The website's being buggy as hell, so let's hope this chapter posts.
PSA: The views expressed by Gakuho in this chapter do not reflect my own.
And so concluded another disastrous dinner at the Asano residence.
By the time Gakushuu returned home, it was already past midnight. The door was left unlocked for him. That was strange; he did have a key after all. Dammit. He hoped this didn't mean he was in for a beating by his father, or even worse a stern talking to. He'd rather look like a fool in front of his 'friends' than get one of those.
But it's close, the redhead thought as he pushed in the door ever so gently. Very, very close. Like a centipede's leg.
Gakushuu thanked his lucky stars that his father was not in the living room adjacent to the door. He waited a minute before moving, until he could hear his father's snoring upstairs. He breathed a sigh of relief. He was safe, at least for now. Careful to lock the door, Gakushuu tiptoed up the stars.
When Gakushuu approached the room he shared with his step-brother, he was overwhelmed by a sense of danger. Gakushuu couldn't think of the word for it, he was that paranoid, but the word on the tip of his tongue was bloodlust. It wasn't even like the fear he felt towards his father, this was a pure, visceral terror that people say they feel before a big disaster occurs. Like a tsunami or an earthquake. But it was localized in that room.
The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Don't be ridiculous, Gakushuu. You're just on edge after this evening. Plus you've still got homework to do before Monday, that's probably on the back of your mind… But in spite of his internal pep talk, it still took all his courage to open the door.
And when he walked in, it hit him like lightning. Gakushuu lost his footing and tumbled over, landing face first on the floor in front of his dresser.
"Gakushuu? Are you okay?" Nagisa came down from his top bunk. He had come straight to the room after dinner, quite happy to avoid his parents.
Gakushuu caught his breath. "I… Yeah… I'm fine, I guess. I just could have sworn there was something in this room that could kill me." He felt the blood rush through his body.
The blue-haired boy looked puzzled. "Nope, just me thinking about an assignment in one of my classes." On top of Nagisa's pillow, a notebook was indeed visible.
"Oh, okay." Gakushuu quickly shut the door, thankful once again that his father did not stop snoring throughout that entire episode. Returning to his bed, he scolded himself over such silly paranoia that there was something to fear in this room of all places. He removed his socks. Then he suddenly remembered why he walked out a few hours ago. "Eh, sorry dude. About earlier, I mean." He still couldn't find the words to express his reaction of pure what-the-hell to what his stepmother did at the dinner table tonight.
Gakushuu could hear Nagisa breathing. His brother took a few moments to come up with a response to that, which was a bit uncharacteristic of him. "Well, don't be. It's not your fault. It's mine for bringing up the topic of clothes."
Gakushuu's heart ached. He knew that feeling. Honestly, he felt the same whenever his father mistreated him for not scoring 100's on all of his tests. "She still shouldn't do that."
"There's nothing anyone can do to stop her. Believe me, I've tried everything." Nagisa climbed back up and planted himself in his usual sleeping position (lying on his left side, facing the wall.) But he continued to talk to his brother. "Maybe my Dad will come visit soon, and I'll get a break from her. That's all I can hope for."
"Yeah, I have no clue how you put up with her for years. She's just lucky she's your mother, I guess." Deciding to put off the homework until Sunday, the sometimes-valedictorian of Kunugigaoka Junior High planted his head down on his pillow.
"Meaning?" Nagisa placed his notepad of Koro-sensei's weaknesses under his pillow, just so no prying parents would find it.
"You're the most damn docile kid in all of Kunugigaoka, you couldn't hurt a fly if it threatened you with a switchblade. Imagine if she were Akabane's mom."
While Nagisa knew that Gakushuu was correct, he didn't want to picture either his friend or his mother in that awful scenario. So he rolled over and fell asleep, thinking of how he was going to try to kill Koro-sensei the next week.
The next week, by the way, was a hodgepodge of avoiding their parents, getting homework done early, and packing for the trip. It was gone in a flash, and the Asano couple forgot rather quickly about the dress incident. Things returned to normal, or at least what passed for normal in this house.
