5/19/13 - 5/25/13 -- Satoshi (Part 2/3)
[365 Days Challenge- 1 word a day (2013)]
Titles:Puberty, Distress, Junior, Mature, Disclose, Shock, Unfortunate
Character(s)/Pairing:Ohno, OhnoxOC (mother-son relationship), OhnoxNino
Genre:Fluff, Angst, Family
Rating:PG
Disclaimer:I own nothing but the plot
Word Count:2711
Summary:An about-to-be-mother wanted a girl, but she brought a boy into the world instead.
A/N: A One-Shot containing drabbles. Does that even make sense? LOL
Puberty -- Day 139
Satoshi has been acting weird, she thought. Aside from the fact that her son began puberty, Satoshi hasn’t been himself at all, and she was beginning to worry over her son. Everyday, when Satoshi would come home, he usually greeted her, kissed her on the cheeks, and would ask how her day was. But Satoshi hasn’t done so since puberty hit, also the same day Nino didn’t come home with him.
One night, during dinner, amidst the silence between them, Satoshi sighed and picked at his food. She frowned. It was definitely unhealthy to see Satoshi so... different.
“Honey, what’s wrong?” She asked him as he pushed his green peas aside. Strange, he always liked green peas.
“Nothing, mom,” Satoshi growled.
Her eyes widened at the way her son answered her, as if he was angered by her question.
“Where’s Nino-kun? I haven’t seen him since la--”
“I said it’s nothing, mom!” He yelled, this time standing up, startling both her and her husband. “It’s-- I’m not hungry.”
“Sa--”
“Leave him be,” Satoshi’s father pulls her down, “Something must have happened between him and Nino-kun. He’ll tell you when he’s ready.”
Her husband was right. Maybe... she involved herself in Satoshi’s life too much that her son was getting tired of her. Besides, Satoshi was in a rough spot, with his hormones raging in his body and all. She understood that, but she wanted to know more about Satoshi’s problem so her son wouldn’t be so strange anymore.
Distress -- Day 140
A few months had passed since Satoshi’s sudden outrage at the dinner table, and she concluded that there was definitely something wrong with her son. Unlike when Satoshi first hit puberty, he had a negative aura about him and she could do nothing but watch in agony. But time had passed since then, and her son was shining brightly. And that was when she noticed something odd and strange: It was Nino who made him smile, not her. Not with all the things she does for him.
Nino began to go home with her son again, and the two looked as if nothing conflicting ever happened to the both of them. Her son, along with Nino, smiled to each other like they were the only person in the world, and wouldn’t hear her talking to them until she spoke louder and coughed for their attention. She usually does this when she made afternoon snacks for them, or asked them if they needed something for their satisfaction.
“Yeah... Sure...” Satoshi would answer in the same unconcerned voice, with his eyes still on Nino’s face. Even if she asked him if he wanted to go travel (just to see if he was really paying attention), he would just answer in the same tone and words...
“Eri,” Her husband called her name one night, “Stop worrying over Satoshi so much.”
“But I can’t help it,” She said, “Do you think he hates me?”
He chuckled lightly. That’s what she loved about her husband, how he can make her worries seem worriless. “He doesn’t hate you, Eri. Satoshi’s just growing up so you should give him some space.”
But that’s the problem. She was his mother and she had the right to worry about her son.
It was Satoshi’s first day in middle school, and she looked forward to seeing her son off. However, she woke up late for unknown reasons and she felt horrible. She was unable to make Satoshi breakfast, his lunch, and prepare everything for him. She immediately ran downstairs as she tucked her robes in, but as soon as she reached the bottom, she stopped. There were the sounds of laughter and excited conversations. The persons didn’t sound like her husband because he leaves earlier in the morning, but she can definitely hear her son with someone else. And she knew who it was as soon as she stepped foot in the dining room.
“Nino-kun,” She breathed in surprise at the sight of his son’s best friend. They sat so close that she remembered the time when the two would hold hands, and leave it out in the open.
“Hello, mom!” Nino beamed. She still couldn’t get used to Nino calling her that since he was in grade school, but she liked it because it almost felt like she had another son. “Don’t worry, mom, I made Satoshi breakfast and lunch. You don’t need to worry about it.”
She forced a smile. “I-isn’t that good for Satoshi?”
“Yup!” Satoshi agreed.
Soon, the both of them were off to school after giving her a quick peck on the cheeks. She followed them outside to make sure that the would make it out safely. As she watched the two of the children’s backs disappear, she swore she must have seen the two link their fingers together. Or was it her imagination and she needed glasses?
