Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket


Photographs of Ours

Chapter Two: Braces Are Breaking

Ever since that day at the park, two weeks ago, Mutsuki had become more observant. He had never thought of his house as messy, before, but he now had to admit that it was not as neat as others. There were always a few things out of place; books on the tables, a blanket on the couch, toys left out, a laundry basket in the corner. Some of the knick knacks had cracks in them and one of them was just, plain, broken. Very few of the dishes actually matched, and the bouquets of flowers that his father had brought home, always had some small flaw. Mutsuki had seen the flowers at the shop and now wondered how his father always managed to bring home one, that fell short of perfection.

Was his father really overworked, like those women had said? Did other mothers have jobs? His did not, and their home was messy. At least, that is what those women said. It probably was not really that bad, his parents had said that those women were liars... But their home was not as clean as any of their cousins'... or the Hamasakis'... or anybody that they visited, really. The voices of the women kept echoing around in his head and he tried to convince himself that they were wrong,

The raucous in his head was suddenly interrupted by the ringing of the phone. He looked up from the plate, he had just finished eating off of, and saw that the land line was ringing.

"Mutsuki!" His mother called from the bathroom, where she was cleaning his sister up after the mess she had made during lunch. "Can you answer that?"

"Sure!" Mutsuki called back as he got up from the table and walked over to answer the phone.

"Hello?" Mutsuki asked into the phone.

"Mutsuki?" His grandma Sohma answered. "Why are you answering the phone? Where's your father?"

"At work."

"And your mother?"

"She's cleaning Miyu."

"It's the middle of the day, why is she giving her a bath now?" His grandmother asked in a disapproving tone.

"She got messy during lunch." Mutsuki tried explaining.

"Of course she did." The woman muttered under her breath, before speaking to Mutsuki again. "Tell me Mutsuki, is that place still a mess?"

Mutsuki was silent. He never thought much of it when his grandparents asked that question. Now that he thought about it, though, they were always commenting about the apartment being messy, all four of them. How had he never noticed before? Even when they had not been this direct or speaking to him, he should have noticed.

He looked around the apartment and took in it's current state. There was a basket of laundry, that they had just pulled off the clothes line, sitting next to the balcony door. A few books were scattered around the small living room. The toys that he and Miyuki had been playing with, before lunch, were still where they had left them. Looking in the kitchen, he realized that they had not cleaned the dishes yet, and that there was a book on the counter.

Was it dirty?

"Mutsuki?" Grandma Sohma's voice drew his attention. "Did you hear me? I asked if it was still messy over there."

"I don't know..." Mutsuki mumbled, unsure of how to answer.

"Is there anything on the floor?" His grandmother asked.

Mutuski looked at the toys.

"Yes."

"Is there anything out of place or things that have not been put away?"

Mutsuki looked at the books and the basket of laundry.

"Yes." He replied again.

"And is there anything, besides your sister, that needs to be cleaned?"

Mutsuki looked at the dishes next to the sink, and the table where his sister had made a mess.

"...Yes." He confirmed quietly.

"Then it's a mess." The old woman replied, before sighing. "I don't know what he sees in that woman..." She said to herself before talking to him, directly again. "Have you started school yet?"

"No."

"That's right, your only four... Do you know where you'll be going to school?"

"No."

"I suppose that your parents will choose a no-name school, just like they did for themselves. I'll have to talk to them about that."

It became silent, with neither of them talking. It was always weird, talking to his grandparents, but it was especially difficult talking to his Sohma grandparents. He did not know why, it seemed that there was not much that interested them. They were not interested in the stories he read, games he played or what he had done that day. Most of their interest was in how he talked, how high he could count and how many characters he knew. Every birthday, they would give him flashcards, writing utensils or some type of informational book that he couldn't even read -they had once even given him an English dictionary.

"Is your mother almost done?" His grandmother asked after a minute of the silence. "This isn't a social call, and I have other things to do."

It was at that moment that Miyuki ran out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel. Her wet hair was in her eyes as she ran to the couch and nearly fell backwards.

