Needless to say, we didn't get much work done due to the awkward tension. We ended up calling it a day after eating.
On my walk home, I heard footsteps only for Amara to appear in front of me and seize my face with both her hands.
"What happened to your face?!"
I forgot, around this time her shift ends.
"We should walk home together," I spoke as she squished my cheeks.
But this only annoyed her. "Ka.Ga.Mi!"
"I just got into a small spat..." It was a habit to scratch my cheek, but there were cuts there so I ended up wincing.
Amara pursed her lips at me, something flickering in her eyes.
"Who was it?"
"It's fine!"
"Like hell it is?! Who scratched your face?!"
"Ah, Fukuda-san..." Kenichi-san unexpectedly overheard us and walked over. I wanted to greet him and ask about him performing on stage but Amara cut in.
"Was it you?!" Amara got up in his face.
Ken-san leaned back. Looks like he was on his way back from somewhere because he was holding some onigiri.
"P-pardon?" He looked at her then me and raised his eyebrows, "Dude, what happened to your face?"
". . ."
~[Insert blah blah blahs]~
"Dude, you should sue," Kenichi said after I finally confessed. His expression was stern, but it was hard to take him seriously when he was drinking from a cherry-pink soda can with cute cats frolicking in sakura petals.
"That...I'm not trying to start a conflict. Besides, the company can't fire them."
Kenichi-san held up a finger in objection. "It's not that they can't fire them, they can cancel the contract, but the Chairman saw potential and thought it might be a waste and decided to give them a chance."
"The others are fine though, suing just because of one person..."
"Shouldn't they just dismiss someone dangerous like that?" Amara didn't look as agitated before but the look in her eyes raised goosebumps on my skin. I hope... she didn't tell my Mom.
"Fukuda-san, there you are." Hagihara-san walked over. He had been looking for me?
"Did you need me for something Hagihara-san?"
"This..."
He handed me a bag, inside was ointment and band-aids.
My heart.
"Hagihara-san..." I felt touched, as I thought he's the only reliable person.
"Don't fall for it, Kagami-kun, it's a bribe!" Amara interjected.
"He's just trying to reduce damages!" Ken-san added.
"Eh..." Hagihara-san looked from the two to me, his brows knitting in confusion.
"Where's the girl that did this to her face? I need to see her, I just need to talk. What would possess such a person to ruin his face like this?"
An alarm rang off in my head. "It's not that bad!"
"Are you kidding me? It may be a few scratches but what about next time? Will she shove you down the stairs next? Or spread nasty rumors about you at the company?"
"Tha-
Amara squinted at me as she got close up in my face.
"Kagami! Do you mean to tell me you're going to let that person get away with murder?!"
"Whoi, whoi, it's not that serious!" Kenichi tried to defuse the situation.
Amara shot him a glare.
"B-but it is still assault, yes." He looked down at his onigiri and began to eat but his hands were trembling.
"You should quit! Let's do whotube!"
"Please don't." Hagihara-san interjected.
Amara turned around to give him the stink eye.
"Huh?!"
"I know it's a ridiculous offer, but I hope Fukuda-san doesn't take it too harshly today. Akemi-san... we all love music. Right now things may seem bad, but starting from today, I'll keep her in line so that something like that won't ever happen again." Unexpectedly he bowed.
". . ."
I glanced at Amara who's expression was very cold. Kenichi ate his onigiri calmly with a blank expression.
"I also... planned on overlooking this matter, to begin with." I could feel Amara's gaze on me. "But Hagihara-san's words just now, they make me feel a lot more secure. "I also love music, I want to share the songs I make with many other people. I hope I can also make songs with you all as well, even though I haven't seen you play yet. I'd like to think Akemi-san's diva state stems from her talent and not because of her upbringing..."
Hagihara bowed once more.
"Thank you."
"Please stop bowing..." I said.
"No, he should bow for longer." Amara unexpectedly placed a hand on Hagihara-san pushing him down lower.
"Amara!"
"Heaven knows how long this band was together, when you know your lead singer is someone like that you should make more of an effort to protect people from her!"
"Mmm, mmm!" Kenichi-san nodded.
"The fact you guys have been together so long means, you let her loose just because she doesn't bother those she's close to right?"
"Well...not quite..."
"So then, how confident are you that you can protect Kagami-kun?"
"..."
"Hello?"
"I'll do my best."
"That's not reassuring!"
I pried Amara's hands off of Hagihara's back, she gave me a funny look, but I felt too bad for Hagihara-san at this point to let her continue.
"I'm going to believe in Hagihara-san," I tell her.
Hagihara straightened.
Amara frowned at me.
"I understand your concern, and I appreciate it deeply from the bottom of my heart. Please just let it go, this once."
Amara's lips trembled, she looked elsewhere.
"I feel bad, I was the one who told you to try and become friends, but it backfired in your face."
Her eyes were glistening.
