Breaking Bread

Rin made her way over to the table with a pot in her hands.

"Alright everyone, dish up."

They all said their thanks and began to take scoops of rice and curry.

"Haruo, don't pick out so much of the beef. You're being impolite to our guest."

Rin took Benjiro's plate and gave him a decent serving of rice and curry. The combination of spices made his sinuses dilate. Taking a spoon that he thought had an equal measure of rice to curry to beef, he popped it into his mouth. The combination ginger and cayenne made his mouth tingle with the spice and he had to blow with the curry in his mouth before his tongue burned. Akiko's parents seemed nice enough, and the food was good, but the noise was a bit much.

He saw the two boys looking at him, which made him feel even more on edge. He knew that at the very least, the girl's mother knew the circumstances behind their first interaction, but the rest were still up in the air.

'Do they think that I'm someone who tried to prey on their sister? What about their father, does he know? Is he one of those super overprotective types that threaten to bury you alive if they think their precious little girl was hurt? Oh, why did that girl have to be so insistent that this happen?'

"Hey, hey ,guy."

Benjiro snapped himself out of his thoughts and turned to the older boy, Daisuke was his name?

"Mm?"

"Are you the one making all those weird noises across the street?"

Benjiro figured his house wasn't as soundproof as he had thought.

"Mmhm"

"Really, that's so weird."

'This time it's the younger one, Haruo I think?'

"We thought that some kind of weird ritual was going on in there with all that screeching and odd music. Were you trying to summon a demon?"

"Boys! don't be rude."

"N-no, it-t's alr-right. Th-that was j-just m-me practic-cing my s-singing."

The two brothers exchanged a quizzical look.

"Huh, how can you sing when you talk so funny?"

Benjiro knew that kids didn't have much of a filter, but that didn't stop his jaw from clenching. Shoma, clearly a little embarrassed from his son's question reached over and gave him a sharp rap on the head.

"Ow! What did I say?"

"Haruo, how many times do I have to tell you to watch your mouth? I am so sorry."

Benjiro just raised a hand and shook his head to show it was alright. Shoma and Rin acknowledged the gesture but both decided that a "talk" was in order with their youngest child. Akiko bit her lip and looked up at the ceiling. Things were alright with her mother, but between her father not knowing he was even coming over and her idiot brothers being unable to keep their mouths shut, she felt like she was opening the wound deeper rather than it getting better. Rin raised her eyebrows at her daughter, as she had not contributed much to the conversation.

'Maybe I should've just bought him some lunch, said sorry a few times more, and ended it there. He's hardly said a word outside of responding to Mom and Dad saying 'hello'. And he hasn't even looked me in the eye since I came to get him.'

She continued to try and think but the silence being broken only be the sound of plates clinking and cups being set down was only growing.

'Ugh, I need to find some sort of way to smooth this out. What's something that's usually a failsafe topic. Wait, I know. This could also explain that house.'

She cleared her throat

"Um, Mabuki, I forgot, didn't I mention that you could bring your parents?"

"Mmhm."

"Well, isn't your father available?"

"Mm" he shook his head.

Rin decided to swoop in and maybe smooth things along.

"I'm a little curious Benjiro, what is it that your father does?"

"H-he's a p-param-medic. He g-goes to th-things l-like c-car c-crashes and t-takes inj-jured p-people to h-hospitals and st-stuff."

'Finally', Akiko thought, 'We're starting to get somewhere.'

Shoma reading the room, tried to contribute.

"That sounds interesting, has he been in that line of work for a long time?"

"N-no, h-he's only b-been doing it f-for about a y-year now."

"I see, what was he doing before then? Was he a nurse, a student?"

"M-my f-father was a c-career milit-tary man. H-he spent n-nearly f-fifteen years in the s-service with th-the JSDF."

"Goodness, aren't you in your second year of high school?"

Benjiro nodded.

"So, he only just retired then. Where were you before?"

"I s-spent most of m-my life gr-growing up on a b-base of s-some sort, m-mostly around pl-places like O-Okinawa. Th-there w-was a lot of m-moving b-but I met t-tons of p-people from all o-over the w-world."

"And your father worked as a medical man?"

"S-sort of, h-he would f-fly in a helic-copter and d-do s-search and r-rescue in stuff l-like accid-dents and natur-ral disast-ters. L-like earthq-quakes and st-stuff."

"That is the coolest thing I've ever heard of. Is that what he does now?"

Haruo had his eyes wide and a stupidly excited face. Benjiro couldn't help but crack a grin at the wonder-filled expression he was seeing.

"Y-yeah, it's p-pretty c-cool. H-he st-still does ess-essentially the s-same th-thing now. B-but n-now it's o-only in a c-cert-tain a-area."

Akiko felt a little more relaxed as things went on. Conversation was still a little choppy, but overall it felt less forced now as Benjiro talked about his father's work and life growing up on base. He actually seemed to be getting more lively than at any other point so far. However, that feeling only lasted about five minutes.