She shook her head, silently laughing for believing for a second that there must be something else between her son and Nino. If there was, she wouldn’t know how to accept it.
Mature -- Day 142
Satoshi no longer greeted her, kissed her on the cheeks, or asked how her day was. Instead, her son immediately ran up to his room with Nino following behind him. Neither of them paid attention to her when she asked what they would like for snacks and drinks, and Satoshi wouldn’t open the door for her when she decided to check up on them (Satoshi would yell and tell her that he wasn’t a child anymore). She figured that no matter how many times she was going to try and be his mother, it seemed as if Satoshi ignored the fact that he even had a mother.
She sighed. She wanted to tell her husband about all of this, about Satoshi and Nino, but he was never really home anymore. At night, when she needed her husband the most, he would call her and tell her that he needed to stay late for work, and that he had an important project that needed his attention. When she received these calls, however, she needed Satoshi, but her son wouldn’t even listen to her and would shut her out. Where were the two most reliable men when she needed them?
Ever since Satoshi began senior high school, her son changed even more. He and Nino would go out everyday, and wouldn’t come home until two hours before curfew, or if she demanded him to go home. At least Satoshi comes home, unlike her husband.
She sighed. Again, for the second time that day.
She was in all different sorts of mess despite everything around her being balanced and well. Her husband, who had worried her about his whereabouts, finally came home, exhausted and hunched over. She almost thought -- almost believed -- her husband was doing something that would break her heart behind her back, but he told her that it was a real project after having asked him so many questions. He also came home with it, that project of his, and it was definitely something she would have stayed from home for. It looked like her husband never slept a wink.
“Honey, let me take it. It looks like you’re about to drop it,” She offered.
“Eri...” Her husband sighed weakly, “It was... hard work... But I’m glad... We’ll finally be able to... pay for Satoshi...”
Ah, she had almost forgotten that her son was almost ready to graduate from high school with only a year left. She was aware that it wasn’t in her position to laugh, but she couldn’t help it. Her husband tried to glare at her, but he ended up laughing along with her.
“What’s so... funny?” He asked in between his laughter.
“You didn’t need to work his hard for Satoshi,” She said, “Our son just received three scholarships.”
Her husband’s eyes almost fell out of its sockets. “Wha-What?! Since when?!”
“Did that wake you up?”
He nodded seriously as he straightened up and regained his posture. He looked around as if looking for their son, then he set his eyes on her face. Her news really woke him up.
“Where is Satoshi?”
“School,” She answered matter-of-factly. “When was the last time you checked your watch?”
“Last -- I don’t remember. Where is my son, now?” He asked demandingly. “I need to have a talk with him...”
All of a sudden, her husband’s began to tear. It was a good thing she had rid of her husband’s big project, or it would have been crushed in between them. “Eri... you’re such a wonderful mother...” Her husband sobbed. “I wish my mother raised me like you did with Satoshi.”
She rolled her eyes. “Idiot,” She whispered silently, “You’re mother did raise you like I did. You just ignored her.”
He laughed sheepishly. “Yeah, but you’re the best mom.”
“Am I really? Now go to sleep, young man, I won’t be happy,” She joked, earning a soft whine from her husband. However, he obeyed her anyways and immediately made his way upstairs...
As her husband was deep asleep on their bed and she was cleaning the kitchen, the sound of the front door opening caught her attention. Oh, did she have great news to tell her son.
“Sa--”
She stopped halfway, eyes and mouth open wide (her husband came downstairs at the same time). Standing behind their front door was her son with Nino standing shyly behind him. Satoshi, however, looked at her and his father seriously.
“I’m in love with Nino,” He says.
She hadn’t seen her son in weeks and she felt terrible. If she hadn’t sided with her husband rejecting her son, she would have -- might have -- stood besides him, but she didn’t. She was just as shock and (slightly) infuriated along with her husband.
“Would you believe that kid?” Her husband raged, yet again since Satoshi’s disappearance. “Him? In love with another boy?! I don’t accept it! We didn’t raise him to like boys.” The way her husband said the word ‘boys’ sounded like venom in his mouth. “Eri? What have you got to say?”
She snapped her eyes to her husband’s grimace, and gave him questioning looks.
“You didn’t say anything! Our son, he-- he’s confused, for god’s sake, and all you did was stare the whole time!”
The curiosity in her face was replaced with disapprovement. “I wasn’t just starring, Takuya. I had something to say, too, but I didn’t know how to say in front of our son’s face... It would break his heart.”
“Break his heart?” He repeated mockingly, “Break his heart?! That’s all you were worried about?!”