Eh. Unexpectedly she was blaming herself. I had a hard time following her mindset, why? Why does she feel responsible?
"That's ...not your fault! Rather, I'm thankful you believed in me!"
Amara walked off, seemingly unconvinced.
I bowed towards Hagihara-san and Kenichi-san.
"Well, then goodbye Ken-san, see you tomorrow Hagihara-san!"
"O-oh!" Ken-san nodded and Hagihara dipped his head.
I thought Amara was still pissed so I didn't know if it was a good idea to overtake her while following, she suddenly spun around on her heel and walked back towards me. She reached out her hand.
A question sign hung over my head.
"The bag."
I handed her the bag with band-aids and she pointed towards a nearby bench.
"Sit."
I sat.
Using the contents of the bag, she disinfected my cuts and applied bandages with a serious expression. Was she angry? Or like earlier was she blaming herself? Like that no other words were exchanged between us.
Needless to say, when I got home, Mother was not pleased- I had tried to sneak in quietly but the timing was bad because she walked out into the hall at the same time. After following me to my room, shooting questions at the back of my head, when I didn't answer, she frowned, and disappeared.
All was still.
I went downstairs to check when I saw her pushing in a number on our landline, was she calling Dad?
I watched her rant a bit nervously, I haven't seen her this hysterical since that one time Papa caught that foreign tourist who fell while trying to take a photo on top of the rails, his hand accidentally brushed against the tourist's boob, even as he helped her to the ground, his hand still remained there.
The tourist was too shocked from the thought of nearly falling to her death to pay it much mind but Papa's expression was rather smug.
I was seven then, Mother kicked him out onto the streets and wouldn't take him back not even when he presented her with flowers, a written apology, the luxury brand handbag she had always wanted but refused to buy, a pair of earrings, shoes, gourmet chocolate, a box of shortcake, clothes, and makeup.
"Aren't you forgetting someone?" She had asked him.
He asked. "What would you like?"
"Is it perhaps that you can only think with your **** that you forgot we have a son?! How could you allow him to see something so obscene?!"
He blinked at me, all those days I had been watching these daily episodes from behind Mama's skirt. It felt as if he noticed me for the first time, then.
He bought me a piano, only after seeing how often I played it did Mother let him back in. Ever since then whenever Mother got angry about something, Papa would suddenly remember my existence and try pandering to me to appease her. It was as if I was an extension of her. I still don't get it.
How exactly is this story relevant to my current situation? Well, it wasn't.
When I heard Mom say-
"How can your company do nothing after an employee assaulted another?!"
"Eh?!"
"Wait Mom! No!" I ran over to seize the phone from her in seconds, but she was in tengu mode.
In her eyes was a calm fury that frankly scared me from seeing it so close.
Covering the end of her receiver with her hand.
She quietly said,
"Go, sit."
If I challenged her further would she hit me?
"Mom...please." Don't embarrass me like this!
She ignored me.
I glanced at the plug connecting the phone and the wire.
I felt Mom's gaze on me for a second.
I darted.
She blocked me with her leg and moved it backwards, pushing me by the neck backward along with it. When I reached she pushed me away farther.
She was only sticking out a leg but it had the force of a wall.
"...Mooom!"
She continued talking with the company.
Perhaps not trusting that I wouldn't make another attempt, she stood there with her foot to my neck.
What sort of ridiculous situation is this? She was a thin woman, where did all her strength come from? Why can't I get past her leg?
I felt so frustrated and defeated by the time she finished on the phone. I just sat there on the ground.
Mom glanced at me then.
"You'll understand me once you have kids of your own someday." She quietly said, the tengu's ire still richly coating her voice even though it had long left her face.
The sound of her soft footsteps treading down the hall, irked me to no end.
A roar escaped me. "I'm not a kid anymore!"
Mom stopped and stared at me.
"...Once I graduate, I'll be a full-fledged adult!"
She exhaled through her nostrils as she tilted up her head, arms folding.
"What makes a full-fledged adult is complete and total independence-"
"I have a job now! And-"
"But you still go to school and still live in this house. So long as you live here you're my responsibility!"
I frowned at her and she at me.
So long as I live here huh...
She suddenly stepped closer.
Her eyes widening, and she kept slapping her chest. "No matter where you go, what you do, even if you die, you will always be my baby!"
Seeing her eyes glisten, the frustration I felt melted into guilt.
I know. I know full well how much you love me, Mom. Even when things didn't go well with Dad, you always made sure to remind him of my existence. At times, I even felt like I was chaining you down to him, a man you no longer seemed to love. Because of that I always felt guilty.
The moment a mother gives birth, she spends the rest of her life dedicating it to her child. Instead of answering her earlier, I ignored her just hoping it would pass.
How could she endure it, when she never endured it before?
Her pattern of behavior should have been expected...
A deep sigh escaped me then.
"Mom...I'm sorry for just now, and also for ignoring you."
Still, in the back of my mind, a resolve was already forming.