Today is August 8th—my best friend Junpei's birthday. Naturally, being the social butterfly he is, he invited me out to celebrate. Naturally, being the exhausted single father figure I am, I immediately rejected his invitation.
"Come on, man! You need to get out and live a little!" Junpei whined over the phone.
"Live a little? I promised Keiko I'd take care of Rin, and I can't just leave her alone at night while we going to party until midnight," I argued.
"Oh, come on. Rin’s not a little kid. She’ll be fine for a few hours," Junpei said.
"Yeah, but if anything happens, Keiko will skin me alive. And look, I’m trying to fix my relationship with both of them, not gonna ruin it by sneaking out to party all night."
Junpei sighed, but then, his tone turned mischievous. "Fine. Then bring her along! We're just celebrating at a café anyway. It’ll be chill."
Junpei's invitation had me thinking all day long. Asking Rin to come along to celebrate my best friend’s birthday? That sounded impossible. I could already picture her reaction in my head.
"Rin…" I would start nervously. "My best friend is having a birthday today."
She would barely glance up from her book. "And?"
"Well… I was thinking of celebrating with him."
"Aren't you too old for that? What are you, a high schooler?"
Instant shivers ran down my spine just from my imagination. Yeah, no. Not happening.
"Hey! Stop daydreaming, Ryuko!" Ruka's voice snapped me back to reality.
"Ah, sorry!" I apologized, shaking off the horrifying vision.
"Table 6 is calling for service."
"I'm on it!" I quickly moved to do my job, grateful for the distraction.
After my work done, I sent Junpei a message.
Me: Sorry, I really can't make it. I'll make it up to you another time. Happy Birthday, Junpei.
Junpei: It's okay, bro. See you next time.
Phew. Dodged a bullet there.
When I got home, I expected Rin to be in the living room, but she was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she was in her room? As I walked past her door, I suddenly heard a soft sobbing sound.
I stood there awkwardly, feeling like I had just stepped into a scene I wasn’t supposed to witness. Should I check on her? Should I knock? Should I—?
…Nope. I chickened out.
"Maybe she's just watching a sad movies," I muttered to myself. Yeah, let’s go with that.
Deciding to give her some space, I walked away and went to take a shower first. After freshening up, I hesitated in front of her door again. The sobbing had stopped.
"Rin?" I called out. "You there? You want to have dinner?"
I sighed. She must not be in the mood. Instead of forcing her, I just went ahead and started cooking. I made an extra portion just in case she got hungry.
As I was finishing up, I suddenly heard the sound of a door opening.
Rin walked into the dining area and silently sat down at the table.
I stole a glance at her. She looked normal, but something was definitely off. Still, I decided not to press her. Instead, I served the food and said cheerfully, "Let’s eat, Rin!"
She picked up her plate and took some food without a word.
The silence was… heavy.
I cleared my throat. "Rin, are you okay?"
She paused mid-bite and glanced at me. "You heard it?"
Gulp. Okay. This is it. Do you lie? Or do you be honest?
Keiko, where are you? Please save me!
I took a deep breath, closed my eyes as if preparing for impact, and admitted, "Y-Yeah. I’m sorry."
To my surprise, Rin just sighed. "You don’t have to apologize. We live together now. It happens."
Oh. That was… not as bad as I expected.
Still, I felt guilty. If I were a better father figure, maybe she wouldn’t feel the need to hide things from me. Maybe she would be more open about her feelings.
I hesitated before speaking carefully. "Rin… I’m sorry I haven’t been a great role model for you. I know I’m not a good father, and I know I don’t understand you as well as your Mom does, but… if something ever happens, I hope you can talk to her. At least."
Rin sighed again. "Okay."
I let out a small breath of relief.
After dinner, I started collecting the dishes and washing them.
To my surprise, Rin silently stood up and started helping me.
I blinked in shock. "Rin?"
She didn’t say anything, just continued washing the plates.
I smiled softly. "Thanks."
She gave me a small nod.
And just like that, the night ended on a quiet but heartwarming note.
Three months without Keiko was going to be tough. But at least, for now, it felt like Rin and I were starting to understand each other—one awkward dinner at a time.