“Thanks for going with me, Mio,” I poked my arm again, the skin felt gross and clammy and seemed much thinner than my other arm. I sighed. It was definitely going to take some work to get it back to normal again. Still, I was ecstatic to finally get the cast off. I’d kept it as a memento, but I definitely felt it was best as a memory and not something I had to keep trying to not get wet. Most doctors used air casts these days, but they cost more money, apparently, so we’d gone with the old plaster kind.

“No problem,” Mio tapped away on her phone as she sat on the bus next to me. “I promised Emi senpai I’d keep an eye on you.”

“An eye on me? What do you mean?” I cocked my head to the side quizzically.

“She said ‘keep an eye on Kasumin and make sure she’s ok’, so I am,” Mio shrugged.

“When did you two get so close?” I asked.

“Oh, you know how it is,” Mio waved her hand dismissively.

“That wasn’t an answer, you know,” I pointed out.

“Sometimes there are no answers, only questions which lead nowhere,” Mio replied sagely.

“Yeah, you’ve definitely been hanging out with Emi,” I chuckled. “Where is she, anyway? I tried to call her yesterday and she didn’t answer.”

“She’s in Osaka at her grandmother’s house,” Mio didn’t look up from her phone.

“Oh? What’s wrong with her this time?”

“Ulcerative colitis, apparently,” Mio shrugged. “I don’t know what that means.”

“I’m pretty sure she had that three times ago,” I mused, trying to think back. “Or was it four?”

“I’m pretty sure she just wants Emi to visit a lot,” Mio opined wisely.

“Yeah, that’s the impression I get, too,” I shrugged, poking my arm again. “When will she be back?”

“Sometime after New Year she said,” Mio answered. “She said she’s going to call you.”

“Ok,” I sighed, grabbing Mio’s face as the bus rattled and bounced around us. “What is going on with you two?”

“How do you mean?” Mio blinked at me blankly.

“I’m just trying to figure out when you and Emi got so close,” I held her face facing mine.

“Are you jealous?” Mio grinned infuriatingly at me.

“Of course not!” I scowled. “Why would I be jealous?”

“It’s Emi,” Mio replied as if what she’d said was answer enough.

“Fine!” I released her head. “Keep your secrets, then!”

“Ok,” Mio shrugged and returned to her phone. “So, is that girl that was over last week going to be there on New Year’s?”

“Aria?” I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose. I’d spoken to her a couple of times since the Christmas debacle and assured her everything was fine, but not much about the situation felt ok to me. I couldn’t put my finger on it directly, but as with most things Aria there were too many loose threads to form a complete picture of what actually had happened.

She claimed she’d begun to feel bad at the end of her family’s Christmas celebration and had laid down and slept through our proposed date, waking up only to be given some alcohol by her uncle. Still, the whole thing seemed very suspicious to me. Of course, many things she did seemed suspicious.

Was I actually suspicious or just paranoid? Unfortunately it was not a question I could answer. Aria plainly had told me what she had and left it to me to decide whether or not it was the truth. I felt like on one hand I should believe her since she was my girlfriend. On the other hand, though, the whole thing seemed suspicious.

“Yeah, that’s the one,” Mio answered, glancing over at me.

“She hasn’t said she wouldn’t be, so I assume she still is,” I shrugged. “Not that it matters, I’m working until like 3.”

“Why would mom invite your friend over if you’re not even going to be there?” Mio asked with a scowl.

“I’m not sure. What do you think?” I asked, curious as to what she actually thought.

“Maybe to get an invite to whatever country club Aria’s uncle goes to,” Mio shrugged. “Or to try to set her up with Jun.”

“Which do you think is more likely?” I shuddered, troubled that Mio had given voice to my own suspicions. Mio fixed me with a look which plainly showed which she felt to be the most expected. “Yeah. Me, too.”

“You know how mom is once she gets something in her head,” Mio returned to her screen.

“Yeah,” I sagged. I knew exactly how she was. “Say, Mio?”

“Fine, fine,” Mio waved one hand absently. “I’ll keep an eye on your friend and make sure Jun doesn’t get gross. Going rate for Mio interference and mismatching service is 50000 yen.”

“No chance. 500 yen,” I countered.

“5000?” Mio asked.

“1000,” I countered again. “Final offer, you mercenary.”

“Deal,” Mio nodded, shaking my hand. “In advance.”

“Half now half after.”

“Ugh…” Mio rolled her eyes. “Fine. But you better not stiff me.”

“Do your job well and I’ll give you a bonus,” I was, honestly, a little sick with myself for even going to this length. The reality is that I could probably ask her to simply not come, but Mio was right. Once my mom got something in her head, she rarely let it go and eventually the moment would have to occur.

The fact she invited Aria to the house when she knew full well, I would be working spoke volumes. This is so stupid, I chided myself. This whole situation is just stupid. But I didn’t see another way out. I would simply have to trust Aria. Which, I had to admit, was kind of a hard ask at the moment. Absent that, I would have to have Mio’s help to keep my family’s claws out of my girlfriend.

