STIGMA, Jujutsu Kaisen

five

CHAPTER FIVE, 五

THE WEEKEND came much faster than anyone anticipated. The sun was just starting to set by the time Hoshiko came back home from work with Kairi falling into a deep slumber in her arms. She tucked the girl in and left the room quietly with a small kiss on the forehead. Later the woman would collapse onto the floor net to her bed in the process of packing for the school trip and into a deep slumber she was, the exhaustion of that day finally took charge.

When the sun had finally disappeared with a dark blanket covering the sky did Jiro return home only to find his partner sleeping on the floor next to their bed. 

The man sighed, loosened the tie around his neck and rubbed his temples. His lips twitched and finally, a smile broke out on his face and soon the smile turned into a laugh. He would've never thought that the sight of his partner asleep was the thing that would make his day.

Jiro's laughing ceased and he decided it was time to wake up his partner. He lifted his foot off the ground and shook Hoshiko's body. "Time to wake up sleepyhead."

She immediately woke up. Her face contorted as soon as she saw a foot in her face and she swatted it away with her hand. "Jiro! That's gross."

A loud chuckle belted out of his lips. He knelt down next to his partner. "Well, you're grumpy today. Bad day, eh?"

Hoshiko let out a breath and continued folding the clothes that she picked out for the trip. Labelling today as a 'bad day' was rather an understatement – Jiro had no idea how horrible Hoshiko's day had been. But as always she only managed to muster the regular line. 

"It's nothing," she said.

"Oh yeah, I'll be holding a company party at the orphanage on Sunday. The Tanaka's have already agreed to it."

She stopped folding her clothes and turned to face her partner. "Eh? Company party? At the orphanage?

He scratched the back of his head. "We hit well over our target this month."

Hoshiko nodded her head slowly. "Is anyone I know going?"

"Well—"

The woman gasped. There was a moment of silence as Hoshiko looked Jiro dead in the eye. She shook her head in realisation. "No... don't tell me your mother..."

"Look, she promises you it's not going to be like last time –"

"Jiro–" She let out a sigh, pressing her palm against her forehead. It was not that Hoshiko despised the woman.

Jiro's mother, only known as the wife of Takashi Hiroto, was not a particularly evil or malevolent character but she was rather pompous and did possess many traits that caused her to clash with her Hoshiko. 

On the contrary, Takashi Akako loved her son's partner. 

Not only did she accept Hoshiko but she adored her and had already regarded her as her daughter-in-law, even though marrying her son had never crossed Hoshiko's mind for the many years she had been with him. 

This came as a surprise for all the wives in Mrs Takashi's social circle when she expressed her adulation for her prospective 'daughter-in-law' who was only a commoner. Especially since they all knew how domineering and pretentious she was. 

But nobody dared to question the great Mrs Takashi, of course, though, many rumours were birthed after that very day. 

Nobody knew the reason for Takashi Akako's deep affection for the young woman, nor did Hoshiko herself. But Hoshiko knew that Takashi Akako's supposed affection for her was not genuine and that was a fact she concluded.