“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING???”

 

Toshi finally returned home to find that his family was waiting for him. It wasn’t until he got back that he realized that he forgot to put the SIM card back in his phone, so they couldn’t track him. Toshi tried to explain but couldn’t get a word in edge wise as his mother read him the riot act. Toshi actually had a hard time following along because she seemed to like speaking with her hands.

 

He lost count of how may times she slapped the back of her hand into the palm of her other hand to emphasize her point.

 

Toshi gave his mother ‘suitably chastised face number four’ and kept his eyes looking at the floor while he nodded or shook his head at the appropriate time. His father sat nearby looking upset, but remained quiet while Toshi got chewed out. His sister stood in the living room archway and rarely said anything, except to echo whatever point Toshi was getting yelled at about. The vast majority of complaints could be summed up as, ‘How Can We Protect You If You Run Off?’

 

Eventually things calmed down enough for his mother to just finish with, “You’re grounded. I want you to come straight home after school from now on!” Toshi stared at his mother, “I already do. I don’t know how tighter a leash you can put on me.” His mother glared, “I’m including that club you joined!”

 

Toshi rubbed his eyes, ~I guess I’ll have to play from home for a few weeks.~ He looked at the floor and shrugged. He was getting annoyed at this and switched to ‘flat expressionless face number one’. Asuka just got increasingly pissed off and shouted, “Go To Your Room!” as she stabbed a finger towards the stairs. Toshi turned and started to walk away.

 

“Hold it.”

 

Toshi stopped and looked back at his father who had finally decided to say something, “Get back here.” He pointed at the stop where Toshi had been standing. Toshi sighed, turned around and planted his feet where he had been standing for the past ten minutes. He lowered his gaze as he faced his father and waited for him to get in his rant.

 

“What is wrong with you?”

 

Toshi took a deep breath to answer, but never got a chance as his mother responded first.

 

“What?”

 

Toshi looked up to see his mother staring at his father and his father was staring back.

 

He looked pissed.

 

“Kimoto Asuka, I asked you, what is wrong with you?” Hirofumi sat on the couch with his arms folded as he stared up at his wife, who was now standing there, looking more than a little caught off guard. She glanced at Hinako who just shrugged and looked equally confused.

 

“I don’t understand. I-“ Hirofumi interrupted, “That much is obvious. I think the reason you don’t understand is because at no point did you actually take the time to figure out what was going on.” Asuka started to look annoyed, “Now see here-“ Hirofumi arched an eyebrow then pointed at Toshi as he commanded, “Remain silent.” Toshi’s left eyebrow arched high up in puzzlement. He nodded, pressed his lips together, then made a motion like he was zipping his lips closed, locking them, and tossing away an invisible key. Toshi wasn’t about to say jack at this point.

 

Hirofumi stood up, “Where did our son go?” Asuka blinked, “Uh…” Hirofumi slowly walked closer, “What did he do there? Why did he go there? What happened to cause him to go there?” He pointed at Hinako, “She said he told her he needed to think. What was he thinking about?” He came to a stop before Asuka and folded his arms. To say his gaze was cold and judgmental would be an understatement.

 

Asuka was completely caught off guard and looked around before starting to look annoyed, “I don’t see how any of that has. Er… anything to do with-” She trailed off.

 

“You don’t see how the answers to those questions have anything to do with what happened?” His voice started to carry a rather dangerous tone that Asuka had no problem picking up on. Years of being married to this man had honed her skills to the point she could tell when she was about to set him off. She was quiet for a minute before holding up a finger, “Not ignoring you. Thinking.”

 

Hirofumi sighed and unfolded his arms, “Do you know in that entire… rant. I have no other word for it. That rant. Not once did you ask our son a single question that you allowed him to answer. Is the word ‘Why?’ no longer in your vocabulary?” Asuka’s face did some interesting gymnastics. On one hand, she was angry and didn’t want to get chewed out in front of her children, but on the other hand, she knew how it was futile and that any attempt to argue with her husband would just result in going around in circles. When he made up his mind, he made up his mind.

 

“Fine.” She turned to Toshi, “Why?”

 

Toshi’s eyes flickered from one parent to the next. He had basically shut down at the start and had not really prepared to explain himself. Being asked at this point ‘why’ completely blew his groove.  “Uh…” He shuffled from foot to foot, “Maybe we should just-” His mother shook her head, “Oh no no no. Your father wants to know why. So tell us why.” Toshi looked at his father who looked rather sympathetic, then back at his enraged mother, “Well… I bumped into Naora-“ He was immediately cut off by his sister, “Terauchi Naora???”

 

At the mere mention of that name, both of Toshi’s parent’s anxiety levels spiked. Asuka became angrier. Hirofumi became even more worried. Asuka shouted, “You Are Never Leaving This House AGAIN! Go To-”

 

“ENOUGH!”

 

Hirofumi was glaring at Asuka who paused. Asuka looked like she was about to explode, but was keeping it under control in the face of her husband’s wrath. There was a tense few moments as they stared at each other. Toshi interrupted the silence, “You know what? I really don’t want to talk about this.” He started to slowly back up, “Why don’t we just put a pin in this?”

 

Asuka glared at Toshi, “You don’t want to talk about this?” Toshi narrowed his eyes, “Yeah. I wanted to talk about this when I got here, but now I really don’t.” He looked at his father, “You want to know why? Because your son is dumb as a box of rocks.” Hinako winced. Toshi turned around, “If you will excuse me, I have an eternity to spend in my room.” Asuka let out a strangled cry of frustration as Toshi walked away, “Come back here!” As he walked past Hinako, she called out, “Please stay.” Toshi growled, “Why? It’s not like you’re my real sister.”

 

Toshi immediately regretted saying those words. He tried to stop and turn around to take them back, but he couldn’t move. The words ‘real sister’ started to bounce around in his head getting louder and louder until everything went white.

 

 

---

 

 

Toshi watched from the stairs.

 

His father was on the verge of tears. He was always on the verge of tears lately. It was his mother’s fault. He knew she was up to something. You can’t trust women. Even his mother. How could she betray them? Why are they talking so much?

 

“JUST GO!”

 

From the front door the remaining three members of his family turned and looked up. I can’t wait to be free of a cheating douche bag like mom. His sister looked sad, “Is that going to be the last words you say to me?”

 

“No.” Toshi straightened up, “my last words are going to be, I wish you had gotten shot instead of my REAL SISTER!!!”