Mama tells Yuuki to stop being so mean to Kotoko. Whenever he brings up Naoki, however, Mother just starts giggling.
Everyone around him is weird. Really weird. Yuuki is tired of being surrounded by weirdos.
"Naoki is mean to Kotoko all the time," Yuuki says, almost whining. "So it's not a big deal. She's used to it."
"You're not supposed to copy the bad behaviour from your brother," Mama tells him, pinching his cheeks. The more he tries to pull away from his mother's grasp, the more it hurts. "You're Yuuki. Not Naoki."
Yuuki finally pulls away from Mama, rubs his cheek. It really hurts! "You never blame Naoki for his behavior! It's not fair! Why am I the only being punished!"
Mama starts that weird laugh of hers again, the one that makes her lips go into a long O, and her eyes crinkle up.
Yuuki backs away from her, hand still on his cheek.
His resentment for both Kotoko and his mother quickly turns into a scared confusion.
"That's different," Mama replies, still smiling. "Sometimes, when boys are mean to girls, that means they secretly like them. Naoki is just…shy."
Yuuki is baffled. "What? You're wrong," he says, squatting away his mother's hand. "Being mean to someone means you don't like them. You've got it all wrong, Mama."
She waves him off, still laughing. "You're too little to understand," she tells him, and Yuuki almost runs off to his room right then and there.
"I'm not little! You're just wrong! There's no way Naoki could…like Kotoko. No way! You don't know what you're talking about!"
"There's no harm in Kotoko staying with us a little longer," Mama says, glancing at her hands.
She's talking to herself now! Yuuki wonders if he should escape. "She could even end up becoming your real sister! We'd have to start preparing for that now, actually…Kotoko becoming a real member of our family. That would be just wonderful! Wouldn't that be amazing, Yuuki? Yuuki?"
He leans against the door of his room, breathing deeply. Mama always yells at him in front of the bathroom, leaning against the wall with her arms folded. She has such a bad habit of planning sneak attacks on him; doleing out punishments the very second he comes out of the bathroom.
He is thankful that it is only a short distance from his room.
His cheek still hurts when he finally opens his eyes, his breathing finally evened out. Naoki's turned in his chair, looking at Yuuki with a strange look on his face.
"Why is she yelling? Did you do something?" Naoki asks, frowns at him. "You know I don't like when Mama comes into my room. Don't give her reasons to come in here."
Yuuki's eyes widen. What kind of image does Naoki have of him? "I didn't do anything! I didn't!" He puts his hands up and out, waving them when Naoki raises an eyebrow, still not convinced. "I swear!"
The two of them are silent as Mama's yelling fills the hall.
Naoki sighs, a breath of relief when Mama finally climbs down the stairs, retreating back to the kitchen.
"Tell me what happened, Yuuki."
"Are you angry at me?"
"No," Naoki says, fully turning around in his chair. "I'm not angry with you. I'm just confused."
"Okay," Yuuki says, watching as Naoki turns back around briefly, only to shut his book. He waits until Naoki faces back to him, hands in his lap.
"Mama was just being…weird," Yuuki says, letting his toe catch on a small patch of loose fibres in the carpet. He feels the rough material against his big toe, wonders just how old Naoki's carpet is. Yuuki's room has no carpet in it, only a few rugs to keep his feet warm in the winter. He frowns when he remembers that it's no longer his room, rather Kotoko's. Yuuki's rugs are all boxed up in the cold and lonely storage room.
"Mama says weird things," Yuuki continues, looking up from the carpet to see an almost frown on Naoki's face; his lips are pressed together in a line.
Naoki is watching Yuuki very carefully. "Was it about Kotoko?"
Yuuki nods.
Naoki sighs.
Yuuki is quiet, still fidgeting with the carpet.
"I don't even want to know what she said," Naoki eventually says, watching Yuuki fiddle with the carpet. "From now on, Yuuki, don't listen to anything Mama says about me." He doesn't look up as he talks, still fixated on the floor.
"Mother just…says things," Naoki continues, not blinking. "She's bored with us, and she really likes Kotoko, because Kotoko isn't…boring," he decides on, and Yuuki can see Naoki's eyes slightly squint, before they return to normal.
Naoki is very angry.
"So just ignore Mama," Naoki says, finally glancing up. "If she says anything weird again, just ignore her. Alright, Yuuki?"
He nods, quickly. "I'll ignore everything Mama says!"
"That's not what I meant, Yuuki," Naoki says. "Just ignore anything weird."
"I don't get what you mean by weird," Yuuki replies. His brow furrows. "Mama does a lot of weird things."
"I know," Naoki agrees, "but I'm talking about things that have to do with Kotoko. Ignore those things, alright? Don't ignore everything else Mama says. You'll get in trouble if you do that."
"Kotoko is causing all sorts of trouble," Yuuki mutters, finally stepping away from the door, stepping away from the frayed patch of carpet. "I'm sick of her."
Naoki nods, turns back to his desk. Yuuki glances up to see a confirmation from Naoki, but he's only met with the back of Naoki's spinning chair.
"You agree with me, right, Naoki? Kotoko is nothing a burden. She's annoying, lame, and stupid. Right?"
"Of course. She's all that and more," Naoki replies, the volume of his voice increasing. "I'm sick of her causing me all sorts of troubles, first at school, and now at home."
"What does she do at school?" Kotoko bothers Naoki even at school?
Naoki's shoulders stiffen; Yuuki can see them almost tighten.
Naoki is very, very angry.
"I don't want to get into that, Yuuki," Naoki says, after a while. "I'd rather not recall."
"Okay," Yuuki replies, easily, heading to his own desk.
Naoki must be traumatized!
He hates Kotoko even more for it, hates her for driving Mama crazy, hates her for hogging all the attention all the time, hates her for being messy and dirty and stupid, hates her for wasting Papa's time constantly.
Most of all, Yuuki hates Kotoko for bothering Naoki. Things would be better if she left.
For good.