Previous: First Sunday
Fumie called her family, and they invited us to have a late lunch with them that afternoon.
We joined the last-minute planning meeting for Saturday's dinner-dance, and that kept us at church another hour, and then Teru and I headed for the bus stop with her in the early afternoon sun. Fumie and Teru walked ahead of me, chatting somewhat randomly about the dance, Fumie's family, and getting Teru back into a school.
"Ryō, WHAT th' HECK d'ya think you are do--."
I prepared for the slap on the back, but it didn't come. I turned around to find Jun looking past me. I checked his line of sight, but I couldn't tell if he was looking at Teru or Fumie, both of whom had turned around to look at us.
"Aniki!" Teru grinned at her brother.
Jun shifted gears. "Uhmean, how th' heck is it going, Ryō? Hi, Teru, wha's happ'nin'?"
Most people would not have noticed he was having to struggle to shift those gears, but it was plain to me, and probably to Teru, as well. I wondered briefly whether Fumie had registered his confusion.
Teru's and my replies overlapped:
"Yo, Jun. Not bad."
"Hi, yourself. Been to church with Ryō and Fumie. They introduced me to some of their friends."
"Ryō and ... Fumi ... Fumi ... Fumie?"
Fumie nodded.
"'Lo, Fumie." He returned the nod distractedly. "Nice t'meet ya, Uhguess." He looked back to me. "Ryō, w' need t'talk."
"So you would be Teru's big brother, Jun? Nice to meet you too. I've heard good things about you."
"Uh, yeah. Good things. 'Mglad. Lies prob'ly. Unhh, Ryō?"
I turned back towards the bus stop and started walking again, talking over my shoulder. "Well, you're here and that's a good thing. The bus should be along pretty soon. Why don't we talk on the way?" I walked past Teru and Fumie, who stood as if waiting to see what would happen.
Jun stood still, surprised, then hurried after me, and Teru and Fumie followed.
"What are you doing?" His voice was low and urgent. "Who is," he looked back towards Fumie, "she?"
"Fumie is a member of a congregation near here. Teru needs a safe circle of friends, so we're introducing her to people at church. And Fumie's family may be able to give Teru a place to stay."
"That's not the way this is supposed to work. You're ...," he looked back again, "th' one s'pposed t'be takin' care o' Teh-chan."
"Mpphh." Fumie and Teru both suppressed laughs.
"Right. She'll be able to finish high school and make friends and I won't be too much in the way."
"Quit mess'n 'round, Ryō. It's bad 'nough that th' cops come servin' me w'that notice 'bout child custody 'r some'n yest'dy."
Teru and Fumie remained silent, listening.
"Oh yeah. They called and told me about that. I was surprised they were able to find you. But that's actually going to be a good thing."
"Huh?"
"Now you're officially her guardian. If Angel comes after Teru, we can call in the police."
"Fat lotta good that'll do. If them two girls c'd find me, 'n get hold o' th' records fr'm back home, I'm gonna hava tough time keepin' Angel's people away wi'out callin' Fumi--" He coughed. "Fumiyo f'r help."
"Fumiyo? Teru, did you say Fumiyo is your aunt?" Fumie's voice was barely audible.
"Yeah, the one who decided Ryō and I would get married."
They glanced at each other. Both might have suppressed giggles.
"The police are not as incompetent as you think they are, and Angel can't always just ignore shikitari between kumi."
Jun didn't have a comeback.
I continued. "Angel herself is just a pawn in the game, even if she hates being a pawn and pretends to be a queen."
"She's a Funamoto."
"Exactly. Your mother's family. Cousin, as I recall?"
We arrived at the bus stop, and there were others waiting. Jun grimaced and changed the subject. "So where'm Uh tag'n'long to? Something church?"
"We're going to meet Fumie's family."
"Huh? No way."
"Teru needs a place to stay --"
"You're her place to stay."
"Not yet. She needs a chance to be herself. I need her to be sure of herself before I ask her to take me on, if that's the way it should be."
"What're ya talkin' about? Yer her Sunshine Superboy."
