The rest of the week flew by and before I knew it, Sunday came crashing down. The trickles of light settled on my eyes. The morning was here to greet me, but I wasn’t ready for it. I tossed to the side, digging deeper into my fluffy sheets. This was bliss. There are no other words for it. But then my nose stubbornly caught hold of something good. This caused a war to battle in my stomach.

“Mmm…I’m hungry.”

I grumbled that my perfect sleep was bound to be interrupted. But by the request of my general stomach, I wiggled upright like a flower pointing towards the sun. My feet dragged on the carpet like a snail as I slogged my way down the steps.

Food of all assortment was spread out over the table when I arrived. It was like a banquet made in my honor as I approached slowly. The corners of my mouth rose from the sight of the woman dancing about the kitchen. In an apron with her hair up, she glided from one side to the other with vigor.

But she didn’t seem in a hurry. No, she was genuinely working hard with a beam on her face. The word that popped into my head was “happiness.”

“Oh, look at that bed hair.”

“Hm?”

I touched my hair, revealing the aftermath of a good night’s rest. I didn’t even bother to look in the mirror. I cursed my stomach before making my way to the table.

“Morning mom.”

“Good morning, Madoka.”

A yawn escaped my mouth, causing my face to warm up. I tried to hold it in, but it felt like I turned into a sloth overnight.

“You’re up early, mom.”

Mom snickered as she turned back to the kitchen stove. Her ponytail swayed back and forth, holding on for dear life.

“No, you just slept in.”

“Uh? Oh, I didn’t realize it.”

“Good morning everyone…”

Hana-san stumbled in next with her eyes still shut. It seemed the curse of the sloth had reached Hana-san’s room too. Maybe we’re going to have to purify the upstairs bedrooms so we can wake up on time from now on.

“Oh my, you both have bad bed hair.”

In unison we yawned, ignoring my mom’s tease.

“Ah…Where’s Koda-san?”

“She’s still asleep. She had a late night so I’m letting her sleep in too.”

Surprisingly enough, mom can get ready in the mornings that she doesn’t have work. I suppose there’s less stress when waking up to cook breakfast on a weekend. I never had a job so I wouldn’t know...

“Onee-san, can you pass the sauce.”

“Ah, here you go, Hana-san.”

Mom beamed at me. Her smile was a bit too bright for the morning. I found myself squinting my eyes, shielding them from her glamour.

“I get goosebumps hearing you two talk with one another.”

Mom literally jumped 10 feet when she found out that Hana-san decided to call me Onee-san from now on. In contrast to mom, Koda-san didn’t seem all that enthusiastic about it. She just slumped her shoulders and said, “My, my.” Then proceeded to laze around the house without care.

“Y-you don’t have to point it out all the time, mom!”

Hana-san with her eyes still closed bickered.

I can’t deny that having Hana-san here has made this entire thing a tad easier to adjust to. She seems to be reliable enough to talk to despite still being a bit of a brat every now and then. Maybe this is how it is having a sister?

I took a bite of my rice and like a ceasefire, the growl in my stomach came to a halt. If only my head could fall back into the pillows. But that was a dream that wasn’t worth it anymore. I know as soon as I try to get as comfortable as before…It’ll never be the same.

“Yaaaawnnn…”

From the room across the way, the bear woke from hibernation. She dragged her feet to the table. I can’t lie, this is the worst condition I’ve ever seen her in.

“I’m so hungry!”

Like a dinosaur, she roared, wailing her head from one side to the other.

“Manners, Mari!”

Koda-san stubbornly lied her arms on the table, exhausted from…whatever…

“Last night was hell. The editor wouldn’t stop correcting the paper I submitted. We ended up being there for hours and we still didn’t get anything done!”

Tears welled up in her eyes as she lied her cheek on the tabletop.

“My boss was just about to have me come in today to finish. But he opted against it because he had a hot date.”

“Sounds rough.”

