Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [37]
“Honey, are you sure?” she asked, a vague smile on her face. “You know he’s talking about spending all of August in Chiba, right?”
“Fine by me.” Akira turned the page of his newspaper. “You could go too.”
“I can’t do that,” laughed Kuniko. “Why, it wouldn’t be right leaving you here alone while we went off to play on the beach.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t mind,” Akira responded nonchalantly, without even lifting his eyes from the paper. “I hardly see you two, our schedules being what they are. It wouldn’t be much different if you were gone. I practically live like a widower anyway.”
Wataru felt uneasy, as though there was something being left unsaid, some deeper meaning behind his words. The day before, a Saturday, Akira had been at the office all day, not getting home until late. Maybe something had gone wrong at work, or maybe he was just really tired. That would explain the foul mood.
“That’s exactly why I was hoping we could all spend some quality time together over the holiday,” Kuniko replied, beaming a smile at Wataru. The look in her eyes was clear. Private Wataru! Captain Akira has entered “bad mood” status! We need backup!
Wataru wasn’t sure how to respond. He wanted his father’s permission to go so badly that he could taste it. How could he take his mother’s side with that dangling right in front of his eyes?
“Also, if Wataru spends all of August in Chiba, then he won’t be able to visit my parents in Odawara,” Kuniko added, rising from the table to fetch the coffee pot. “They would be so disappointed if they didn’t get to see him.”
Akira remained silent. The newspaper lifted higher, hiding his face. Kuniko’s continued protests were met with noncommittal grunts from behind the wall of headlines and weather forecasts. The mood at the breakfast table stagnated until no one said anything at all. From then on, little by little, Wataru’s month of summer vacation in Chiba slowly became a reality.
For his time on the beach to be spent as effectively and pleasurably as possible, he would need to finish off the majority of his summer homework in July, while he was still in Tokyo. Wataru was quite meticulous about that sort of thing. He promised himself that during the ten or so days of vacation in July, no matter what distractions the day might hold, he would force himself to get up in time for the early-morning radio exercise program, and other than his twice-weekly swimming lessons, would stay at home so that he could concentrate on finishing his homework. Just thinking about it made him ecstatic. To think that June, with its drizzly rain and oppressive humidity, and those unexpected chilly nights that gave him a stuffy nose, could be a time of such unbridled joy! All he had to do was think ahead to that day when the sticky air and gloomy skies blew away, leaving behind a golden summer: polished and gleaming and all his.
“You sure are in a good mood,” Katchan observed. He was green with envy when Wataru told him why. “Awww, I wish I could go for a little while too…”
“You want me to ask my uncle if it’s okay?” It wasn’t an entirely selfless suggestion. Wataru knew that he would have more fun if Katchan were there too. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”
“Well, I’d sure love to,” Katchan began, his expression uncharacteristically clouded, “but I think I better stick around and help with the bar.”
“You guys have a summer vacation, though, right?”
“Yeah, but we’re going on a trip then. My folks can’t take many days off, so that family vacation is kinda important.”
“Wow, look at you.” Wataru whistled for effect. “Katchan, model son.”
“Ya think?”
The two of them laughed at that.
And so the days passed, and June eventually came to a close with only one page remaining on Wataru’s daily calendar. He had to go to cram school that day, so he hurried home after classes finished so he could wolf something down before he had to rush out again.
He opened the front door to discover a woman’s pretty shoes sitting in the entranceway.