Papa’s eyes linger on the closed door—so long that for a second I think he might go after her.
Then he turns back to the table.
For a second he doesn’t look at us, doesn’t move.
He just… sits there. Thinking.
Shizuka-nee and I exchange a glance.
Then he turns to our guest, his jaw tight.
“…‘Then we can go.’?” he says. “What did she mean by that, Sakuragi-san?”
Sakuragi-kun straightens in his seat. I can see his hands fidget nervously under the table.
“She said she’d drop me off after dinner, sir,” he says.
“She has plans with friends,” I add, “So it’s on the way for her.”
“Yeah,” Sakuragi-kun says. “So it won’t be a bother.”
“I see,” Papa says, but his face is still scrunched up in thought.
“And have you and your sister finished your work for the week?” he asks me.
I blink.
“…‘Work’?” Shizuka-nee asks.
“Homework. Chores. Your weekly tasks. It’s Sunday night—are they all completed?”
Shizuka-nee and I exchange another glance.
My stomach sinks.
“I thought as much,” he sighs as he pushes his chair back from the table. “I’ll be back.”
Papa crosses the room and disappears into his and Mama’s bedroom.
Once he’s gone, Shizuka-nee exhales hard, slumping back in her chair.
“Seriously…” she says.
“We can still finish everything!” I say quickly. “Do you still have homework to do, Sakuragi-kun?”
“Sorry, finished mine yesterday.”
He gives a sheepish grin, but I’m a little glad there’s one less reason for him to hurry home.
Shizuka-nee is less enthused.
“Well, home run for baseball boy,” she huffs.
Sakuragi-kun opens his mouth to say something—
When two faint voices come through the wall.
Shizuka-nee pauses.
“…They’re talking,” she says, then quietly pushes out her chair.
She sneaks over to the bedroom door and hovers her ear a few centimeters away.
I hesitate for a moment, then follow her over.
Sakuragi-kun hesitates before following me over, but soon enough—
We’re all huddled outside the bedroom door listening.
“They’re not finished,” Papa’s voice comes through the door.
“They have a friend over,” Mama replies. “They can finish after I take him home.”
“Part of supervising them is answering any questions they have,” Papa responds. “You can’t do that if you’re gone.”
“Can’t you just help them out for just one night?”
“Out of the question. I have a meeting tonight—that is my responsibility, just as supervising the children is yours.”
There’s a pause.
“…So that’s it, then?” Mama asks. “I just… can’t go?”
“Not until you’re done supervising,” Papa states, then his tone softens a bit. “…Maybe if they do get done quickly, you could still go after?”
“And say what? That I’m late because my husband wouldn’t let me leave?”
“You can tell them that you had responsibilities.”
Mama huffs a sigh. “Man, you must have been a hit at parties.”
“I wouldn’t know—my girlfriend never let me go to any,” Papa answers, but there’s a hint of amusement in his voice.
There’s a long pause, and I wonder for a moment if they’re done talking.
Then—
“…I’m going to go have a smoke before my meeting,” Papa says finally. “You’ll stay with them?”
There’s another pause.
“…I still have to take Sakuragi-kun home,” Mama says.
“Don’t let the kids stay up too late.”
There’s another pause, and Mama breaks it this time.
“Okay,” she says. “I’ll… just catch the next one.”
“Thank you, Miyako.”
She doesn’t respond.
A second passes and then—
The bedroom door slides open and Papa walks through—
Only to do a stutter-stop as we kids all jump back a step.
There’s a second where we’re all frozen, just staring at each other, then—
“If you’re finished with dinner, you can go start the dishes,” Papa says.
We hesitate for a second, and Papa gestures at the table with his head.
“C’mon,” Shizuka-nee mutters. “Let’s just get this over with.”
Sakuragi-kun and I trail after her, and together the three of us start clearing the table.
Papa watches long enough to make sure we start, then heads out the door, smacking his pack of cigarettes against the palm of his hand as he does.
Shizuka-nee lets out a breath through her nose when he’s gone, already reaching to switch the cassette stove off with a click.
“Is that gonna be too hot to clean?” Sakuragi-kun asks.
Shizuka-nee nods. “Yeah, we can just leave it to cool down for a while.”
I soon realize that clearing the table is not a three-person job, so I head to the kitchen sink and start running hot water into our dish basin.
We fall quiet again after that, settling into the rhythm of it.
After a minute, the bedroom door slides open and Mama steps out.
She pauses when she sees us working, then smiles—small, but real.