"Exactly. She needs to see me for real, among other things. Fumie is a kind of a new friend, but she and Teru seem to get along okay. Maybe her folks can help."
I could see the wheels turning in his head as he absorbed the information and calculated strategy.
The bus approached.
"Okay. I s'pose I shud show good manners 'n come meet 'em."
"I think you should," Fumie said, turning towards him. "I mean, since you're officially her guardian, it would help in all sorts of ways."
"Eh .. O. K. I'm in."
The bus stopped and we all boarded. Teru and Fumie found a pair of open seats together, and Jun and I stood beside them in the aisle, hanging on to the overhead straps.
Fumie got out her cell phone. "I'll text my family and let them know you're coming, too, Jun." She looked up. "Ten minutes from here to the train station, and it's a fifteen minute walk from there, or a three minute train ride and a five minute walk."
"I'm good for a walk."
"Yeah," Teru nodded.
"Walkin's good fer me."
Fumie sent the message.
Jun kept checking my line of sight while Fumie and Teru discussed finding a school. I just shook my head.
After a bit, he tried a new tack. "Why's Teru needin' t' finish school anyway? She knows more'n mos'o' th' teachers."
"A little piece of paper called a diploma will give her significantly more freedom." I'm afraid I used my wet-blanket voice.
Fumie looked up and gave him a you-should-know-better stare. "And why should your little sister miss out on the fun of high school? It's good for a woman to experience choices."
"Freed'm? Ain'no such thing. Not 'n this stupi' world. 'N she's got all th' choice she needs."
"Make this world even less free than it is." Fumie turned to Teru with a sniff. "I guess your brother has a few more faults than you said."
"Me? Faults? Whuh' faults?"
I chuckled. "Dig yourself into a hole, man."
Teru shrugged and chuckled, too. "But we still love him."
After that he surprised me by listening in silence while Teru and Fumie talked about the nearest schools offering night classes until we got off the bus.
Teru and Fumie walked ahead of Jun and me, talking about courses of study. Jun waited until there wasn't anyone nearby, then interrupted.
"So how did you get the name Fumie?"
Fumie looked back at him in surprise. "My parents wanted me to be good with language and literature."
"Is your family related to the Sumaguchi family?"
"Not that I know of."
"Funamoto family?"
"Again, no. And our political ideologies lean well away from kumi politics."
Jun seemed to relax a bit. "So how long have you and Ryō been dating?"
"That's not your concern."
That put Jun back on edge.
I thought I'd take advantage of the edge. "You do realize, Jun, that putting Teru and me together in a situation where we'd feel compelled to become lovers was trying to play us into both Angel's and Aunt Fumiyo's hands?"
Jun stopped and let us walk ahead. After maybe half a minute, he started walking, after another minute he ran to catch up. "Play me for a fool. I'm blind."
"That doesn't mean Teru and I shouldn't get together, but we need it to be clear to both your families that they can't use our relationship as leverage on us. So we wait and see how she feels in a couple of years."
Fumie looked over her shoulder. "And you let your little sister have some say in what happens to her."
Again Jun surprised me, yielding the field and mostly keeping counsel with his own thoughts for several minutes. It was tempting to guess why, but I was also interested in listening to Fumie draw Teru into talking about long-term plans.
"Teru's growing up." Jun's voice was low enough not to carry forward to his sister's ears.
"Just like you and me."
"Doesn't it worry you?"
"How should it?"
"She'll change."
"Of course. And she needs to be free to change."
"Can't you just watch over her while she changes?"
"I plan to. From enough distance."
"What if she changes her mind?"
"She should be free to make that choice. The plans your aunt has for her won't give her that freedom."
Jun stopped and I stopped, and he looked at me while he thought. Then he looked towards Teru and Fumie, who continued walking ahead. He nodded in their direction. "Are you sure she, uhm, Fumie, is not involved with the kumi?"
It was my turn to think, and pray. Various impressions came into my heart.
"Well, let's see what her family is like, anyway." I started walking again, and Jun followed me.
Next
Backed up at https://joel-rees-economics.blogspot.com/2019/11/bk-sudden-roommate-9-fumie.html .