Mom interjected.

“It was rough.”

Koda-san’s head slumped deeper on the table. Her cheek pressed against the wood so hard I felt uncomfortable just looking at her.

“I’m done! I’m going to a friend's house today, so I’ll see everyone later!”

“Eh?”

Hana-san took her opportunity and jumped out of her chair. She ran like a prisoner who just seen their gate to freedom. Mom, being the watchful guard, screamed back to her.

“Hana! You barely touched your breakfast! Get back down here right now.”

“But mom, I’m full!”

“It’s okay, Ayumi…I got enough of an appetite for both of us.”

Now attentive to the food, Koda-san takes hold of her daughter’s bowl and starts scarfing down the leftover rice. First, I compared her to a dinosaur, then a bear, now she’s a scavenger? None of these are good for a proper woman.

Lazily, Koda-san’s eyes turned to me. One eye visible through her short dark hair she smirked.

“Is something wrong?”

“Hm…Not really.”

Mom finally sat down with the three of us now. She brushed Mari’s hair back like tending to a baby.

“Well, I have to go visit Ryuji’s girlfriend later today.”

The fox’s face curved slightly.

“Great…”

She added, chewing on her meal in between.

“You’re going to uncle’s?”

Curiously, I questioned. I rarely saw my uncle and even heard from him. There’s good reason, him being a bigshot at the editorial firm and all.

“Yes, I have to help her pick out a present for him for when he gets back to Japan.”

“I sure as hell ain’t helping.”

She spewed, turning her nose to the ceiling. This is the first time I saw Koda-san physically annoyed with anything. I didn’t know she felt this way about my uncle either.

“Mari, you’re going to have to make up with him one day. He’s my brother.”

“Your brother thinks I’m a leech. He acts nice to Hana and me but…”

Koda-san turned to me before finishing her sentence. Instead of going on, she continued eating her rice.

“Well of course he’ll feel that way because he…”

Confused in the conversation, I chimed in.

“He…?”

With a sigh, she interjected.

“He doesn’t approve that Ayumi and I are together. Right, Ayumi?”

“Uncle Ryuji doesn’t?!”

“He never said that…Mari.”

She sat back in her chair and took a deep breath. The tears in her eyes didn’t help her look.

“No, but I even suspect he’s trying to…”

Koda-san turned back to me before gazing back to mom.

“Y’know Ayumi, we shouldn’t keep talking about this with our kids around.”

“I’m not a kid.”

The fox giggled as she leaned over to me. She reached out her free hand.

“I know. You’re a woman.”

I scooted away from her as if her fingers were poisonous to the touch.

Her voice smoothed out as she retracted her hand back to her side. It honestly creeped me out a little.

“Well anyway Mari, I’m going to be out too so if you both need me just give me a call.”

Koda-san rested her elbow on the table. With her cheek resting in her hand she gazed back to me. Her manners were getting worse by the minute.

“Do you have any plans today?”

I was just planning to laze around the house and look up fashion online. But knowing she’ll be there with me put me in an off mood. I couldn’t necessarily lie to her so instead I lit the fire and told the truth.

“No. I wasn’t in the mood to leave today.”

“Guess it’s just us two today then.”

“Guess so.”

Koda-san grinned and brought the bowl of rice up to her face.

“Hey don’t worry! I’m not going to bother you today. I’m pretty beat so I just want to laze around and watch dramas all day.”

Mom pinched her cheek causing Koda-san to wine.

“You both better do something productive at least. Dust the house or something. Mari, you can’t leave all the housework to Madoka just because she’s a neat freak.”

“N-Neat freak?! No, I’m not!”

I couldn’t help but ask myself if that was how they saw me. Did putting a bit of organization into this madhouse make me the neat freak?

“Madoka, you know I didn’t mean that.”

“What did you mean then?!”

I continued eating, albeit pissed off.

