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"SEISHIRO, YOUR DAD and I are getting a divorce."
Nagi supposed that the worst part of this news was that his first thought in response was I don't have time for this. Although, perhaps, and in his defense, that says more about his parent's marriage than himself. Divorce had always lurked over them, a predictable, inevitable ending.
It wasn't like Seishiro didn't care. He just didn't know how to feel about it. He's never given things that haven't happened yet much thought. And he hadn't anticipated it would happen today.
He was also late for training.
But they were waiting for a reaction, so he couldn't just leave. Haru had that look of anguish on his face that preceded a catastrophe. The crease of his brows all worried as if he hadn't wanted things to come to this. Cautious after dropping what he believed to be a bomb on his son, expectant of the hurt and the cries, he was ready to comfort.
Sometimes, Seishiro thought his dad still saw him as a kid because it's been years since Seishiro cried.
Jia, on the other hand..., well, Jia saw him more as who Seishiro truly was, and he was under the impression she didn't like whatever she saw. To her, he wasn't her baby. He was only her son. And she might love him, but it was probably only because he was her blood.
In a sense, three strangers lived under the same roof. And Seishiro felt the urge to leave since he wasn't sure he wanted to know which of his parents would stay. They stared at him, however, so it was impossible to escape.
"Ok," he said instead, looking at them blankly at the stark difference between their faces. Haru wanted a heart to heart, but Jia remained unreadable. I got that from her, Seishiro realized. His dad must have grown tired of loving someone so cold; they were doomed from the start. "Can I ask you guys something?"
Haru nodded. "Yeah, we want this to be an open conversation, after all. It will be a big change for us, so we want to make this easier for you."
"Am I staying here?"
Underneath the question, the more pressing matter: with who?
His dad glanced at Jia, "Yeah, of course. We understand you already have a life here, and the rink is very close by, too. So, it would only make sense for you to stay with your mom. I won't move too far, and-"
Seishiro was sure his features didn't twist in horror, but his dad reassured him anyway. We'll see each other every weekend; I'll go to your competitions; you can stay over if your mom lets you...
"What?" Jia spoke up, her eyes glued to Seishiro's with the indifference that characterized them. "Do you have a problem with the arrangement? Because it's not up for discussion."
