Dreams Upon A Silver Pine Branch

Chapter 27: Branching Lives

Back in the comfort of her spacious bedroom, Akira hugged a cat-shaped pillow while lying down on her stomach facing Kenta, who sat crossed-leg near the edge of the bed with his sound processors turned all the way up. 

"I don't suppose you remember much about the prom night other than your fight with Johan about him not being ready to be your boyfriend in public," Akira began, "but that night Ezie and I got into a fight too. Well, sort of. Not a huge one, but enough to make us end what we barely started. The reason you didn't hear of our fight until now is because we kept it quiet." 

"I'm sorry I was so deep into my own problems with Johan to realize you have relationship problems too," Kenta reached for Akira's hand, "but now I'm all ears. I remember Ezekiel saying good night at the door and you looking tired, but in hindsight maybe you were more than just tired. I guess that must be after Aunt Chiharu had a one-on-one talk with him?" 

"M-hm. My mom called him into her room and they talked for what to me felt like an eternity and a half. Ezie summarized everything for me, though. Basically, my mom asked him if he has any intention of still having me as his girlfriend after high school graduation, and of course, he said yes because he was so sure that a long-distance relationship could work just as well as an in-person one. But you know my mom, right? She always has follow-up questions. She interrogated Ezie about his post-high school plan and everything went downhill from there." 

"Ouch. Way to put too much pressure on someone she has just met." 

"Ezie is an honest guy, way too honest if you ask me. He said the Deaf boarding school he's attending has not been that great in giving him and other students career guidance, but he's hoping to get into some kind of trade school along with Aiden. His first choice of trade is in culinary art, more specifically beginner-level nutrition and kitchen sanitation certification in cooking plant-based diets for meal-kit companies, and his second choice is studying supply chain management for grocery stores. His third choice is to become a junior teacher of home economics at the same school he attends and his fourth choice is to become a nurse aide at a retirement house in Mizunotori." 

"None of these sounds good enough for Aunt Chiharu, I'd assume?" 

"Suffice it to say that she wasn't delighted to hear of Ezie's plans, but her real issue is with how Ezie plans to finance trade school. He said he's considering taking out a private bank loan. When mom asked how he would pay the loan back, Ezie told her while earning his trade license he would work part-time as a truck driver for coast-to-coast shipments of vegetables, a cashier at a national bank, or a shelf stocker at a factory outlet. You know Ezie is realistic rather than ambitious, but that's precisely why my mom thinks he is not a good match for me." 

"Aunt Chiharu said that to his face? I can't imagine her actually saying that." 

"Ah, she didn't say it quite that harshly, mind you, but it was still something to that effect. She was implying that Ezie is a guy of little to no ambitions and he would only be dragging me down. She believes I already have a hard time finding my own purpose in life and being with Ezie is going to make me even more purposeless. Needless to say, I strongly disagree with her views. I understand Ezie's background. I understand both he and Aiden came from broken homes and are trying their goddamn hardest to survive. They don't have lofty goals, just survival." 

"And did you tell Aunt Chiharu about Ezekiel's upbringing? Did you tell her she was being elitist? Or did you think it was a matter of privacy and left the decision to disclose it to Ezekiel himself?"

"I was waiting for him to defend himself, but nada, nihil, null. He just bowed his head in deference and said, and I quoted word for word, "I understand I'm not good enough for your daughter, ma'am, and please forgive me for daring to approach her romantically." He was beyond defeated, Kenta. I have never seen a sadder scene in my life."