“Oh no, I’m going to be late!”

My ragdoll body sprung out of bed. I nearly tumbled to the floor as I bounce to my feet. My neck clicked back and forth so far; it would put an owl to shame. After breathing deeply to settle my nerves I opened the door and listened down the steps. It seems even though it’s been two years Mom still can’t get up in time to save her life.

“Where is my book?! I can’t remember where I put it!”

My neck angled further now. There’s a different voice in there than I previously remembered. Is that…Hana-san?

“Now hold on everyone…has anyone seen my left stocking?! I swear I just had it.”

“That couldn’t be…Koda-san too”

I grumbled.

Before my accident, I would always get my mom up and ready for work. She used to work plenty of jobs. So, I was there to support her by getting her well prepared beforehand. But it seems this entire group can’t get their act together in the morning.

I held my head, not doing any favors to my morning bed hair. Not that I could criticize, still being asleep at this time. I stayed up too late and this was my punishment. With no other obligations to attend to until my entry exam date, that’s to be expected of a junior high…no, high school girl.

I stepped out of the door and ventured down the steps only to come face to face with my new reality. The hallway in shambles as the three in question race back and forth like gerbils in a cage. Likely looking for various things. Hana-san with her butt sticking out from under the sofa. Mom with her tall body searching through the cabinets in the kitchen. Koda-san seemed to have given up all hope and rested on the side of the kitchen table.

“What’s going on here?”

Like deer in headlights, they all turn to me.

“Oh…honey did we wake you?”

Mom fled ignorance. With a clap of my hands, I tried to gather the three around the living room. Koda-san, however, stayed put still leaning on the side of the table.

“First off, what’s going on?”

Hana-san was the first to approach like a dog with her tail between her legs.

“I can’t find my math book. I was studying last night and thought I left it on the table in the kitchen, but it wasn’t there when I woke up...”

“Is it the one with the deep green cover? The hardback?”

“Yes!”

Hana-san explodes, hopping six feet in the air.

“It’s on top of the TV stand. You must have left it there by mistake. Now, Mom?!”

Like Hana-san before, Mom bobbed over to me.

“I had a report typed and printed out. I don’t have the time to reprint it before today’s meeting, Madoka!”

“And you think you left it in the kitchen cabinet?!”

“I-I got desperate!”

“Wait, weren’t you doing laundry yesterday? This might be a shot in the dark but…have you checked the washroom, on top of the washing machine?”

Her eyes lit up as she raced in there without another word. Soon enough a shriek came bursting out after.

“I found it, Madoka! It’s right here!”

My palm whacked my forehead. There’s no way she could be that ditzy, right? I turned to the final trial. Koda-san smiled at me, daringly.

“Wherever might my stocking be?”

She snickered as if challenging my powers.

“You’re sitting on it, aren't you?”

“Really?!”

Koda jumped up from the side of the table and long behold she found what she’d been looking for. Why it was on the kitchen table in the first place is a whole other problem.

“So reliable!”

Mom took hold of Hana-san's hand.

“C’mon Hana, it’s too late for breakfast! Mari, start the car!”

“Wait!”

I shouted, earning their attention. The mood of the morning was in ruins. My offer torn to pieces… I checked the refrigerator and held out three boxes of lunch bentos.

“Here you three…”

I had planned to give this to them all as an apology, but now I had to shove them out the door. It's the reason why I was so tired. Because I stayed up late into the night making these for them.

“I can’t stop you all from starvation in the morning but for lunch…I know you won’t go hungry…”

The look in Mom's eyes was soft. My fingers trembled as I set them on the table. I found it hard to look to Hana-san and Koda-san too so, I wouldn't know the expression on their faces.

“Thanks, Madoka-san.”

Hana-san spoke up first.

“M-Madoka…”

Mom held it close to her chest like a treasure. This reminded me of back then.

“Ah…”

“Mari, Hana, we have to go.”

Mom took their hands and like a whirlwind, they all flew out of the home. From level 10 to 0 in an instant. It was silent now, but the home was still left in shambles. There I stood in a sea of the disaster known as my living room.

“Since I have nothing else to do…”

I bent down and lifted a shoe. With a sigh, I aimlessly picked up the clutter. Before I knew it, I was making my way to each room, straightening up the chaos from the recent hurricane. With a towel, I found myself wiping down the windows to dusting the hall. It took me a minute to realize that these normal things have not been done in a while. Being cooped up in my room with my books may have played a part in not noticing it sooner. These three were something else.

“So…this is normal life now?”