She nodded. Of course, she was angry, too, but she didn’t want to say anything that would crush Satoshi, especially if she agreed on rejecting him... At the moment and when Satoshi confessed, she wasn’t exactly sure how to react or what to say.
“Eri... you raised our son. You monitored him all the time and I would have thought that--”
She snapped. “Are you accusing me of the reason why he’s in love with another boy?”
“That’s not what I--”
“That’s what it sounds like! You’re saying it’s my fault, aren’t you...”
“Eri--”
“If you were cheating on me when you were away all the time instead of being around our growing son, go back to her, or never come back home. Take that project with you, too!”
“Eri... I didn’t mean to. Please, just--”
“You drove our son away from home, you’re always gone when I needed you the most, and Satoshi almost grew up without a father. Honestly, I... I don’t know anymore what we are to you, Takuya...” She fell on the floor as she brought her hands up to her face. She hadn’t cried this hard since high school when her first boyfriend broke up with her.
“Eri...”
“If you care to linger this long... find Satoshi, apologize, and tell him to come back home... I miss him, Takuya. I can’t live without my son.”
“I... I will,” he sighed in defeat, “And I didn’t cheat on you, Eri. I still love you.”
“I know...”
Unfortunate -- Day 145
“Did he come out of his room yet?” She asked curiously as soon as she met up with her husband in the kitchen. “It’s been a few days, and he hasn’t been going to school... Honey, can you do something about it?”
“I’m trying,” He said, “But Satoshi refuses to come out. He just tells me to go away, but I don’t get it. I already apologized.”
“You haven’t accepted his relationship,” She pointed out.
“Neither did you!”
“I...” She bit her lips, “I’m waiting for you.”
“Oh...”
“Do you think he’ll come out soon, though? He does need to use the bathroom.”
“Our son’s smart,” Her husband said, “He must have figured it out already...”
Satoshi hadn’t come out, and refused to even if she tried. She didn’t want to leave him alone, at home, all by himself, but she was in need of groceries. Even if Satoshi refused to eat, too, it was in her instinct to buy groceries every Friday. She hesitated, wondered, and worried about her son’s situation between the grocery shopping. Satoshi was important, but she needed food to feed her family.
After a few moments of thinking, she finally decided to go grocery shopping since it’s three blocks from their home anyways. Before she left though, she knocked on Satoshi’s door and announced that she was going to be gone for at least thirty minutes. There was no response, but she figured Satoshi heard her.
She walked as fast as she can to the grocery store so she can get home as soon as she can. However, there were so many people outside, walking slowly on the sidewalks and was ignorant of her presence. She had to cough to bring their attention to her, and had to walk out of the sidewalk just to get around them. She thought, though, that there wouldn’t be anymore hindrance when someone bumped into her. She yelped in surprise as she fell to the floor, and struggled to get up so she wouldn’t have to feel humiliated. When, all of a sudden, a hand shot out.
“I’m sorry,” The person apologized, “I didn’t mean to do it, Ohno-san.”
She looked up, and immediately recognized who it was. “Nino-kun...”
“Hi,” He greeted her awkwardly.
“H-Hi...”
“Satoshi?” She called for her son in the loudest voice she can manage. “Come down, I have something to discuss with you.” There was no reply, as usual, and she eyed Nino apologetically.
“I’ll go up instead,” Nino suggested. “Maybe he’ll open his door.” With that said, Nino walked up the stairs...
“How long have they been up there?” Her husband asked her again on the dinner table. She can tell by the way he shook his legs and impatiently tapped his fingers on the table that he was uncomfortable with the situation. Even if they were Satoshi’s parents and they had the power to keep them apart, she stopped herself and her husband from doing so. She felt that somehow, by not doing so, that it was right.
“Five hours,” She answered nonchalantly. “I met Nino-kun when I was going to get grocery.”
“You’ve already told me that,” He snapped. “But you didn’t tell me why he’s here.”
She set her utensils down as a thought came to mind. “Now that you mentioned it, I don’t know either.”
“Eri--”
“Mama, papa.”
The sound of their son’s voice caught their attention, and soon, they were both standing anxiously in front of him. Unlike the first time, Nino wasn’t behind him. Maybe he was still in Satoshi’s room? Satoshi looked away, but she was able to see why he did. What caused her son to have dried tears on his face?
“I... I broke up with him,” He announced in a broken voice. “I--”
She didn’t know why or what caused her to do it, but the sound of her palm hitting across Satoshi was loud enough for her husband to gasp in shock.
TBC
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