"Miyuki, come back here!" His mother called from the bathroom.

"I think so." Mutsuki responded to his grandmother's question.

"Good." She said curtly.

A few seconds later, his mother walked out of the bathroom. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail and the sleeves of her black shirt were rolled up to her elbows. She was carrying the small bunch of dirty laundry with her, and laughed a little as Miyuki ran back and hugged her around the legs.

"Who's on the phone?" She asked, as she crouched down to pick Miyuki with her free arm.

"Grandma Sohma." He responded. "She wants to talk you."

The smile dropped from her face to be replaced by a look of annoyance. She dropped the clothes in a heap on the floor, walked over to Mutsuki, grabbed the phone out of his hand and quickly put it to her ear.

"Hello Mrs. Sohma, how can I help you?"

Mutsuki could no longer hear his grandmother's side of the conversation. He watched his mother as she listened to the older woman talking. She kept Miyuki held to her awkwardly, against her round stomach, as she walked to the couch and tossed the folded blanket to the floor.

"I can't change Miyuki's birthday." She said.

She plucked a flower from the vase on the coffee table and crushed it, before tossing it on the floor.

"No, we cannot reschedule it."

She was moving into the dining area and towards the kitchen.

"It's your choice, to come or not. If you truly find some dinner party to be more important than your granddaughter's birthday, then don't come. It would actually be a relief."

She had knocked the book off the counter and was now tossing trivets, oven mitts and teabags on the floor.

"Because Yuki thinks that it's important for our children to have their grandparents in their lives."

She tossed the, now empty box, that had once held tea bags and began pulling flowers out of the vase closest to her.

" It doesn't matter how badly he wants you in their lives, we are not going to reschedule just so that you can come... You've known about this for months."

She began walking back past the table, into the living room and to the laundry basket. Miyuki was looking at their mother with a puzzled expression on her face, and Mutsuki was now studying her strange behavior. He had seen her do this before, but never thought much of it until now. She was spilling the laundry, now, and shoving it across the floor with her left foot.

"Even if we rescheduled, you would probably reschedule again... Something is always coming up... I have a file that says otherwise... Of course I made one... I decided that I should keep track... For in a case we ever had this conversation."

The laundry was thoroughly scattered. Machi looked around while listening to her mother-in-law, and walked over to the book shelf on the other side of the television. She began pulling books off the shelf and dropping them on the floor.

"I'm sorry that it's inconvenient to you, that we celebrate our daughter's birthday as close to her birthday as we can, but we're not changing it, and that's final... Yuki already agrees with me. We discussed it before we invited you."

She was quiet as she listened for a few moments.

"Look! If you want to come so badly, then skip the dinner party! If the damn dinner party is more important to you, then go! But don't bother us about! And even if we wanted you there that badly, we still couldn't reschedule, because -like always- you're not the only ones that we invited!"

Between her stomach and Miyuki, Machi could no longer reach any more books on the shelf. She glanced at her husband's potted plants, near the balcony door, and quickly turned away. She walked back to the end table, where Mutsuki was still standing, and opened the drawer on it. She began crumpling the papers inside it and dropping them on the floor.

"Yes. Ayame and his family are coming... No. We are not uninviting them, even if we knew for sure that you were coming."

There was silence for a short amount of time, while the woman on the phone spoke, then Machi's face took on a deadly glare.

"Yes. My older brotherand his family are coming too. So are my parents, in case you were wondering, as well as a few of Yuki's cousins and their families... This conversation is over, goodbye."

Machi hung up the phone and dropped it on the floor. She covered her face with her left hand for a few moments while both of the children stared at her. Miyuki, finally broke the awkward air by grabbing her mother's arm.

"Is Mommy a'right?" She asked.

Machi looked at the little girl, slightly shocked, before forming a small smile and touching the child's wet hair.

"Yes. Mommy is alright. Now let's get you dressed before you catch a cold." She said.

She began to walk towards the hall and ruffled Mutsuki's hair on the way.

"Grab your coat. We're going out."

