Youth Unsupervised

Chapter 3-Sinister Smile

Kaho was busy after school, so Hiromasa and I hung out at my house for a while. He had to leave in the evening to help his mom out, which left me way too much alone time to wonder about Higoshi. That cold shoulder treatment really got under my skin. I'm not the warmest of people, but at least I practice common courtesy.

I sat on my bed and tried to drown out my thoughts with some TV. I could've been sitting on the couch in the living room, but I hardly ever went downstairs unless it was to get food and come back up. It felt empty and foreign down there despite it being my own house. At least my room felt like my own space.

My cellphone said it was a minute until seven. I muted the TV before the phone even rang.

"Hi, Mom," I said into the phone.

"Good evening, Kaito," she answered. "How was your day?"

"Fine. How are you and Dad doing?"

"We're well, thank you. How are your studies going?" Her voice sounded as dry and uncaring as it usually did.

"Well, it was only the first day of school, so they aren't really going at all yet."

"I see. Are you eating alright?"

"Yep," I lied.

"That's good. Well, I have to go, Kaito. I'll talk to you next week. Goodbye."

"Bye."

I barely had time to get the word out before she hung up. I pulled the phone away from my ear. It was one minute after seven.

The conversation had been the same every week for as long as I could remember. She called every Monday, always asked the same questions, and hung up after about a minute.

I used to drag the conversation out by asking where they were or what they did that day. I usually wouldn't understand much of what she told me, but I would ask anyway. I can't remember exactly when I stopped. I think I noticed at some point that it didn't matter if I asked or not, it didn't change the dry tone in which she spoke, so I stopped bothering her about it.

I never spoke to my father over the phone. It was always my mother who called. I only saw him on the rare occasions they returned home.

It didn't really matter. It used to upset me, but I had long been over that. The situation was pretty ideal for me. I got a house to myself and was free to do pretty much whatever I wanted with the money they sent me. A robotic phone call once a week seemed like a pretty fair price.

Soon after that, I grabbed my red jacket and headed out the door. Kaho wanted to meet at some burger joint. When I got there, I made my way across the red and white checkered floor, scanning the red seats until I spotted Kaho at a booth.

"Sorry," I said, sliding into the seat across from her. "Have you been waiting long?"

She shook her head. "No. I haven't been here for more than a few minutes."

"Good." I smiled.

We glanced over the menus and Kaho started to tell me about her day and what she hoped to accomplish that year. She wasn't a defect like me. Naturally, she was going to join clubs and planned for a busy school year.

A girl with torn jeans and a black hoodie passed by the wall of windows. Her black hair trailed out the side of the hood. I barely caught the side of her face, but I was sure, just like I was that morning. It was definitely Higoshi. She turned toward the back of the building and left my sight.

"Kaho." I cut her off midsentence without evening meaning to. "Uh, sorry, but can you excuse me for a minute? I have to use the bathroom."

"Oh...sure," she answered. "What should I say if they come to take our order?"