Part I
Chapter 26
Her mother brushed by her, walking into the heart of her apartment. "Come over here."
Minamo barely heard her, just gawking at the door.
Why...why in the world is she...?
"Come over here."
The command plowed through the mess of her frazzled senses, Minamo's focus finally recovering from the shock of seeing her mother arrive at her home from out of the blue. "M-...mom...? What are you doing here? You never come by like thi-"
"I was in the neighborhood. Now, get over here. We're going to discuss something."
"Discuss..." She walked slowly over to her parent, an old, familiar dread beginning to shoot through her chest. "...discuss what? You...you didn't even let me know you were comi-"
"I knew that you'd be home with nothing to do, so there was no point."
Minamo felt the sting of the insult. "...hey...what are you imp-"
Ms. Kurosawa pointed towards the living room table, a few chairs about it. "Go sit down there."
"Mom...what is going on? Please tel-"
"Sit down."
"...look, this is my apartment, and just telling me wh-"
"Sit down."
"...no! You need to firs-"
"Sit. Down."
Minamo's eyes opened in alarm, her mother's cool, cultured voice having just taken on this terrible fierceness, the level of intimidation in it enough to completely flatten her will to argue.
She moved over to one of the chairs, quietly taking a seat.
Her mother took a moment to herself, appearing to think something over as she peered out of the balcony window, and then cast her gaze down towards her daughter. "I spoke with him an hour ago."
Minamo looked at her hesitantly. "Who...?"
The name of the man that she had seen at lunch was mentioned.
"What? But...why?"
"I asked him to keep me updated on how well you two were getting along."
"...why?"
"Think, Minamo. You tell me why."
A few seconds passed, Minamo's eyes just meeting her mother's for a split moment before she tore them away, unable to withstand the woman's condemning glare.
She's mad...really, really mad...
Her hands rubbed together nervously, Minamo trying her hardest to keep her composure together as she felt her mother's anger envelope her. She hadn't seen this side of her in a good while, the two of them having gotten along rather well since their last major argument, when Ms. Kurosawa had taken the initiative to try and patch up their soured relationship. But now, it seemed as if all that mending had just suddenly become undone, the woman not displaying even the slightest trace of the good nature that Minamo had gotten used to as of late. Her regal, wizened face, the sophisticated way in which she stood and moved, all of it belied the sheer fury that was now emanating from underneath, her rage most visible through the locus of her eyes.
And it was those eyes, those wearing-looking, gray-blue eyes, the same color that Minamo herself had inherited, that had now begun to completely terrify her. The blazing fire inside of them, their piercing intelligence, their ability to somehow see and know everything...
...I hate it when she looks at me like this. I hate it. I hate i-
"Tell me why."
Minamo cringed. "I don't...I don't know..."
"Of course you do. Don't be ignorant."
She felt herself reel, her mother's words hitting her like the toughest punches from a prizefighter. "...I guess...I-"
"Look at me when you speak. You're not a child, are you?"
A...child...?
"Are you?"
Her pride began to bleed, Minamo looking back towards her while avoiding direct eye contact. "N-o...no..."
"Then do not act like one. Now, answer me."
"...I...you asked him to call you, since...since..."
"Since what?"
"...since...you thought...that things might not work out for us."
Ms. Kurosawa nodded approvingly. "And why would I think that?"
"Because...I...I don't know..."
"Yes you do."
Minamo jumped in her seat, her mother's voice gaining even more power now, and she began to hastily spit out her words as if she had just been broken in a confession. "Maybe...maybe because things didn't work out with those other guys either."
"Precisely." Ms. Kurosawa began to pace back and forth across the floor. "He was the third one that I've introduced to you since last year. And do you know what he told me? He said that you found him 'boring'."
"...well, he was."
"Just like the others."
"W-what...?"
"Each of the men that I've introduced to you so far, you've said the same thing. You found them all 'boring'."
She looked at her mother in surprise. "What? Who...who told you that?"
"Minamo, one of them is an employee of mine, and the others are acquaintances. You don't think that we converse with each other on the chances that we meet?"
"But...that's not...that's not any of your busine-"
"Should I not ask about how their relations with my own daughter have been going?"
"I...err..."
Her mother stopped in front of her, staring down at her again. "Minamo, let me get to the crux of the matter here. Every single time, every single time since you've started dating, you just somehow either botch up your relationships or find some ridiculous excuse to end them early."
She looked away once more, not at all wanting to meet her mother's eyes. "...that's...that's..."
"It's such a predictable act with you. You either cut things off immediately or drag them on forever, and then get dismissed. And then you go on and tell me this nonsense about how you're simply making sure that you're finding the 'right person'."
