Chapter 73: Chapter 72 - The Woman Who Became Family

The sound of rainfall against the glass panes enveloped the normally quiet Tachibana-Kurogane residence.

Six months had gone by since Shizuka Tachibana became the wife of Kuro father’s Daichi and stepmother to him; thus far she has tried to understand the emotionally distant nature that has become part of his life.

But this week felt entirely different.

It was the weight of change that seemed to have overcome Kuro.

Although it was not apparent to the naked eye.Perhaps no one else has noticed.

Shizuka did however.

He has become more subdued than before; speaks less during conversation and seems to be increasingly uncomfortable with making eye contact.

Every time someone asks whether he is alright, he smiles shyly and changes the subject.

This is what worries Shizuka most of all.

Once again Shizuka sat alone in the kitchen preparing dinner thinking back on her first day at the house.

It was an overwhelming and nervous experience for Shizuka however, her nerves did not stem from being married.

In fact, her biggest concern on that day involved Kuro.

A teenage boy was suddenly forced to adapt to all of the following changes a new stepmother , twins new stepsisters and completely different family dynamic

Considering all of these changes, it is no wonder to Shizuka that Kuro may be feeling overwhelmed.

Despite her past experiences, this was Kuro’s experience and his to deal with.

Six months ago, Shizuka remembers standing awkwardly in the living room nervously looking at Kuro who was sitting silently on the sofa.

The way Kuro interacted with Shizuka conveyed nothing but a lack of emotion.

There would be no feeling of hate; there would be a lack of feeling. Nothing more than a simple feeling of polite emotional distance would exist.

Then, with a soft voice, Kuro simply stated.

"Nice to meet you."

He responded to this statement with a very unexcited:

"...Yeah."

That was it. There was no ill will; there was no warmth or kindness.

Shizuka immediately recognized at that moment that this young man had already created barriers around his heart and mind long before meeting her.

That night after Shizuka finished folding clothes and was relaxing on her own in the living room, another memory came back to her from all those years ago before she was even married to him.

Before she even met him as a co-worker of her father during the time that she would come over to their family home for dinner meetings with her father and small gatherings with family and friends.

Back then she heard vague things about him being a quiet guy, but a straight-A student, another value that made him difficult for her to get to know.

So when she finally was able to see him, she had no idea what he looked like—until she saw him standing in his yard, sitting outside in the garden near Aoi and Akari.

He and Akari were much younger than they are now and still loud, still full of energy and still continually fighting over the littlest things.

She remembers Akari screaming at Aoi and waving around a toy water gun in an angry and very theatrical manner.

With a bucket in her hand and a murderous look on her face, Aoi was quietly hot on the heels of poor Akari.

At the same time in the center of the battlefield, Kuro was already looking drained from all this stress.

"Why don’t you both chill out before you get somebody hurt?"

I guess it was too late.

Akari slipped on some wet grass and fell headfirst into a puddle near where the flower patch was, screaming the whole way down.

For just a second, Shizuka thought that Kuro’s child was really hurt.

But then Akari emerged from the mud-covered puddle and said to Aoi, "You tried to assassinate me!"

To which Aoi coolly replied, "That was just nature taking care of itself."

Then all of a sudden Kuro burst into laughter .

Not the well-behaved type of giggle we have become accustomed to there was no holding back at all here.

This laugh was an honest laugh.

An innocent laughter.

An extremely good laughter for a little girl.

For that brief moment in time, Kuro looked just like any normal young child .

Then Akari unexpectedly took hold of Kuro’s arm in an exaggerated way

"Kuro rescue me from wicked lady"

"Kuro you began the battle"

"But I’m being defeated"

"That’s your own issue"

Kuro however reached in and assisted Akari to her feet with care and cleaned the dirt off of her sleeves too.

At the same time Aoi approached Kuro and Akari from across the room with a towel she must have previously prepared.

The three of them moved with ease around each other even back then.

Like a weird, incomplete family.

Shizuka could recall standing beside the door quietly being an observer of all three.

But her relationship with Kuro remained painfully formal in the beginning.

Instead of calling Shizuka by the familiar name "Mom," Kuro addressed her as.

"Tachibana-san."

He never called her "Mom" or even "Shizuka-san." Kuro would not stay home long and would eat his meals quietly and would help with chores as an automatic response. Then, he would go back to his room.

He behaved as though he was attempting to keep himself from getting emotionally attached to anything.

Yet, despite this distance, Shizuka gradually began to become aware of some characteristics of Kuro’s personality.

For example, Kuro would wash other people’s dishes without being asked. He would check the locks of their home every night before he went to bed.

He would demonstrate an emotional maturity that was far in excess of his actual age. He routinely had the look of extreme fatigue in his eyes.

Curiously, as Shizuka became more aware of these things, the more concerned she grew about Kuro’s well-being.

Kuro displayed no characteristics of a self-absorbed teenage boy.

He behaved as someone who was accustomed to carrying his own emotional burden alone.

It was a rainy night months ago when Kuro came home soaked from forgetting his umbrella at school.

His dad was still at work, and the twins were asleep in their room upstairs.

The second Kuro walked in the door, he apologized for dripping water on the floor and then started to try to dry it up himself.

His first reaction had been to say he was sorry.

Shizuka remembered how she gently stopped him.

"You will get a cold first."

Then she had handed him a towel.

So simple.

But Kuro had looked at her strangely almost like he was surprised that someone would show concern for him anymore in such a natural way.

That look stuck with her.

Now, only a few months later, Shizuka stood again in the kitchen with the wooden spoon wrapped tightly in her finger.

Kuro still bore too much of a burden of loneliness to have reached an appropriate level of maturity.

The first time Kuro fell asleep on the couch happened by accident.

It had been a long exhausting day at school. Homework was sitting unfinished beside him.

Shizuka crept up on Kuro so she could wake Kuro from his deep sleep.

He simply came to a screeching halt.

He looked like he was in need of rest, but sleeping was obviously not quite doing the trick.

He rolled over and mumbled something unexpectedly outloud.

"..Mom.."

That was a tiny, tiny voice!

O-wah!

He had been so quiet!

So calm!

How did Shizuka know that he was still grieving?

Shizuka started being more aware of him and more careful.

Not to intrude into his life; just little things, like if he was studying late, she would make him another pot of coffee before she went to bed.

If he came home tired, she would wait up for him.

If he was going through stressful times, she would leave food outside his bedroom door.

She began to notice that he started showing her small tokens of gratitude. He would stay at the table longer after dinner, and tease Akari when he was feeling good instead of running up the stairs as fast as he could.

Small changes - small, but very, very valuable.

The little things were what made the difference in Kuro’s life.

So, when Shizuka saw Kuro was once again distant, it came to me at an unexpected time.

It has been six months since she had felt so helpless!

The door opened slightly.

Kuro entered with his clothes and shoes slightly wet from the rain.

"I’m home ."

Shizuka immediately turned to face him.

Once more, she saw the weight of exhaustion deep within his eyes.

Then softy she said "Welcome home." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Kuro nodded slightly and began to walk upstairs.

He paused briefly before continuing onto the second floor, saying "The food smells good."

Such a simple sentence.

So short.

But for some reason, a tinge of sadness spread through Shizuka when she heard him say it.

He still was trying to consider other people even when he was hurting.

This made her want to protect him even more than before.