Chapter Twenty Seven: Family
When she was growing up, Haruka always wondered why so many boarding House manga and anime had a character sweeping. Now, she thought she had a better take on it. It at least gave her something to do while thinking. And she had a lot to think about.
Upmost in her mind was what to do with Sara. As a child, Sara had been a troublemaker who at least seemed to get along with her. Now, she was just a troublemaker. And if I don't watch my step, she might just do something to defy me in a way that gets her into serious trouble.
She was thinking about teenagers in premarital sex of course. Sara was the type where, if you said not to do a thing because she was too young, it was a guarantee she'd try to do it.
"I'll do that," Sara said abruptly. "You shouldn't be doing stuff when you're preggers, you know."
Surprised, Haruka looked up. "It's not that hard on me, you know…." She gave a smile and handed the broom over. "Thanks for offering though." Show gratitude and maybe we can talk instead of fight. She wondered where she'd begin.
"I think I've been acting like a bitch to you lately," Sara said softly. "I'm sorry. I mean I don't wanna know what you and Papa-san do in private, but this is what happens. So, why get mad at you?" Blushing slightly, she began sweeping faster
"Because you're afraid that we'll forget about you when we have our baby is my guess." Haruka hoped she made it sound sympathetic and not judgmental.
The sweeping stopped. "Umm, yeah. Basically. I mean, didn't it happen to Naru and her Stepmom?
Haruka hesitated, having a good idea about why they had fought. But I can't tell her that. "It doesn't have to be that way. With all the time we spent together with your Dad running off, it feels like you're mine, you know."
"Yeah… those were good times, I guess. But you said being pregnant felt special. You never said that about me." Sara winced. Even to her that felt whiny.
"I've never been pregnant before, you know," Haruka said patiently. "Seta and I are married, and I never expected to be a biological mother. But now I'm going to be one. It's a feeling I can't explain. That doesn't mean that you matter less to me, Sara." She sat down and gestured for Sara to join her. "Maybe Naru and Keitaro will show that it's easier than I expected. But I imagine actually caring for a baby will take a lot of time because a baby can't take care of itself. But that doesn't I'll love you less. It just means I won't need to change your diapers."
Sara's face showed a battle between disgust and laughter. Laughter won out. "I guess that makes sense," she said when she recovered. "Still, we do fight on other things."
"Yes. As I see it, as you get closer to adulthood, you want to be more free. Meanwhile, I have to watch out for dangers you might not see. Sometimes those things are going to conflict. And if you balk, then I might have to lay down the law. But I hope I never play the 'because I'm the Mom' card. That pissed me off." She shrugged. "But I guess when I refused to listen to explanations, I must've backed her into a corner."
"Hmm," Sara said, slightly annoyed that Haruka was making sense. "But why are you so hostile to Kokeru?"
Hostile? Haruka thought. If I treated him as I thought he deserved, I'd have borrowed Motoko's sword! She sighed. "Do you remember back when you were in the single digits and Keitaro fas falling all over the girls here?"
"Yeah, Naru was protecting the other girls with both fists."
"Well, if you can imagine how Naru would have acted if Keitaro's falls weren't accidents, that's how I feel when I see him around you," Haruka sighed. "All teenage guys are randy, and he's more than most."
Sara glared. "Are you saying I'd—"
"No, actually I'm relieved to see you fighting off his advances. But he might catch you off guard if you're feeling lonely." Or horny. Let's face it, as a teenager, your body and libido are growing. "I'd rather you don't wind up like Naru or myself before you're married."
Remembering Naru waddling around and cranky this last month, huge as Stella or Rabi, Sara nodded reluctantly. "I guess so." She hesitated. "I don't know how much you heard from when you walked by up on the hill."
"Not much. I heard you yelling at him. But I was trying not to eavesdrop." It was true, but she doubted that Sara would believe it.
"Well, he wants us to meet his parents. Maybe it will give you a chance to see other sides of him?"
Seeing the hopeful look in Sara's eyes, she bit back a sarcastic quip. "I suppose it would be all right?" she said hesitantly. "It might either refute or confirm my suspicion. And it's not like I'm barred from travel like Naru is. So, just as long as you keep up preparing for finals, we can do it some weekend."
Taken aback by the fact that she wouldn't have to fight, Sara could only say "Um, cool."
.
.
Dae-Jeong found most of Kitsune's traits endearing. But the way she was moving her arm around while he drove was a little bit annoying. Be patient. She's been wearing a cast for three months.
"What did my parents do?," Kitsune said, fiddling with the seatbelt. "My father went to prison for something he didn't do."
"Oh?" Dae-Jeong said cautiously. "Well, what didn't he do?"
"Run faster than the Cop who was chasing him," she said with a grin.
Dae-Jeong chuckled. Still, I get the feeling that she's not comfortable talking about her family.
