Adachi to Shimamura - Volume 9 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Because Our Relationship Isn't So Cleanly Cut.

"Err, I'm—" 

"My daughter, yes." 

Mom was there to greet us as we arrived at my place. I wasn't sure why, but for some reason, she'd decided to treat both of us as her daughters. Whereas I was more than used to her weird antics, Adachi on the other hand appeared visibly confused. 

We'd been holding hands till just mere moments ago. As I took off my shoes, I went ahead and recalled her warmth. 

"You're fine with that too, right?" 

"Huh? Sure, I guess." 

I just said the first thing that came to my mind. If Adachi were to actually become a member of the Shimamura household... then what would that entail? There was one thing I knew for sure, and that was that we'd definitely need to stop being girlfriends. Or... would we? Could we not just stay like we were? I almost got a feeling like it might work out just fine. Oh, but don't get me wrong. I wasn't saying that us being both sisters and girlfriends at the same time wouldn't come with its fair share of difficulties, because it almost certainly would. No, what I meant more was that at that point, it'd already be too late to be worrying about such things. 

That said, even if they were to become sisters, it was difficult for me to imagine Adachi and my little sister ever getting along. The impression I got was that they'd both dig themselves a nest, burrow into it, and then never interact with each other. Also, I'd almost certainly be the older sister, and Adachi the younger. 

"I'll make you my daughter as well." 

"I am your daughter already." 

"I'm aware, yes, thank you very much." 

The woman proceeded to press her toes against my back. I swear, she was doing this on purpose. 

"You're being at least 30 percent more annoying than when I left." 

"My, my. That's not a nice thing to say." 

Don't you agree, she turned to ask Yashiro who she was currently holding by the nape of the neck. The girl didn't respond, being too focused on staring at the bag I had with me that had the doughnuts inside it. Her stubby limbs could be seen flapping about. Truly, how simple could she get? 

"Err... Sorry for the intrusion", Adachi stated, followed by a timid bow. She too had taken off her shoes and was currently standing next to me. 

Why did she sound so nervous? Was it because she found it weird the way Mom and I were talking? On a second thought, that actually sounded like a pretty sensible explanation. 

"Ah, yes. Welcome, welcome. Please, enjoy yourself." 

Somehow, I got the feeling that would be difficult for Adachi to do. It was there that Mom noticed what she had on. 

"That's quite the fabulous outfit you're wearing." 

"Oh, this? Umm... I figured it'd make Shimamura happy, and..." she mumbled, in an attempt to form something resembling an explanation. And so, I ended up being dragged in too. 

With a cheeky smile on her face, Mom turned to look at me. 

"Really now? That's what you're into?" 

"What do you mean, 'I'm into'?" 

"I love it too, Adachi!" 

Yay, Mom added while lifting her thumb high up into the air. Seeming unsure as to how she was meant to react, Adachi immediately turned my way. Don't ask me, I wanted to tell her. It wasn't like I had any clue what the woman was doing either. I didn't, and because of that, I thought it would be fun to do the same. 

"Yay." 

I lifted my thumb and pointed it at Adachi. Besides those of me and Mom, I noticed that there was also a third one—a smaller one. Now surrounded by thumbs from all sides, Adachi could be seen growing even more flustered. It didn't take long for her to have been backed into a wall. Now then, what next? I hadn't really given that part any thought. My own thumb was almost starting to tremble when thankfully, Mom came to the rescue. 

"I'll be getting dinner ready." 

With that, she tossed Yashiro off, turned around, and began heading towards the kitchen. It was as if the girl was her pet or something. Speaking of, Yashiro had already recovered from the landing, and was now circling the doughnut bag with a greedy look on her face. Though dressed like a lion, the way in which she was acting more closely resembled that of a cat. She seriously looked like she might attempt to snatch them any second now, and as such, it was a very lucky thing that I spotted a familiar figure peering at us from the other end of the hallway. I quickly motioned for her to come over. Looking slightly hesitant, the girl did as she was told. 

