I was still waiting for Mom to yell at me when we arrived home. However, she was silent, and I followed her all the way up to her office.
"Rika, what are you doing?" she finally asked. She sat down in her seat with an exhausted sigh.
"Um." I didn't know how to answer her question. Just what exactly was she asking? What was I doing kicking Ashika Suzume? Or-
"I'm asking what are you doing standing in my office? Why don't you go to your own room?" Mom asked. "I thought," I said slowly. I stared at my feet. "Aren't you going to yell at me?"
"Do you want me to?"
I shook my head.
"Have you learned your lesson? Do you really regret what you did? Are you going to help Ashika-san to the best of your abilities? Tell me the truth, Rika."
The truth, huh? So I shook my head again.
Mom sighed, leaning back in her chair. "Even after being yelled at by the Ashikas? Alright, I'll give you a few more reasons to regret what you did. One: you have shamed the Hayashi family. Now people will talk about that one Hayashi child who beat up an Ashika."
"But-"
"Now, I know," Mom said, shooting me a stare to shut up. "I know that your bow is precious. I know you think getting into this much trouble is worth that bow. But others don't, Rika. They won't understand why you care so much about some cheap fabric. They'll talk. You have shamed our family, Rika. What if people start calling you violent? A crazy child? Have you forgotten what the others used to say when you first joined the boarding school?"
Ah, she's talking about those people.
"You should be glad the Ashika family didn't press charges. They could have had you sued for assault. Have you forgotten all reason?" She leaned forward, staring into my eyes.
"But couldn't we win in a lawsuit?" I asked.
"You think we'd win?" she said. She crossed her arms, leaning back in her plush chair. "What would our argument be? That Ashika Suzume tore up your bow? What proof do you have that she did it?"
"She said so herself," I replied.
"Alright. But even if she admitted doing that in court, do you think the judges will believe that destroying a bow deserves being assaulted? Being attacked?"
I opened my mouth to reply, but Mom continued, "They won't understand, Rika! How many times do I have to say this? They won't understand! Now if the bow cost a couple million, was some antique object with value, maybe they would. And we could possibly turn the court around and press charges against the Ashikas for destroying our property. But your bow isn't any of those things. Do you understand yet?"
When I was silent, she nodded with a sigh. "You even had to pull a stunt like this during the Cultural Festival too. Do you know how many people were there? Do you know how many people will now talk about this? If this had happened during a regular school day, it'd probably only go through the school. But now it'll be carried out by the parents. Do you know what this could do to our business?"
