Picture Perfect
Mar. 11th, 2011 08:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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aibouOriginal Prompt: Nanako's thoughts about her cousin coming to stay with her and Dojima before she actually met Souji. Thoughts about what he might be like, what they might do/not do together, what her hopes and fears are. Something like that.
Dad shows her the picture two weeks before her cousin is supposed to come into town. He's a boy a lot older than her, with gray hair. He's smiling and wearing a school uniform that doesn't look familiar.
"That's him," Dad says, tapping it, "Souji Seta. He'll be staying with us for about a year, shouldn’t be any trouble. He's old enough to take care of himself, at least."
She wants to ask a lot of questions – is he nice? Will he like her? What's it going to be like having someone else living with them? – but she only gets out an, "Oh," before the phone rings and he shushes her to take the call. His frown lets her know what's going to happen even before he apologizes and grabs his coat from the rack near the door, and her fingers tighten around the photo, wrinkling it.
"I'll be back as soon as I can. Don't worry about putting my plate up, I'll take care of it later."
"Um, the picture—" She holds it out.
"You can put it in my room," he says, already halfway out the door. "Be in bed by the time I get back, all right?"
She finishes eating by herself, the picture in the middle of the table. Dad's going to be tired when he gets home so she puts his plate away when she cleans up her own and picks up the picture, wondering what to do with it. Dad said to put it in his room but she doesn't like going in there so she brings it to hers. There are no pictures in her room; she hasn't seen one of her mom in a long time and the ones they have of her and her Dad are somewhere else. Those are old anyway.
She looks at the photo of her cousin again. He looks friendly, and she puts it on her dresser before going to bed because it seems mean to close it up in a drawer.
Dad's not home when she goes to a friend's house in the morning, but she can tell he at least came in. There's the smell of coffee in the kitchen as she makes herself some eggs and the house key is in the usual place so she can lock up when she leaves. He's not home when she gets back, either, and when he does come in he falls asleep after just a few minutes. She wishes he could have stayed up so she could tell him about her day but this isn't the first time this has happened so she leaves him on the couch and goes to her room so she won't bother him.
The picture of her cousin is still on her dresser and she stares at it. She'd almost forgotten about it, but now her cousin's eyes seem more to be asking her a question.
"Dad's asleep," she says. "Work always makes him tired."
The picture doesn't talk back, of course, but it seems to be listening.
So she talks to it.
She doesn't have anything else to do anyway, and it's nice to have someone to listen. The more she talks, the more she thinks he really is listening. She's not a baby so she knows that pictures aren't real but there's something about the way his head is tilted and his eyes are looking at her that makes it easy to say things she can't say to Dad.
"There used to be pictures of Mom in his room," she says a few days later. She's in front of the TV and there's a commercial on during one of her favorite shows, but it's not the one for Junes so she doesn't pay attention to it. The picture is on the table next to her; she's taken to moving it from room to room with her when Dad isn't home, carrying it around like he sometimes does with pictures of criminals to get into their heads. Despite studying the picture of her cousin, she hasn't managed to get into his head at all. Maybe Dad knows some trick she doesn't.
"They're all gone now," she continues, "and I don't know where he put them."
She'd like to find them but the one time she got the courage to look around, Dad found out and yelled at her. After he calmed down, he explained that he wasn't ready to put them out yet.
She didn't understand what he meant then and it doesn't make any sense now. She misses Mom too but she'd like to be able to see her and the pictures of when they were all happy. What if she forgets what she looked like? Dad talks about her so rarely, sometimes she wonders if he's forgotten about her completely.
But she can't say that even to the picture. Instead, when the next commercial comes on, she sings the Junes jingle and that cheers her up.
"When you get here, we'll sing it together, right?" That cheers her up too. Dad never sings it with her but maybe her cousin will. "We could even to go Junes!"
That might be hoping for too much, to go to her favorite place, but looking at her cousin's smile she lets herself believe it might happen.
Dad spends the week before her cousin comes doing last minute cleanup in the spare room. Nanako watches him dust and throw junk into a garbage bag and helps him with some of the stuff that isn't too hard.
"You're energetic today," he says as she fights dust bunnies under the couch.
"This has to be perfect." She sneezes. They don't use the room often.
"Can't have him thinking we keep a dirty house," Dad says, and tackles everything with renewed enthusiasm.
That night, after telling the picture about her efforts and the dinner Dad made, which wasn't very good but was great because of how rarely it happens, she says, "I'm looking forward to you living with us."
Her cousin looks happy about this.
It isn't until the date of his arrival starts to get closer that she begins to worry. It's been her and Dad for a long time; she doesn’t remember how to live with another person, especially not a boy. What if he spends all of his time with his friends and the house is even emptier than before, or the picture is fake somehow and he's mean?
She puts the picture in her drawer two days before he arrives, apologizing to it when her cousin looks at her questioningly. His smile is sad. "I'll take you out later, I promise."
She's nervous when Dad drives them to the train station and hides behind his legs when he tries to introduce her to Souji. He's taller in person than she thought he would be and somehow bigger too.
"What are you so shy for?" Dad says, but the picture hadn't prepared her for actually meeting him.
She's quiet on the drive home, but speaks up when her cousin looks sick outside the car and feels proud of herself when he smiles at her, just as nicely as in the photo.
