Restoration: Book 1/3

Chapter 3

After school, a few weeks later, I did my homework, and it was still too early for dinner, so I decided to go for a quick jog to ease my mind. Hanabi was still at cheerleading practice, and Dad was still at work.

On my way down the stairs, I heard Masumi talking in a hushed tone on the phone, "...to the credit card, yes...mhm, thank you!"

After turning the corner, I saw her leaning against the island in the kitchen, and she glanced up to meet my gaze. To avoid a confrontation, I masked my irritation and turned to leave, but she stopped me, "Come here, Hinata."

With a defeated sigh, I turned back to face her, plastering on as honest a smile as I could manage as I waited for her to speak. She gave me an annoyed look before speaking in a matching tone, "I wanted to talk to you about the tone you pulled with me last night. You owe me an apology."

She raised her eyebrows as though waiting for me to immediately do what she asked, and when I didn't, she scoffed, "At dinner, remember? You're lucky Hiashi was there, or I would've smacked the attitude right off your smug little face."

Another sigh passed my lips, and I let my polite façade fade into an irritated one, which mirrored hers. This isn't the first time Masumi's tried to assert her dominance over me when we're alone, and it most likely won't be the last. She'd slapped me the first time when I was about nine for fighting with Hanabi. I remembered how shocked and hurt I'd felt. Sure, it affected me then, but now that I'm used to her split personalities, it rarely gets to me.

"I find it funny how you never act like this when Hanabi or Dad are home."

She rolled her eyes before stepping around the island counter to poke me in the chest, "That's because I love your Dad and Hanabi."

I stepped back instead of smacking her hand away, not eager to fight with her, "You might love Hanabi. That's still up in the air, but I'll never believe you love my Dad for anything but his money."

There it was, the familiar sting of a slap in the face. My head turned to the side as she hit me, and I quickly looked up at her with a teary-eyed glare.

She grabbed my chin and made me look directly at her, "As far as your father's aware, I'm the perfect housewife, and I'm not going to let that change. Do you understand?"

We both froze as we heard a car pull into the driveway, most likely one of Hanabi's friends dropping her off. Masumi released her hold on my face roughly, waving a hand of dismissal as she went back to browsing her phone while she prepared dinner, "Get out of here."

With an angry huff, I exited the house from the side door so Hanabi wouldn't glimpse the handprint that was most likely on my face and decided to continue with my plan to jog. The physical effort would help rid me of the angry emotions clouding my judgment before Dad gets home. The jog did its trick, and when I got home, I managed to keep my composure as I passed Masumi and Dad in the family room so I could freshen up before it was time to eat.

After washing my face, I changed into new clothes just in time to hear Hanabi yell, "Dinner!" from the hall.

It was awkward at the table for a few minutes. My only solace was when my father asked us how our days went. I could feel Masumi glance at me occasionally and chose to be the bigger person and ignore her. She would never do anything in front of these two, so I had nothing to worry about.

Near the end of the meal, Dad put his hands together and captured our attention. We all looked over. "I have some excellent news! I have formulated a man-made plant that, when processed correctly, acts as a cure for skin cancer!"

We were silent for a moment before we all rose to congratulate him. My face warmed with pride as he pulled us all in for a hug.

His eyes shone as though he was trying not to cry with happiness, "It has a ninety-one percent success rate, as of now, and the side effects are very minor." Tears rose in my eyes, and I reached to wipe at them.