Little Tiger

Learn to bite off more than you can chew

Momiji and Hatsuharu were living with me. I had forgotten that detail the following morning that I agreed to this arrangement. I came out into the kitchen for some coffee with my towel on. The most liberating thing about living alone was being able to present yourself however you pleased without judgment. Of course, that was when I thought I was living alone. 

"Is it time to wake up?" Hatsuharu asked, emerging from underneath his fortress of blankets. 

I jumped, feeling like I had been caught doing something worse than walking around in my towel. I made a move to go back into the bathroom and put my robe on until I thought about what Hatsuharu had said. "I don't know...is it?" I inquired, my head cocked to the side. 

He looked at the time on his phone then back at me with a blank stare. "My mom usually wakes me up for school." 

I rolled my eyes. Why would he run away when he couldn't even wake up on his own? "I'm not your mom, Haru, I don't know what time you have to get up." 

Momiji sat up from his curled position on the armchair. "Ko-chan, is it time to wake up?" 

I had to give Momiji and Hatsuharu money for lunch, send them on their way to school, and make a grocery list for the three of us. I couldn't believe I had gotten myself into this mess. At the store, I whipped up an angry monologue I'd hit the boys with after they came home from school, telling them they had one night at most left in my apartment before I sent their parents over to pick them up. But by the time I left the store, my arms full of grocery bags and the sun shining, I didn't think this roommate thing sounded so bad. 

I was torn the rest of the day between keeping them or returning them, as if they were stray kittens I found on the street. At work, I told Ayame about the situation. 

"Let them stay," he said easily. "They deserve a break from their evil parents." He was projecting. 

"Yeah, but I don't think it's my responsibility to take care of them just because they don't want to be at home." I was using one of the lines from the monologue I had created. 

"Then don't." 

I put my hand on my hip. "You're just agreeing with what I'm saying." 

"Pretty much." He was sweeping excess pieces of fabric from the floor into a big pile right by my feet. When he noticed my perplexed expression, he sighed, resting his forehead against the handle of the broom. "Why don't you go ask Gure? I'm no good at disagreeing with you, but he is." 

I turned to do just that until I remembered our argument. I faced Ayame again, my shoulders hanging low. "We got in a fight last night, I can't." 

Ayame groaned, throwing his head back. "Why? When will all of my friends be able to get along?" 

I cracked a small smile at his theatrics, leaning against the metal stool Ayame sat on for tailorings. "He wants me to move in and I said I didn't want to because then I'll be stuck." 

"Well, you're damn right, Ko. You will be stuck," he said agreeably, nodding his head vigorously. 

"What would you say if you were talking to Gure about this?" 

He thought for a moment. "I'd say, Ko's a fool for not wanting to live with you, Gure." 

During my break, I went up the stairs to Shigure's house. I figured he'd be my best advice right now, considering he was pissed at me. He gave the best advice when he was grumpy. 

"Gure--" The door slammed shut after only seeing the sleeve of his kimono. I slapped the shut door with my hand and stomped away from the front door, climbing on top of the porch and sliding open the shoji doors. Shigure had already managed to sit back down on the tatami mat, reading his newspaper.