20

Kenji's ears pricked up as he heard the words 'hungry' and 'dinner' from the kitchen, but he knew he would have to do without it for a while, until Airi's mother went back to her room at last.

He frowned as he heard her non-stop tirade at her daughter, clearly audible even from behind the shut door of the spare room. Poor Airi! How could anyone be so harsh with her? He heard her tone grow dejected as she apologised yet again, and wished he could do something to help her. Still, what could he do? He had felt somewhat the same all his life with his own father, and he had never been able to do anything about it. He sighed sadly and walked towards the bed.

As he lay in it, he almost forgot everything and just felt its delightful comfort. He rolled happily from side to side and smiled like a child. The soft pillows, the cushiony mattress, the colourful flowers printed all over the bedsheet, they all added to the sense of homeliness that he had missed sorely.

Ever since his mother had died, his house had lost all its colour — quite literally. The bed was hard and cold and always grey. The curtains, the carpet: grey. The table, the plates they dined on: black and grey. His mother had loved to bring in huge blooms she picked herself from her morning walks and decorate the house with them, but ever since she had passed on into the Great Realm, everything in that house felt stale and dull and dead.

Why was his father so different from his mother? Why was he always so cold? Kenji had always felt out of place on his own planet, with his own people, with his own father, but the more time he spent on Earth, the more he remembered that the only experience he had had that was anything close to what he felt here was with his mother.

Then what was all that which his father had always taught him, always insisted on? Xeljari are a graceful and emotionless race — unlike humans, he had always said. Feeling is a vice. Anger is unnatural. Laughter is unstately. Sadness is weakness. Continuous neutrality and stoicism is the key to living...

What had his mother been like? He had been too young then to remember her properly, and all he had left were short flashbacks and nothing more. Why was he so sure he remembered her to be always smiling?

He closed his eyes as he strained his memory, before opening them again. Airi had said something about his eyes, and he was still thinking about what she had meant.

They literally changed in front of me when I was looking at you.

How could it be? And yet, he had noticed it himself. Was it really an effect of Earth, or was it something he just hadn't noticed when he was on his own planet? Hadn't Xvie said something similar the other day?

When you drank that water, they dimmed completely!

How could he know so little about himself? How could he ever judge humans when he hardly knew anything about his own people? Had he ever questioned the worldview his father had presented him and looked beyond it?

His eyes closed again as his thoughts grew more clouded, and morphed slowly into strange dreams as he drifted into sleep.

'Kenji?'

'Hey, Kenji, wake up!'

Kenji awoke and looked around — it was still dark — and saw Airi whispering to him with a lovely smile.

'What is it?'

'I brought your midnight dinner! Sorry I took so long, Mom took forever to go to sleep!'

Kenji's eyes lit up at the thought of dinner, as he was quite hungry by now.

'Thank you so much!' he said, sitting up at once. 'What is this, though?'

'It's omuraisu!' declared Airi as she pressed a bowl in his hand, filled with his beloved rice wrapped in a bright yellow omelette with a ketchup smiley on top.

'I didn't know food could look cute,' said Kenji, wondering at it happily.

'I'm so glad you didn't say something like "cuteness is impractical",' said Airi with a grin.

'No, I like it,' said Kenji, and he took a spoonful. 'Mmmm, I really like it!'

Airi giggled. 'I can watch you eat all day! You're like a little kid!'

'Well, I can't help it, it's the nicest thing ever! Listen, is an omelette really made from eggs?' said Kenji, taking another large spoonful.

'Of course! Like the saying goes, "you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs",' said Airi.

'Really? What does that mean?'

'...'

Kenji looked at her questioningly.

'Well, I don't really know,' said Airi, rather embarrassed. 'I always took it literally!'

Kenji laughed. 'Never mind! I can't understand, though... I can't cook eggs no matter how hard I try!'

'Well, you could eat them raw,' ventured Airi.

Kenji looked at her in horror. 'No way!! How could you say that? That's disgusting! They must be cooked!'

'Okay, okay,' said Airi, laughing at his expression. 'But it's so easy to cook eggs! No matter what you do with them, they're delicious!'

'I tried to break them into boiling water, but it didn't work out,' said Kenji casually, and this time Airi looked at him in horror.

'You what?! Oh, Kenji!' she said, facepalming. 'You know what? Next time, just put the whole egg in without breaking it, and you'll have a boiled egg.'

'Really? I thought the shell would break if I did that!' said Kenji.

'No, it'll be fine! And if Mom's not around tommorow, I'll show you how to make an omelette myself!'

'Okay!' said Kenji excitedly. 'That sounds fun!'

'You've changed a lot,' said Airi reflectively. 'You didn't use to laugh, and you were always so serious... I like you so much more nowadays, Kenji...'

Kenji's face turned greenish and he awkwardly handed her the empty bowl. 'I like you, too,' he said. 'When you share delicious food with me,' he added quickly.

'Good night,' said Airi with a warm smile, and she left the room.