Entry 79: It'll Work Out
September 24th: Afternoon
What the hell are you supposed to say in a situation like this? This is the first time that I'm ever meeting the woman who birthed me. A million questions are running through my mind right now. Why did you leave me? Do I have siblings? Do you like pasta too? Tons of both important and useless questions were popping in my mind as I stared at the older woman in front of me. So why... why the hell did I open my stupid mouth and say "You're shorter than I thought you'd be."
"Why the hell is that the first thing you say to me?" Shaking her head, she took a seat next to me, took of her heels and let out a satisfied sigh. "God, I hate wearing those things."
"Hm, strange choice to wear heels to a school festival of all places." I suppose you have to take every inch of height you can get.
"Well, I gotta take as much advantage as I can." In an emotionless voice, she sighed and grumbled. "Ugh, why did I have to be so unlucky to be so short."
"You don't seem that short." Standing up, I didn't even have to think to realize just short short she really was. No way, she's even shorter the the quints! Maybe even Cecilia! "...Sorry."
"Ugh, to even get pitied by my own son. What kind of mother am I?" Putting her head in her hands, she sat back down and sighed even more. Wait... did we just have a marginally normal conversation? "Maybe I should buy platform shoes."
"That'd be even more embarrassing." I felt a small smile make it's way onto my face as I glanced over at her as she sulked. She's a bit harsh on herself, isn't she? "Um, I think we kind of got off on the... strange foot here." IS that even a phrase? It definitely wasn't the wrong foot to be sure. Turning my torso to her, I put forth my hand. "My name is Kuro Ogata. I'm assuming you're my mother, correct? Pleasure to finally meet you."
Pulling her head up she took my hand and gave me a small smile herself. "My name is Ai Hajime, the pleasure is mine Kuro and... I'm sorry that it's taken this long to finally meet you." Squeezing my hand harder than I expected, she truly did look pained by the words she said. "I... I honestly never thought this would happen. Thank you for... giving me this chance." Her voice began to get shaky and she quickly pulled her hand away. "I apologize. I... I... I-I don't have the right to get emotional right now."
"..." A part of me wanted to simply forgive her there on the spot and give her a hug. But, doing so wouldn't be right. Both for myself and her. So, I pulled my hand into my lap, rubbing the inside of it as I did so and asked the main question on my mind. "Why did you abandon me?"
"I didn't! I-!" Biting her lip, Hajime turned away from me. "I had you when I was in my early twenties. I was living in Kyoto at the time and... I was broke. I was fighting with my parents, and I just couldn't get away from my pride enough to ask for their help. The man I was dating at the time, you're father he... he..." When the topic of my birth father came up, I noticed that she clenched her fists and her shoulders began to tremble. At first, I assumed she was still upset but then- This feeling! Pure, unadulterated anger was practically wafting off of the black haired woman. "He told me he knew a family that was willing to take you in until I had gotten back on my feet. That bastard... I should have known he was fucking lying!"
Slamming her fist into her leg, I actually got a bit worried that she was going to hurt herself. "The moment he closed the door with you in hand, I lost you forever. Both of you fell off the map. But, I tried. For a year, I put every cent I had into finding you until I figured out who that man was and..." Pausing once more, she took a deep breath, turned to me and bowed her head. "I gave up looking for you. I'm sorry. I'm so so so sorry. I-"
Before she could continue on, I began rubbing my mother's head. "I understand." Looking up at me, red eyes peering into each other, I understood. "It's not your fault, mother."
The two of us sat there like that for a moment before she shook her head for a moment. But, whatever argument she was about to try and bring up to deny my forgiveness, she threw it away to pull me into a hug. "I'm sorry." Her voice was small, and quiet, but it felt heavy on my heart. "I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine. Sheesh, how many times do I have to say it?"
"Probably a lot, my husband does say I have trouble learning my lesson." Huh, guess that's where I got it from. Chuckling between hicks, my mother rubbed her face across the chest of my school uniform. Having enough, she pulled away from me and rubbed her eyes. "...thank you Isgai." Huh? She flinched at her mistake but nodded. "Um... that was the name I gave you. Isagi Hajime is your full original name. When I had you I wanted you to have a great life ahead of you. So it means Righteous Beginning. Didn't turn out well, did it?"
Chucking at myself, I couldn't believe how strange it sounded to me. My name was Isagi, huh? "No offense, Mother. But I think Kuro fits me better."
