Perhaps it’d be too much of an exaggeration to say that was the day my world began to collapse. However, I can say with full sincerity that it was from then on that my life quickly started to lose its color.
On August 15th, my dad and I went to Mom’s house to celebrate the Bon Festival for the first time since Grandpa passed away the year prior.
After I hit Dad, I spent every subsequent day out and about with Shiori for as long as possible, so I wouldn’t have to be around him. Whenever I had to be home, I stayed cooped up in my room. This worked for a while, but unfortunately, family holidays refused to be ignored.
My mom was born an only child, so the only relatives at the house were my great-aunts, great-uncles, and my second cousins, none of whom I recognized. I knelt on the floor until my legs went numb, listening to the drone of the monk’s incomprehensible Buddhist chanting. After that, I smiled evasively while middle-aged women I barely knew told me I was “all grown up now.” Anytime an intoxicated great-uncle came over to ramble at me, I ran away to the bathroom.
Finally, at the end of the night, after all the distant relatives had left, it was just me, Mom, Dad, and Grandma. Together, the four of us cleaned the house. Grandma then went to bed early, and for the first time in ages, it was just me and my parents.
As we sipped the tea Mom made for us, I shifted uncomfortably. Meanwhile, she struck up a conversation like it was any other day.
“Thanks for coming. I know it couldn’t have been pleasant.”
“Well, you’re an only child.”
At first blush, it may have seemed like their exchange didn’t make sense. But the way I interpreted it, Mom was saying he must have hated attending his ex-wife’s family reunion, and Dad was saying it was no big deal since it was nothing but distant relatives. It was this “minimalist” conversation style, so to speak, that had caused their divorce in the first place, but Mom actually seemed to be enjoying it for a change.
“You’re staying the night, right?”
“Nah, I’m heading home. Koyomi can stay if he wants though.”
“Yeah, I will,” I answered brusquely. It was my plan all along, since I still wanted to avoid him as much as possible.
However, Mom must have sensed something in my tone. “You’re not fighting with Daddy, are you, Koyomi?” she asked with concern.
“No.”
“He’s just going through a phase. He’s at that age now,” my dad said.
“Right… Eighth grade, huh? Have you settled on a high school?”
“Either Uenogaoka or Maizuru.”
“Ooh, the big leagues! I’m sure you’ll make it. You’ve got your father’s smarts.”
For some reason, being compared to my dad was enraging me like never before. Hadn’t I wanted to be a researcher just like him until recently?
“By the way…” Dad trailed off and straightened up in his chair. “I wanted to have a family discussion about something.”
“What is it?” Mom asked. I was similarly clueless. What could he possibly need to discuss with both of us?
Then, a possibility occurred to me. The chances were microscopic, but…what if he wanted to get back together? His relationship with Mom was never truly damaged beyond repair, and they had stayed on good terms long after the divorce. These past few years of living in a two-guy household we hadn’t exactly needed Mom, but there were plenty of times when I wished she was around. Surely Dad felt the same way…right?
The root of their divorce was poor communication. My scientist father had always spoken to Mom like she was a colleague. But now that I’d spent the past few years training him to use simple analogies, that issue was essentially solved. At the very least, he knew to use bubbles to explain difficult concepts like imaginary science.
Plus, with Grandpa having passed away, Mom and Grandma were all alone in this huge house. She never talked about marrying someone else either…
Maybe Dad saw this as a chance to try again…?
Dad looked from me to Mom. He said, “I’ve been thinking about getting remarried.”
My first reaction was YES!
But when I heard Mom’s response, I realized I had misunderstood.
“Who’s the lucky lady?”
Wait, so…it’s not you? Then…who is it? I’m going to have some other mom? It felt like my whole world had been turned upside-down. I was so confused, I failed to process my dad’s next words.
“Director Satou at the laboratory. I believe you know her.”
Director…?
“A-ha. Yes, I think I saw that coming,” my mom said.
“She’s been divorced for a few years herself, and right now she lives with her daughter, who’s the same age as Koyomi.”
Daughter, same age as me…?
“Then it sounds like he’ll have a new sister. Older or younger?”
“Younger. As I recall, his birthday is ahead of hers,” he said.
Wait, slow down. I don’t get it.
“Has he met her before?”
“Met her? They’re such good friends, they go on adventures together every day.”
But there’s only one girl I hang out with every day…
“I see. Sounds like they’ll be very close siblings,” Mom remarked.
Me and…Shiori? Shiori’s going to be my little sister?
Admittedly, I had yearned to be more than friends with her, and “family” was one way to achieve that, but…no! That was not what I wanted!
As my brain stalled out, however, my parents carried on without me.
“Have you already broached the subject with her?”
“Yes, she said she’d speak to her daughter about it tonight.”
“Is this the first Koyomi’s hearing about it?”
“Yeah.”
“Well then, you ought to ask him.”
“Right. Koyomi, you know the lab director? Shiori-chan’s mother?”
“Yeah,” I answered my father reflexively, my mind still blank.
“Would you be opposed if she became your new mom?”
“No…” Honestly, I didn’t object to having the director as my new mom. But Shiori being my sister?
“I see. Thank you. It won’t happen right away, but I’d like it if you’d come back to the lab and take some time to get to know her better.”
“Okay,” I answered without thinking, then immediately regretted it.
“Well, I suppose I ought to congratulate you,” Mom remarked.
“Thanks. I hope you find someone special too.”
“Ha! Do you realize how old I am now? Women can’t start over the way men can.”
“They can’t…?”
“Trust me, we can’t,” she said.
“Come now, surely you can. You’re a very charming woman.”
“Not charming enough to keep our marriage together.”
“But I was the one who—”
“Stop! You have a habit of trying to take the blame without listening to how the other person feels. Sometimes things just aren’t your fault, and you need to accept that!”
“…Who are you and what have you done with my ex?”
“Hee hee! I’ve always wanted to say that to you, ever since we ended things.”
“You really are quite charming, you know that?” my dad said to her.
“Thank you. Perhaps with your encouragement, I’ll wade a little deeper into the dating pool myself.”
Mom and Dad continued to have some sort of conversation that I wasn’t old enough to comprehend. Meanwhile, I could only think of Shiori. As my new sister, we’d spend even more time together—that part I liked. But that wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t want a sister.
Still, I couldn’t help but wonder… What did she want?
According to Dad, she and her mom were having a similar conversation right about now. Was she thinking the same thing I was, or…?