One effect of Nagisa and Gakushuu living together for a few months was that their morning routines had somewhat become synchronized. Gakushuu's alarm would wake them up at 6:30 (It cycled through songs Gakushuu was embarrassed to admit he knew every lyric to; today was the original Pokémon theme song). Gakushuu would hit his head on the top bunk and squeak out an 'ouch!', both boys would brush their teeth in front of the bathroom sink. Then Gakushuu would start the toaster and feed the cat while Nagisa brushed his hair and pulled up his pigtails. By the time Nagisa left the bathroom, the toast would be done, so he'd put butter and jam on it, and breakfast would commence. This was usually followed with some casual conversation, as their parents had already left by this time.
But this morning, Gakushuu and Nagisa woke up at exactly the same time, and forty minutes before the alarm. They were both reviewing the contents of their respective luggage when they found themselves singing along to "I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was..." Not even caring about eating breakfast, the boys left. But they didn't walk in the direction of the school, instead they took a hard left in front of the town hall and parted ways at the train station, as Gakushuu was taking the express bus and Nagisa was taking the cheap one without air conditioning or a bathroom.
It was the first day of the class trip.
Nagisa practically skipped the rest of the way to his class's designated meeting spot. He had only ever been to Kyoto once, at age seven. He remembered sitting on his father's shoulders, pointing to the top of Mount Inari, stuffing a yatsuhashi into his mouth. The cherry blossoms got caught in his hair, while his mother smiled and took pictures of the Imperial Palace. A couple of years later, he had asked his mother if they could go back, but it was met with a smack and a tirade about how dare he ask that when she was working overtime to send him to private school.
A shudder came upon Nagisa when he thought of that memory. Pushing it away, he waved to his friends and rushed to greet them. His anti-sensei notes were carefully hidden in his luggage.
Gakushuu, too, hadn't been this happy in weeks. He could finally forget about classwork and grades and tests and quizzes for a few days. Truthfully, he'd always rather hated Kyoto (Why couldn't they go to Okinawa instead? His mother had always promised to bring him there someday but never delivered), but at least he wouldn't have to deal with his parents for a few days. And at least there were no tests to get 88's on (at that point, you might as well fail, he thought).
Indeed, only one thing could possibly ruin Gakushuu's mood. And of course, it happened. His phone let off a telltale ding on the bus, indicative of a new text message.
Hi Shuu-chan! I miss you sweetie. If you're free this upcoming weekend, how about I come up there and visit you?
From none other than Riko Kanazawa, formerly Riko Asano, AKA his mother.
Gakushuu clutched his temples. He didn't want to deal with this, but it was better now that he was away from his father for a few days. With a bit of a sadistic smirk (here's what the old man gets on his vacation), he screenshotted the text and sent the picture to his father, with the caption "Make of this what you will".
He left his phone on silent for the rest of the trip, ignoring any messages that may have followed. He then turned towards Araki.
"Hey, wanna hear a joke?"
Gakuho Asano stretched out in bed. Now that the students were on their trips, the first years to Mount Fuji, the second years to Hakone, and the third years to Kyoto, he was on a much appreciated vacation for the next three days. His wife had already gotten up and gone to work, and the boys were well on their way to Kansai. He valued his alone time, just not for too long, or those nasty thoughts about Ikeda would come back-
No. Don't think about that. He recalled a line from Shakespeare's Macbeth. Out, damned spot! Out, I say!
He reached for his phone, intending to scroll through the news. He did, he found it boring. The world still won't shut up about the damn moon. He was over it. Why no good news…
It was then that he received the message from his son. Oh no. Why did he have to deal with her on his day off? He would have blocked her number if he didn't have to receive child support from her (which she didn't pay half of the time anyway).
This was one of the very few times in the life of Gakuho Asano where he truly felt he was at an impasse. If he responded to his ex-wife, he would have to face the woman who abandoned him and their son for someone younger, more attractive, and admittedly less of an ass. But if he let it go, his son would try handle it on his own, and this was way above the boy's paygrade.
But it was better to get it out of the way now. So he dialed up the woman saved as "NO" in his contacts, and waited while the phone rang. Breathe in. Breathe out.
He began to sweat. He prayed to whatever kami might be listening that he wouldn't have a panic attack. He had had one of those once, when he discovered Ikeda's suicide, it was a very unpleasant experience. He was taken to the hospital by a bystander, and he had to explain the situation to the nurse on duty.
