“Why should others’ behavior have any influence over your own responsibilities?”
I’d told her why I’d done it in the first place too, of course.
“You shouldn’t have taken on a part-time job in the first place if you were going to have this attitude toward it.”
But I needed money!
“Your father and I pay for your living expenses, your school fees, and everything else. What other costs could you possibly have? I would like an explanation.”
But… Well, Kengo was struggling, and I loved Kengo, so I didn’t want to be a burden to him!
“Yes, Kengo-kun has an occupation that requires a lot of responsibility. That’s why you have to become a responsible member of society yourself. If you intend to keep moving forward as Kengo-kun’s partner and equal, you cannot just wait for him to pull you along. Otherwise, you’ll be nothing more than baggage. He is a kindhearted young man and will go out of his way for you no matter where you are. He will take you to the ends of the earth if he has to. If you continue to be the type of person who waits instead of taking initiative, you will just keep holding him back. You have the ability to walk the path you choose on your own two feet. Do ensure you don’t forget that.”
The heck?! I’m sorry, but what were we supposed to be talking about again? And “baggage,” seriously? How rude! I wasn’t baggage! Also, excuse me, but I was preparing properly for job searching. I was thinking about this stuff! Why did Mom think she had the right to lecture me about all this outta nowhere?
“The bottom line is that I do not think you should have called in sick today. You will come to understand with the passage of time.”
Kengo showed up in the middle of everything, and then Mom finally backed off. But I knew I wasn’t off the hook. She would go off on me again about my irresponsibility for hours once Kengo left. And what pissed me off the most?
“She’s right.”
Yup.
Kengo put his phone on his knee and looked up at me, his eyes gentle.
“Mom’s always right! So she’s probably right today too. Everything she says always comes true, like she can see the future or something. And it’s annoying.”
Why couldn’t she take the side of me and my feelings for once, even if it made her wrong? Why couldn’t she accept me making the wrong decision? Let me regret it later and then comfort me? Be nice to me? It didn’t even have to be every time, just now and then. Couldn’t she just understand that sometimes I wanted to be wrong? Wanted to be human?
“Mom just doesn’t get how I feel at all!” More than anything, I just wanted to know why.
“Take a deep breath and try to calm down for a second. You’ve got a good mom. She’s always there for you.”
“No she’s not! Like, at all! She’s always at work! Sometimes she goes abroad on business for weeks! Ever since I was a kid, I’d always be waiting for her to come home.”
“It’s ’cause of the work she does that you’re able to live the life you do. I’d say that counts as being with you. You gotta be grateful for that.”
“I am grateful! That’s not the point! It’s like Mom just…doesn’t understand. I mean, like she’s not human… Like she’s living in another dimension, or she comes from another planet! Right! Like she’s an…”
The moment it hit me, I knew I was right.
“An alien.”
“What?” Kengo grinned at me. “You serious?”
“Yeah. She’s gotta be.”
It was the only explanation that made sense. She was a mysterious being that could see the future and only said stuff that was correct and true. She’d come down from way beyond the skies and thanked me for my patience. That was who she was—an alien. It all clicked into place once I realized she wasn’t human.
“Mystery solved! Y’know, I’ve spent all twenty years of my life trying to figure it out.”
“Um, this is your own mom you’re talking about. If she’s an alien, what’s that make you?”
“I’m a clone of Dad. But there’s no way I’m gonna ask her about it. She’ll absolutely just start waffling on about the true definitions of ‘reproduction’ and ‘DNA.’ It’ll take just under an hour. And she’ll finish with: ‘Your logic is far from watertight.’ See? I can kinda tell the future too! You think I inherited that from her? You think I’m half alien? Oh my god! That’s too gross!”
I started stuffing items into my backpack as a joke. I looked at myself in the mirror. I grabbed my hair where it was tied just below the nape of my neck and pulled it loose, shaking it out as I went. Volume was everything when it came to this hairstyle. If I let it go flat, I might as well die. I closed my eyes halfway to check my eyeliner, looking at it at an angle and from the side.
Perfect.
The jet-black feline flick paired amazingly with my features. Just extending and lifting the outer corners of my eyes slightly tightened my baby face into something way more adult.
Wait, my lips!
I grabbed my pouch and sat down in front of the mirror. Kengo was watching me, then suddenly he clapped his hands together in realization. I thought only old men did that. Maybe he picked it up at work.
“What?” I asked.
“I’m a mama’s boy, right? But I think you’re seriously a mama’s girl.”
“Huh?!” I stared at him through the mirror. “No, I’m not. I get along better with my dad, so I’m more of a daddy’s girl.”
“It’s not really about who you get along with.”