Mutsuki watched his mother walk down the hall to his and Miyuki's room. He turned back to the disaster that the main living area had become... Maybe not everything those women had said was true, but now, Mutsuki believed some of it. His mother was messy. His father worked hard, his mother did not. Sometimes, she even made a bigger mess, like she had just done.

What if it really did become too much for his father? Especially after the new baby comes. What if his father gets angry at his mother? What if he is angry at her, already? What would happen then?

Mutsuki started trying to clean up the mess that his mother had made. He smoothed out the papers, as best he could, and put them back in the drawer. He had only gotten three pieces of laundry back in the basket when he heard his mother walking down the hallway. He ran and was at the door to the bath as she was opening the door to the hall.

"Mutsuki, I told you get your coat."

"I had to pee." He lied, not knowing why he did not just tell her that he was cleaning up her mess.

His mother glanced at the door, and back at him.

"In the bath?"

"No! In the toilet! I just walked through the bathroom!"

Machi laughed.

"I'm sorry. That was a silly question, wasn't it? I'm a little flustered right now. Go grab your coat now, okay?"

They spent the rest of the daylight hours out of the house. They went to the park for a little over an hour, before they stopped by the bakery. His mother asked for the owner, and the young man at the counter ran into the back. A few minutes later, a slightly older woman with her hair in a bun, walked out of the back, with the young man following her. The woman's hair was a slightly lighter shade of brown than his mother's and she seemed to have a permanent laugh on her face.

"Ah! It's Machi!" She turned to the man. "You haven't met Machi yet?"

"We haven't met before." Machi confirmed. "Is he new?"

"Ah! Yes, yes! This is Hiroji Mikami! I just hired him a few days ago! An acquaintance of my father's recommended him!" She introduced the man, who just stared at Machi, awkwardly.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Mikami." Machi said politely, while the chatty woman took a breath.

"And Mr. Mikami! This Machi Sohma! Her husband works for my uncle!"

"Husband?" He asked.

"Yes! Husband! Where did you think the kids came from?! She's been doing the accounting and budgets for both of our shops for -what, five years?"

"Close to six." Machi replied.

"That's right! You moved here back in 2001! -My father was still the owner then. But the point is, that you'll be seeing her and the children a lot. Aren't they beautiful children?"

"I... suppose so." Hiroji replied.

Machi figured that he was still taken aback by the woman's bubbly nature. It would probably take him awhile to get used to it, judging by his behavior. The bakery owner continued talking.

"This is Mutsuki! He's such a sweet boy! And so clever too! But I suppose that's to be expected, his parents are both so smart! And this is Miyuki! She's a sweet child too! But she's a handful! The last time she and Mutsuki came to pick up the bread for their parents, she colored on the window with a marker!" The woman, burst into laughter.

"Once again, Tamako, I'm very sorry about that." Machi said with a small bow.

"Oh, nonsense, nonsense! It's fine! She's only two! Besides, Mutsuki helped clean it up!" Tamako reassured Machi, while waving her hand. "Now look at this! I've been rambling again! You must have come here for something! What did you need? -Oh!" She turned to Hiroji. "I always give Mutsuki and Miyuki a free treat when they visit! Can you go to counter with them while they choose? Oh! And then you should take them to the back! The bakers love them!"

Hiroji quickly followed his boss's instructions and walked the two children over to the counter. They pressed their faces against the glass and stared at the delicious treats. It was always so hard to choose just one; Mrs. Sakai would have given them more than one free treat, but their parents had limited her to one. While trying to decide, Mutsuki could hear his mother and Mrs. Sakai talking.

"Now what did you need Machi? We have some fresh loaves of bread if you want! I can-"

"Oh, no, I'm not here for bread. I'm here to drop these off." Machi said.

Mutsuki did not have to turn around to know what she handing to the owner of the bakery. It seemed that every other time they were there; his mother and Mrs. Sakai passed papers, folders and the same book, between each other. It was one of those things that he never thought too hard about, and today, he was so consumed with the messy house that he thought about it even less.