Work on New Year’s Day was, predictably, crazy. I’d heard tales of the “Black Friday” at stores in America and I imagined that to be the closest example. Most of the people from Tottori and surrounding areas packed into the temple confines to give prayers for the new year and buy charms for themselves or friends or loved ones or, in some cases, enemies as well and by the time I had the chance to catch my breath the morning had long since passed and the overcast sky began to darken as the hidden sun dipped toward the horizon.

By the time I made it home the sky was nearly dark, and the lights had sputtered to life, throwing pools of amber light. Around their bases. I stretched my tired muscles and flexed my aching hand as I walked past Mio’s house to my own. The lights within blazed welcomingly but I felt nothing but dread and disgust. Opening the door I stepped inside to see what hell my mother had wrought.

“Oh thank god you’re here,” Mio rushed into the entryway and immediately whispered to me as I hung up my coat. “I demand hazard pay for this. Just so you know.”

“What the hell’s going on?” I whispered back.

“Oh, Kasumi! You’re back!” My mother called drunkenly from the dining room. I peeked around the wall and scowled. Her, my dad and Jun were all three rather drunk and Aria seemed well on the way as well. “Come sit down! Dinner is about ready!”

“Oh, fucking hell,” I whispered, putting my shoes away.

“All day,” Mio scowled. “All day like this.”

“Shit,” I shook my head and muttered.

I took my seat at the table and my mom flitted around, placing food on the table in between drinks of sake from her well-worn cup. Jun was talking loudly with my father about some sports thing he thought would score him points while Aria waved at me, a bleary drunken smile plastered on her face. I waved back, trying to keep my face carefully neutral.

“How was work today, K-chan?” Aria asked, taking another sip from the cup beside her plate.

“Ah…uh…busy,” I replied as my mom deposited the last of the bowl of food on the table and sank into one of the chairs.

“Did you make the family offering like I asked?” My mom asked, gesturing for people to eat.

“Yes,” I answered. “I did it before work this morning.”

“Did you get the omikuji?” My dad asked, piling food onto his plate. I reached into the pouch at my waist and produced 6 scrolls wrapped in bright red string. “This is the year I win the lottery!” My dad chuckled, grabbing a scroll. He struggled for a moment to get it open before finally unrolling it and scowling. “Half-blessing? Shit.” He sagged in his chair and emptied his cup.

“Blessing in business deals,” Mio whistled. “Those priests know their stuff!”

“You could have changed out of that hakama,” my mom chastised me.

“You told me to come eat,” I pointed out with a scowl.

“Oh, yeah,” my mom shook her head. “Well, in the future change out of that first.”

“Fine,” I growled, getting some rice.

“So, Aria,” my mom began, refilling her cup from the bottle of sake on the table. “My daughter seems to have monopolized you today, but I wanted to thank you for coming.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Aria grinned. “I like Mio chan and thank you for the sake. It’s delicious.”

“It’s a local product, you know!” My mom leaned forward. “Made right here in Tottori for the past 400 years.”

“It’s amazing being in a country with such a rich history,” Aria took another sip of her sake.

“Do you plan on staying here in Japan after graduation, then?”

“I’d like to,” Aria replied. “I’ve grown to love the people and the nation itself, so I’d love to go to college here as well.”

“College!” My dad interjected. “Very nice! I teach biology at Tottori college, you know. I could give you a great reference!”

“Oh! I didn’t know that!” Aria enthused.

“Yep! It’s true! I tried to get Jun to go there but he had his heart set on Shimane in Matsue,” my dad shook his head sadly. “Broke his old man’s heart.” That’s because he’d already slept with half the high school students in Tottori and needed more prey, I thought venomously.

“What do you want to go to college for, Aria?” My mom plowed back into the conversation like a bulldozer.

“I think I’d like to go for a degree in accounting,” Aria took a dainty bite of her noodles. “These are delicious!” Accounting? I boggled at her, memories of her in near tears as Emi and I tried to help her with math one night floating through my head.

“A very admirable career!” My dad nodded his head in approval. “Those who control the bottom line control the world, after all!”

“Jun is studying in college as well! He’s looking at going into sports management,” My mom guided the conversation to Jun quite deftly, I had to admit.

“I see,” Aria’s smile never faltered.

“Wasn’t it chemistry?” Mio asked with a frown.

“There’s no money in chemistry,” Jun sniffed.

“He’s right, chemistry doesn’t pay well unless you get into a big lab somewhere,” my mom rushed to his defense.

“So how is college going, Jun?” I smirked at him. “I rarely hear you talk about it.” Jun’s eyes narrowed at me.

“I’m on a bit of a break to get some things settled but I plan on going back in the spring,” Jun huffed.

“Ah, I see,” I nodded, hiding my broadening smirk by lowering my head toward my plate.

“You know, dad,” Jun began, his voice seething. “I kind of wish I’d gone here to school. There’s a lot of lesbians that go to Shimane and I just can’t deal with those people.” I felt the blood drain from my face. He knew. I didn’t know how. But he knew.