Chapter Twenty-Three: War Begins:

By morning, everything felt like normal again. Well, if you don�t count the glaring looks from Hiromi. Otherwise, totally normal. We all sat around the table for breakfast. That child still glared at me. Come on now, I thought. I wouldn�t lie to you. I gave you my word, isn�t that enough? Stop looking at me like that! I felt someone tap me on the arm. I turned to see Sappoto-san staring at me. Oh great, now I have to deal with her too? Couldn�t get better.

�What?� I whispered.

�Why doesn�t the oldest daughter look at you like?� she asked. I frowned at my friend. She just had to ask that, didn�t she?

�We�ll talk about this later,� I whispered with gritted teeth.

�But�� she said.

�We�ll talk about it later,� I repeated. Sappoto-san drew her mouth closed from there. I bowed my head at her.

�Okay,� she mumbled.

�Thank you,� I said.

�Thank you for what?� I heard a man ask. I darted my attention towards the captain. I forced myself to smile as he raised an eyebrow at me.

�For breakfast,� I lied. �The food looks rather delicious!� His wife giggled.

�Why thank you,� she said. I picked up my chopsticks to help sell such a lie. I was about to pick up a piece of fried tofu when Sappoto-san stopped me with her own chopsticks. I darted my head over at her.

�What?� I hissed.

�We have blessed the food yet,� she whispered. �That�s bad manners.� It took my all not to argue with her and give Hiromi away at the same time. I lowered my chopsticks.

�Fine,� I said. The mother and father smiled.

�Let�s eat,� they said. We all began to eat after the kids, Sappoto-san, and I repeated after them. The fried tofu turned out to taste pretty decent, so that saved half of my lie. This breakfast might turn out decent. The conversation all nice. Hiromi is back to her talkative self. Might work out after all.

But then, the peace became shattered with a pounding on the door. I turned my head at the sound.

�SHIMAMOTO!� we heard a man yell at the front door. �I KNOW YOU�RE IN THERE! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE NOW!!!� I turned to the captain. My stomach turned at whom that possibly could be. Shimamoto-san frowned as he rose up from the table.

�Dear,� his wife said as she tried to calm him down. The captain pushed her hand away as he walked over to the front door. I felt compelled to get up and be noisy, but Sappoto-san held my wrist, shaking her head. I lowered myself down in my chair and listened closely.

�WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT NOW?� the captain asked the man at the door.

�I HEARD FROM AROUND THE SCHOOL THAT YOUR DAUGHTER IS SLEEPING WITH MY SON!� the man shouted. �THIS BETTER NOT BE TRUE!�

�No!�

�Liar!�

�No way! There�s no way my daughter would even be seen with the likes of your son!�

�What? Are you saying he�s not good enough for her?!?�

�That�s exactly right!�

�Take that back, you asshole!�

�Make me!�

The shouting disappeared outside into louder fighting. Sappoto-san and I lowered our heads as Hiromi glared at us.

�Is it time to go already?� Sappoto-san whispered. I pressed my lips together as I nodded.

�Yep,� I whispered back. Yes, it was time to slip. It�s too bad we didn�t get out sooner before things went to shit right away.