An expression of shock could once again be seen on Adachi's face. I had to say though, it was very different compared to how she'd looked when Mom showed up. 

"G-Good evening", she mumbled in an attempt to greet my sister. 

"Good evening", the girl whispered back. I got the impression she could barely get the words out of her mouth. That was more or less how she always acted when trying to talk to people outside of our family. 

"Good evening!" 

As for this little ball of joy who'd decided to butt in all on her own accord, she never showed any bit of hesitation regardless of who she was talking with. I turned to have a look at her, and wouldn't you know it, her eyes were still fixated on the doughnut bag I'd brought with me. I shook the thing from left to right, and she followed accordingly. 

"Here, here." 

It was kinda fun, and so, I kept doing it some more. Every time Yashiro moved her head, more of those glowy particles would be emitted from her butterfly knot, leaving a trail of light behind her. Though definitely pretty in its own right, the impression I got looking at her was that she'd be willing to keep dancing forever, and as such, I decided that the humane thing to do was to not tease her and give her the bag. 

"Hooray!" 

"There's one for my sister too. Be a good girl and share, okay?" 

"Okay." 

Holding the bag high above her head, Yashiro ran off. As for my sister, she looked at me, and then at Adachi. She repeated this a few times before hesitantly turning around and chasing after her friend. A deep sigh left my mouth as I watched the two disappear behind the corner; the air around us instantly felt lighter. 

"Sorry about that. As you can see, it's kinda busy around here." 

"N-No, I don't mind." 

Were there usually this many footsteps present at Adachi's home? I had to assume that there weren't. 

This was not at all the sort of atmosphere Adachi enjoyed. I felt kinda bad for inviting her over while knowing that. 

That said, Adachi's wishes weren't everything that mattered. I had my own world too, one visible to me. 

That world required both Adachi as well as other people besides her. 

Peering into the kitchen, I saw that the dinner table had been overrun by all sorts of dishes cooked up by Mom. The one connecting factor that they all shared was that they seemed tailor-made for the palates of little children—as well as the woman herself. 

"Hey, Yachii. Snacks come after dinner." 

"Do they?" 

"Yep. There won't be enough room for food left in your stomach otherwise. Then again, I'm not sure if that has ever been an issue for you..." 

Anyway, this still won't do, the girl quickly added. After all these years, it was kinda weird seeing her act like an older sister to someone else. The two of them were currently sitting side by side. Would Adachi and I sit like that too? Yeah, probably. I couldn't really imagine it any other way. I took my seat, and sure enough, Adachi sat down on the one to the left to it. 

This was the proper way for us to sit; as I'd learned during the school trip, doing it in inverse would only lead to our elbows bumping against each other. 

Sitting there, a sweet fragrance soon flooded my nose. It was quickly followed by the warmth of the kitchen. 

"...Hmm?" 

I went ahead and counted all of our family members. I made sure to include Adachi as well. And yet, even after checking twice, there still seemed to be one seat too many. I was about to ask who it was for, but before I could open my mouth, Dad showed up. 

"My, my. It's all girls as far as the eye can see. I can't help but feel a little out of place." 

Hahaha, the man laughed with an empty cup in hand. 

"In that case, allow me to be your friend." 

It was Yashiro who said that, followed by her raising her hand into the air. She'd already found herself a plastic fork from somewhere. 

"Oh, really? Wow. What a nice girl you are." 

"Indeed. I'm a very good person." 

"Say, whose kid are you exactly? I feel like you always hang around our house." 

"I come from the house next door." 

What a ridiculous explanation. How on earth was anyone going to buy that? 

"Next door? So, like... Umm... Right. Next door." 

Him, apparently. Seeing Dad brush away a matter simply because he couldn't be bothered to think about it kinda made me feel like it might run in the family. 

"Err... I apologize for the intrusion." 

Seeing that this was her chance, Adachi went ahead and humbly greeted the man. Had the two ever talked to one another before? As far as I could remember, no, they had not. Dad gave her a simple nod in response. Needless to say, he sounded far more cool and collected than she did. 