"Oh my! I wasn't expecting these for another two days!"

Miyuki chose a slice of strawberry shortcake.

"The baby was keeping me up the other night, so I used the time to work."

Mutsuki chose a doughnut that looked like a cat, and headed to the back with his sister and Hiroji. They heard the beginning of Mrs. Sakai fawning over their unborn sibling, before they entered the kitchen. They spent a long time being adored by the bakers and helping them beat dough, cut out cookies and decorated some of the treats that were out of the oven. They were somewhat disappointed when their mother came back and told them that it was time to go. Miyuki excitedly showed their mother the the treats that they had decorated and Mrs. Sakai packaged the cookies in a paper bag, insisting that they keep them. When Machi said that they had already had enough sugar, the woman said that they should give them to Yuki. They left the bakery, waving to the staff as they left, and continued down the road to pick up some groceries.

"What do you want me to get today?" Mutsuki asked.

"You're staying with me today." His mother replied.

"Why?"

"Why do you want to go by yourself?"

"It's later than we usually go, it's faster if we split up."

"We're picking your father up from work tonight, so it's okay if we take longer."

"But it's not far from home. If we go faster, we can drop the food off at home and walk to the shop." Mutsuki tried to convince his mother, without telling her that his real intention was to clean up the apartment before his father got home.

"No. It might take longer than we plan. We're staying together" She said in a distracted, yet strangely, final tone.

It did not take long for Mutsuki to realize that she intended for it to take as long as possible. The first clue was the lack of a grocery list. She rarely ever needed a grocery list, but she always brought one, anyways. When she "realized" that she had not brought a list, she took the time to write one. The second clue, was that she was even pickier, about the price and quality, than usual. Then she asked employees and other shoppers for their opinion on everything, and changed her mind several times. When it was time to check out, she chose the longest line she could find. By the time they were done, Mutsuki felt like they had been in there fir an eternity, and they had only gotten three bags of groceries and some milk.

It was a little past dusk and they were now, finally, walking through the chilly air to the flower shop that his father worked at. It was less than two blocks away from the grocery store, so it was a short walk. Before they even got to the shop, the children spotted their father and his boss, taking down the outside display to bring inside. Their father was about to walk inside with the cart of flowers that he had just filled, when the children called out.

"Daddy!" They both yelled as Mutsuki took off down the sidewalk, still carrying a grocery bag, and Miyuki was released from her mother's grip to do the same.

Yuki looked away from the door that he was about to enter, in surprise, and saw his children running towards him. His boss, Mr. Hamasaki, a tan and strongly built man, chuckled. Yuki released the cart and moved towards his children and scooped them both up as they reached him. He laughed and gave them each a kiss on the head, before looking up at his wife, who was still making her way over. He smiled as he walked to meet her halfway, and gave her a small kiss while still balancing the children.

"I wasn't expecting to see you guys here today." He said to Machi as they walked towards the store door.

Mutsuki was back on the ground and walking beside Yuki, who had an arm around Machi.

"We went grocery shopping and decided to walk you home today." She replied.

"You don't usually go grocery shopping on a Tuesday." He noted.

Machi was silent. Mr. Hamasaki happily greeted the family and ushered them inside the warm shop. He went to the back to find a chair for Machi, and the children zoomed around the shop looking at the plants, vases, stuffed animals and small decorations. Once she thought they were distracted enough, Machi responded to her husband's earlier comment.

"Your mother called." She informed him, she was looking away from him and and had her arms crossed.

Mutsuki stayed close to the cooler of flowers, so that he could listen in. He watched his father put his head in his hand for a moment and mutter something, before moving into his wife's line of vision.

"How bad was it?"

"Would have been worse if the baby wasn't in the way."

Mr. Hamasaki came back with the chair.

"Thank you, Mr. Hamasaki." Mutsuki's parents said.

"You're welcome. Yuki, can you come back out soon, to help?"

"Yes, Mr. Hamasaki." Yuki replied. "I just needed to ask Machi something, first."