Mom and Hana left soon after. So, I escaped to my room and listened to some music while surfing the net, just like I intended to do. Days like this are nice and I didn’t want to waste my chance to relax in my own head. With my schoolwork already finished last night, the day of the sloth continued without hesitation.

Soon enough a hot breath of air escaped my mouth. It made me realize that I was parched. So, reluctantly I got up from my seat and headed downstairs.

“Oh…Nakagawa-san!”

I noticed Koda-san on the couch and hoped to pass her on my way to the kitchen. But that attempt failed. With a sigh, I turned to her.

“I was just going to see if you wanted to watch a drama with me.”

I waved my hand back and forth.

“Nah, I’m just getting a glass of water then going back to my room.”

“Oh…Okay.”

Koda-san with her feet scrunched up on the couch looked at me, innocently. Then she put her head down slightly, tilting it to the side. She muttered something to herself before popping her head back up as I passed her.

“T-The name of the show is Born Free…”

“O-okay.”

As I kept walking, I couldn’t understand why she’d go out of her way to keep speaking about it. Hasn’t she noticed my disinterest in the matter? …Then the bells in my head hit me as if someone inside was screaming, “Hold up, stupid!”

“Born Free?”

I found myself walking back over to the living room.

“Yep. It ended a year ago and I was just planning to watch the remaining episodes.”

“Born Free ended?!”

Born Free was one of my favorite Korean drama’s out there. The main lead was a woman entwined in a relationship with a male student whose father is a billionaire. The father was dealing in shady business and one day planned to give it to his son. I completely forgot about it. It was so good and was around season 6 last I seen it.

“I heard the ending was a doozy. Too bad I have to watch it alone…”

The eeriness in her voice made me stagger a bit. But in all honesty…I suddenly wanted to watch Born Free too. Maybe I can go back into my room and find it on the internet?

“I even have the DVD with deleted scenes too.”

Holding the DVDs to her cheeks she turned back to me.

“Even the deleted scenes?!”

My heart almost gave out. One of the best parts of Born Free was seeing the bloopers while the show was being created. The takes were always so outlandish that it became an internet sensation online.

“Too bad I’ll have to watch it alone.”

“S-stop…I give.”

Defeated, I got on the couch to the left of her. That was enough to suck the life out of any will to resist.

“We’ll…watch it together.”

“Really?!”

Koda-san smiled at me naively. No, that’s wrong…she’s a devil.

“So, I have season 7 and 8. Wait, I’ll go get us some snacks and juice from the kitchen.”

The hare jumped up and raced to the pantry. She looked in a small compartment and pulled out chips, pocky, and juice. After setting those items aside, she dug back in. I watched in awe as she brought out two large cups, a bowl, and a small blanket.

I began to wonder what else could fit in that tiny compartment. As if it was the portal to a grocery store. As I watched her elegant movements, I couldn’t help to think she had this planned or something. But thinking like that would lean onto a conspiracy.

There’s no way Koda-san of all people would know I haven’t seen the last two seasons of this drama and the foods I like too, right? My eyes danced, following her around as she put the food in a bowl. She grabbed the two large cups with ice in them and raced back over.

Her feet tattered against the carpet before she jumped to my side, one leg upholding the bowl out too me.

“Here you go.”

“Hm…”

“Is it not good?”

She fell back on her second leg still with a smile on her face.

“No…it’s fine.”

With a beam, she sat down and gave me my food.

“Okay, we’re watching the entire season. We’re only stopping for bathroom breaks. Got it, Madoka-san?”

“Sure, sure. Let’s get going Koda-san.”

Now with us, the two pilots in the plane, I signaled her off as she clicked on the DVD player.

“Hehehehe.”

Her giggle made the hairs on my back stand up.

“What are you laughing about?”

“How…honesty makes a difference.”

I couldn’t wrap my head around what she was saying. So, instead of worrying about it, I turned back to the TV. Maybe I can imagine that she’s just not here...