So Kengo went back to black. The stylist’s feelings for his mom were genuine and, moreover, had saved his hair from any further damage. His mom found out and told him off, forcing Kengo to throw in the towel for good. Then summer came around, and she announced that she was moving. Her boyfriend was going back to his home prefecture of Aomori, and she’d decided to go with him so that they could eventually marry.
Kengo showed me the message she sent him: Sorry, but we won’t be able to see each other as often anymore.
He had been worrying about the new life she was building this whole time. He thought she was moving too fast. He was too distracted to study for his entrance exams properly, and it was like his brain was on vacation whenever he was with me and the other two. Honestly, he was a bit of a mama’s boy. And when I told him so, he wasn’t able to deny it. He just kinda nodded.
The second summer vacation started, Kengo went up to Aomori to visit his mom. He didn’t even tell me when he was coming back. I was panicking that he never would. I knew it made literally zero sense for him to transfer during the summer of his last year of high school, but I was still anxious that he would. Even though we spoke on LINE, I could only send the most vanilla messages known to man, and he would just send me pictures of the countryside or the meals he ate with his mom and her boyfriend. The pictures made it look like he was having fun, which just freaked me out even more. What if he liked it in Aomori? My anxiety was spiraling.
We were now a few days into August. Kengo came back yesterday without warning. He asked me to meet up, so here I was, having gone all out on my outfit. I worked hard to get my hair as shiny as possible, shaved my arms and legs, and spent three hours in front of the mirror this morning mixing and matching clothes and accessories.
“It was so quiet I didn’t realize you were home,” Mom said, poking her head into my room.
“Go away! I gotta get this right or I’m literally gonna die!” I grumbled.
“Oh,” she said, leaving at once.
And then Kengo showed up with a freaking crew cut…
“How was Aomori? Nice and cool?” I asked.
“The days were still kinda hot, but it was pretty cold in the mornings and evenings. I hadn’t packed any long-sleeve shirts, so I had to buy some.”
“Huh.”
“Up there, the summer doesn’t suck so much.”
“Huh,” I repeated, casually averting my gaze from the face right opposite me. The smile was receding from my face like an ebbing wave, and I chewed my straw with my front teeth so that he wouldn’t notice.
If he was about to say he’d decided to move there and had even decided on a date, I didn’t wanna hear it. I loved his voice and could listen to it for hours, but if that was what he was gonna use it to say, I was ready to plug my ears.
“I got to see Mom’s boyfriend’s new salon. It was actually way cooler than I thought it’d be. He’s young, but it looks like he’s got things figured out.”
“What about their place? You stayed with them the whole time, right?”
“With her boyfriend and his family, yeah. It’s just like one of those big houses you always see in the country. And Mom’s new house with him is gonna be built soon. They showed me the plans. Looks like it’s gonna be pretty sweet. The plot they’ve got for it is apparently huge. And his grandparents are still super healthy, and relatives and neighbors were always comin’ over with food… Wait, I sent you those photos from the barbeque, right?”
“Yeah, I saw them. So much food.”
“I know, right? It wasn’t just meat either. There was a ton of seafood, like sea urchins and scallops and stuff.”
“Yeah, and you sent me those shots in the middle of the night. That’s pretty much bullying.”
He laughed. “I know. Did you wanna strangle me?”
“’Course I did.”
“Nice. I timed it on purpose.”
“I hate you.”
“The food really won me over, y’know? Like, I kinda think it wouldn’t be that bad to live out in the country.”
“Ah…”
I didn’t like the sound of that. I wanted the conversation to change track. If we stopped here, at least I could kid myself that he was joking. If we just stopped talking…
No. Stop. Don’t leave me. I wanna be with you. We only just started talking properly. This is only the first time we’re meeting with just us. I want you to know me better. I want to know you.
We were still only friends. If we got separated now, that was it for us.
“Didn’t you think so when you saw the photos? Didn’t it look amazing? ’Cause I’m kidding. It was super stressful.”
“Huh?” I’d been staring at the straw wrapper, but now I looked up.
“The arguing was crazy. We never stopped, not even when we ate.”
I looked Kengo in the eye. This wasn’t how I’d been expecting the conversation to go at all. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. I mean, I went over there to raise hell. Her boyfriend could’ve been the greatest guy in the world, but there was no way I was gonna let her remarry. I really laid into her.” Kengo added a touch of dramatic flair to his voice as he repeated his own words. “I’m still a minor! You’re really gonna abandon your own kid?! Just ’cause you divorced Dad doesn’t mean you’re not my mom anymore! Moving all the way out here is just irresponsible! A parent’s s’posed to prioritize their kid!” He paused. “That was the gist of it. And it went on and on.”