It's a lot more intimidating to actually have him here but as they continue the drive to their house, she holds that smile in her mind and feels some of her earlier excitement.
Maybe they really will go to Junes one day.
Dad shows her the picture two weeks before her cousin is supposed to come into town. He's a boy a lot older than her, with gray hair. He's smiling and wearing a school uniform that doesn't look familiar.
"That's him," Dad says, tapping it, "Souji Seta. He'll be staying with us for about a year, shouldn’t be any trouble. He's old enough to take care of himself, at least."
She wants to ask a lot of questions – is he nice? Will he like her? What's it going to be like having someone else living with them? – but she only gets out an, "Oh," before the phone rings and he shushes her to take the call. His frown lets her know what's going to happen even before he apologizes and grabs his coat from the rack near the door, and her fingers tighten around the photo, wrinkling it.
"I'll be back as soon as I can. Don't worry about putting my plate up, I'll take care of it later."
"Um, the picture—" She holds it out.
"You can put it in my room," he says, already halfway out the door. "Be in bed by the time I get back, all right?"
She finishes eating by herself, the picture in the middle of the table. Dad's going to be tired when he gets home so she puts his plate away when she cleans up her own and picks up the picture, wondering what to do with it. Dad said to put it in his room but she doesn't like going in there so she brings it to hers. There are no pictures in her room; she hasn't seen one of her mom in a long time and the ones they have of her and her Dad are somewhere else. Those are old anyway.
She looks at the photo of her cousin again. He looks friendly, and she puts it on her dresser before going to bed because it seems mean to close it up in a drawer.
Dad's not home when she goes to a friend's house in the morning, but she can tell he at least came in. There's the smell of coffee in the kitchen as she makes herself some eggs and the house key is in the usual place so she can lock up when she leaves. He's not home when she gets back, either, and when he does come in he falls asleep after just a few minutes. She wishes he could have stayed up so she could tell him about her day but this isn't the first time this has happened so she leaves him on the couch and goes to her room so she won't bother him.
The picture of her cousin is still on her dresser and she stares at it. She'd almost forgotten about it, but now her cousin's eyes seem more to be asking her a question.
"Dad's asleep," she says. "Work always makes him tired."
The picture doesn't talk back, of course, but it seems to be listening.
So she talks to it.
She doesn't have anything else to do anyway, and it's nice to have someone to listen. The more she talks, the more she thinks he really is listening. She's not a baby so she knows that pictures aren't real but there's something about the way his head is tilted and his eyes are looking at her that makes it easy to say things she can't say to Dad.
"There used to be pictures of Mom in his room," she says a few days later. She's in front of the TV and there's a commercial on during one of her favorite shows, but it's not the one for Junes so she doesn't pay attention to it. The picture is on the table next to her; she's taken to moving it from room to room with her when Dad isn't home, carrying it around like he sometimes does with pictures of criminals to get into their heads. Despite studying the picture of her cousin, she hasn't managed to get into his head at all. Maybe Dad knows some trick she doesn't.
"They're all gone now," she continues, "and I don't know where he put them."
She'd like to find them but the one time she got the courage to look around, Dad found out and yelled at her. After he calmed down, he explained that he wasn't ready to put them out yet.
She didn't understand what he meant then and it doesn't make any sense now. She misses Mom too but she'd like to be able to see her and the pictures of when they were all happy. What if she forgets what she looked like? Dad talks about her so rarely, sometimes she wonders if he's forgotten about her completely.
But she can't say that even to the picture. Instead, when the next commercial comes on, she sings the Junes jingle and that cheers her up.
"When you get here, we'll sing it together, right?" That cheers her up too. Dad never sings it with her but maybe her cousin will. "We could even to go Junes!"
That might be hoping for too much, to go to her favorite place, but looking at her cousin's smile she lets herself believe it might happen.
Dad spends the week before her cousin comes doing last minute cleanup in the spare room. Nanako watches him dust and throw junk into a garbage bag and helps him with some of the stuff that isn't too hard.
"You're energetic today," he says as she fights dust bunnies under the couch.
"This has to be perfect." She sneezes. They don't use the room often.
"Can't have him thinking we keep a dirty house," Dad says, and tackles everything with renewed enthusiasm.
That night, after telling the picture about her efforts and the dinner Dad made, which wasn't very good but was great because of how rarely it happens, she says, "I'm looking forward to you living with us."
Her cousin looks happy about this.
It isn't until the date of his arrival starts to get closer that she begins to worry. It's been her and Dad for a long time; she doesn’t remember how to live with another person, especially not a boy. What if he spends all of his time with his friends and the house is even emptier than before, or the picture is fake somehow and he's mean?
She puts the picture in her drawer two days before he arrives, apologizing to it when her cousin looks at her questioningly. His smile is sad. "I'll take you out later, I promise."
She's nervous when Dad drives them to the train station and hides behind his legs when he tries to introduce her to Souji. He's taller in person than she thought he would be and somehow bigger too.
"What are you so shy for?" Dad says, but the picture hadn't prepared her for actually meeting him.
She's quiet on the drive home, but speaks up when her cousin looks sick outside the car and feels proud of herself when he smiles at her, just as nicely as in the photo.
It's a lot more intimidating to actually have him here but as they continue the drive to their house, she holds that smile in her mind and feels some of her earlier excitement.
Maybe they really will go to Junes one day.
Poll #6263 Picture Perfect
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