Feeling the loathing like a brick to the head, I continued without another word. I eased my way to Hana-san’s room. A tad guilty at first, I opened the door.

“I’m coming in.”

I didn't expect a response, but I said it anyway. Likely to soothe my conscious a bit if anything. The room is in a stable condition unlike how the living room was earlier. So, all I did was straighten up her pillows and fix her sheets. As I hovered my body over her twin mattress, I caught the scent of fresh flowers. The aroma waft into my nose causing me to think about the dew after a rainy day. The smell fit Hana-san's coy yet firm image. Not just because of her name but Hana-san had always reminded me of a flower. One in a clearing, away from the others.

I lifted my head up from the sheets and searched the room now. Video games and manga flooded her bookcases. Was Hana-san a bit of an otaku?

“Hm…”

That question would be left for another time, I concluded. The detective in me now searched her nightstand as if looking for clues. A picture of her and Koda-san faced her bedside. With the tip of my finger, I nudged it.

“Hm…I wonder what happened to Hana-san's dad?”

I never asked the question. Well, it’s not as if I had any interest in her before last night. She and I might be far more similar than I first imagined. Finishing up in her room I shut the door leaving everything else the way it was.

I lumped myself down the steps and walk over to Moms’ room…Well, hers and Koda-san’s. I entered in to see the room in a similar condition of Hana-san’s. Now immune to the guilt I enter in and head right to the bed. As I lean over a picture caught my eye on the nightstand. One of Mom and Koda-san in an establishment. Probably their job. They both work for the same editorial company as she said before. Behind them is a sign that says “Congratulations.” I wonder what the occasion was for a moment before putting the picture back down. My goal was to fix the sheets and that’s it. I turn back when a tender lemon floats into my nose. The citrus bath soap seems a bit childish, so I intuitively know it isn’t my mother’s…It must be Koda-san's.

“So, they do sleep in the same bed…”

I didn’t think much of it until now. It’s so strange to think my mom is…with another woman in that way… I wonder what she saw in Koda-san that had that kind of attraction. I couldn’t even imagine being enticed by a person of the same sex. It just doesn’t resonate with me. But who am I to judge my mom? I’ve always put my mom on a bit of a higher plane than others. That is something I was aware of. So, seeing her make this change in her life is…

Putting my mean-spirited thoughts at rest I fix the bed and leave the room.

“I'll have to apologize properly, won’t I?”

A sigh escapes my mouth.

“A bento box won’t fix everything…”

I’ve always been hard on myself so what I did last night was no exception. I shouldn’t have made my mom, Hana-san, or even that weirdo Koda-san feel that way. My mind raced back to the night. Her handing me those sandwiches and making strange comments all the while. That unnerving smile plastered on her face as if she were a lion buttering up her prey.

Koda-san... just rubbed me the wrong way or something. Maybe it was because she’s seeing my mom? I guess I’d feel this way even if she was a man. Anyone who is there in place of my dad I’d probably have some animosity against. But no, Koda-san is just…strange. She’s pretty…enough to get the attention of a bunch of other people. I’m sure Nakagawa Ayumi wasn’t her only suitor. Why did she choose my mom then?

I’m not downing my mom's looks at all either. Mom is an exceptionally beautiful person and I’m not saying that because she’s my mother. There were plenty of people who tried to get in contact with her when dad died. Vultures came and went, and I had to protect her from them.

“Lose this number, punk!” was a phrase I would say to get them off her back. Then I look at Koda-san and can’t even recall when the two of them met. When did Koda-san enter my mom's life? And when or why did it bloom into something like this? Could you call this…love? I don’t even want to imagine those two…

I stop myself before I go down that thought. Imagining my own mother in that kind of scenario is beyond obscene. But there had to be something to make her…want that with Koda-san.

“…I just don’t know!”

I screamed, falling back into the sofa. My arm shielded my eyes from the morning rays as I sank into the cushions. A part of me wished I would just fade in deeper, away from this bizarre world. There are so many questions that I have but I’m not sure how to ask. I don’t think Mom and the others are hiding things from me out of malice. But I think they’re not telling me because I haven’t asked the right questions yet.

It’s like being the only sports fan in a group that plays games. While one could still socialize with them…everything they speak about is fundamentally different. As they speak about their games the rest of the group understands already…there is no need for explanations because everyone is on the same page. All the while the lone wolf of the group doesn’t understand their world and why it’s so different than their own...

Mom, Hana-san, and Koda-san…They’ve been together for a while now. They must have been through things that I don’t know about… and I can’t be a part of their conversations because I don’t understand their world...That made me the lone wolf.

