Tale of the Antonym of Friendship

V#1 Chapter 1-Building of the Battlefield(Part 2)(+extra)

Part 2

"Rather frequent is the game of passing blames. The reason for frequency being, the human desire to maintain eternal stability. "

-Shiroyama Seniichi, The AoF storyteller

[29th of November, 1997; 17:11 hrs]

[A rather ragged apartment in Karuizawa, Nagano prefecture]

It has been three days since Hitomi-san, my wife, has been discharged from the hospital. She has lost a bit of weight post pregnancy, has she not? Her usually sparkling black hair, extending all the way down to her waist, and covering a part of her back, is now covering almost whole of her back. She has grown so thin in just a few days. I will call my wife a beauty. Not to brag, but we were gazed upon as the "royal" couple back in the college days. To think that her pretty face has actually grown this pale. Of course, pregnancy is not the only reason.

".....suya-san...."

"........"

"Earth to Tatsuya-san....."

"Hu-huh?! Y-yeah, I am listening, Hitomi-san."

"It has been more than a month, you know. MORE THAN A FUCKING MONTH."

"Woah. You seem pissed. Calm down."

I can tell from the expression on her face, with her eyes broadened, forehead wrinkled, and teeth clamped onto one another. She seems like that bull, who has not been given food for a long period, and is ready to take out its anger on the nearest available target.

The tatami mats in our apartment room, which is on the first floor, are torn at various places, but in such a regular manner, that the patches of brown carpet visible beneath them could almost be labeled as a fashionable floor attraction of some kind. And let me not get started on these ceilings. Only the angel in heaven knows which part of this ceiling will come slamming down on any of us within the next month.

"Calm down??!! How can I calm down???!!! So many days have passed since that tragedy was born! And there he is, still breathing and playing inside that baby couch! And there you are, looking around this shithole room as if it was the queen's palace!"

"Pfft.........where is Haruka?"

I think that I am making an amusing face right now. Hitomi-san seems frozen in ice all of a sudden. Isn't this similar to the hospital? Is this one of those déjà-vu? Come on, I am not that scary, right? You are scarier, you know, Hitomi-san. Remember that Kaori-san from high school? And her friend, what was his name again? She called me gloomy and upsetting which got to your nerves. Didn't you almost end up breaking her legs? And didn't you hit her friend with the chair? God, how cruel that was! And now you are giving that scared look by just looking at my face? Isn't that unfair?

"Sh-She is out to play."

"I see. Then we can talk about what to do now, right? About the kid. The new one ~ "

"Y-Yeah."

"You remember the plan I told you back at hospital? The one about the accident of the imaginary parents of the kid....."

"Hm."

"Very well. Then let me update you on it. I have made some preparations regarding that– "

"Hold up. First of all, you said that you will not tell that story to the legal authorities. Then, for whom is that story? Who will you deceive with that story?"

"......"

"Tatsuya-san....Oi...."

"You ever heard of a certain characteristic of an eagle?"