Project: Karma

70 | Our Life

<Nakaru>
Just last week, I turned seven years old. Momma and Papa threw a big giant birthday party for me! There was lots and lots of presents and even a chocolate cake with leftover slices left from then. In a couple of days, it will be Ichiro's birthday. We're all going to his house for a birthday bash too.

Papa is at work right now and won't be back until 7:30pm. Momma is in the kitchen cleaning the stove and everything else. It's school break apparently and she doesn't have any classes.

Currently I'm in my room cleaning up my toys and bookshelf. Whenever there is nothing to do, I follow what Momma does. Sometimes I pick something up and look it at for a while, then forget what I'm actually doing.

"Naki, you're heading over to Zuzu place later. You did remember right?" Momma called from the kitchen. "Get your backpack ready. We'll be driving over in 30 minutes." She added.

Oh, right. I'm supposed to go over to Haruki and Daichi's place today. A few days ago Haruki broke his arm from horsing around on the playground and fell from a high platform.

Momma said it was best to keep him company rather than letting Daichi annoy him all month till he heals.
After I packed my bags, I headed into the bathroom because, I really needed to go. I closed the door and unzipped my pants. While I whistled away like how Papa did, I saw something strange in the black trash bin beside the white toilet.

I peered down and saw it was a wide plastic stick that was tan colored. I squinted my eyes to get a better look and saw that there was another color on it. Rather it was a form of lines and there was two of them that was red.
I wonder what that is-

"Naki? You all set?" I heard my mother shout.
I suddenly spazzed and pulled up my pants. I washed my hands and dried them with the hand towel and scurried out of the bathroom.

"Yes, I'm done." I grabbed my bag along the way.

"Hey Momma, I saw something in the bathroom. Did you throw away a thermometer?" I asked.

"Hm? What are you talking about?" She placed the blue cap on my head.

"The tan thermometer with red lines." I repeated.

"Naki, I don't know what you're-"

Momma froze and slowly turned her head towards me. I could see that something had caught her tail and she was not happy about it. She wasn't mad about it either but, she was radiating pink cheeks. Just like when Papa kisses Momma in front of me.

"Never mind that." Momma assured. "Let's hurry now." She scooted me out of the front door and I skipped along to the car.

Momma sat in and we both buckled up. Momma looked at the mirror above her head and sighed loudly. Kind of like she was hiding something.

Hmm, I wonder what that could of been?
••••••
"Naki!" Daichi was the one to greet me enthusiastically at the door. Zuzu was following behind him and said hi to Momma. "Come on, you have to see Haruki's cast!" Daichi tugged on my arm and when I looked back, both Zuzu and Momma were laughing amongst themselves.

When I entered Haruki's room. He was sitting on his bed watching t.v. I waved and he gleamed at me.

"Naki, thank goodness you're here. Daichi wouldn't shut up." He said.

"So how's your arm?" I walked over and poked at the hardness of his white cast.

"It doesn't hurt but, taking a shower and going to the bathroom is a pain. I need mom to help me." He explained.

Bathroom. Which reminds me.
"Hey Haruki, you're older right?" I reconfirmed as I was asking about his mentality rather than his actual age.

"Yeah, I guess." He nodded his head.

"Huh? He's an idiot. An idiot." Daichi teased.

"Be quiet." Haruki said.

"What are you blabbering about now?" Daichi joined the conversation, ignoring his brother.

I couldn't form my own words correctly at the moment cause, I knew that I would make them misunderstand. This did come out of nowhere too.

"Well, there was a thermometer in the bathroom trash bin but, it wasn't just any type of thermometer." I went on.

Daichi and Haruki looked at each other with a confused expression. It felt like I was an alien from another planet.

"I don't get it." Haruki spoke.

"Did they start making new ones with red lines? Why did they go from glass to plastic? I've never seen the new thermometers before. Did you guys know about them? Does your mom use them?" I pestered.

"Huh, plastic thermometers? You mean like this one?" Daichi got up and ran out of the room. It wasn't long until he returned with something in his hands. "This?"

I took it within my hands and stared at it. It had a metal end and when you turned it on, there was numbers.

"No, the one with two red lines."

"That's the only one we have!" Daichi took it back and sighed, "I don't know what you mean."

"Don't shout too loud. Mom is going to scold us again." Haruki glanced over at me and pointed at his desk top. "You've memorized your scripts right? You can type in how it looks like on the computer."

I clocked my head to Daichi and he laughed at me. "I'll help you write it. My Hiragana and Katakana is better than yours anyways." He boasted.

Daichi sat at the desk and I stood beside him. I told him the descriptions of the weird object I had found and he typed it in for me.

"T-that's it! That's the one!" I struck my arms out once he scrolled through the images.

"Heh? That's-." Haruki waved his arms and I stood closer away so that he could see the computer screen. "Pregnancy, that's what they call a pregnancy test. If I can read it correctly." Haruki made us aware.

"Huh? What's that?" I looked at the two of them and they seemed kind of concerned.

"That's not a thermometer Naki." Daichi sat down on the bed with less energy than before.

"Naki, it's a test for girls to see if they'll have a baby." Haruki explained it in a sense that I would understand.

I scratched my head.
"Babies?"