Phrenology: E-Lunar (3) Route A (MANUSCRIPT)

Chapter 2: Turn 2

     "Hello, dad." The flat tone of one Hikaru Ahlstrom sounded through a house, its white siding chipped a bit.

    "So..." A man, shadowed by the angles of the sunset, which came through a window, softly moaned. "... you're not dead? You're... alive. You're alive! Oh my God! OH MY GOD! I could ever be so lucky. Son! My son, I've missed you-" 

     "Save it." Hikaru grabbed his dad's arm by the wrist. 

     "Hikki! What are you doing?" The older man was frightened, barely moving, as his balding, black hair shivered. 

     "I heard you made Kevin go with you on one last... business trip, is that right?" 

      "Yes! I was just- I wanted to bond one last time like we always did! Him and his friends got some apartment somewhere. He's growing up fast. I figured I'd get closure while I could, and-" 

     "NO!" Hikaru's voice rose like a plane taking off from an airport. 

     His face reddening, he shook his other fist in his father's face. "Kevin's an adult now! WHY ARE YOU STILL TRYING TO TAKE HIM PLACES? Leave... him... alone." 

     "AH! Ah! Hm. Hmph. You know," The frightened father suddenly became calm, spitting on his son's hand. "your mother and I fought about this awhile back- This same thing. This very same thing! Funny... if you inherited your mother, and if Kevin perhaps inherited me, then why are you standing up for him? He may not like it, after all. He may actually appreciate all the places I've taken him to. In fact... I think it's you you're concerned about." 

     "Hm?" Hikaru's yellow eyes widened. "M- Mother. I miss her. She died all too young." 

     "I was always on your case, long after you became an... adult."

     "Yeah, and now I see you trying to keep Kevin from escaping your clutches. Stop this! He's a grown fucking man!" 

     "He just turned eighteen. Well, fairly recently, anyway. I doubt he'll be good on his own without some disciplining of me still around, eh?" The dad chuckled, his brown eyes squinting. "Besides, Hikki, HOW IS IT... any... of your business how I parent?" 

      "Tch, look at us. Two grown fools, raising our voices at each other like it's a damn arms-race. It's disgusting. Every time, too. You just never learn. Every... single... FUCKING... TIME! I would keep my voice low, and you'd continuously raise yours. Like I deserved any of that? Really? Was I not playing safe? Being obedient? Not being escalating? Being the bigger man? And yet, you saw me as vulnerable in all our rows and spats... and you pounced on it. That's... disgusting!" 

     "BECAUSE I... AM A BUSINESS MAN, AND YOUR FATHER! You have no right to talk to me like this."

     "OH, COME ON! Knock it off, already. I'm an adult now, for fuck's sake! Why does it always have to be an all-out war? YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS WERE ALWAYS POOR LIKE THIS! You just... used being a business man as an excuse to... POORLY DRAW YOUR LINES IN THE SAND!" 

     In that moment, the two grown men – one younger, one older – kept strong eye-contact with one another. It was an awkward eye-contact that lasted longer than it should have. Who had started it, no one knew. But both were playing up the idea that, in that moment, if one of them looked away, then they would have lost some sort of game. 

     Usually, fights between family members are with a grumpy and grouchy crowd. They're shitty when they happen, but then they subside. Then they come again, later on, only to be settled through some sort of resolution- After, of course, both sides having expressed their anger accordingly, leave nothing to the imagination. Ultimately, they are acute and then subside, like the tides. 

     However, in this case, things were different in the Ahlstrom family. 

     Hikaru's dad had pulled out a gun from his pocket. 

    "D- Dad?" The frost-haired youth began to back up. "What do you think you're doing?" 

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