Dreams Upon A Silver Pine Branch

Chapter 31: Family Origin

The clouds scattering above the Kinoya mansion accumulated into a few huge clouds heavy with what would sooner or later turn into precipitation. Sensing a slight change in the temperature, Miyuki pawed on Kenta's shoes before dashing towards the direction of the house. 

Kenta entered the hallway to the ground floor just as the pitter-patter of raindrops hit the roof and turned the pine leaves a deeper shade of green. In the living room, Shiori and Aikawa were drinking hibiscus tea while watching the news about a municipal referendum happening in Kazenotori, a town to the west of the Mizunotori-Hinotori metropolitan area. The referendum was to determine whether the tiny town would remain its independent entity or be integrated into the metropolitan. Proponents of the plan said integration would give Kazenotori residents greater access to quality education and healthcare, while opponents worried that merging the town with the bigger cities would lead to Kazenotori culture being eroded or even erased. 

"Hi, Kenta. Have you been visiting the koi pond again?" Aikawa greeted his son and picked up the cat before gently placing her between himself and his wife. "You've spent quite a lot of time with the fishies. Something is up, isn't it? You seem more tired than usual too. Have some tea. Your mother was wondering when you would be back from meditating outside." 

"I am okay," Kenta replied as his mother handed him the tea kettle. "It's not me you should worry about but Akira. Otou-san, I think Aunt Chiharu's parenting style is tough on my cousin." 

"What has Akira told you?" Shiori asked after turning down the TV volume. "Is she still upset about being advised to stop seeing Ezekiel? I feel bad for her. Chiharu shouldn't control who her daughter can or can't date, but what do I expect? That woman has always been nosy." 

"Has always been?" Kenta looked up from his mug. "What do you mean, Oka-san?"

"Chiharu and Shiori didn't use to get along well," Aikawa chimed in while softly stroking his wife's palm. "Especially during the first couple of years after Shiori moved to the Kinoya mansion from Kazenotori. You know that's where your mother was born, right? Life was different there." 

"I know that. I know that Kazenotori is the poorest town in our region and most of the residents work on farms that they don't even own for a salary that is just barely enough to survive on. What does this have to do with Aunt Chiharu's nosiness, though?" 

"Time for a story!" Aikawa grinned and turned the TV off. "There's so much your mother and I have never revealed about ourselves and you're about to find out how we began dating and all the obstacles your mother had to overcome just to be with me. She's incredible." 

"No, you're the incredible one for always defending me no matter what your older brother's partner tried to tell you!" Shiori blushed. "You're an angel, Aikawa-san. You rescued me."

"Rescuing you from... an otherwise inescapable poverty?" Kenta stared at his parents in amazement. "I am very happy you two met. Oka-san deserves so much happiness."

"Yes, but also from an arranged marriage and a life as nothing but a debt-payer!" Shiori replied, still not tearing her adoring gaze away from Aikawa. "For generations, my family owed a huge debt to our landlords, the Kishi, for saving my great-great grandma Shizune Hashimoto from an ableist government in Black Elm who wanted to use her as a subject for their experiment on Deaf people. If the Kishi had not saved her, she would still be living as a hostage." 

"That's terrible! By the way, you said she was Deaf? Is that why I am Deaf too?" 

"Possibly. We've never done genetic testing on you, Kenta, so we don't know for sure," Aikawa answered. "But where were we? Oh yeah, the debt the Hashimoto owed the Kishi. To pay off the debt, your mom's family worked at the hibiscus farms owned by the Kishi. Over time, the farm workers also had a second job at the hibiscus tea factory. Your mother, however, grew tired of bagging tea and sought a better job elsewhere. Coincidentally, your grandpa Shigeru was looking for a gardener. Shiori passed the interview and started living in an empty but clean shed that was later renovated and nowadays became the site of our karate dojo."