"Yeah, you do seem more like a dog, don't you?" For some reason, I saw her sarcastic comment coming. Her smug smile cut through the drying tears. "What? I meant that in a loyal way. told me you're loyal to a fault."
"Ugh, don't remind me." Shaking my head, I did my best to push the Mudou problem to the back of my mind. Wait, did Shiro plant the idea of me being a dog in her head? I need to punch that idiot.
"Hm... you say that alot, don't you? 'Ugh'. Hehe, is that our family's Muda-Muda?" I'd hope our family didn't have such a lame catchphrase. "I thought Hasumi said that just because I was always around."
"Hasumi?" Nodding her head, my Mother pulled out her phone, scrolled a bit before handing it to me. On the screen was a photo of three people. My mother, an unknown man and a kid standing between them. My mother was wearing blue overalls over a dirty white shirt. The man standing next to her was quite tall in the photo. But the fact that he's near Mother and a kid, he could be 5"6 for all I know. He was wearing matching overalls and shirt to my mother but also had a black beanie on. In between was a kid with short black hair who looked like they wanted to be anywhere else but there. While Mother and the person who I'm assuming was the husband she mentioned earlier were smiling and dirty, the child had a neutral expression on and was simply staring at the camera. They were also holding a switch in their hand and had not a speck of dirt on their plain black shirt and jeans either. Makes sense though, a kid about twelve years old wouldn't want to get too dirty, right? Isn't that when kids usually start their rebellious age? "Cute kid."
"Yes. that's your half sibling, Isagi. I hope the two of you get along." The way she said it so casually, as if it was a definite thing that will eventually happen.
Handing her phone back to her, I didn't know how to feel about that. It was one thing having Shiro, everyone at Library and even the quints as my 'family'. But knowing that I had actual blood siblings out there... "Are you really alright with having me back in your life?" I asked in a shitty excuse for self-pity. "You already have a family. A life. There's no need to shove me into it."
At that moment, I knew what everyone meant. The face that Ai Hajime was making, she looked like an open book. "Ugh, he really is as stupid as I am" was definitely what she was thinking at the moment, almost as if she had subtitles saying what she thought over her head. Is even that passed down by genetics? Ugh. Shaking her head, Mother pinched my leg. "O-OW!"
"Another thing said was that you think way too much. Isagi- No. Kuro, I've wanted you in my life for as long as you've been alive. If it wasn't for that man, then... I would have showered you with all of the love in the world. I lost that chance, but I don't want to lose it now. I-If you'll allow me of course." Pulling away, she scratched the back of her head before a small blush came across her face. "I want to be the mother you deserved."
"... I'd love to meet the rest of my family."
"Oh thank god!" Sighing in relief, she bent over and breathed out a sigh of relief. "I really thought you were going to say no."
"No, I'd love to. It's just... I hope Miku and Nino like you."
"Hm? I know those are... oh! Two of the quintuplets, correct? I know they're all your friends but why those two in particular?" Of all the things to explain to my mother, you don't explain that, Shiro? I swear I'm going to punt you the next time I see you.
By the time that the two of us left the back of the Club House, people were already beginning to leave the school grounds. Wait, what time is it? Taking my phone out, I realized that it was already 2:50. Not even ten minutes until Taro's plan is put into action. Dammit, while I want to go cheer him on, peering into his confession would be kind of an invasion of privacy. "Hm? Are you alright?"
"Yes, mother. Just... kind of sad that my first day of the festival went by so fast." I told her a half truth, not really wanting to give her the whole backstory of Taro's problem. "Anyway, let's get something to eat before they close down all the-"
"Kuku?" Turning around, a girl wearing a red coat, sunglasses and a hat was standing behind us. "Who's this?"
"You made it early, Ichika. I had a feeling." Turning to my Older sister, I felt a smile come on once more. "Glad to see you again. It's been a few weeks, right?" The disguised actress walked over to me and... pulled me away from my mother. "Huh?"
"Kuro, I know you're a bit of a ladies man, but going after someone's mother? Shame on you." I see Nino and Miku didn't tell you then. Ai seemed to find what she said funny, laughing into her hand. "I'm sorry ma'am, but my brother here is already taken."
"Brother? Well, Isagi, I see you have a bigger family than I thought." Walking up to her, Ai put her hand out. "My name is Ai Hajime and I'm Isagi- I mean Kuro's birth mother. It's a pleasure to meet you! I'm assuming you're one of the Nakano sisters?"