“I feel…alone.”

I said it. Like a spoiled child, I admitted it to myself. I certainly am the odd one out. With a sigh, I closed my eyes. My body relaxed as my eyes drifted off into an ocean of my thoughts. I removed my glasses and set them on the table. Before I knew it, I fell into a light sleep.

The sound of the front door opening slowly nudges me from my brief slumber. I lift my head up then my body sprung up after. I reached for my glasses to reveal who was coming through the door unannounced.

“Ah, K-Koda-san?”

“Oh, I didn’t see you there, N-Nakagawa-san.”

Koda-san wobbled over, pulling off her heels as she approached. After nursing her ankles, she set down her briefcase on the counter.

“Why aren’t you at work?”

Alarmed, I questioned. I wasn’t aware but my body scrunched itself up to the arm of the sofa. Koda-san put her hands up in the air like I had pointed a gun to her.

“Oh, all I had to do today was enter in a report and do a small speech. Since I came from overseas and haven’t had a day off, I took two of them.”

She removed her heels and raced over to the Sofa. My guard didn’t waver as I clinched the pillow, peeking my head out from behind it.

“I…was looking forward to having some alone time with you, Nakagawa-san.”

“Why is that?”

I held the shield closer. But all Koda-san did was giggle softly and sat at the other end of the Sofa.

“That bento box you made was delicious.”

“O-Oh, …it was nothing. Just a few things I use to whip up for mom.”

“I’ve always wanted to taste one of your bento boxes. Your mom would talk about them all the time.”

"She would?"

I felt my face become warm and before I knew it, I turned to the side.

“Stop saying such embarrassing things.”

The snake leaned her body towards me causing me to clinch the pillow even tighter. I scrunched up, furthering my distance from her.

“Nakagawa-san…”

“What…”

“Would you make my bento box every day?”

“Wha?!”

The devil snickered, holding her stomach.

“Sorry…You looked so cute; I couldn't help it!”

She smiles sinisterly. I could have sworn I seen horns appear on her head.

Annoyed now, I tossed the pillow. Only by chance, it hit her square in the face.

“Ouch!”

With my chance to escape in front of me I stand up and attempt to make my way to my room when she called back to me…

“W-Wait! Nakagawa-san, I’m sorry!”

I raced up the steps and slammed my room door.

“Gosh, she’s a freak!”

I couldn't believe my mom is with that kind of woman.

“Nakagawa-san! I wanted to tease you a little, that’s all!”

“You’re horrible!”

I shouted at the top of my lungs. I wasn’t sure but I swear the roof shook by the vibration of my rage.

“Please forgive me! I-I was wondering if maybe we could go out and get to know each other better.”

“Forget it! You lost your chance!”

Now I was pissed. I locked the door and took out my iPod. It’s time to drown out the annoyance on the other side of the door. I lied on my bed attempting to zone out. Cheery idol tunes filled my mind. Cute girls dancing about in frilly clothing. This was the world I wanted to be a part of. I’m super into these kinds of things and I was proud of it too.

But after the third song or so I grew self-conscious. Thinking about it more if I make Koda-san upset…mom might get mad too. With butterflies of that scolding coming forth, I grumbled.

“Damnit…”

I stood up, escaping from that perfect world of idol bliss. Reluctantly, I made my way to the door. I peeked in downstairs to witness the person in question with her head against the wall.

“Smooth move, dumbass.”

Koda pushed her forehead to the wall. It irritated me knowing I just cleaned that earlier too. But could it be that she’s…self-loathing? With a sigh, I ventured down the steps. Even being so close it seemed she hasn’t noticed me yet.

“Ah…Koda-san.”

“Eh?!”

Like a kangaroo, Koda hopped five feet in the air as she turned around. Even acting so wildly she seems to have a cute side to her. Is it strange to say that this weirdo is a bit entertaining to watch? But I digressed, letting that thought pass me.

“What…did you have in mind.”

I muster up the courage to ask.

“O-Oh?! Ah…I was just thinking about us making a meal for the family!”

“For the family?”

I look at her again. Koda-san pushed her fingers together. Acting like an elementary school kid who got caught with her hands in the cookie jar.

“F-fine, let’s get going!”

How was I supposed to say no to someone with that look on their face? Geez, this Koda-san is a handful!

“Yes!”

She pumped her arm.

“I need to get dressed…and put my contacts on so give me a minute.”

“O-Okay Mado…Ah…Nakagawa-san.”