Individual

Chapter 13

Kay collapsed backwards onto her bed, panting heavily. She glanced over at Andrew, who was diligently wiping his bookshelves clean. His swimming medals and trophies were laid out on his bed, along with some plaques he’d gotten from his various army activities.

Kay had a singular chemistry olympiad gold trophy set on her desk, and along with that a few silver and bronze trophies from random competitions her mother had made her join.

“Do you think Oka-san would let me show this off?” Kay asked her brother, holding up a shiny medal she’d earned from a streetball competition.

Andrew looked at his sister and sighed. “You signed up for that behind their backs and got a huge scolding when you brought that medal home. Do you think she’ll let you show it off?”

“Ugh,” Kay groaned and slumped off her bed. “This is so annoying. Why do we have to show off our achievements whenever our relatives come?”

“You can ask Oto-san and Oka-san-”

“All right, pretend I didn’t ask that,” Kay interjected. “But can’t we go to their house instead or something?”

Andrew moved on to stacking his books neatly, but managed to raise an eyebrow at Kay. “Sure you want to go to their house?”

Images of her twin cousins’ large, fancy house flashed in her mind, along with the rows of endless glittering trophies and medals, and framed certificates and plaques hanging on the wall. Kay shielded her eyes from the memory.

“Wait… pretend I never said that,” she backtracked hurriedly. “Fine, let them visit us, then.”

Andrew laughed at his sister and collected his heap of prized possessions to bring down to the living room. He gazed at them, an unreadable expression on his face. “But yeah, I don’t get why we have to show these off either. Especially since they make us keep it back into our rooms after that.”

Kay stood up aggressively and picked up the wet cloth. “My theory is that they aren’t really proud of our achievements. They just want to compare it with our relatives’.”

“Maybe,” Andrew said, heading out of the door. “But if you think about it, Nii-chan’s law degree and PhD are presented on the wall all year round.”

He left the bedroom to put his achievements out for display downstairs, and Kay glared at her useless streetball medal, slumping against her bed frame again.

~

Julian’s phone buzzed, a new message popping up on his lockscreen. He grabbed the device a little too impatiently, nearly dropping it in the process. He had to stop having such high hopes that Kay Nakagawa would text him first. There were no guarantees that this message was from her.

It was a message from an unsaved number, and Julian’s heart leapt in joy. But it could only jump halfway before it crashed to the ground as he read the text.

It’s Eden. I’m only helping you because your sad face reminds me of a poor puppy, and I felt just a little bad. Anyway, Kay said she didn’t know what to send you, so you can have her number instead.

Julian’s heart picked itself up and flew back into the sky as he clicked on the contact that Eden had shared, named “Mate ♡”.

His iPhone vibrated once more, and Julian pulled down the notification bar, reading a new message from Eden.

You’re welcome.

~

Kay stood at the end of the line and bowed to every passing relative with a smile forced onto her face, an unauthentic cheerful tone lacing her, “O hisashiburi desu ne.”