"Friend of Hougetsu's?" 

"Y-Yes, that is correct", Adachi replied. Looking at her, it was clear that at least an objection had appeared in her mind that she'd chosen to keep to herself. Had she corrected Dad and said that she was actually my girlfriend, would that have given our otherwise pleasant Christmas an ugly turn? More than likely, yeah. We might have had a family council over chicken. 

"Hmm? Oh, right. Right. You're the one from before", Dad suddenly said after having another look at her. He seemed to remember her by the China dress. "It's good to be young. You're not bound by rules and can do what you want." 

I suppose that was a view to have regarding her choice of outfit. While I didn't exactly disagree, there was a part of me that found it just a tad bit overly positive. 

"I get that often too. People call me a loose cannon and whatnot. Does that mean I'm young?" 

"Huh? Err, sure." 

The way Dad responded to Mom was like the textbook definition of an answer you gave when you just didn't want to think. 

"A loose cannon. Hmm..." he mumbled to himself, expressing a variety of different emotions in the process. You might have expected someone to step up at this point and defend the woman, to tell her that those remarks weren't accurate, but no one did. 

"I wish they'd call me free-spirited or something. At least that would be—" 

Mom was in the middle of adding something when all of a sudden, the doorbell rang. Who was it? The deliveryman? I didn't need to think about that for long, as soon enough... 

"Oh, finally." 

"Finally what?" 

"You if anyone should know." 

Gleefully, the woman got up from her seat. 

"My friend came." 

"Your friend? Who?" 

Who is she talking about? I asked Dad using my eyes, to which the man shrugged his shoulders. He seemed just as clueless as I was. Together, we watched as Mom made her way to the door. Though she was the sort of person with lots of friends, trying to pinpoint someone she was close enough with to invite over for dinner, not even we—her family members—had any clue as to who that might be. 

"Here she is. Give a warm welcome to our special guest." 

"Huh?" 

Me or Adachi, which one of us had let out that gasp right there? We were both so shocked it was almost impossible to tell. 

The person Mom proceeded to drag inside by her arm turned out be none other than Adachi's mother. She was frowning initially, but as soon as she spotted her daughter, that expression was replaced by one much sourer. As for Adachi, she looked like she hadn't even had time to react properly, which just went to show how shocking this whole situation must have been to her. 

"What's going on?" 

Seeing how Adachi was in no position to ask that herself, I decided to do it in her stead. 

"I told you, she's my friend." 

"Since when?" 

"Since yesterday." 

Sit here, she added, guiding the woman next to her own seat. 

"At least let me take my coat off first", the woman rebutted. 

"Oh, actually. Would you prefer sitting next to your daughter?" 

"Huh?" 

This time, it was without a doubt Adachi who let out that gasp. Her voice sounded high-pitched, making it clear that she was unable to accept Mom's suggestion. 

No sparkle could be seen in her mother's eyes. Instead, a deep sigh left her mouth as she folded her coat. 

"It's fine. There's no need." 

"Really? Well, in that case, how about opposite her?" 

Hurry, hurry, Mom added while tapping the back of the chair. It was like she was talking to a child. I could faintly hear the other woman mumble something to the effect of "shut up" as she took her seat. 

There we were, Adachi and I, sitting opposite our mothers. 

It all felt like the set up for some sort of a big joke. 

I was able to, more or less, guess where the two knew each other from. It had to be the gym, right? Probably. Now, how deep did their relationship go? Considering that I'd never heard Mom bring her up till this very moment, I had to assume not so deep. It was there that the woman turned towards Dad and gave him a small nod. 

"I apologize for the intrusion." 

"Oh, no. It's fine. Err, you're this one's mother?" the man asked, his eyes pointed at Adachi. The expressions they had on their faces did pretty much match perfectly, and so I suppose it wasn't that hard to tell. 

"I am", Adachi's mother stated bluntly. Speaking of Adachi, she was currently sinking into her seat. 