“Making good progress,” she says.
“Yep!” Shizuka-nee replies. “We’ve got it.”
“Don’t leave the pot too long,” she says. “It’ll be harder to clean.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Shizuka-nee mutters.
Mama hums, then steps over toward the sink, reaching for a towel.
“How’s everything going in he—”
“I’m sorry, Mama,” I blurt so loud Mama jumps. “I was gonna do it after practice, but then Sakuragi-kun got injured, and then Shizuka-nee came, and we just… I’m really sorry.”
I trail off, wincing.
Mama’s face scrunches up for a second.
“You guys heard that, huh?” she says.
Shizuka-nee tries to give me the shut the hell up hand motions from behind Mama’s back, but I’m not looking at her.
“…Yeah,” I confess, my head dropping. “We may have been kind of… listening from outside the door.”
“Ah, that explains that, then.”
Mama pulls me into a quick hug with an extra-tight squeeze at the end.
“Ren,” she says as she lets go. “You didn’t do anything wrong, alright?”
“So… we didn’t get you in trouble?”
“No, you didn’t get me in trouble,” she says. “Your Papa just… wanted to make sure everything got done. That’s all.”
“But,” she continues. “There’s still plenty of time. And…”
I look up at her.
“I’m glad we were able to help out Sakuragi-kun. Okay?”
I glance over at our guest, then back at Mama, giving a small nod.
“…Okay,” I mutter.
“Good,” she smiles. “Now, speaking of Sakuragi-kun—”
She turns to face him, and he straightens a little.
“Yes, Ma’am?”
“Even if you were technically s-p-y-i-n-g,” she says, to Sakuragi-kun’s answering blush. “I’m still sorry that you had to hear all that. Hopefully we haven’t scared you off too badly.”
He shakes his head quickly. “No, ma’am. I… it’s fine.”
Mama doesn’t say anything, just studies him for a brief second, nodding once when she’s satisfied.
“It’s getting late,” she says, fishing her phone out of her pocket. “I should probably give your mother a call, let her know you’re okay.”
Sakuragi-kun nods a little.
“And then… you’ll take me home?”
Mama starts to nod, then catches herself.
“I could,” she says pensively. “But since we’re already calling her, we could just ask about you staying the night. If it’s okay with Ren, of course.”
Mama and Sakuragi-kun both look at me, and my brain short-circuits for a second.
“O-of course it’s okay! Sakuragi-kun?”
Pleeeeease—
Sakuragi-kun blinks and he looks from Mama to me and back to Mama.
“You’re… sure I wouldn’t be imposing?” he asks.
“Of course,” Mama smiles. “Any friend of Ren’s is welcome here any time.”
“…Then sure!” he says, a hopeful little smile fighting its way out.
“I’ve never had a sleepover before,” he adds through a blush, and—
Never?
Oh…
My poor heart.
That seems to be the right answer, as Mama smiles and turns on her phone screen.
Sakuragi-kun recites the phone number, and Mama lifts the phone to her ear.
“Hello—this is Fujimura Miyako, Ren’s mother,” she says. “Yes, Toji-kun is here with us.”
‘Toji-kun’. The phrase makes me smile.
“You too,” Mama says, “We’ll see you in the morning.”
Then she hangs up and slips the phone back into her pocket.
“Alright,” she says, turning back towards us. “You can stay, and—”
Her next words are drowned out as Shizuka-nee and I let out a cheer.
Sakuragi-kun just grins.
“Thank you, ma’am,” he says.
“Anytime,” she smiles.
“A sleepover!” Shizuka-nee blurts next to me.
“Yeah!” I add quickly, trying to catch up. “We can—uh—do something, or just hang out, or—”
“We could watch something,” she says. “Or… play something? Do you like games, Sakuragi-kun?”
“Uh, sometimes!” he says. “I’ve got—uh—some Yugimon cards in my bag, or—”
“Such a dork.” Shizuka-nee rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling.
“And we can stay up late,” I add, a little too quickly. “Like, really late—right?”
“Uh, obviously,” Shizuka-nee says.
“Well, it is still a school night,” Sakuragi-kun mutters.
“Party pooper,” Shizuka-nee laughs.
“Your first sleepover,” I grin at Sakuragi-kun. “This is gonna be so much fun!”
“Lots of fun,” Mama joins in, and the three of us turn to face her. “After you’re done with homework.”
A collective groan goes up from Shizuka-nee and me, and ‘Toji-kun’ laughs.
[4/21 Edit: Fixed a typo.]