"Actually," Kitsune said after a pause, "my Dad was kind of a small time grifter and a gambler at the track when he was alive. My Mom sent me here so I could finish high school without the disruption of home life. I guess she works in a department store now "
"I'm sorry for your loss," he said. He stopped, a bit surprised with the other half of her statement. "You guess?" Dae-Jeong asked with some surprise."
"We exchange postcards, but don't stay in touch too much. I get the impression I'm part of a past life she regrets."
That could explain why you had trouble with stability here if you never had it at home. "That sounds like a difficult thing to deal with," he said, hoping he came across as sympathetic and not patronizing.
"Well," Kitsune said cautiously—both over what she revealed and wanting to avoid slipping back into Kansai dialect. "Grandma Hina was kind of a second mother to us. It's like she had a knack for telling who needed her help, and the girls, we're kind of like sisters to each other. So that gave us some stability."
"I am glad you had that," Dae-Jeong nodded. "Some kind of family is important."
"How about yours?" Kitsune asked.
"Well, my parents were also born here. He is an auto-mechanic. My mother is a nurse. With their hours, I ended up doing the meals."
"So you opened your restaurant?"
"No, I was originally a civil servant."
Kitsune waited for the punchline, but it dawned on her that he was serious. "So, what made you change?"
"If you're not a citizen, you're pretty much barred from promotion to the managerial level."
"Wait. You were born here and your parents were born here, but you're not a citizen? I don't understand that. Didn't you apply?"
She doesn't understand this. Be patient with her. "I'm a Special Permanent Resident. Sure, I could have applied. But I would have to take a Japanese name and renounce any Korean citizenship to do so. I just don't feel like I should have to cut my ties with my heritage to make a living. So, here I am."
"I had no idea things were like that," Kitsune said, a bit taken aback. Of course I don't know many Koreans and outside of Dae-Jeong I never really knew them personally. "I guess it's easy for us to pretend that what we don't know doesn't happen." She felt a bit ashamed to have to admit to herself that she'd tended to be lax in thinking about others. Ya think I'd at least know some things were messed up when they were interrogating me after my DUI.
.
.
"Well," Sara said uneasily as she hang up. What was I thinking asking her to go along? "I guess we're on for Sunday. I guess they live in the Tomobiki-cho part of Tokyo."
"Well," Haruka said, also warily, "I suppose that would work. We need to take into account that the streetcars only run on the half hour until ten when planning our timetable."
"Did I hear you say you were going to Tokyo on Sunday?" Motoko asked, walking over?
"That's right, are you?" Sara replied.
"That's right. Jokagugan showed some interest in publishing my books."
Sara rolled her eyes.
"Hey!" Motoko growled. "The representative is a woman and- Sara, think real hard before you say anything you might regret!"
"Yes Sara, please do," Haruka seconded. "I hope it goes well for you, Motoko."
"Me too," Motoko replied. "But at least this representative is professional about things. She thinks that the new novel might go beyond the typical romance crowd and wants to push it as a breakthrough novel and then use that to guide the republishing of my older books."
Sara shrugged. "Yeah, it sounds cool. But I wouldn't be able to compare. Haruka won't let me read your other books."
Motoko and Haruka sweatdropped.
"So," Motoko said, ignoring that. "What are you two going to Tokyo for?"
"We're going to meet Kokeru's parents," Sara said, half enthusiastically, half cautiously. "You wanna come?" She added without thinking. Why the hell did I ask that?
Motoko's hand instinctively went to where her sword would be. "Are you sure that's wise?" she said to Haruka? If the kid is like, I can only imagine what the parents are like…"
"Now now," Haruka replied. "It could be that he's like that in spite of their efforts."
"Hey!" Sara protested.
"Well, the circumstances being what they are," Motoko growled, "I suppose I should go along in case you get attacked."
"Hey!" Sara protested.
.
.
"So, this is your tea shop?" Dae-Jeong asked as he looked around. "I'm envious of the location, building quality and space you have. One could give customers a sense of dignified high quality."
"INCOMING!" Su shouted. There was a flash, and the ground shook from the explosion.
"DAMMIT, SU!" Naru yelled. "KNOCK IT OFF!"
"I do like it," Kitsune said, "but the place has its quirks."
"Quirks indeed…" Dae Jeong nodded. "I imagine things will quiet down when people graduate and move on?"
"Depends, I mean I didn't leave after I was done with high school. No reason the others would either."
"Hmm, so, like you said earlier, family."
Author's Notes
"huge as Stella or Rabi" Two Killer Whales in Sea World Japan.
"We need to take into account that the streetcars only run on the half hour until ten when planning our timetable." A plot contrivance I needed to make the chase work in Forever And A Day.
"Jokagugan showed some interest in publishing my books." Just as Gotanja was a spoof of Kodansha, Jokagugan is a spoof of Shogakukan.