The ceiling fan was on, filling the entire living room with a light breeze. The door opened, and Haruka entered, carrying a tray with a teacup and four glasses filled with ice cubes.
My father and I sat around the table, and across from me sat Otsuki. Neither of us were looking at each other; I was looking at the floor, and she was looking at the table.
"You didn't have to go to the trouble of bringing tea," my father said, still trying to maintain a formal tone.
"It's no bother since you're guests, so don't worry." She placed the tray on the table, then bent down to sit on the cushion in front of the table, and sat on her knees, to her daughter's right.
When she sat down, my father spoke, in a slightly formal tone, "I greatly appreciate the hospitality you're offering us, but I don't think there's anything more to hear than my son's apology. Your daughter didn't do anything wrong; it was just him hitting her."
In a calm and understanding tone, Haruka replied, "I'm not trying to say that your son did well, but Atsumi is partly to blame as well."
My father was a little confused by what she said. When she mentioned it, Otsuki looked to the left, trying to avoid seeing any of the three of us.
"Have they told you anything else about what happened after the meeting on the last day?"
"No, I haven't heard anything else. I haven't had the opportunity to speak to other students, or the class tutor, either." My father's formal tone dissipated, replaced by a more neutral and calm mood.
"The teachers haven't told me anything else either, but…" As she spoke, she turned her gaze to Otsuki, and continued, "…she told me something that she kept to herself at the meeting."
My father replied, "Has he told you his version?"
"Yes, although at first he only said about his son. Has Riku told him what happened?"
My father looked at me for a moment. I was staring at the table, trying not to bother him with any nonsense or excuses he might come up with.
I didn't know what Haruka meant. Everyone in the room knew it was my fault, I'd hit her, and then I ran away when they were just talking to me.
"N-no, Riku didn't tell me anything, but I don't think-"
"Can you tell us about it now?"
Interrupting my father, who was still focused on apologizing and accepting my guilt, she asked something pointless. As she did so, she turned her gaze to me.
I knew he was looking at me because I saw his figure, his head, turn toward me. When the silence after the question stretched for a few seconds, I knew it was my turn to speak, but could I even do it?
"I-I…" I hesitated. I didn't know where to look. At that moment, even Otsuki was looking at me, at least in my direction. She had a somewhat annoyed expression, but also embarrassed. Why?
"...it's my fault." That was all I could manage to say on my own. After that, I shut up. Under the table, I was clenching my fist, trying to relieve all the anxiety I felt.
Haruka insisted, "You may have done something wrong, but it was for a reason, right?"
"…?"
"If you were the kind of guy who did those things, you wouldn't be so nervous now. That's why I think there was a reason for you to do that."
With a kind and calm tone, she reasoned and reflected on what I did, and my motive behind it.
'Why did I do it?' I thought, 'It was just an impulse, there was nothing else behind it. So why did such a drastic impulse come out of nowhere?'
Am I really the kind of person Haruka says I am?
"…What happened was exactly as they told you at the meeting. She didn't do anything… I just…"
"Well, she told me something else."
With a trembling voice, I spoke my mind about the situation. I still didn't share what had happened, I didn't answer the question they asked me, and I simply gave my opinion.
After his comment, Otsuki tried to object, although in a somewhat heavy tone.
"Mom, what Riku says is-"
"Atsumi, if you were the one who let that slip…" Haruka sighed, exposing the mistake Otsuki supposedly made.
"If you want to apologize to him too, shouldn't you tell him what happened? He's nervous because he's sorry, and because he's afraid we won't forgive him, but what about you? If you act so conceited, I'm going to be really mad at you."
She was rejected with a scolding from her mother.
I still didn't agree with what her mother was saying. I was nervous about the scolding I'd eventually get, and I wanted to apologize to avoid it, but just because I want to apologize doesn't mean I want to apologize because I'm sorry. There are more compelling reasons for it.
"C-conceited? But, I haven't done anything wrong."
"It may seem like a natural thing to you, but forcing someone to do something that way is not good."
"…"
Otsuki was speechless. She looked at me for a moment. On impulse, I made eye contact with her for a second. It seemed as if her anger had calmed down, a slight hint of shyness showing in her eyes.
The moment I locked eyes with hers, I turned my head to the side as quickly as I could. When I did, she sighed. Then she began to speak, her voice a little low.
"…It all happened at the end of class. Riku was about to leave, but I stopped him to ask him something. He wanted to leave, but I insisted, and… he hit me…"
She closed the sentence in an even lower tone, as if she was afraid to say it.
"...Okay, now tell it properly."
"B-but I've already done it!"
"You're telling it in a way that makes you look good."
"I swear it was like that!"
