What is Family? by Hoshiko - Part 1
It all started five days ago. Well…more like five and a half days now…it’s long past midnight. That’s not the important thing though…or at least it’s not my top priority. The reason that I’m in such big trouble?
Simple.
I opened my big mouth and asked a stupid question. At least I thought it was a stupid question at any rate. Not so with my journalism teacher. Did I forget to mention that? I’m taking a journalism class this term…it always sounded interesting to me. The chance to get to meet interesting people, maybe even travel a little…
If I’d known a little more about Masutani-sensei I might have decided to forego the entire course. As it was, I enrolled myself into Introductory Journalism, and that, I believe, was the start of it all. It was Friday afternoon, and as usual we were waiting for Masutani-sensei to arrive – he’s always late on Fridays.
Something one of the other students said managed to get stuck in my mind, and it wouldn’t leave me alone, so I turned to my seatmate and asked him what he thought a family was. The answer was so obvious to me, but I could tell that the other boy was…confused? That was when it happened.
Masutani-sensei must have just walked in when I voiced my question, because he had this strange look on his face.
“Shun,” he said, his eyes lighting up, “I have a special assignment for you.”
The little voice that usually screams at me to run far, far away whenever the sempai are up to something started up right about then.
“Shun, I want you to interview ten people, and I want you to ask them what they think a family is.”
All I could do was stare. He was kidding, right? Everyone knows what a family is…a mother, father, maybe even a sibling or two. What was going on in that brain of his?
“Oh yes, and it needs to be no less than four thousand words long, but no more than five thousand words, with a five hundred word summary of your personal findings attached. The deadline is next Friday.”
This time I blinked.
“Is something wrong?”
I shook my head slowly. That little voice in my head shrieked once in frustration and then fell eerily silent.
Masutani-sensei smiled, and it was all I could do to keep from bolting.
“Very well then, I wish you luck.”
Class had continued as though nothing had just happened, although I could sense the sympathetic glances my classmates were giving me.
I put off interviewing people for the next two days, after all, how hard could it be? And besides, it was the weekend. If I make it a habit to not do my homework during the week, why should the weekend be any different?
By the time Monday rolled around, I decided that I should at least figure out who the lucky people I was going to interview were. Naturally I thought of Suka, and the sempai, but that left seven more people to choose. Strangely enough, I never once thought about going outside of Greenwood for an interview…that in itself should have been an indication, but I of course was blissfully unaware.
I was walking back to our room with Suka when we passed by the infirmary. It was like in all those American cartoons where a light bulb pops up over some silly character’s head. If I was doing an article on what makes a family, who better to interview than Suka’s own brother?
Sneaking a sidelong glance at Suka, I thought it would most likely be best not to let him in on this little revelation of mine. It didn’t look like he was having the best of days, and I knew he had a tutoring session with Mitsuru-sempai later that evening. While I didn’t envy him, I also realized that that would be the perfect time to visit the Infirmary and ask my questions. Suka would never know.
Humming a half-forgotten song cheerily, I practically skipped the rest of the way back. Things were coming together, now I just needed to find six more people, and then conduct my interviews. I wasn’t too worried about writing the actual article. That would be easy. Throw in an occasional quote, add some non-controversial comments of my own here and there, a bit of double-speak, and I could write at least five thousands words with no trouble.
Oh how very, very wrong I was. Not to mention unprepared.
What I had thought to be common knowledge, the basic structure of a family, turned out not to be at all! Everyone I interviewed had totally different answers, even Suka and Hasukawa-sensei. To say I was baffled would be an understatement. To say I learned nothing, that would be an outright lie.
I began my interviews with Hasukawa-sensei…that in and of itself was an education. I knew Suka tended to see him as a bit of an annoyance, and sometimes even as an embarrassment, but I had always felt a secret sort of bond with him. It might have something to do with the fact that we are both the eldest siblings in our respective families, but at times I have to wonder.
I love my little brother and sister dearly, but there are times when I desperately wish I had been born an only child. I was a bit surprised to discover that Hasukawa-sensei felt exactly the same.
“Kazuya can be such an ass at times, can’t he Shun?”
Biting my lip to keep from agreeing too enthusiastically, I merely nodded, clutching my little notebook tightly in my hands. As much as I love Suka…there are times when even I feel like smacking him with Mitsuru-sempai’s rolled up magazine.
Hasukawa-sensei smiled…well, affectionately I suppose, and leaned back in his chair. Removing his glasses, he massaged the bridge of his nose, suddenly looking far older than he was.
“Did Kazuya tell you about our parents?”
I frowned a little, not knowing what to say. Of course I knew how Suka’s parents had died, leaving him in the care of his older brother, but I had no idea how to proceed. Suka treated it as something that had happened long ago, and while it obviously was not a happy memory, he could deal with it now without breaking down. I did not know how Hasukawa-sensei would react.
“Hai, he did.” I said hesitantly, suddenly uneasy.
“That somewhat disrupts the normal image of a family then doesn’t it?”
“I…” Well, dammit, it did.
Hasukawa-sensei smiled again, not that condescending smile I had seen directed so many times at Suka, but a real one.
“I don’t know what the others will tell you, Shun, but my family is Hasukawa and Sumire…my parents too, but they’re no longer ‘with us’, so to speak. The moment they died, my view of ‘family’ changed, like it did when I met and then later married Sumire. I suspect that that will continue to change as time goes by. Right now, however, I can tell you that my family is made up of the people I love and care for…even my in-laws.”
That made me smile, as it was intended to. It made me sad, to think about the day when I would no longer have my parents to rely on, but I knew that I would be able to go on.
Thanking Hasukawa-sensei for his time, I left, thinking about what he’d told me. I found that I was eager to discover what the other people on my list would have to say. Perhaps Masutani-sensei had been on to something when he gave me this assignment after all.
To be continued...