Chapter Twenty-Five
Kotoko carried the last suitcase from the house and out to the moving truck parked in our driveway. This was it, then. My mother was too upset to speak, frowning as Kotoko and her father backed out of the driveway and were gone.
I migrated to my bedroom where Yuuki still hung around. He peered out the window as if it was too good to be true and was just waiting for them to come back. I picked up a book to numb myself to the sensation of this change. Their moving was so abrupt, there wasn't even any time to prepare for it. They'd started packing the night my parents and I were told. Within a few days, they'd disappeared from the house, leaving no trace they were ever there except for Yuuki's old bedroom that had but a few pink remnants left.
Yuuki sat himself up on my bed, his having been moved into his bedroom earlier today, "Life is good. Looks like she's really not coming back." He smiled, but the words stung somehow.
"Yup." I said, feeling hollow.
Across the hall, there was scraping against the floor. The complete moving of furniture had begun. Yuuki took off to watch. With nothing else to do, I figured I would help my mother in moving it all back to the way it was.
It wasn't my mother moving the furniture, but my father which was abnormal.
"Where's mom?" Yuuki said as my father slid the desk over to the window.
"She's really upset, so I'll be doing the work today." My father said. Yuuki narrowed his eyes.
"It's just stupid Kotoko." He said. My father stopped in his tracks.
"You may not have liked her much, but don't say something like that around your mother right now. It is not the day." My father eyed him with a look of 'don't test me'.
Yuuki crossed the room and sat on his bed. Some time ago, this would have felt normal, but it really only felt wrong.
"Need any help?" I asked.
"No, thanks. But if you could try to cheer up your mother, that would be nice." He started scooting a light pink chair from the room, the last of its pink kind.
I went downstairs to find the whole place completely silent. There was no hustle and bustle between my mother and Kotoko, or Yuuki making fun of her only for her to chase him around or make a face at him. It was as though the place was empty.
My mother had locked herself in her bedroom, so there would be no talking to her. I wasn't sure I would've been the best person to talk to her as is, since I was one of the main reasons they'd moved.
I made for my bedroom again to try and get some work done, read, or anything, but there was nothing I was interested in doing at this very moment. Before meeting Kotoko, this had never been a problem before. I guess after so many times of her disrupting me or talking to me, I'd become accustomed to not doing the things I usually did.
I tried to delve back into my book, but the words swam. Outright frustrated, I put it back down and held my head in my hands, internally screaming at myself.
What's wrong with you? You never had problems reading or working until recently. Why can't you focus on anything?
I grounded my teeth together. Truthfully, I was going to miss having Kotoko around. Admitting that, even if only in my head, was like a stab to my mentality. Since when did I like having her around even a little? All she ever did was trip, make messes, and give me bad luck, so wasn't it better that she was gone?
As I'd been wanting all this time, I could revert to the way things were before her. But I was beginning to question if that was what I wanted. She may have made my life a living hell while she was here, but it was enjoyable. I must've been turning into a masochist.
"Onii-san!" Yuuki called from across the hall. I gratefully left my head and entered reality where other people still existed. I meandered across the hall to his bedroom. All was in tip-top shape. It was as though he'd never left it in the first place⦠as though she was never even here.
I tensed and ice ran through me.
"Look, it's all back to normal!" He said, a satisfied grin spread across his face and his hands on his hips.
"Are you okay, Naoki?" My father said, studying me through his glasses.
"Why wouldn't I be?" I said and forced the ice from my body, "It's great, Yuuki. We can finally have our rooms back." I offered him a small smile to show that I approved. Out in the hall, I realized something and my tense shoulders loosened some.
Kotoko and I went to the same college. I could see her sometimes, maybe. That wasn't enough to stop the dread that poured over me. I didn't sleep well that night.