"W-why...why is that nonsense? There's nothing wrong with that. I just want to make sure that I really connec-"
"I am sick and tired of hearing that."
Minamo recoiled back, becoming stunned as her mother began to roar at her.
"That's all that you ever do, Minamo, is give me excuses for everything. You're almost twenty nine now! What in the world are you still looking for? That you haven't found in a single man yet?"
The last fragments of her courage started to leave her as the woman's rage kept increasing. "I-I...I..."
"What am I supposed to do to get you married already? Even when some perfectly eligible bachelors are put on a platter for you, you still just can't seem to move on with your life and select one. All you ever want to do is just waste your time in this apartment or spend your paycheck at some bar."
"...why do you always want me to get married so badl-"
"Because I won't allow you to embarrass me any further."
She stayed silent.
Ms. Kurosawa flung up an arm in disgust. "I am not putting up with this anymore. Every other woman your age can start a family, so why can't you? How many men have you seen so far? Do you enjoy making our own family look contemptible to everyone? Sometimes I feel that's case, given the way in which you just seem to always choose the route in life that allows you the most convenient methods in which to squander away your time."
"That...that's not true at a-"
"Yes it is."
Again, her mother's fury shut her down.
"It's completely true. If it wasn't, then you wouldn't still be in this town, would you?" She put a hand to her forehead, as if there was some pain inside of it. "I still can't comprehend as to why you didn't take that invitation when you graduated. After all the time and effort that I spent training you...what a gigantic waste that was. Your one chance to do something significant with your life, and you passed it up, for what? To go work at that damned high school."
"Why are you bringing that up no-"
"Minamo, don't say another word until I tell you to."
She whimpered.
"You are going to remain absolutely silent until I require you to speak. Do you understand me?"
"S-stop yelling at m-"
"Do you understand?"
Something finally gave way inside of her, and she began to regress. "Y-yes, ma'am..."
"Good." She folded her arms across her chest. "Now, I am bringing all of this up, because I am completely exhausted with your absurd behavior. For some reason, you seem to never want to seize any opportunity that would significantly alter your life in any meaningful way. Why is that? I've always instructed you on how to excel and bring pride to our family, and yet, whenever you're given the chance to do so, you simply refuse to take advantage of it. Do you realize how angry that makes me, Minamo? How my own child cannot constantly strive to do anything less than her very best?"
"...I-...I'm sorry, ma'am..."
"...apologies and excuses. That's all that you've ever really produced for me."
Her expression collapsed into a heap.
"Just like today, another excuse for letting go of yet another man. It's always excuses with you...why? Why do you keep on insisting to remain single, Minamo?"
"I-...I'm not..."
"Yes you are. You've always done the same thing. You go out with someone, the relationship ends prematurely, and then you're back to your same old ways until you repeat the cycle again. It's almost as if..." She paused, considering something. "How shall I say this...as if you almost...'desire' failure."
"...s-sorry, ma'am..?"
"Minamo...allow me to cut to the chase here. I've come here today to...conduct some research, I suppose. It's something that I cannot do over the phone."
The woman's voice had dropped in volume, a cold menace frosting over it now, and it was becoming far more threatening to Minamo than all of the shouting that she had already endured.
Ms. Kurosawa took her time again. "...Minamo...you understand that you can never lie to me, correct?"
"...y-yes, ma'am."
"And why is that? What do I always tell you?"
"...because...you know me best, ma'am."
"That's right. In fact, I know you better than even you yourself do, Minamo."
A sick feeling entered her stomach.
"Do you agree with me?"
Her stare shifted down to her lap.
"Answer me, Minamo."
"...I-I agree, ma'am."
"That's a lie."
"W-what?"
Her mother's voice was a whisper now. "You don't actually agree with me, do you, Minamo? You're lying to me."
"That's...not true...ma'am..."
"It is. Do you know how I can tell, Minamo?"
She turned her head completely away from her mother, just about to respond, and then gasped as her neck was twisted against its will, Ms. Kurosawa's hand cupped underneath her chin now, holding her face firmly forward.
"It's very simple. You always have a particular habit that you do, whenever you're in a position in which you feel the need to stretch the truth. It's so stupidly obvious...and yet, I have this feeling that you didn't even notice yourself perform it just now."
"...n-no..."
Her mother leaned down, placing her face right in front of her daughter's, a fraction of an inch between their noses. "Look at me in the eyes, Minamo."
Out of reflex, she averted them.
"Look at me in the eyes."
Minamo quickly did what she was ordered to, meeting her parent's eyes with an enormous amount of difficulty, a desperate fear inside of her screaming at her to not do so.
"If you look away from me for even one moment again, then I will become very, very upset with you. Do you understand, Minamo?"
...run away...