As was often the case, she kinda resembled a dog in the way she was acting. 

"We go to the same gym. Her name is... it is... Sakura, right?" 

"That'd be my daughter." 

That one, she pointed at Adachi without turning her head or moving her eyes. 

"Right, right. You are... Adachi's mother." 

"Good grief with you." 

That was a very dignified way of telling her to shut up. Of course, knowing Mom, it'd take a lot more than that to make her close her mouth. 

Putting that aside, the woman switched the topic with her eyes. I could almost see a sauna wall behind her. Was that because of how hot it was in the room, or because of something else? 

"It has been a while." 

"Thanks." 

Thanks? What an awkward way to greet someone. Then again, never in a million years had I expected us to meet under these circumstances, so I hope you can cut me some slack. 

Adachi was following the conversation from the side and seemed very eager to hear what was going on. 

"Some stuff happened earlier." 

"It's not a big deal, really." 

We both wound up making similar excuses at the same time. Though, for real, it hadn't been a big deal, looking at Adachi, it was clear that she wasn't quite ready to buy that. 

"I'll tell you some other time." 

Again, there wasn't really anything to talk about. I just didn't want to go into detail about how we'd gotten into the sauna together and had an argument of sorts right there at the dinner table. 

"Am I not a special guest?" 

"No, because you come here all the time." 

"That is true." 

Wahaha, the two girls laughed. Incidentally, I also spotted Dad looking at them with a smile on his face. I couldn't blame him; once you ignored the fact that one of them was what appeared to be an alien, the sight was actually quite heart-warming. 

"Try this out. I made it myself", Mom urged the woman. Despite the look on her face showing that she wanted to say something, she still went ahead and accepted the offer. Another thing to note was that, much like her daughter, she too held her chopsticks in her left hand. This led to her elbow constantly clashing with that of Mom's sitting next to her. Then again, by the looks of it, Mom seemed to kinda enjoy that too. She was acting even more cheerful than normal today, which, if you knew anything about her, was saying something. Was that just how much she enjoyed the presence of Adachi's mother? Possibly. While the other woman didn't seem quite as enthusiastic, she was still going along with her. Going... out with her. Haha. Just joking, of course. Or maybe? I shot a half-serious smile into Adachi's direction. Thinking about it, it probably wasn't like they could imagine that their daughters were going out either. So again, maybe? Hahaha... 

I was kinda scared where those thoughts might lead me, and so I decided not to think about them too much. 

"The food is very flavourful." 

That was the woman's first impression as she sampled Mom's cuisine. 

"It tastes much like your personality." 

"In the way it permeates into your heart?" 

"In the way it makes my throat dry." 

"Here's a glass of water." 

"......" 

Appearing fed up by the other woman's inability to detect sarcasm, Adachi's mother went ahead and picked up something she'd placed next to her chair before sitting down. 

"Here's something I brought. It's not much, but I didn't want to come empty-handed, so." 

"Really? Oh, wow. You're a much nicer person than I thought." 

Hahaha, Mom laughed while tapping the woman on the shoulder. The frown that formed on her face alone was worth a thousand words. 

"So, what did you bring? Peking Duck?" 

"Are you an idiot or what? Oh, sorry... Your husband's here. Right." 

Adachi's mother quickly took back her words of abuse before shifting her gaze towards Dad. He'd been in the process of unwrapping the cake, and as he noticed he was being stared at, a smile formed on his face. 

"It's fine, it's fine. No need to apologize when you're right." 

"How mean. Peking Duck is delicious." 

"That's not what this is about." 

"Not that I've ever tasted it." 

"Seriously..." 

Placing her hand against her forehead, Adachi's mother let out an incredibly long sigh. While the two of them likely weren't aware of it themselves, looking in from outside, they came across as very good friends. Mom was very good when it came to forming relationships, which likely had something to do with her tendency to act so overly-familiar all of the time. I'd even go as far as to say that she often pushed herself onto others, forging those bonds through force. The same had happened to Dad in the past, and as he always said, the woman was a born player. 