Letting go of me, Ichika glanced at Mother's hand before politely pushing it away. "I see. Well then, please leave~"
"..." The barrage of emotions my mother's face contorted into made me want to vomit. "I-"
"Ichika. Please be respectful to my mother."
"Kuro, listen. You shou-"
"This is my mother that you just said that too. Please, I know you have your own feelings about this but... please." Staring at me through her glasses, the short haired girl sighed before bowing to Ai.
"I apologize for that. I just... Kuro didn't deserve to live without a family. I hope you are ready to remedy that." Standing up straight once more, Ichika took off her glasses and stared at my mother.
Unexpectedly, Ai's conflicted face trends into a strong smile. "Of course! I'll make Isagi the happiest boy in the world!" That sounds like a proposal, mother. Please choose your words more carefully! "And thank you." Now, it seemed it was Ai's turn to bow to the actress. "I'm so happy to see that my son has people who care so much about him. Please continue looking after him."
"Waaaaaah! I didn't expect you to be so nice! I'm so sorry!" And now the oldest quint was hugging her. At least that went well.
Same Day: Early Evening
Why do I feel like the third wheel right now? While I wanted to look around the closing festival with my mother and sister-in-law, it seemed more like Ichika was showing my mother around. "Oh, you have to try this Takoyaki! They put peanut butter in this one and it's delicious!"
"Oh~ I love peanuts!" What the hell is going on here? I have to say, watching Ichika feed my birth mother dessert Takoyaki was definitely not something I ever expected to happen. And yet, here it is. "Hm, pretty good."
"Wow, you really are Kuro's mom! He has the same deadpan response sometimes." What kind of backhanded comment? "Oh, man. Miku's gonna love you!" Speaking of Miku, I noticed that even though we looked through the whole festival and even went to our class's food stolls, she wasn't there. Same with Nino. Hm, I understand Yotsu and Itsuki. Itsuki probably went home after earlier and Yotsu's being confessed to. But where are they? Looking down at my phone, I noticed the time was already a quarter past five. What kind of confession lasts over two hours? Where is everyone? "Oh, Kuro. Where is everyone by the way?"
"You're guess is as good as mine. Let me call Miku real quick." Quickly finding her number, I went to call... only for it to go to voicemail after a bunch of rings. "She isn't picking up. She's probably busy." I went on to do the same for Nino, Taro and Yotsu. All of them yelleding the same result. "Huh."
"And here I wanted to meet the girls who accepted my playboy of a sun." Ugh. The fact that both Ichika and Ai were smirking at my response, made me truly hate just how influential the actress has become. She's known her for two hours and already made my own mother join in on her jokes. "Oh well, I suppose we should start lea-"
"PERVERRRRRRRRRRRRRT!" A sudden yell echoed through the now close to empty school grounds, coming from the main school building. The fact that it was Nino's voice that was yelling only made my already tired existence even more exhausted.
"Umm, Kuro."
"I know. Let's go. Mother... just be on guard please." The three of us quickly made our way towards where the constant insults were coming from. At first, I was worried that Nino was in some kind of danger, but the closer we got to the angry voice, the more relaxed I got. Because, the place where Nino was standing was in front of class 3-1 currently kicking at Taro who laid in the fetal position on the ground. Both Yotsu and Miku stood by, simply watching. Though Yotsu was far more concerned while Miku looked on with a slight glare. "What the hell happened?"
"Kuro! Kill this useless sack of shit! I gave him permission to confess to my sister not... not... not do THAT!" Punctuating the end of her stance, she kicked the young man one more time. Glancing back at my party, Ichika was holding in a laugh while my mother's right eye was twitching at this ridiculous display. Walking up, I was intent on asking what happened, however, Nino seemed to be fuming. "H-H-HE KISSED HER!"
"..."
"... okay?" My mother and I were in sync, because clearly we did not see what the problem was. "Isn't that normal for kids these days?"
Apparently not, considering Ichika started laughing immediately. "PFFFFTHAHAHA! Didn't think Taro had it in him!" But.. she had a point. Taro and Yotsuba being so bold and Nino's reaction? It was... Do... Not... laugh... I failed at holding in my own laughter.