"You haven't mentioned yet", Shoma interjected, "What is it that your mother does?"

Benjiro froze with his spoon in midair and his face made an involuntary twitch. The train of conversation, although not fast, came to a noticeable grinding halt. Rin knew her husband wasn't trying to be insensitive, but she inwardly cursed at herself for not briefing him about subjects that potentially were off-limits. She was about to try and switch topics and misdirect but the pin had been pulled.

"Um, sh-she's, ah n-not ar-around an-anym-more."

The difference The entire table went silent for a moment. Even the two boys recognized that this was an animal they shouldn't prod any further. Everyone at the table went back to poking at their food for a few minutes. Rin began to stare at her husband and glance back at Benjiro repeatedly. It took a few of them, but he understood the cue.

"I'm sorry, I feel as if I've stumbled upon something that shouldn't be intruded."

"N-no, it's-s f-fine."

"Um, Akiko?"

She turned her head.

"Yeah, Dad?"

"You signed on to be a part of the drama club, right? Did you do alright on your audition? Did you get the part you wanted?"

Akiko saw what her Dad was trying to do and played along.

"Not quite. I did good, but my audition came at a bad place. That girl Mio Fujibayashi, had her audition before mine, and apparently was near perfect for the role. I ended up being recruited as the understudy."

"Didn't she get the lead last year?"

"Yeah, apparently she was some kind of child stage actress star or something."

Benjiro realizing and thankful that the conversation was taking a new turn decided not to be left out. Besides, stage acting could be interesting.

"Y-you're in-n th-the dr-drama c-club?"

"Yes, I didn't participate last year, but I want to get back into it."

"S-sounds l-like a l-lot of f-fun."

"It's not all fun and games, a lot of work goes into it. But I love every minute of it."

"Th-that's good. Wh-what p-play are y-you d-doing this y-year?"

"We've been taking votes but it looks like we're going to do something like a fairy tale or classic literature?"

"Aw, but fairy tales are so boring. Why don't they ever do something fun, that has action and violence in it?"

"Because, Daisuke, we're trying to do something that is entertaining for more than just a bunch of hyperactive pre-teens."

"You can't stop sniping even at the table, can you?", Shoma groaned

Eventually the table devolved into a mess of siblings exchanging verbal jabs and barbs with one another, the parents getting them to settle down and explain what happened with their days. Benjiro mostly stayed quiet for the whole thing, but was amused seeing how the siblings clashed with each other. He laughed a little seeing the girl who seemed so hostile an hour ago, just being an older sibling. In the middle of that laughing, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness, remembering when something similar was in his life.

After dinner was finished and the dishes cleared, Benjiro tried to offer some help with dishwashing, but Rin would have none of it. Daisuke and Haruo invited him to play their videogame, but between how rambunctious they looked before and how many hours they probably put on it, Benjiro felt like he would be at a serious disadvantage. Instead he asked if they knew how to play cards. They had a deck but the only game the Higaki's knew how to play was old maid. So, the four of them gathered around to see if the cards were in their favor.

After a short while's worth of good and bad hands, and the boys complaining whenever they lost, time had flown more often than any of them had realized.

"9:40, oh y-yikes, I sh-should probably g-get h-home."

"Aw, cmon", Daisuke complained, "I just need two more games and I can at least tie for first place"

"Boys", Rin chided, "If he needs to go, then don't pester him about it."

They looked like they wanted to argue but against their mother, they knew it was a futile attempt at best.

As Benjiro made his way to the door, Rin looked at Akiko and jerked her head in the boy's direction. Akiko flattened her lips and squinted her eyes, silently saying "Are you sure?" In response Rin flattened her own lips and widened her eyes while slowly nodding making a silent but clear "Yes, I'm positive. Now, go."

Benjiro thought about strapping on his shoes but once he considered the distance, doing so sounded silly. He turned, offered his thanks, a goodbye and stepped out the door with Akiko following behind. He turned around when he came to the sidewalk and faced her.

"I'm sorry about tonight. My family is super weird and they don't seem to understand when to leave things alone."

"N-no, t-tonight w-was n-nice. Y-your m-mother is a f-fant-tastic c-cook and your f-family is v-very livel-ly."

Akiko laced her fingers together.

"So, do you think we can consider last week behind us?"

Benjiro offered what he hoped looked like a smile in return

"I h-have n-no idea wh-what you're t-talking ab-about. G-good n-night H-Higaki."

As she watched him go across the street and close his door, she suddenly came to a conclusion. She knew why that house made her so uneasy: The silence. When she compared it to her own home, hers was relaxed but there was usually some sort of activity or bustle going on. Her Mom cooking, her siblings making some sort of racket, there was usually something in her house that livened it up. His house however, was so silent and empty, as if daring anyone who entered to breathe some sort of life into it.