"Do you understand?"
Her bangs flew across her face from the force of her mother's shout, and she nodded meekly.
"Now...let me ask you something. Why did you just lie to me?"
"...I didn'-"
"Stop. Lying. To. Me."
Minamo squinted in pain, her ears ringing from the thunder.
"Why did you lie to me, Minamo?"
"...I don't know...! I don't know...I'm sorry...ma'am...I don't know..."
Her mother shook her head sadly "...it really is such a chore for you to be truthful about yourself, isn't it, Minamo?"
Someone...someone save me...
"Why is that? I mean, how can anyone not honestly know the reason for as to why they lied about something? Don't you feel that's a very peculiar thing for someone to do? I certainly think so. But then again, I suppose that behavior fits quite well with you, doesn't? You really have always been a very peculiar girl." Her eyes narrowed sharply. "A very, very peculiar girl."
For a minute, Ms. Kurosawa just stared straight into her daughter, her interrogating glare completely cutting her insides apart, dissecting her as she searched through her psyche for something, her expression set with the most deadly seriousness.
Minamo continued to sit quietly, her body completely frozen as sheer panic began to solidify it.
"...I want to make sure that you truly understand this, Minamo. There really is nothing that you can ever hide from me. I have always known everything about you, and if there is, by chance, some facet of you that is hidden from me still, then I will eventually discover it. That has always been true. Now, tell me that you agree with this."
Help...help...it hurts...
Her mother snarled. "Minamo...tell me."
"I do! I do, I do, ma'am!"
"Then listen to me very carefully, Minamo."
...anyone...please...help me...
"I cannot recall how many times that I've explained this to you before, but hopefully, this will be the last occasion that I ever do: you are a reflection of me, Minamo. Your actions and behavior affect my image as well as your own. So, whatever you chose to do with your life from now on, remember to do it with the utmost respect for our mutual interests. Are we clear on that?"
"...y-yes, ma'am."
"And so you will not let me down again, like you've done in the past, then, Minamo?"
"No...no ma'am..."
"Are you lying to me?"
She bleated her words out. "No! No! No..."
Again, the woman's eyes stabbed into her own like daggers, another long period of silence coming between them, a painful, agonizing eternity passing by as her mother ripped through her mentality's flesh for a second time.
A minute went by, and then another, Ms. Kurosawa just continuing to hold her daughter's head steady all the while, that vicious gaze refusing to let go of her, grasping her, suffocating her, choking her...
...waiting for her...
Minamo shivered.
Ms. Kurosawa smiled.
"...very well, then."
Her mother finally let go of her, standing up once more, everything about her now reverting back to its normal state, the woman acting so casual, as if she hadn't just been shouting at the top of her lungs a few moments ago. From out of a pocket, she removed her phone, thumbing through the screen as she looked at something.
"Alright...it seems as if I should be going now. I have a dinner arrangement with a client soon. I had to squeeze you in between a few matters today, so, I will leave you to your own again, Minamo." She dropped her arm, her phone dangling from her fingers. "I do apologize for taking up some of your time on a Sunday, but...you see, Minamo, sometimes your actions regarding your life are just so...perplexing to me. I'm sure you understand, then, as to how I just simply wanted to make sure that everything was alright with you." She shrugged. "Parental curiosity, you know? In any case, we'll chat again soon, alright? And don't worry. Eventually, we'll find you a man that you'll be happy with. I'm sure of that, dear."
Without another word, the woman turned around, dissapearing into the alcove of the apartment's entrance, and the moment that she did, Minamo began to breath again.
Oh my god...oh my god...
She buried her face into her hands, now taking full notice of the sheen of sweat that covered her body, the terror that gripped her heart, the horrible, awful feeling of somehow having had a part of her inner being trampled and trespassed upon.
Why...why am I always so scared of her...? Why can't I ever face her? I'm a good person, so why...why does she do this to me...? Why...
Something wet struck a palm.
...why am I crying?
"Minamo, get over here now."
She jumped up from the chair immediately, fear fueling her body as it moved on its own accord, and quickly wiped away her tears as she raced over towards the alcove, from where her mother had just commanded her.
As soon as her parent was within sight, however, she stopped dead in her tracks, grimacing heavily as she saw the reason as to why she had been summoned.
Oh no...
The door to her apartment was open now, Ms. Kurosawa still gripping the handle, and outside, with the most dumbfounded of expressions on her face, was Yukari, one of her hands just an inch away from having knocked to be let inside, the other holding a bag of alcoholic beverages.
The woman just stood there, completely in shock as to who had just opened the door, of whom she was now staring at with utter disbelief, but gradually, she recovered enough of herself to break the awkward silence that had come between them all.
"Ah, shit."