"Okay." Mr. Hamasaki said as he walked out the door.

"What did she want this time?" Yuki asked.

"She has a dinner party, the same day as Miyuki's birthday party, and wants us to reschedule."

"I'm guessing you told her 'No.' and she treated and she treated you like family."

"That would be correct..."

Yuki sighed in frustration. Before Machi spoke in a quieter voice.

"...And then she asked if my 'bastard' brother was coming."

"SHE WHAT?!" Yuki asked angrily.

Mutsuki and Miyuki stared at their father. He saw them staring and let out another sigh, before putting his hand on Machi's shoulder.

"I'm gonna finish up here and then we'll head home, okay? I'll call her in the morning."

"Okay."

Yuki and Mr. Hamasaki finished closing, as fast as they could. The small Sohma family exchanged goodbyes with the store owner and walked home with their groceries. Mutsuki walked between his parents, while Miyuki was carried by their father again. The walk was peaceful, as long as you did not count what was going on in Mutsuki's head. The house was a mess. Daddy is overworked. What if he got mad at Mommy? What would happen then?

The moment the apartment door opened, Mutsuki kicked off his shoes and ran down the hall to the main room. His parents exchanged confused looks as they took off their shoes and coats, before following. They entered to find the laundry piled messily into basket, and saw Mutsuki shoving books on the shelf as fast he could.

"Eh... Mutsuki, you don't have to do that." Yuki told his son.

"But I want to help." Mutsuki replied, as he looked up at his father. "You've been working all day."

"If you want to help, how about you take your sister to your bedroom and play with her while your mother and I deal with this and make dinner."

"I'm making dinner." Machi corrected, before Mutsuki could argue. "I would like our children to live."

"My cooking isn't that bad, is it?" Yuki asked with genuine curiosity.

"I just had a cold, then you made soup for me and I was vomiting." She reminded him as she walked to the kitchen with the groceries.

"That was seven years ago, I've cooked more recently than that." Yuki tried reasoning, as he took the book out of Mutsuki's hand and began putting the books away himself.

"More vomit." Machi called back from the fridge that she had just opened.

Mutsuki realized that his parents' conversation would not stop and that they also would not let him help. They were serious about wanting him and Miyuki out of the way.

"Doesn't count, you were pregnant and didn't know it."

Mutsuki grabbed his sister's hand and walked to the hallway door.

"Diarrhea." His mother called before the door shut, muffling his father's reply.

When they reached the room, Mutsuki decided that if he was taking care of his sister, then that meant that hey should play what she wanted. Miyuki chose tea party, so Mutsuki looked around the room trying to figure out how to accomplish the task that she had set out for him. He opened the closet and pulled out a cardboard box, which he placed in the middle of the room and covered with Miyuki's favorite blanket. Miyuki set her favorite stuffed animals and dolls around it, while Mutsuki tried to figure out how to reach the top shelf of the closet. When he, finally, had an idea, he pushed the makeshift table and it's guests to the side of the room.

"Mutsuki!" Miyuki cried. "What you doing?! Tea party!"

"I know Miyuki," Mutsuki said, while moving the nightstand over to the closet. "But we need to get the tea set that Uncle Aya gave us, and we can't bother Mommy and Daddy."

"We still playing?" She asked.

"Yes. Now help me." He said as gestured to mattress.

Miyuki scrambled to help her big brother move the mattress off the bed. After they flopped it onto the floor, they shoved it right behind the nightstand. Mutsuki pulled all of the futons, blankets and anything soft out of the closet and tossed them on the mattress. Then he ran and grabbed the giant, magic staff, that had been given to them by Uncle Aya, and clambered onto the nightstand with it. He used the staff to push open the door of the, separated, top shelf. After putting the staff away, he climbed back onto nightstand and pulled Miyuki up behind him, and onto the first shelf of the main closet.

"So I'll crouch down like this, and then you use me as a stool and climb up to the top shelf. You push the box down when I tell you."

