When my mom and dad divorced, they agreed on a schedule for visitations.
Until I turn 18 and graduate from high school, he would visit me once a month, then we would have dinner together to talk about our lives.
We hadn't been able to meet each other in quite some time because of dad's work schedule, but we used to meet each other once a month. Although we didn't really talk about things like my school life, we would make small talk and have fun together.
I didn't hate my dad, on the contrary, I loved him. I always looked forward to meeting him especially since he always brought me to fancy restaurants.
…Until now.
"Normally, he would double check with our schedules, but he said that he's busy… If he can't meet you on that day then you'll have to wait for the new year before he can meet you again… He did ask for your opinion though… So, Maki… Are you going to meet him?"
"Sure. I should at least meet him as a thank you. After all, I've been receiving money from him."
I didn't know how much money he gives me each month, but part of the money used to buy the clothes I wore should be his.
If possible, I don't want to refuse him.
"…By the way, Mom…"
"What is it?"
Suddenly, Minato-san's face came to my mind.
Does mom know about her? She's dad's subordinate and they seemed to have known each other for a few years already. Seeing the scene yesterday made me suspicious about something.
Did they get close after or before the divorce happened?
If it was the former, then he's free to do whatever he wanted, but if it was the latter…
I wonder what kind of face I should make when I meet him later.
"…Maki… Maki?"
"…W-What is it, mom?"
"You look pale, are you okay? Are you exhausted because of your first date?"
"Ah… Y-Yeah, probably… I couldn't sleep last night because I was nervous… Also, we went all out at karaoke, so, yeah…"
"Is that so? Then, you should quickly eat your dinner, take your bath and go to sleep. Oh before that, make sure to call Umi-chan first. Thank her for the date."
"I-I got it, quit nagging me…"
I swallowed the words I was about to say. I shouldn't bring it up to her.
Of course I was curious about this matter, but even if she knew about it, it wouldn't change anything. But if she didn't know about it, things would turn messy real quick.
Both options seemed bad, so it should be better for me to shut up.
"…If that's all, I'm going to bed early… I have a lot of work tomorrow, so, good night."
"Good night… Ah, right, mom, can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Do you still love dad?…"
At that question, my mom stopped moving.
"…Why?"
'Why are you asking this question now?' She made that kind of face.
"…S-Sorry, it's been a while since I've last seen him… I was just curious… Sorry, that was a weird question…"
"No, it's fine. You decided to follow me without questions after all, it's normal to be curious about something like this."
She sat back down on the sofa and lit the cigarette that was sitting on the table.
"Your dad, huh? …We divorced because of various things… There were times when seeing his mug made me feel sick, but I know that deep inside my heart… I still like him… I can't even throw away our family album…."
"You have the album, mom?"
"Yeah. You know, we've been married for fifteen years… Maybe longer… We made a lot of good memories, I couldn't bring myself to throw it away… Wait a second, I'll get it for you."
She brought the album from her bedroom.
There were various pictures of me inside the album. Back when I was born, my first shichigosan, my kindergarten days, our family vacations, entrance and graduation ceremonies and so on. Most of the pictures ranged from back when I was first born to around the time when I reached seven or eight years old. (T/N: Shichigosan as in the shrine visit thing. There's a culture in Japanese where they'll bring their child to visit nearby shrine when they turn 3, 5 and 7, hence the shichi (7) go (5) san (3))
"I was a big crybaby back then…"
"Hehe… True. Back then you would cry if someone other than me or your dad tried to hold you. You'll try to hide behind our backs whenever we try to take a picture of you. The only time when we could get a good shot of your face was when you didn't face the camera properly."
Like she said, there were only a few pictures of me where I was looking at the camera. I had a few back when I was a toddler, but as soon as I entered kindergarten, there were none of them. It was during the time when I started feeling shy when someone tried to take a picture of me.
I thought I was a quiet kid back in the day, but apparently my younger self was a selfish brat.
Well, even now, I'm still a selfish brat.
"Mom, can I borrow this?"
"Sure, just take it… Did Umi-chan or someone else ask you for it?"
"…Yeah, something like that…"
I promised them that I'd show them to Umi and Amami-san, so I should fulfill that promise. Of course I'll take out the naked baby pictures of me or else it would be a disaster.
But, they would probably notice that I took those pictures away and Umi will start bugging me about it…
"Anyway, just take it if you want to. I'm going to bed now, so good night, Maki…"
"Good night. I'll clean everything up later."
"Alright, thank you…"
She extinguished her cigarette and went to her room.
"…I couldn't ask her…"
Dad, mom and me. I muttered that as I stroked our family photo.
It had been a year since me and my mom left our previous home. Both of us finally got used to our new life. My mom was content with her work and I managed to gain a couple of friends.
I didn't want to ruin this daily life of ours…
That was why I decided to forget about everything that happened today.