Cat's Cradle 3

“Meow!”

Meimei purred and rubbed her head on my leg first thing upon entering Madam Asako's house. From the look on the lady's face, she must've known already. Damn, were these people psychic or what? Everything I did they had an idea or two. I’m starting to think they really have some sort of black magic from their intuition alone. Were all women this better at reading between the lines?

“Fuyumi asked about some old pictures,” she said over a cup of green tea, answering my doubt. “It seems you've made up your mind.”

“I know it happened long ago, and it's surely an unpleasant memory for you all, but for the sake of learning the whole truth, I needed to reopen those wounds.”

“Hmph,” Meimei climbed her lap and balled herself. “And why should I blabber my life on some nosy brat?”

“You said so last time, that I needed to learn about the Hoshii and that I should be assertive and such…”

I knew that's a weak reason but that's also one of them. Madam Asako held some kind of animosity with the bloodline and even urged me to know exactly what they've been doing. True, at first, it's none of my business even if they're the devil himself, but… things weren't the same now. I had a reason to know especially when it turned out to be something concerning Senna.

Besides, I also became curious about someone with a similar—or better talent than Senna. If Yukina was also Lady Yuugure from twenty years ago, and Shinosuke was indeed Senna's father, did they also meet at a speed dating event too?

“If you’re not convinced, then take it as something necessary for the job,” I added.

As expected, the madam didn't buy my flimsy reasoning. “If you happened to come three years early then perhaps things would've ended differently. However, for the sake of tying up loose ends, I'll tell you.”

She wasn't talking to me per se; she's addressing the person sitting beside me—a very quiet Senna.

“Your mother was painfully beautiful,” the madam began. “No. She's disgustingly beautiful. However, believe it or not, we've been good friends.”

***

Yukina, in a word, might be the closest example of a perfect person. Good personality, good-looking, she managed to befriend a lot of people. However, the only ones she placed her full trust were Kiyoko her elder sister and Asako, who, unlike the two siblings, had an ulterior motive.

Asako liked an older guy—the oh-so-popular Shinosuke, but was afraid to show her feelings. In contrast with the two dazzling Hoshii, she stuck out like a sore thumb being the only plain one in company of such attractive women. Naturally, Shinosuke hit on them minus Asako and as a result, her self-confidence hit an all-time low.

In came a challenge. Yukina really saw them hitting it off despite the circumstance. An impossible romance to everyone else, but for Hoshii Yukina, proving her claims was an easy feat.

She, along with Kiyoko, took a lot of pictures of themselves. After around a hundred or so, she then asked for one picture of Asako. Her best photo was then mixed up with the many beautiful shots of the two. The plan was to have Shinosuke sort them out by his preferences and turned out, that one picture of Asako was picked amidst the tens of Yukina's. Kiyoko's were, for some reason, all rejected. That's about how the album was made.

However, the magic didn't stop there.

Yukina was pretty sure the prettiest picture in the entire album remained to be Asako. Sure, they did their best on making the girl appear in her best at the camera, but a natural head-turner still wouldn't see competition; it's akin to dragging a random girl to be pitted against a pageant winner. Asako's odds, not counting that she only had one photo in there, remained abysmal.

But Yukina was, as established, infinitesimally close to perfection. She might not be one yet nobody could ever come as close to her level.

Her prediction became true. It's the first time Yukina demonstrated her matchmaking skill that even Kiyoko wouldn't be able to pull off.

The two eventually started going out and they lived happily ever after if only this was a fairy tale. Unfortunately, people's lives continued; without a curtain call or credit roll, the story was far from over.

Shinosuke was a natural lady-killer, so a lot of women came into her life. Often, Asako found herself wondering about their current status as she's reduced to nothing but a household fixture by then, only living her days taking care of Fuyumi.

The story ran for hours that I was forced to boil another pot of tea or two for the two ladies. Senna seemed inattentive the whole time, taking occasional sips without saying a word, but I'm pretty sure her gaze that reached nowhere took in the tale of her mother as told by another person… or, as Madam Asako had clearly hinted, her stepmother.

Kiyoko was right all along. She did send Senna to meet her parents disguised as job-related visits. True, we visited many other places (even having one location where we shared a night at a sleeper train), but those were resolved rather quickly and without much hassle. The Fujiwara's case was the only one that seemed to linger after all those years.

It's twilight by the time we finished our business. Judging by how slow her already slow steps were and how quiet Senna's been today, I decided we rest up a bit on the nearby park. It's not one with good memories, but she badly needed a break after all that exposition.

The weather's been getting colder and the park was filled with dried leaves instead of children's laughter.

“I feel like today's the first day I've been this overwhelmed with emotions I don't know what to feel anymore,” she said.

I said nothing, only lending my shoulder and gently stroking her head.

“Why did mother betray Lady Asako and had relations with Mister Fujiwara? What was in her mind? I… There must be a way to know…”

“…”

“Hey, Akito…” she said. “Can you… take me somewhere else...? Any place is fine I… I don't think I wanna go home tonight…”

I faced her and wrapped both my arms around her, burying her face in my chest. “You don't need to go anywhere. That's why I'm here.”

The tears that wet my shirt were the only representation she could to let out those conflicting feelings she must've felt. Joy, anger, sadness, frustration, helplessness, relief… the human body lacked the necessary feature to portray all these emotions at once. She might not even know what it was she's shedding those tears for either.

It's clear as day why Madam Asako bore a grudge against the Hoshii as a whole. Yukina bore Shinosuke's child before her, the official girlfriend. As a guy, I wouldn't understand her pain, but to think they've decided to tie the knot just three years ago spoke a lot.

Why did I even bother disrupting the status quo? I should've listened to my keychain.

If only this was the me from before, I would've left it as is. After all, Senna was willing to accept me despite knowing nothing about me except from the notes I took with my journal. Shouldn't I also refrain from hurting her with unnecessary stuff, even more so with painful stories with her mother?

No.

No. That's not the me I wanted to show her. Instead, I want her to know I'd be with her even when she had burned out her light or she lost the words to curse the gods. Nothing would change.

The moment she showed me that kind of love—a form only possible for us, we should've known. Our fates were already bound.