"Well, that's not what you told me. If you want me to buy you that stuffed animal, tell its father straight away."
Otsuki was completely defeated by her mother. Otsuki resigned herself, and after a pause to prepare herself, she began to speak again.
"…It's true that Riku was about to leave, and I was insisting on something. When I did, the whole class gathered around to listen to us, as if it were a confession. After I asked him the question, he wanted to leave, and took the opportunity to turn around when a teacher came into the room to complain about the noise.
"I… grabbed his arm, and as I did so, he stopped dead in his tracks, turned around, and…" After that pause, she brought her hand up to the white patch on his nose, brushing it slightly.
Deep down, I knew the way he said it was a lie. He didn't ask me something, he showed me something, something everyone had already seen, and then he cornered me. But who wouldn't?
Given the… horrible nature of it, who wouldn't look for an answer to that? Anyway, even if she keeps lying, it doesn't bother me at all. It's my fault, I'm the one who did something I shouldn't have. She didn't do anything.
At what Otsuki said, my father replied, trying to understand her side of the story, "So, at the end of class, you confessed to Riku in front of the whole class?"
It was a serious comment, not meant in any way, but it seemed done on purpose.
"Atsumi, you didn't tell me it was a confession…"
Both my father and her mother stared at her, he with a look that held a few doubts, and she with a curious and even slightly playful tone.
As their gazes sank in, her face turning increasingly red, she exclaimed, "N-No! I would never do that! I didn't ask him anything like that!"
The situation seemed funny even to me, despite how nervous I was. Thanks to that, I was able to relax for a moment, and I had to try to hide the smile the situation caused me.
Otsuki, still feeling humiliated, turned her gaze back to me, perfectly noticing my poor attempt to hide my laughter.
"And what are you laughing at?! D-don't get the wrong idea! … If Tsukiyomi found out about this…"
I didn't want to do it, but my body forced me to; I couldn't hold it in. I hated the fact that I was smiling like that.
However, the situation didn't seem at all like it had a moment ago. The atmosphere was much less tense; I could even drink the tea Haruka offered us, and at that moment, I felt like we were truly guests.
What ruined the mood for Otsuki was a comment from her mother.
"If so, what did you ask Riku?" As I asked that question, my father finally accepted the offered glass of tea and drank a little. Knowing what he likes, I'm surprised it took him so long to try it.
In contrast, Otsuki tensed and didn't answer the question. I, like my father, was much calmer than before, and felt I could speak perfectly. The only problem was that I didn't limit what I said.
"When we were in class, Otsuki asked me something about a video…" Luckily, as soon as I said that, images of that moment started flying around my head, and I completely cut myself off. I was in the same situation as Otsuki, but I also felt a disgusting mix of emotions.
"Video? Is it one of those things young people watch these days? What were they called… ' memes' ?"
' I never thought I'd hear my dad say that…'
" It was just nonsense…" Otsuki responded quickly, wanting to avoid talking further about the subject.
"But if the video was just something funny, why did you do something like that, Riku?" Haruka asked me, after thinking about what her daughter said for a moment.
"…" I didn't answer. If I did…
Without warning, the notification tone of someone's cell phone rang; my father's.
"…?" Hearing this, he pulled it out of his pocket. Coincidentally, as he took out his phone, another notification tone sounded in the living room.
"Mh? That sounds familiar to me too…" said Otsuki's mother. She, like my father, pulled out her phone to see what they'd sent.
Out of curiosity, I glanced at my dad's phone screen. He'd only received four messages, but another one was coming his way. It was from the school principal.
[Good morning, sir :2!";_¨`*.]
[Regarding the situation with your son, one of the students in his class mentioned details we left out at last Friday's meeting. He also shared with me a video that's been circulating around the school this past week.]
[The content may not be pleasant, so you don't have to watch it, just know that your child is not entirely to blame.]
[We'll talk more in depth when you come to school. We'll also call Otsuki's mother, Haruka, to discuss the matter with her. Best regards.]
My father finished reading the message at the same time as me. He looked a little puzzled at the coincidence.
"Isn't the director of the video you mentioned talking about?" he said.
Haruka finished reading her message, and as she did, she mentioned something else, "Kenzo, did they send you the video?"
"No, do you?" After saying that, she nodded.
"Do you want to see it?"
"…Yes." My father took a brief moment to answer. Haruka's question was innocent; she didn't know what the director had mentioned to my father about the video, but he decided to watch it.
I stood up out of sheer inertia. The moment I did, everyone in the room stared at me. Before they could express their doubt, I spoke.
"I… I'm going to the bathroom." With a lame excuse, I left the room. I didn't give anyone time to say anything.