It took a few minutes before everyone calmed down. The positions of the moment changed, Taro and Yotsu sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall that held the windows leading outside and staring at the ground, their faces brought red. While the rest of us were standing above them and my mother was sitting off to the side, looking at this strange situation with a smile. I really did not want this to be her first introduction to my friends. "Okay." I began, "So let me get this straight. You recruited Miku and Nino to keep the doors of 3-1 locked because you had a feeling that Yotsu would reject the confession, not out of disinterest, but because of her self-destructive tendencies. You were right, convinced her after a few passionate speeches and other things and..." I was doing my best to think of a funny way to refer to the kiss.
"...and one thing lead to another." Unfortunately, Taro finished with a steaming face. Sighing at the situation and the stolen joke timing, I really didn't know what to do. I mean, if things got passionate, then they got passionate and it was just a kiss. It's not like they ended up going all the way. Hell, I half expected it to happen. I know how teens are. "S-Sorry about that, Miku. Nino." A kiss isn't anything to apologize for, Taro.
"I should castrate you right now." And aren't you overreacting too? Well, to be fair, she is just being protective of her sister. But still. But, the part time idol sighed before scratching her head. "Just... if you make my sister sad, I'll hire all of Library to ruin your life, you got that?"
"Y-Yes ma'am." Bowing his head, the tutor practically planted it into the ground.
"S-Sorry about that too, guys." Yotsuba followed her now boyfriend in apologizing. "If I wasn't such a dummy this wouldn't have-"
"It's fine. It's fine." Miku crouched down to give her younger sister a reassuring pat on the head. "What matters is that you're happy now." Smiling to myself, I was glad this didn't have to result in an execution. However, my calm was quickly destroyed when my girlfriend stood up and turned to the older woman watching our exchange. "Um, by the way. Who is this?"
"I was wondering that too, Ku. Who's this old woman?"
Smirking at Nino, Ichika made her way to Ai and embraced her. "What a horrible way to speak to Kuro's mother, Nino." As if the world just ended, Nino and Miku both became as still as statues. "Say, Mama, this means you love me more, right?"
"W-Well..."
"Mama?!" One headache after another. The two sisters glared at the actress as she simply smiled innocently at the current situation.
Thankfully, my mother seemed to know what to do. Gently pulling Ichika off herself, Ai walked to the girls and took one of their hands into each of her's. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Ai Hajime and thank you for supporting my son." With a smile more reminiscent of a motherly angel, she shined as she introduced herself to my girlfriends.
"C-Can I call you mother?!" Nino yelled out first.
"No, let me call you Mommy!" Why is this so embarrassing?!
Same Day: Evening
Opening the door to my apartment, I allowed my mother to walk in first. "Wow, it's kind of... bland in here, don't you think?" Even she's getting on my ass about that. Nonetheless, She made a B-line to my bed, took a seat and kicked off her heels once more. "AHHH! I love those girls already, but they pulled me around way too much in these heels. Ugh." Smiling to myself once more, I began brewing a pot of tea before taking a seat next to her. "O-Oh, there's no Need Isagi. I'll be leaving to my hotel soon an-"
"Can we spend a little more time together, Mother?" With a deep gasp, Ai nodded a million times with a gigantic smile on. "Thank you. Um, I actually had a few more questions, if that's alright?"
"Ask away! I'll answer you to the best of my ability!"
Let's see how this works out. "About my father-"
"I refuse." Can't say I didn't see that coming. Back was her serious and depressed expression when the topic of that man came up. "Isagi, I... I would highly recommend never looking for that man. I know you may be curious but..." Taking a deep breath, she looked right into my eyes. "He's evil."
That much was obvious. I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but even I can piece things together. After I was born, my birth father took me away and I somehow ended up in that orphanage? It's obvious he was a Yakuza. And the fact that Mother could't find him, he must have been a smart one. "I really was destined to be connected to the Yakuza, huh?"
"...I'm sorry."
"N-No, I... I was thinking aloud. I'm sorry." The sound of the kettle boiling interrupted us, so I went up to complete the Green tea. Handing the hot cup to my mother. "Anyway, um... I don't blame you or anything. And, I don't think I even want to meet that man ever either. I guess it was just morbid curiosity."
Nodding her head in acknowledgement, Ai sighed and took a sip from her tea. "Just... don't. I'm afraid he'd drag you back into that world." Yeah, I'm not going near that man then. I learned my lesson from my time dealing with Senjo- With Ono. "Can we talk about something else please?"
"Yes, sorry about that, Mother." So, I went on with the next question I had lined up. "Other than you'd husband and kid, do you have more family?"
