Who Do You Remember?

Chapter 3: Sunday, Monday

Sunday was Fun-Day in the Gima household!

Well, it didn't start that way. The morning was always spent toiling over Bisque's homework for a few hours, though he did take frequent breaks so as to not utterly lose his mind.

He was supposed to read a bunch of books in English over the course of the year, but even when Bisque was enjoying books, and even when they were in Japanese, they still made his eyes gloss over a lot of the time. His meds had helped him focus, but he still occasionally had to jump back to the start of the page because he'd realized he hadn't actually processed anything he'd read.

But he'd known it would all be worth it. He'd even scrounged up the motivation to do some laundry, and both of his parents had the day off, so the possibilities were truly endless.

The first treat of the day was that he'd walked into the kitchen and found his mom making mochi. "Mama!"

"Hi, sweetie! Did you read the chapters you needed to get done, or are you taking a break?"

"I finished!"

"Excellent! I'm proud of you!"

"English is dumb, though. The rules are all out of whack and there are so many weird silent letters."

"I agree, dear. That's why I haven't studied it in years. I can still speak it somewhat decently, at least!"

"I have a friend who'd probably know why English is so strange and unstructured. He knows pretty much anything, it seems like."

"How very interesting! What's his name?"

Haruto blanked. He hadn't wanted to tell his parents that he'd reunited with Keiji. Not yet. He'd wanted to give Keiji time to thaw out some more, or at least to admit he remembered.

As he stood there, daunted, trying to come up with any sort of fake name, his mom giggled. It was a silvery, mischievous sound. "Don't worry. I forget people's names all the time, too, even if I've had good conversations with them." He sighed with relief— her assumption gave him an easy out. "It's gonna be mochi ice cream."

He shrieked with delight and wrapped his arms around her, which she excitedly reciprocated. "I love you, Mom!"

"I love you too, baby! This'll take a while to be ready, though."

"It's fine. I can be patient!"

"Bisque!" It was his dad, always a calming presence when compared to his wife and child. Even his most enthusiastic statements were like a still pond. "Care to go on a run with me? I've taken my allergy pills and I'm feeling energetic today!"

"Ah! Super yes!" After getting changed, the two headed off together, and there was a package for Haruto on the porch. OH! He'd nearly forgotten about that!

"What'd you get? Anything interesting?"

"It's... a video game." This was a lie, but one he knew would work– his parents very rarely played video games with him, and his dad would surely forget.

"Alright. Be sure to keep an eye on your spending though, okay?"

"I promise."

Father and son embarked, but Haruto's mind occasionally strayed to that package.

...

Sunday was always busy for Keiji, as the one day of the week he wasn't attending any classes. This was his schedule:

Wake up at seven in the morning. Make his bed. Take a brisk shower. No time to actually soak in the onsen. Relaxation was for chumps anyway. Get dressed.