"Okay!" Miyuki agreed,

Neither of the children considered how badly this could go, as they proceeded with Mutsuki's plan. Mutsuki wobbled a little as he tried to stay close enough to the edge so that his sister could lean out and pull herself up to the next shelf. Miyuki braced her right foot against the inside of the closet door while she tried to get a grip on the shelf. When she felt she had it, she began to pull herself up while pressing her foot against the door to help push herself upward. When Mutsuki felt his sister's foot leave his back, he stood up and helped push her up as much as he could.

"Miyuki? Are you in?" Mutsuki asked.

"In!" Her voice called back excitedly.

"Good. Now find the box, but don't push it down yet." He instructed her.

"Pretty box. Pretty box-" She began mumbling as she looked around for it.

Mutsuki jumped out of the closet and shoved the nightstand out of the way. He was shoving the mattress closer to the closet when Miyuki called out.

"Found it! Throw it?"

"Not yet!" Mutsuki called back. "Wait."

After mattress was in front of the closet, Mutsuki began arranging the pillows, stuffed animals, futons, blankets and some clothes; so that it would be as high and soft as possible. After pushing down a bit to check the softness, he determined that it was safe.

"Okay. Just push it out, now!" He instructed his sister.

She peeked out, before pushing the, large, flowered box onto the soft pile. The box landed and sunk into the pile. Mutsuki grabbed the box and set it to the side then looked back up at his sister.

"Okay. Now you jump."

Miyuki looked down at the pile and then at her brother. She shook her head.

"What? Miyu, don't mess around, come back down!" He demanded.

"No! You get me!" She called back with tears starting to form.

"I can't! Just jump! It's safe!"

"NO!" Miyuki screamed, now completely in tears, and backing further into the closet.

"Miyuki! Come on! We can't play tea party if you don't come down!"

"Mutsukiii!" The toddler whined. "Scared..."

"Miyuki-" Mutsuki was panicking. "Miyuki, please! It's safe! It's not scary! I promise!"

"Mutsuki!" The little girl cried again.

"I'm right here, Miyu! Just come down!" He called, trying to reassure his sister.

"MUTSUKI! PLEASE!"

Mutsuki froze. He did not know what to do. He had thought that he was taking good care of his sister, but now she was crying and stuck in the top shelf of their closet. She had gone up easily enough, why could she not come down? His parents had asked him to do one thing. One thing! He had thought that it was stupid, and too easy, but now he had messed up that one easy thing. What would he do? Miyuki was stuck and his parents had been counting on him.

The door slid open fast, and he looked over to see his father and mother rushing in, in a panic. They looked around, frantically.

"What's going on?!" Yuki asked. "Where's Miyu?!"

Mutsuki pointed up to the closet and his parents' gaze followed in horror. Miyuki was sitting in the corner of the closet and had her arms wrapped around her legs, while she bawled.

"Miyuki!" Machi and Yuki cried out.

"MOMMY! DADDY!" The child screamed out reaching her arms out and crawling a little closer to the edge. "DADDY!" She screamed again.

Yuki wasted no time in running over the pile in front of the closet and stepping onto the first shelf. He grabbed the edge of the top shelf and reached into the closet with one arm pulled his screaming daughter into his arm and to his side. He stepped down and pulled her into a full hug, as she continued to cry. Machi came closer and rubbed the girl's back until the sobbing began to subside into hiccups. Mutsuki was clinging to his mother's skirt with one hand and reaching up to hold Miyuki's foot with the other.

"I'm sorry." He whined. "I didn't think she'd get stuck."

"Mutsuki," His father said, now looking down at him, "I asked you to watch your sister. What was she doing up there? How did she get up there?"

"She wanted to play tea party, so we were trying to get the tea set." Mutsuki explained, pointing to the box they had retrieved, while choking back tears of shame.

His mother squatted as best she could, and held his head between her hands, while stroking his hair like she always did when she was comforting him.

"Why didn't you just ask for help?" She asked, gently.

