The Substitute

Chapter 11

Reita knew there was something was strange about his life, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it until a month or two after he had graduated. He and his mom were sitting around the kitchen table, talking about the pros and cons of the different universities he had been gotten into. There were two that were fairly far away, one of which didn't really have the academic program he wanted, and while the other one had a few great courses, it was rather expensive. The nearer one, Aoyama University, wasn't cheap either, but offered some good scholarship opportunities.

"If I went to Niigata, I'd have to live in a box and eat nothing but ramen." Reita remarked, looking up from the brochure.

"Well, it's not like you eat anything but ramen anyways," his mother joked, laughing at herself and eliciting a smile from Reita.

It was that moment, when Reita looked up to meet his mother's grin, that he realized what felt so strange about his life.

He liked it.

He liked spend time with his parent, talking and remembering and telling her other stories about Yankumi. He liked being able to come home and tell her things, to just know that if he wanted to talk to her, he could.

He was about to try and find a way to articulate that when his mom's phone rang.

"One sec," she said, then answered. "Hello? Yes, this is she. Oh! Yes, I-I did. Really? Well, I…" Her voice faded as she headed to her room. Reita shrugged and went back to trying to decide how much he wanted to eat packaged ramen for the next four years of his life.

When he glanced back up, his mom was standing in the doorway, staring at the floor in a vaguely shocked manner.

"Mom? What's going on?"

"I… I got a job." She looked up at him in disbelief.

"Huh?"

"I… I applied for this position at a magazine in Osaka, mostly because it was my dream job, but I never thought that it would actually… that it was even possible… They said that they read my sample article and really liked it and want me to start in two weeks."

"That's great!"

"But…" Her voice and eyes became unsure. "I'd have to move to Osaka. So… I don't know if I should take it."

And it was that tone, that hesitancy, that helped Reita realize what his mom was trying to say – that she was putting their relationship, putting him, ahead of something she wanted. For perhaps the first time in Reita's memory.

It was that epiphany that allowed him to say, "I think you should go."

Saiga Miku glanced up in both surprise and growing hope. "Really? I didn't know if…"

"If it's a job you really want, you should go for it."

Blinking back tears, she hugged Reita tightly, then abruptly pulled back. "Wait. If I move, where will you stay?"

Reita shrugged. "It's college. That's usually when kids move out anyway. I can crash with Tawara or someone until I figure it out."

Miku looked down, then slowly offered, "I think… I would feel better if you stayed with the Sawada-senseis."

Reita could only stare in utter surprise.

"I just… I know that they'd take care of you. Do you think you could ask them?"

Biting back a smile, Reita nodded. "Yeah. I'll ask."

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