Once we had all sat down, we thanked for the food and began to eat. With another set of bowls, Father spooned some soup for each of us. He set them down on the table, cautioning they were hot.
It was miso. We haven’t had miso in a while. All it had was green onions and tofu, but I was happy to drink it after today’s work, even though it was hot. Little Sis drank it like it was the first time she had tasted it, ignoring her rice.
As we ate, it began to rain outside. Lightly, at first, then as downpour. It battered the house like a thousand arrows. Thunder rumbled in the distance. The window panes rattled from the wind, clattering loudly.
My sister was spooked by this sudden storm. She stopped drinking her soup and stared wide-eyed at the darkened landscape just outside the doors. Father got up from the table to slide the doors shut and close the windows. Some of the rain had blown in, but not a terrible amount. Father assured Hotaru that we were fine and encouraged her to finish her meal.
It continued to rain heavily for the rest of the evening. Little Sis did not calm down, and asked several times if the house was going to collapse. Eventually, Father had to coax her to sleep, lifting her up into his arms and rocking her up and down. This worked rather well, because she fell asleep quickly. The warm soup probably helped. I couldn’t remember the last time she experienced a storm this big.
Father left her to sleep on her cushion by the table. Then he left the room for a moment. As I finished my meal, my hands were starting to irritate again from holding my utensils. I went to the door and slid it open half way. Just enough to stick my hands outside and catch the rain. The overhanging roof blocked most of the rain. Still, the wind pushed enough of it to mist my outstretched hands. I crouched down and listened to the wind whistle as it swayed the forest.
“Aimi, close the door please.” Father returned to the room with a blanket. “You’ll wake your sister up.”
I started to lean back, but then decided not to listen. I stayed crouched, my arms propped on my knees and stuck out the door. The wind blew a wave of mist into my face, cooling me off. It was too comfortable to leave.
“Ai, did you hear me?” Father was next to be now.
“Yes.” I stayed still. Thunder rumbled again.
“Please close the door.”
“…” I turned my hands in the rain.
“… What happened with your hands?”
This question irritated me. “What do you think happened?” I muttered.
There was no reply. I didn’t give him time to.
“Who was gardening without gloves?”
Father crouched down beside me. “Ai, I’m sorry. We only had one pair.”
“It was mostly you and me doing the work. We could have just done it ourselves, and it would have been fine.”
“This was a family activity,” Father explained. “Your sister should be included too.”
“It didn’t feel like a family activity to me,” my voice trembled. I realized I was getting emotional and tried to calm myself down.
“… Ai, why are you angry?”
“……” Why? Me, angry?
We sat in silence. Father relaxed and sat down properly.
“I’m angry because she got the gloves when I could have used them better. And now, my hands are messed up because I didn’t have the gloves, even though I was working harder.”
I was starting to raise my voice again. Embarrassed, I quickly got up and left Father by the door. I went to the bedroom and slid the door shut. I didn’t want to talk anymore.