"Oh, well there's my parents. They're a bit older and retired now. They live in Okinawa, but I think you'd love them! My husband... well, Haru and his family had a falling out, so I guess it's just us and my parents." I feel like there's a story there, but I've already pressed to many buttons today. Smiling at me, began to ruffle my hair. Hey! I spent forever making sure none of my hair was out of place! "You've got a larger family than you'd think, Isagi. Mr. Shiro and Libary, tose cute girls I met today, and me."
"I guess I am lucky. Please stop messing with my hair." Laughing, she did as I asked while I tried to fix the monstrosity with my face heating up. "Last thing... why do you keep calling me that?"
Flinching, my mother began to fidget with her tie. "Do you not like it? Well, I know you see yourself as Kuro. But to me, you'll always be Isagi." It's not that I didn't like it. It's just, strange. To live your life under a name, only to find out years later that someone knows you by another one. You're true name. And it's a decent name. But, I'm Kuro. Staring into my own cup of green tea, I looked into my own face.
"It's fine." After all, "I am Kuro, but I also want to be the Isagi that can be with you. Ugh, calling myself by two names is weird, but if it's you then it's fine." After my embarrassing confession, we sat there for a moment, before she began rubbing my head again. I just fixed my hair. And yet, I still found myself lowering my head so she could do so easier. "Yes, Mother?"
"...nothing. I just... wanted to do this." Whatever. If it meant her having just a bit of comfort, then it was worth it. I've only just met her today, and I'm already making exceptions for her. It was a strange feeling, this form of affection that I was receiving. It felt... I don't know. It's so different from everything that I've ever felt. This strange sense of comfort and the feeling that I could count on her unconditionally. Mom... "I'm sorry, Isagi."
"It's fine. We still have penalty of time." Resting her head on mine, I think I started to understand. Just a little bit, what the Nakano's were feeling. I've just met her once again, but if my mother was even a single percentage as nice as Rena, then it's no wonder why they miss her as much as they do. And I'm sure that this feeling will only grow as I continue to learn about my mother.
And so, we finished our cold tea while having some small talk before it was time for Mother to go. "As much as I'd like to keep talking to you all night, I don't want to let the hotel Mr. Shiro booked for me go to waste." She said as she stood in the doorway.
"Mother, you should stop with the Mister thing. It's Shiro. Not only does he not deserve that sort of respect, but he sort of is like your son, too. Being my brother and all." I found myself covering my face as I spoke those words. God, today has been an embarrassing day.
"Hehe, he knew you'd say something like that. I hope you and Hasumi get along that well when you meet." Oh yeah, I've got another sibling to meet. Hm, I'm actually really excited. Finally, another brother other than Shiro! As I thought that, I noticed Mother began to sweat nervously. Before I could ask what was up, she laughed it off. "A-Anway, I'll see you tomorrow! I hope we run into Kanade too!"
Kanade? Does she mean Hiraggi? "Huh? Why her?"
"Why else, silly? I need to meet all of your step siblings!" My siblings? Why Hiragi-
At that moment, it was like a memory in my mind unlocked. "Dummy! You ate my mochi, didn't you! Dummy! Idiot! Dookie head! Give me back my mochi!" A small girl, dressed in a dirty white dress, with short brown hair and shining silver eyes was yelling at me. She was my sister. The one I'd abandoned, and her name was Sora. Or as I liked to call her, W. And... she looked just like Kanade Higari.
"Isagi? Are you okay?" Waving her hand over my face, Mother looked worried for me.
"Y-Yeah. I was just thinking. Um, you heard about W from-"
"From Shiro, yes."
So in the last five seconds, I realized that not only had I remembered my own sister's appearance wrong, but that my brother knew who she was and hid it from me. Oh, I'm going to kill that dickhead.
AN: Hello once again. I hope the last few weeks have been better for you all then it has for me. I ended up getting sick the other day and it fucking sucked. I'm starting to think that I may be one of those people who get sick easily with how often it has been happening recently. I hope not though. Either way, I'd been looking foward to making this chapter for a while. I hope I did my intention justice and you all enjoyed it. thank you for reading!
Guest: Oh, hello! Thanks for liking the last few chaopters. I really am sorry about the extended waiting period between chapters, but with my time as it is, I couldn't be able to do them both in a week. But honestly, this new schedual helps me more, as I have more time between chaopters to make a decent backlog. I know it sucks, and I'm sorry for that. But thank you for being paitent with me and still enjoying my story. Thank you for your kind review.