"We didn't want to bother you. Daddy was working a-all day... and th-then you had to clean and m-m-make dinner. Y-you as-asked me t-to watch Miyu... S-so... I wanted to help... I thought we c-could do it a-and clean up the m-m-mess!" Mutsuki was losing the fight with the tears. "I h-helped her... helped her get up... and t-told her to push the box. I th-thought that she c-could j-jump out a-after it! I d-d-didn't th-think th-that she'd g-get stuck!" He cried out.

His mother pulled him into another hug and rubbed his back.

"We weren't too busy to ask." She said. "That would have been a small thing for us to do."

"But it was a dangerous thing for the two of you to do." His father said. "I don't know how you were able to get Miyuki up there, but it was a very dangerous thing to do. It's a miracle that no one got hurt."

"I-I'm sorry." Mutsuki said, now looking up to his father, who was still holding Miyuki close to him. "I'm r-really sorry."

His parents sighed and looked at each other. His father crouched down to his level and looked him in the eyes.

"I know that you were just trying to help, so I won't punish you too badly. But you need to understand that your actions carry consequences. For now we'll just clean up in here, and then eat dinner. We'll discuss your punishment later."

"I'll clean it up by myself!" Mutsuki said quickly. "I made the mess and almost hurt Miyu! That should be part of my punishment!"

"Well-" His father thought about it.

"It does sound fair." His Mother said. "He can clean the room without Miyuki's help, for the next week and maybe clean the toilet."

"I suppose that's fair." Yuki agreed. "Well, then, it's settled. You better st-"

"Hello?" A shaky voice called from the hallway. "Is everybody alright?"

Their superintendent and the old man from next door, poked their heads into the room. The superintendent was a rather slight man in his thirties, who always wore a navy blue baseball cap, he was generally a very laid back individual, but right now he seemed ready to jump out of his old man was taller with a thicker build, and balding head, he seemed concerned but calm. The moment they spotted the young family, however, they visibly relaxed.

"Oh, thank goodness, your neighbors heard screaming and got concerned when you didn't answer the door." The superintendent explained while slumping against the door frame in relief.

"Sorry." Yuki said. "The children tried to get something off of the top shelf by themselves and Miyuki got stuck. I guess we were so relieved that she was alright, that we didn't hear the knocking."

The old man burst out laughing, while the younger man slumped even further.

"We were worried that someone had broken in a-and maybe killed you." He mumbled.

"We're really sorry about all of this." Yuki apologized.

"At least they're okay." The old man reassured him. "And they were just trying to be independent, not misbehaving, so I'm sure that the other neighbors will forgive it. Don't worry about it."

"I thought we were going to find blood and their bodies, oh god, what if they had actually been dead..." The superintendent continued to murmur to himself.

"I'll take him out and explain it to the other neighbors!" The old man continued laughing as he slapped the younger man's back and dragged back out of the apartment. "Goodnight Sohmas!"

"Goodnight Mr. Takashi, Mr. Kogane." Yuki called. "Thank you for your concern."

"Goodnight." Machi waved.

Mutsuki was not even halfway through cleaning his room when his father called him into the dining room for an extremely late dinner. It was not a complicated dinner. His parents had apparently decided to let them have their tea party and made some small sandwiches and soup. They set the table with the tea set, that Uncle Ayay had brought back from Europe, and some bowls for the soup. In the center of the table, Mutsuki recognized the treats that he and Miyuki had decorated that afternoon. It was a nice dinner and Mutsuki was happy that his sister still got her tea party, and better yet, that it had real food. He even wore the flowered hat that she had picked out for him.

After dinner, he helped his mother clean up and then went back to his room to keep cleaning. He tried to put the contents of the closet back the way he had found it, but was not sure that he had succeeded. Then he folded the clothes as best he could and put them back in the drawer. The hardest part was putting the furniture back to it's original position, especially the mattress. He still had to make the bed and clean up whatever mess was left on the floor, but he was so tired. His parents had checked in a while ago. Miyuki was sleeping in their room, they had suggested that he sleep on a futon or the couch, and finish in the morning. He had insisted that he finished cleaning before bed and they had left him to it. Now, though, he was exhausted. He wanted to sleep, but wanted to finish what he had started before he did.