When he ran out of kami to pray to, he prayed to all his ancestors, to the Buddha, to the Hindu deities, and finally to the Abrahamic God. Gakuho didn't really believe in any of them, but might as well try.
"Oh, hey. It's you." His ex-wife's voice came over the phone. Disappointment was obvious in her tone, she was hoping her son would call.
"Our son is on a class trip to Kyoto." Gakuho kept his own voice steady. Why did talking to his ex do this to him? "He's too busy to talk to you right now."
"Ah, so he got Daddy to do it for him. How is he too busy to talk to his mother? What's so important in Kyoto that he's ignoring the woman who-"
"Ran off to the white sand beaches, didn't even fight for visitation rights, and has made no effort to see him in four years?" The educator was beginning to lose his composure. "Let me think, everything in Kyoto is better than talking to you. Hell, I might go there right now."
"Don't be like that. You know why I left." Gakuho knew that voice. That was her I'm-putting-on-nail-polish-so-don't-bother-me voice.
"… Well, regardless. You have some nerve."
Gakuho clearly heard the clack of her high heels against the floor of the luxurious home she lived in with her new husband (that they definitely couldn't afford). He had seen the pictures on various social media. He had fantasies of buying a new home just to one-up her, but quickly filed that thought away too.
She let loose that distinctive sigh. The one that indicated she was done beating around the bush. "When will you finally tolerate my presence enough to let me see my boy?"
"Here's an idea: why doesn't he fly down and visit you? You always promised to bring him to Okinawa, but when you finally got the chance to go you went without him." Gakuho curled fingernails into his palms, to numb the pain of talking to Riko.
"Oh… See, my hubby probably wouldn't want that."
"Choosing your boytoy over your own damn kid? I'm not shocked."
"It might upset the way things are between me and him now. You know, with the new baby on the way." There was her twirling-my-hair-out-of-boredom voice.
"You're a bit old for a baby. When are you due?"
"October. I do want Shuu-chan to meet her, but I just think introducing him to my husband right now would upset what we've got going here."
"I forgot how everything was always about you," He released the tension in his hand. "And I don't miss it at all. Gakushuu and I will get on the phone and discuss this with you, when he gets home from the trip. Got that?"
Radio silence. He looked at the phone, to see that she had hung up. All the frustration and anxiety ebbed away over the course of what felt like minutes. It was actually hours.
Putting the phone down, Gakuho exhaled in one long breath. He didn't have a panic attack. Good. That was a little victory. He would celebrate it by drinking with his wife tonight.
He heard the car door slam shut outside. Good, Hiromi was home. She was so unlike Riko. She fought to see her kid. She was as involved in his life as she possibly could be. She was a much better mother and woman than Riko ever was. Where did her ex-husband even go, and why? He had to know.
"Hiromi!" He greeted her with a hug.
"Hi honey," She gave him a kiss and put down her bag. Her shoes were neatly stacked in the shoe rack. Riko always just flung them wherever.
He decided to warm her up with small talk. "How was work?"
"It was okay. Nagisa texted me a picture of the view from his hotel room." She sighed. "So we're all alone for a few days."
"We sure are." Gakuho went to mix her a drink. "Do you want to take a trip somewhere?"
"I wish I could take the time off of work." She sat on the couch, careful not to take up too much space (unlike Riko, who would just sprawl out). It was at that moment that Gakuho's wishes were granted.
"Fuck!" She barked and practically threw her phone across the room.
"Hiromi, what's wrong?"
"My useless ex-husband," Bitterness dripped from her voice. "My child support payments were supposed to come through today. Guess what I got instead?"
"What?" He handed her her drink, she took it and exchanged her phone. It was indeed a message from her ex, who was also saved as "NO" in her contacts.
Uh, hi Hiromi. Sorry but I can't make those payments this month. I swear I'll pay you twice the amount I owe next month. By the way, can I visit Nagisa next weekend? There's a new movie coming out that I'm sure he'll love.
Hiromi looked away, pouting, and tapping her foot angrily. Gakuho found the action cute.
"Well… That's the same weekend my ex wants to see Gakushuu." Gakuho patted her back, as if soothing a child. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Hiromi had been married to this man long enough to know what he was hinting at. "Are you thinking…"
"Send the kids away and take a trip to Hokkaido!?" Both adults blurted out in unison, reveling in childlike wonder.