He stood as tall as a mountain but slim and even a tad fragile. With a dark brown goatee, eyes small but full of life, he smiled brightly with his girlfriend by his side. The woman by his side was much shorter with long dark hair. She certainly was far younger than I imagined. She reminded me a little of Linda however she wasn't as curvy as her pre-assessor. But that alone did not match her beauty. With a dark complexion and dark eyes, she certainly wasn't a native to Japan. I believe she was actually from America and met Uncle on one of his many trips over there.

 

 

She and mom hugged, clearly showing the level of familiarity they shared with each other. With how often my mom goes out with her to pick out new clothing it's no surprise by this point. I am surprised my uncle could catch such a wonderful-looking woman.

“Madoka…it's so good to see you.”

Raspy but gentle, uncle’s voice resonated and to my soul. How I loved his rough tone of voice that always in its own nostalgic way made me feel at ease.

“It's good to see you uncle.”

From the side of me, his girlfriend bowed slightly. I did the same, exchanging our first meetings with one another.

“Hello, my name is Mary Auburn.”

“Oh, I’m Nakagawa Madoka, Nakagawa Ayumi’s daughter.”

“You’re as lovely as your mother.”

Suddenly, my uncle took me in his arms. Surprised, I giggled a little as I held him tight too. This moment would be forever etched in my heart… This man was the closest person I had to my father after he passed away. Uncle Ryuji is the brother of my late father. My mom, Nakagawa Ayumi, is an only child. As these memories of him holding me like this from the past fluttered in, mom and Hana-chan piled on this hugging fest. Not just them either but Mae-chan also seemed to get overly excited and jumped in as well. I...was having a hard time breathing as a tide of people were suffocating me now!

“You all are going to kill the girl…”

I could hear Conway-san cry out with a ruddy face.

They all released me as I gasped for air. Now that I look about the room, it would seem mom and Hana-chan were busy as the table is extended, more chairs are placed, and the room is more spacious. Looking at all of this, I couldn’t help but feel a bit self-conscious at the thought that all this went into welcoming back home. So, I slapped my cheeks to sway these uncomfortable feelings.

“Okay, here we go birthday girl!”

Coming from the backroom with plates in her hands, Mari-san majestically placed down each plate setting up the table perfectly. The rectangular table was covered in piles of dinnerware now. An entire plate of delicious sushi sat at the center, radiating a wondrous steamy smell. Fish were on all plates, some dipped in deep black soy sauce. The deliciousness of Japanese food was unveiled at that moment, glimmering with its majestic aura that punctures through the depths of our stomach. With a wink and a giggle, she rushed back into the kitchen. After a moment of silence, as the crowd watched and waited in anticipation, she rushed back in holding a white sheet cake to my surprise.

“M-Mari-san?”

My eyes bulged. Did she have a mini restaurant back there?

“It took a while.”

Rubbing the back of her head, she admitted.

“I've actually been baking this for a long time. I even had to go to the store earlier today to get the remaining ingredients. And thanks to your sister and mother it was a secret!”

Is that where she was when she called me? When she sang me happy birthday as she drove around? She wasn’t doing work for her job but…

“I see, Mari-san.”

I don’t think I appreciated how much she did for my sake… Without me even realizing it she was cleverly being thoughtful, kind. She was… everything that just a moment ago I wish for in a fictional person.

“…Mari-san.”

I whispered. But now I know that fictional person had always existed. They were never fake, to begin with. No, they are real…and have been for a long time… and that was exciting but scary all at once.

“Hurry up everyone! Take your seats, we have the gifts to open later too.”

Mom squealed while pushing everyone to their seats. She was certainly more excited than I was.

“Hello, Mari-san. How have you been?”

Uncle met with Mari-san, the tension between them could be cut with a knife it was so thick. I could feel the room start to spin around them.

“How are you, Nakagawa Ryuji? Sorry my meal won’t measure up to the 5-star quality that I’m sure you’re used to.”

“Oh, don't worry about that. I have exceptionally low expectations, Mari-san.”

A harsh chill went down my spine. Wow, they’re actually fighting. I debated if I should step in before someone got hurt.

“We have a trash can in the back. If you are expecting something better you can eat the leftovers from last night in there.”

“I'll be fine, Mari-san. I wasn't born with a golden spoon in my mouth like you. I can eat 1-star cheat garbage if I have to.”

“Tough words for Golden Boy.”

“The difference is Mari-san, I worked for my money, unlike the Nakumara family.”

“you wanna die at your own niece’s birthday, Ryuji?”

Mom stood up and took Mari-san by the shoulder now. They even dropped the honorifics doing their best to spit venom at one another. 

“Brother, how about you take a seat over here with your lovely girlfriend, Mary?”

“Oh, thank you for offering that Ayumi. It seems your girlfriend needs a lesson in manners too, harassing the guest like that.”

“Shove it, Ryuji!”

“Both of you quit it!”

Mom exploded causing everyone to turn towards where the nuke unleashed.

“Today isn't the day for your bantering. If you can't bear the look at each other then face away as you eat. But I'll be damned if you ruin Madoka's day because of your differences!”

This was an interesting day. Today I saw Mari-san and my uncle, two tigers fighting for dominance. I'm not sure who won this battle and quite honestly, I'm a little scared to see how far they can take it, but it begs the question…Where does the bad blood between them begin?

I recalled back when I first came home...Mari-san suggested that Uncle Ryuji doesn't approve of their relationship. However, mom doesn't seem to feel the same way as Mari-san does. What if it was more of a professional problem between them more than a personal one? Everything would be a guessing game if I tried to figure it out.

"Onee-san, over here..."

