Dreams Upon A Silver Pine Branch

Chapter 2: A Discussion in the Kinoya Residence

A man in his mid-40s was bending over a sink, washing a head of red cabbage. On the electric stove next to him, a pot of jasmine rice was cooking. The man hummed a cheery tune as he opened an overhead cabinet and grabbed a bag of coarse breadcrumb before dumping a quarter of its content onto a shallow bowl sprinkled with pink salt and red pepper.

A purring sound snapped him out of his Zen-like focus. A tailless white cat had wandered off into the kitchen, followed by a smiling lady on a wheelchair. The man stopped shifting the breadcrumb through a sieve and gently pecked the lady on the check before stroking the cat.

"It's my turn to prepare supper, Chiharu. I'm making spicy chicken katsu!" the man said with a hint of pride in his voice. "But why are you not in our room, my love? You should be resting."

"I'm bored, Lee. I've been doing nothing but rest the whole day and cuddling with Miyuki. I think she got bored too and that's why she jumped off my lap to find you." Chiharu replied. "It's almost 5:30 PM, isn't it? Where are Kenta-kun and Akira-chan? Still on their way home?"

"Aikawa received a phone call from them just a moment ago." Lee replied while chopping the cabbage into thin strips of ribbons. "It looked like they're gonna be home later than usual because they missed the bus and have to walk instead. I hope they don't get lost."

"Lost, our daughter and nephew?" Chiharu laughed. "They might be new to this sprawling Hinotori metropolis but don't underestimate their navigation skills. They're great navigators."

"If you said so." Lee gave her a goofy grin. "I'm kinda worried about Kenta. Akira let it slip yesterday that he doesn't seem to be getting along well with one of their classmates. I know that he has always found it tough to fit in with his disability, but I didn't expect to hear that he's being picked on. Do you think his parents and I made a mistake sending him to a brand new school?" Lee sighed. "Kenta did tell me that he secretly wished he didn't have to move."

"Lee, we've talked about this for the last couple weeks!" Chiharu pouted. "You moved our entire family here because you want me to be able to get the best medical care on the planet for my thalassemia, right? Kenta knows that. Akira knows that. I should be the one being sorry about you guys sacrificing a lot and enduring some inconvenience for my sake."

"Your disease doesn't diminish how much we care about you, Chiharu dear." Lee looked at his wife straight in the eyes. "Just focus on your treatment plan. I'll figure something out about Kenta's situation. I think Aikawa and Shiori have tried to convince their son into taking martial art classes but that boy is too sweet for his own good and refused to use violence to solve his problems. What do you say if I demand another meeting with his teachers and principal? Worth the trouble?" Lee asked while dropping cutlets of breaded chicken into hot sunflower oil.

"How many meetings have you had with the faculty and staff of East Hinotori High?" Chiharu answered with an impatient tone. "If the bullying is not stopped on its track by now, I'm afraid it's never gonna stop, ever. Let me speak with Kenta about martial arts classes, okay? If he's not gonna listen to Shiori and Aikawa-san, hopefully he has half a mind to listen to his aunt."

"Okay, you can try. Fingers crossed he would listen to reasons." Lee nodded and turned back to his cooking, scooping the no-longer-raw chicken cutlets out of the frying pan and plating them together with the shredded cabbage and warm rice. "Could you be a darling and see if Shiori already got the table ready? I think that's Kenta and Akira ringing the bell just now."

"Meow!" Miyuki jumped off the kitchen counter to greet the schoolchildren as soon as Lee mentioned the doorbell ringing. Chiharu chuckled softly and wheeled herself to the dining room.