Chapter 26
Spear and Shield
Chapter 26
A lovely sunset over a lovely day made for a lovely evening in the lovely but humble home of Ichiro and Megumi.
The rich, salty smell of kabayaki filling their small apartment above the teahouse. Dishes clinked throughout the tiny kitchen as eel sizzled on the griddle. Ichiro busied himself between chopping vegetables and mixing his homemade sauce as his wife comfortably sipped tea at their table.
“I don’t know,” Ichiro said with a disinterested shrug, flipping the eel to another satisfying hiss. “What do you think?”
“Oh, there’s something going on,” his wife replied with confidence, lips pursed over the edge of her teacup.
“And what makes you think that?” he responded, carrying their dinner over to the kitchen table. His skills in the art of cuisine were nowhere near his wife’s, but he was quite proud of this particular meal.
Megumi, simply overjoyed at the fact she was not the one standing over the stove, graciously stared at the spread, mouth watering.
“Simple,” she replied, already taking a bit of the unagi before he had even set down the plate. It burned the roof of her mouth, but she persevered, “Have you ever seen her smile that much?”
Ichiro paused, “Well, now that you mention it…”
“It’s not like it’s a bad thing,” she added through a mouthful, “He seems pretty nice, doesn’t he?”
“Nice enough… Kind of weird though, don’t you think?”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.”
His first instinct was to disagree and begin to rattle off the rather large list of strange things Gai had said and done during their brief interaction earlier that day. What does “power of youth” mean, anyway?
But his years with Megumi had taught him some integrity, and he quickly pushed the thought away. “Well, I suppose not…”
“Even if there isn’t anything,” she added without any conviction, “It’s nice that Yasu made a friend.”
“But why can’t she have a normal friend?”
“Maybe Yasu isn’t normal, have you thought about that?”
Ichiro chewed his food, pondering his sister in a way he never had before. Quickly finding that train of thought rather unpleasant, he turned to his wife once again, “All the more reason for her to find someone more...” He paused to think of the right word, "Someone who suits her, you know?"
Megumi eyed her husband with a frown, swallowing another mouthful before replying, “You’re overthinking it, Ichiro.”
He sighed, knowing his wife was right.
“Besides,” she continued, “If you’re really that concerned, just get your mother involved.”
A cold feeling cloaked itself upon Ichiro’s shoulders. “I couldn’t do that to her… Jiro would. Shiro, maybe… But I couldn’t.”
His eyes drifted across the table, taking in the beautiful image of his wife and the empty plate in front of her. The flush of her full cheeks and the calm sort of bliss he saw in her eyes.
He then recalled a similar evening in the Ushi household that had ended with Megumi in tears and nearly prevented their marriage altogether.
Ignorant to the horrible memories her husband was reliving, Megumi smirked at him over her teacup, “Then you’re not concerned.” She took a sip, “Just be happy for her and stop thinking about it.”
“I can’t help it,” he frowned, trying to rationalize his discomfort.
Nothing he could put into words made sense without him putting his foot in his mouth. The younger, more naïve part of him sympathized with Gai. Surely, he had made himself out to be a fool when he first met Megumi, and the gods know he certainly made a fool of himself in front of her family… And yet he couldn’t quite pivot out of his own perspective. He couldn’t see whatever it was Yasu saw in Gai.
Frankly, he didn’t want to.
Instead, he justified himself and his thoughts by saying, “She’s my sister.”