you think my Hougetsu is out with right now?" I shook off the weird sense of displacement in my brain and instead turned my mischievous smile to the highest setting.

"Hm?" She was still acting distracted, but something seemed to click in her head just then.

"That's right, your very own daughter!"

"…" Her expression turned visibly stiffer. Bullseye.

Her suspicious behavior made sense when you considered that I had called her over to talk about exactly that prestigious daughter of hers. Perhaps she had expected her to be staying at our place again, like when I called recently. It would have been quite the coincidence. Fate wasn't that quirky sadly, so we just ended up with the two of us.

Adachi was not acting like a normal mother (or like me). This caution and disgruntled aura really didn't make it seem like she got along with her daughter. Crazy, I know.

"Not going to make a snarky comment? You really are not well." I said sympathetically and sat down at the table. With one hand I pulled over the tea set, with the other I already rummaged through the pack of oatcakes that were left untouched for a week. Nobody seemed to like these, including me, but for our healthy diet it was necessary to have them around. If nobody ate them, did they really serve a purpose? I suppose the fact that they were here was already giving people peace of mind about their lifestyle. How mysterious.

"I learned not to heed your foolishness any mind." Adachi responded with some delay and sat down on the opposite end of the table. When I pushed the oatcakes towards her she decidedly pushed them back. "Here." And instead she pulled something out of her handbag and slid it my way.

"Presents? You shouldn't have!" I grinned and took the package, held it up and let it dangle before my eyes. Rice cakes. The unsweetened variety. This woman knew me too well, much to my disappointment. I begrudgingly opened the pack and stuffed some into my mouth. "Hoo whant shome?"

"Swallow before you speak, for goodness sake." She was displeased as usual. Without looking at me she took the tea cups I prepared and poured some piping hot tea. The way she handled my tea pot sure was elegant, probably more so than when I used it even. She put the cup to her lips and sipped from it carefully to avoid getting burned.

"Your lipstick is getting on my cups again." I commented with a raised rice cake.

"They will be cleaned anyway."

"You say that every time."

"I would not have to if you didn't make pointless observations."

Yup, that's an Adachi and Shimamura conversation alright. I was quite fond of our pointless exchanges. It felt like a lazy round of table tennis, one where you didn't have to jump to return the ball with your last breath. Just a pleasant back and forth with the occasional corner hit.

Time to throw over that table.

"You had a daughter, huh?"

"Yes." She sighed.

"Strange."

"Why?"

"When we met at the gym years back you told me you weren't married, so I just assumed you didn't have children, I guess." Not that marriage was a requirement to make children or anything, but this was just the expectation, common sense really. "But you never talked about her once, so that's on you."

"Why do you phrase it as if I made a mess?" She shook her head and then took another sip of her tea. "There was no need to bring her up. Plain and simple."

"She really looks like you. But I gotta say, her personality is a big improvement." I said teasingly and waited for my friend to blow up again.

"Really?" She didn't give me the expected reaction and just stared into her tea cup. Whatever she was looking for at the bottom didn't seem to show itself. "That child was never pleasant."

Hmm. That's not good. I felt like I had a good grasp on their relationship already just from the few reactions this mother-daughter pair had given me. There was a painful core in the center of this matter that I couldn't quite maneuver around. Tact, sensibility and the like weren't my strongest suit, but this landmine would have been triggered even by the most expert bomb defusal unit.

"You didn't know what she was up to, so I guess you two don't talk much."

"We do not." She simply repeated it without giving me any extra information. This interrogation was going nowhere fast.

As an interloper, completely unrelated to the issue and a paragon of neutrality, I should have let sleeping dogs lie. As a friend, however, I did feel a minimal need to put in some effort. I was far less idealistic and happy-go-lucky than I acted. Perhaps Adachi knew this too. Nonetheless, I led a good life and could see when someone was in need. It wasn't my place, so I had to tread carefully.

"She is doing well for herself." I said neutrally, as if it didn't have anything to do with me. The cup she had poured me was already in my cool hands, warming them up rapidly. "Pretty, polite and hardworking."

Adachi kept looking into her cup. She gave me no reaction, but she did also not interject.

"Her make-up skills are not on your level, but her natural youthfulness makes up for that. Aren't you jealous?" I smirked.

"Hmph." Her eyes had turned ever so slightly softer now.

"Hougetsu has taken a real shine to her too. My useless daughter would never go out on a date with someone. That Adachi is quite something." I wasn't exaggerating, I really thought that girl was special if she could drag my Hougetsu out of the house… out of her deep rut. "It's kind of a pain when you are both Adachi. Can't you change your last name?"

"Excuse me?" Her glare returned.

"Tell me your given name already."

"I already did the first time we met, you moronic woman." She was back to full on annoyance. Lovely.

"That was yeaaars ago, how can you expect me to remember?" I said in complete indignation.

"Atsuka, my name is Atsuka." She said with one hand on her hurting temple.

"Hehe, I know."

"Why you-!"

"You can call me Yoshika sometimes too. Instead of 'fool' and 'idiot', you know?" I downed my cup of tea without minding the heat. I felt really good somehow. The weariness left my limbs and I felt young again. Maybe that's taking it a bit far.

"Yoshika, you are spilling tea on yourself. Have you no dignity?" She pointed out dryly.

She really did say my name, how quaint. The pain of the hot tea on my chest was almost irrelevant compared to that experience. Aside from my mother and my husband, nobody ever used my given name. It was always 'Shimamura' this or 'mom' that. The latter was fine of course, but I missed when my rebellious daughters were more affectionate and called me 'mommy'. Just when did they stop adoring me? What was there not to adore about such a wonderful mother such as myself?

For now I just had to get my affection from somewhere else.

"Atsuka, I didn't know you cared so much for me. You know, if I wasn't happily married, we two really might have-"

"Shut up."

Whatever. I wasn't in any hurry, not to get answers nor to obtain affection. I knew that eventually everything would work itself out, that's how I lived my life for a while now. The woman before me was like a curled up hedgehog, but even those eventually had to unfurl to drink and eat, so I just had to wait a bit longer for my time to strike again.

The fact that my daughter was getting ever closer to my best friend's daughter without our input almost seemed like fate as well. Hougetsu was changing thanks to Adachi and that made me wonder if I had changed at all since I met my own Adachi? Would I continue to change or could I keep this ever-present equilibrium built on a good diet and yoga? Even those things couldn't stop time, so I would certainly continue to age. I still remembered when Hougetsu was merely a baby in my arms and now she was an adult woman, going her own path. No matter how much both of us changed, I could tell one thing.

As long as she was happy, I would always support her.

"Could you not give me such a gross look?" Atsuka rudely snapped me right out of my happy ending monologue.

"We should go on a date too."

"No."

"You didn't even hear where I want to go yet!"