Like a mother duck guiding her duckling, Hana pulled me along to my seat. There I sat with my mouth hanging open at the feast in front of us. I knew for certain that this was going to taste incredible. Mom and Mari-san had been working on this meal for a while now with mom preparing everything and Mari-san taking the orders. But I had no idea that their teamwork was this solid.

“Ryuji, how have you been?”

Ms.Watanabe asked as she and her husband sat at the edge of the table across from one another. Uncle and his girlfriend sat across from them. I was dead in the middle, across from me was Mae-chan. Sophia-san was on the left of her as Mihara-san was on Mae-chan's right. Sora-san pulled up a seat next to Sophia and started chatting about that game again. Hana-chan snuggled close on the left to me with Mari-san and on my right. Beside her was mom, her lover of course.

“Everyone I would like to make a small speech about my baby girl.”

“Mom!”

I wined. Her calling me “my baby girl” is so embarrassing that was driving me crazy! With purpose, she walked behind me and placed her hands on my shoulders.

 

"Madoka, it's been two years since I celebrated this day. For that long every time this month would come around I would cry myself to sleep, missing my baby girl all the more. Even though this was supposed to be one of the happiest days of my life...it wasn't for the last two years.

My heart sank as she took a deep breath. Despite how calming her voice resonated in the dining room...I could feel the somber sadness in her.

"Thank you for coming back home to me, Madoka....thank you."

 

 

She held my back now. Mom hasn't spoken to me much about her feelings in the past and I'm starting to understand something about her slowly now...

I think mom is wounded from that...despite me coming back home as she said. This made me think back to the trauma I still am wondering about. Mari-san mentioned that mom was affected most by it and that's why she doesn't want to bring it up...

But right now wasn't the appropriate time for that, wasn't it? I still had time to understand things slowly. Every person here is here because they cared about me in some way. For two years I was stuck in a void, being raptured by slumber. But now I'm here alongside everyone else and the only thing that's still rummaging through my mind are these feelings that never should be. Sometimes... I wish that I would have never remembered that one named Mari-san.

“Thank you, mom.”

“Now with all that settled, let's eat.”

Mari-san cried likely excited to see everyone eat. The chatter plates began, while Mari-san tried her best to feed my mom to her reluctance...probably out of embarrassment if anything. Just like her mom, Hana was doing the same thing with me in between my bites. This was an extremely bad habit by the Koda side of the family and it needed to be addressed soon…

“So, your name is Conway Sophia, is that right?”

Lifting her head from her dumplings, red-faced, Conway-san turned to the black-haired troublemaker. With a lift of her chopsticks, she nodded.

“Ah yes. I am in the same year as your stepdaughter. However, she’s a year older than me because of her situation...”

“Oh, so you're the cute one that Madoka-san has been talking about? The one from England, right?”

Surprised, I glared at Mari-san.

“Why do you guys make it sound like I talk about everyone like that?”

"My bad...she only talks about cute things."

"S-Shut up!"

I wanted to cover Mari-san’s mouth to prevent her from spreading more gossip but before I could make good on it, out of nowhere, the food plane made by the Hana express enter my mouth as if sending me a gag order.

“Ooof! Hana!”

I chewed quickly.

“Is it delicious isn't it Onee-san?”

“That's not the problem here, Hana!”

The shark chuckled as she watched us bicker about before turning back to Mari-san.

"Your stepdaughter is such a good child. She doesn't miss school, works hard in class, and even goes out of her way to teach the other students the lessons. One might even say Nakagawa Madoka-san is too good for her own good."

"Is that how you see me, a goody-good Sophia-san?"

Already knowing that she called me that before I retorted. Mari-san laughed while eating her meal slowly.

“I’ve been to England before, Conway-san.”

“Hm? Is that so?”

Mari-san cleared her throat. I was in awe about what she was going to do…

“[It’s nice to meet you, Conway. Please show me around England someday. I would appreciate that very much!]”

I had no idea what Mari-san just said. All I could understand was the common phrase of “Nice to meet you.” But after that…nothing. My English is terrible and everyone in the class knew it. There was just something fundamentally broken about the English language that my mind kept rejected it constantly.

“Your English is great, Koda-san. Actually...it's fluent.”

“Well, I have to go overseas a lot. But I studied English growing up too.”

“Is that so, Mari-san?”

Now interested I stepped into the conversation again.

“Yep, I used to give you tutoring lessons now and then, Madoka-san.”

My heart throbbed a bit at the thought of Mari-san tutoring me. Was that true? Was there a time that I was struggling with English and Mari-san took it upon herself to help me?

She giggled.

“Wow…to think that was two years ago.”

“…I see.”

Mari-san is…

I whispered under my breath…

“So cool…”

“Madoka-san how do you like the meals so far?”

Mari-san question holding up her sticks to my surprise.

I was a little worried that she planned to feed me as Hana does. So, I cowered away looking towards one person who seemed to ease my worries. I caught eyes with Mihara-san. She seemed to be enjoying her meal too.

“Ah…It’s delicious Mari-san.”

I managed to timidly push out as I continued to eat my scrumptious meal.

"I'm glad...Madoka-san."

"You're a wonderful cook, Mari-san..."

"I could teach you some tricks if you want, Madoka-san."

"Huh, would you Mari-san?"

How great it would be if Mari-san could take the time and teach me as she did in the past. Just the sound of that made me nearly leap with joy.

"Sure thing, Madoka-san!"

"Hehe..."

As soon as I was high in the clouds with excitement reality set right back in. I couldn't be thinking this way right now. Mari-san was only doing this for her stepdaughter, right? Today wasn't the day to be caught up in these emotions so I calmed my heart by taking a deep breath and continued to eat my meal...