He collapsed on the mattress after finally returning it to bed frame. Maybe he would just close his eyes for a bit. It would not take long, just long enough to get back his energy. Then he could finish cleaning the room and go to sleep for the night. This was a lot of work. No wonder Mommy had not wanted to clean her own mess... Maybe that was why Daddy never brought her perfect flowers. Maybe he really was angry at her. Maybe if Mutsuki helped more, Daddy would not be so overworked. That sounded like a good idea to Mutsuki. He would just help some more. Then everything would be fine and nobody would talk about his family anymore.

When Mutsuki woke up, he was horrified to see sunlight. He had fallen asleep. He sat up and realized that somebody had covered him with a blanket. He also saw that whoever did it, had put his favorite stuffed mouse in his arms and a pillow under his head. He jumped up and finished cleaning the room as fast as he could.

When he was done, he walked into the hall and saw that his father's gardening boots were gone. He must have gone to work at the big house today, so he wouldn't be home until after dinner. Mutsuki walked into down the hall and saw his mother cleaning up after breakfast, while his sister dried the dishes.

"I saved some breakfast for you." His mother said as she walked to the fridge to pull out his breakfast.

Mutsuki thanked his mother for breakfast and ate in silence, not noticing the curious look she gave him. Once he finished eating, he cleaned his bowl before his mother could finish hanging the laundry on the porch. The day continued with him rushing to clean up every mess he saw, and doing some extra cleaning after his mother. It baffled him though, that every time he turned around, there was still something off in the house and that his mother seemed slightly agitated. She kept suggested that he go play with his friend down the hall, but he insisted on staying in the apartment.

Mutsuki was surprised when his father arrived home before dinner. He was supposed to be home late today. He was even more surprised when his father did not even give anybody the usual hugs and kisses, and instead went straight to his mother. The two began whispering quietly between each other and glancing at him. Finally his father walked over to him.

"Mutsuki, do you remember what your punishment was?"

"Cleaning my room without help and the toilet."

"So why have you been cleaning everything else? Your mother says that you've barely stopped."

"I'm just trying to help."

"Well maybe you can help by watching your sister."

Mutsuki looked down.

"Do you still feel bad about last night?" Yuki asked.

Mutsuki nodded and pretended that that was the only reason.

"Look, Mutsuki, what happened last night was an accident and you've learned from it. It would be really helpful to your mother, if you could play with your sister so that she isn't underfoot all the time, okay?"

"Okay." Mutsuki agreed.

Yuki and Machi thought that that would be the end of it, but the strange behavior continues. It was not as bad as the first day, but it had been over a month and Mutsuki's obsessive cleaning and uptight manner had not ceased. It did not just end with Mutsuki though, the combination of their child's mood shift, pregnancy hormones and phone calls from both of their parents was making Machi agitated. Which led to, what could only be described as, a battle between Mutsuki and his parents. Machi would clean, Mutsuki would clean some more and Machi would make a minor mess which their son would clean. Yuki would come home and spend the night preventing his son from cleaning, and possibly make a few messes of his own. Mutsuki was also playing less and barely leaving the apartment, and his friendly, carefree temperament was gone, causing his parents to worry.

Miyuki's birthday was around the corner and the mystery of Mutsuki's behavior had still not been solved. Machi had finally snapped and trashed the apartment, even one of Yuki's potted plants was destroyed. She cleaned up the glass, but left the rest of the mess and warned Mutsuki, in no uncertain terms, not to clean it.

Mutsuki was now furious with his mother. He was just trying to help and make sure that Daddy did not get upset, because she was not helping. Then she goes and makes a huge mess. Did she not know how hard Daddy worked? Maybe those women were right. Did she even care?

Why did Daddy even marry her?


As unbelievable as the closet scene might seem, not only have seen the children I babysit do it, but my siblings and I have done it ourselves.

Once again, thank you for reading! I'll try to update on a weekly basis, but between work and life, I'll probably be a little bit behind from time to time.