"Now then, seriously. What did you bring?" 

"Sake and some sweets." 

"Hmm?" 

Instantly, all signs of joking around vanished from Mom's face. 

"I'm terrible with alcohol. Can't handle it. Nuh-uh." 

Impossible, she shook her hand in front of her. Now that I thought about it, I couldn't remember ever seeing her drink around the house. Dad on the other hand, he'd often be walking about with an open can of beer in hand. What about me? Would I be able to drink once I got older? 

As much as I hated to admit it, I did resemble Mom a lot, so perhaps not. 

"I don't blame you for getting it wrong. People do often tell me I always act like I'm drunk." 

Ahaha, Mom laughed. This was what I resembled? I could feel my face twitch a little. 

As for Adachi, given that her mother had brought alcohol with her, the answer was likely yes. 

Naturally, having been just fake delinquents and not real ones, we at no point had even thought about experimenting with such things. 

Thinking back to it now, was the act of skipping school alone really enough to qualify one as a delinquent? No, it probably wasn't. 

Not that any good students should engage in such activities regardless. Absolutely not. 

"Now, go ahead. Say something to your daughter." 

Mom was once again back to pestering Adachi's mother. The tone of her voice sounded very forceful, almost like she was gripping her by the shoulders. 

Even Adachi appeared a little shocked. 

"That is..." 

"Fine, yes?" 

This time, her words came out soft, harbouring within them clear compassion. She'd always been very good at that, switching up the tempo. As for the other woman, she looked more or less done trying to compete with her. There was something about the expression on her face that very much reminded me of Adachi. 

Adachi's mother returned her plate and chopsticks to the table before turning to look at her daughter sitting directly opposite her. You could see the corners of her eyes twitch a little as she did so. 

Similarly, Adachi too straightened out her back and squared her shoulders. 

They both looked like they were getting ready for an interview or something. 

"Now then. Err..." 

Appearing unsure as to what she was meant to say, the woman went ahead and cleared her throat. She then tried again, but just like the last time, the words once again seemed to have refused to come to her. 

"Shall I write you a script?" 

"Shut up", she lashed out, followed by her physically pressing her hand on Mom's mouth. With her mouth plugged, Mom then turned to look at me. Even without words, it was clear that what she was telling me to do was give Adachi a push—to solve the situation somehow. 

What was something Adachi might want to talk about? Honestly, nothing really came to mind. Plus, I didn't exactly want to force her to talk either. 

It was for that reason, and a few others, that I decided it'd be fastest to simply trust in the adults. 

"Let's just wait a moment", I said to Adachi while grasping her hand under the table. 

She responded by grasping me back. 

With her hand still on Mom's mouth, Adachi's mother shifted her gaze slightly downwards. 

What came out after all that thinking was neither a warm exchange nor a soft expression of love... 

"You should dress more warmly during winter." 

...but an extremely awkward showing of worry. 

"Okay." 

That was all Adachi said back to her. Judging by how hard she was gripping my hand, simply being able to do that had taken her a lot of effort. 

The two ended up not exchanging any further words throughout the entire night. 

There was only one person who appeared satisfied, and that was Mom. She had the widest smile on her face. 

What about me? What did I think about all of this? Slowly, I went ahead and touched my cheek. Doing so, I was more or less able to come to terms with my feelings. 

Adachi was currently focused entirely on her mother. It was honestly kinda weird seeing her stare at someone who wasn't me. Really? It was? I could feel myself blushing at the thought. At the same time, there was something kinda interesting about it that made it impossible for me to look away. 

The confusion had caused Adachi's eyes to grow slightly wet. This also made them glimmer in a way they hadn't before. All in all, the sight was simply beautiful. 

"Are you having fun, Adachi?" I asked her, like inserting my finger into a crevice in the turmoil. 

"No..." 

Like was often the case with her, Adachi put no effort into hiding what she truly felt. 

However... 

"Not really." 

Unlike usual, her voice this time had just the slightest sliver of warmth to it.