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angevonTere drew some fanart of Kichirou! Thanks so much! :)
Kichirou sat at the tea table in the living room. He was lucky; there hadn't been much homework today. He'd finished it all in record speed. And he hadn't cheated! Uncle Narukami would've been proud.
Speaking of Uncle Narukami... Kichirou still had a few hours before Dad came home. With nothing left to do, he sent a quick text message to his favorite uncle to ask if he could call. It didn't take long for him to receive the okay. While waiting for him to pick up, Kichirou absently hummed the tune from Endless Dreamer that went with the number.
"Hello, Kicchan~ How are things?"
Kichirou grinned to himself. He missed Uncle Narukami a lot, but the man let him call pretty much whenever he wanted to. It was great! Even if his voice sounded funny through the phone. "I'm okay, Uncle Narukami! H-how about you?"
"I'm cooking dinner," Uncle Narukami replied. "Can you guess what it is? Here's a hint: it uses soy sauce."
"That's not fair, Uncle Narukami!" Kichirou exclaimed. "Lots of things use soy sauce. Umm... Is it teriyaki chicken?"
"Try again!"
"Soup?"
"Nope! Here's another hint: the meat is not chicken or beef. And your dad would love it."
"Oh! Is it, umm... Ginger pork? Yeah? Maybe I'll ask Dad to make that, too! Then it'll be like we're all eating it!"
"That's really cute, Kicchan. Has he been cooking a lot for you? I'm glad he hasn't forgotten everything I taught him."
"We had a new recipe last night. It was Italian! I helped him make the sauce."
"That's great, Kicchan. You can tell him I'm... I'm proud of him. Just like I'm proud of you!"
"Huh?" Kichirou blinked at the phone. "Dad still hasn't called you...?"
"Don't worry about it, Kicchan!" Uncle Narukami said, sounding maybe too cheerful. "Now what did you call for? Did you finish your homework? Or is Hiro-chan causing problems again? That boy! The next time I visit you guys, he is going to hear it from me, I promise."
"N-no, it's okay, Uncle Narukami!" Kichirou protested. "He's still my friend."
"If you say so!"
They talked for several more minutes until Kichirou heard the front door open. "Oh, Dad's home early!" he said. "I'll talk to you later, Uncle Narukami!"
"I'll look forward to it," his uncle promised.
"Daaaad," Kichirou called from his room after putting away his phone. "Can we have ginger pork for dinner?"
There wasn't an answer. Kichirou shuffled off of his futon and headed into the living room, where he stopped dead in his tracks.
Mom was home!
She opened her arms at the sight of him, and he immediately went into them. She held him close, pulling him onto the living room couch.
"M-Mom," he said pulling back to look up at her face. "You've come again..."
"I wanted to see you again," she said softly. "My darling."
He cuddled up close to her. "How long are you gonna be here?" he asked, although he already knew the answer. An hour or two at most. She didn't want to see Dad, so she'd leave before he came home from work.
"I don't know if your father will want me to stay for dinner," she said, stroking his hair.
He looked up at her excitedly. "Dinner? I can cook yakisoba! Dad taught me. B-but he doesn't let me cook without him, so... Well, you can watch over me, right? I'll cook for you, Mom!"
She smiled at him. "Don't worry. It's not that I'm hungry, but I wanted to speak with your father. And I know you usually eat dinner right after he comes home."
"Oh." Kichirou looked down, not sure how to feel. If they were going to talk, then... He looked up and into her eyes. "Mom, are you and Dad going to get a divorce?" Neither of his parents had used that word before, at least not in his hearing, but he knew it was out there, just waiting to be said.
"Kicchan," she murmured. "I know it's hard for you to see your father and me living apart like this. But I believe it's better this way. Is there anything I can do to make it easier for you?"
"You don't love Dad anymore?"
Mom's face tightened. "I do care about him, Kicchan. That's why I'm staying with you until he comes home tonight. We have things to talk about."
"Dad hides it, but he's really, really sad. When we're playing games and things, he's happy and he smiles, but when we're not, his face is all like this." Kichirou put on a sad face to demonstrate.
"Then seeing me today is not going to help." She sighed. "I thought he'd be doing better by now..."
"I think he really misses you... and Uncle Narukami, too."
Mom tilted her head. "That's right. I was wondering where Narukami-san is. He's not here any more?"
"He had to go back to work. I miss him," Kichirou admitted, "but it's been okay because I call him all the time! But you know, umm, Dad hasn't called him since he left, and that was a long time ago." He frowned, because Uncle Narukami had sounded so strange when he'd told Kichirou that over the phone.
"That's very unlike him," Mom agreed, her own mouth turning down. "Narukami-san is a very compassionate person. I was glad that he had come to help your father out."
"I love Uncle Narukami!" Kichirou announced. He sighed. "I wish all four of us could live together..."
His mother laughed and rubbed his head. "I don't think the house can fit that many people. It's very simple, darling. If your father isn't calling him, he should call your father."
"I'll tell him!" Kichirou promised. "If only he didn't live so far away. I can call, but I want to see him. I don't want it to be another year..."
"Tell him that, too," she suggested.
"I have! He promised it wouldn't be a year. Maybe he can come over on Labor Thanksgiving Day?"
"I don't know him that well, darling."
"O-oh, yeah." In his excitement, Kichirou had forgotten that Uncle Narukami was his dad's friend, not his mom's. But Mom liked him, anyway. And he thought it went both ways. Uncle Narukami had offered to cook for her the few times she'd visited Kichirou while he was staying here... which might have been partly what inspired the boy to offer to cook today.
"Kichirou-kun," she said, abruptly calling him by his full name. She was biting her lower lip. "If your father and I do end up divorced, remember that we both love you more than anything. I know it won't be easy, but I don't want to hurt you. I'll always be your mother." She hugged him very tight all of a sudden.
"C-can you tell Dad that?" he asked.
"I'll try," she promised.
