All eyes were on Lily as she stood at the center of the living room, her arms placed confidently on her hips.
"Uh, do you even have any idea what's going on?" I asked, my voice a dry rasp.
Lily didn't look at me. She marched over to Dad and gave him a firm, supportive pat on the back. "Of course I do! If anything, I'd be more concerned if I didn't. I could hear you all from upstairs…"
Whoa. All of us?
I could understand if she heard Dad—he always screamed—but Mom and I too? I guess things were getting more serious than I thought.
Lily turned on her heel, her gaze locking onto Mom. "Anywayyyy, where were we?" She cutely placed a finger against her cheek as she struggled to recall why she was here—until her eyes lit up. "Oh, right, the jacket."
Lily loudly cleared her throat, gathering all our attention. Well, it was more like Dad's attention and mine. Mom had returned to scrolling on her phone like nothing had happened.
"I'll just get straight to the point," Lily declared, her voice dropping an octave. "I think Dad should keep it."
Dad's frown vanished, replaced by a desperate, relieved beam. He lunged forward and pulled Lily into a tight, sniffling hug.
"Thank you, my Lovely Daughter! Someone actually understands me!"
He began to dote on her, pressing affectionate kisses to her cheeks while she struggled to push him away.
You never act that loving towards me at all. Talk about favouritism.
But I was fine with that, I didn't want to be treated like Lily anyway.
"Sorry," I said, interrupting their little Dad-Daughter moment. "But that's not happening. You're going to have to rip it off me if you want it."
Dad and Lily stopped their little loving parent-child scene and turned to me with a dark, synchronized glint in their eyes.
"Oh, don't worry, I think we are going to do just that!" Lily exclaimed in a sinister tone.
Lily slowly pushed herself away from Dad, and he let her go without any resistance. The ground felt like it shook as they took menacing steps towards me.
Okay, where's the fairness in this? Teammate—do something.
As if responding to my call, Mom let out a loud, jagged sigh. The whole room froze.
Dad flinched, and Lily's face darkened.
"Stop being so noisy," she commanded. "I already said that's Hoshino's jacket from now on. Get over it."
Dad's gaze lingered on her for a heartbeat before the corners of his eyes softened.
Then he turned to me with a resigned, almost affectionate smile—and gave me a small nod.
For a second, I felt a needle of guilt. I had never seen him look at me—or anyone—like that before.
Dad took a deep breath and slowly opened his mouth. "Son–"
Before the words could leave his lips, a loud click of the tongue fell upon the room, silencing him.
Mom, who had been looking at her phone the whole time, finally looked up.
We all turned to the source of the sound—to Lily.
Lily stood there, her hair casting a shadow over her eyes. Her nails were dug into her palm, and sharp breaths slipped past her gritted teeth.
She was shaking—not with fear, but with rage.
Dad tried to reach out to Lily, but his hand froze in the air just before it touched her.
A pained expression creased his face before he reluctantly pulled it back and looked away.
Lily let out a seething breath. Slowly, she lifted her head. Her hair parted, revealing a furious gaze directed at Mom.
Mom, however, still had the same gentle, yet angelic smile—but from the subtle twitch of her eyebrow, I could tell her face hardened.
"Mom…" Lily's voice was a low, dangerous growl. "You think you can just tell Dad what to do? That's his jacket, so it's his to keep."
Logically, Lily didn't say anything wrong. Except... this wasn't about the jacket anymore.
Mom scoffed, a loud thud echoing in the room as she slapped her phone against the surface of the sofa. "Okay? And? It's a parent's duty to give to their child. Whatever is mine is yours."
That too was a reasonable rebuttal. There was nothing inherently wrong with what she was saying, and yet…
Lily let out a short, bitter chuckle. "Don't you see how unfair it is? You're telling Dad to share, but—" Lily paused, the words caught in her throat.
This was the moment of truth. Would Lily run away? Or would she stand her ground?
As a person, I wanted this to be over as quickly as possible.
But as her Brother… there was only one thing I could root for.
I lightly kicked Dad on the shin. He flinched, turning to me with a startled look. I simply shook my head and nudged him to step back.
Dad let out a shuddering breath—but then swallowed hard and nodded firmly.
I knew that he wanted to help, but there's nothing he or I can do now.
This was a battle between Mother and Daughter now.
Silence hung in the room. Then—Lily turned her head to the side and bore her gaze directly into me.
I didn't do anything, and I didn't need to. I just gave her a small smile.
Seeing that, she gave me one back.
"What's so unfair, Lily? Tell me," Mom challenged, dragging her back into the fight.
Not like my sister was going to run away, anyway.
Lily didn't blink—and she didn't linger on me any longer. With a loud stomp, she swung her head towards Mom and screamed, "What's unfair is that you never share anything with me! Yet you tell Dad to give his things to Hoshino? You're a hypocrite!"
The silence that followed was absolute. Dad's eyes went wide. Mom let out a sharp, horrified gasp. And I—couldn't help but let out a soft, dry chuckle.
Well, I'll be damned…
I knew Lily had been standing up to Mom recently, but to do all this—no one in our family had ever gone this far.
I was shocked, but I wasn't surprised. It was very much like her. And at the same time... just like Mom.
It looks like… she's still growing up.
A tinge of loneliness gnawed at me from the inside, but I never looked away from Lily. As her Older Brother… I had to watch over her.
Mom stammered, her composure failing as she struggled to form a rebuttal.
Lily didn't give her the chance to recover. "So if you ask me, I think Dad should keep his damn jacket!"
Mom's smile began to falter under Lily's relentless assault.
I thought Lily was actually going to win… until Mom jammed the nail on her thumb into her index finger.
With a deep breath, she looked back up at Lily with that same gentle, angelic smile—one that carried a hint of unyielding will.
"That's different, Lily. Those things are mine. So you can't have them."
"I thought you said it's a parent's duty to give to their children?" Lily countered instantly.
"I do give to you. I give you food, clothes, and a shelter," Mom replied calmly.
Lily stepped closer. "But you yell at me when I borrow your socks?"
"Are you also forgetting that I gave you my old dress along with my jewelry?"
Flustered by Mom's counters, Lily swung her hand in the air and raised her voice.
"Yeah, except that it doesn't fit you or you don't like it anymore! You give me hand-me-downs! You don't sacrifice yourself like you're telling Dad to!"
Mom's eyebrow winced, but she didn't let it affect her smile. She did, however, let it affect her volume.
"Isn't it better than nothing? You're arguing over… socks! When I have given you things of much more value!"
"This isn't about the socks!" Lily pointed. "It's about you!"
Mom slammed her hand into the sofa.
*THUD*
"Lily! What are you trying to say to me?! I am your Mom!"
Lily drove her heel into the floorboards, the sound echoing through the house. "I DON'T CARE!"
Mom… flinched for the first time. And for the first time since I've known her, her smile cracked into a frown.
Her face twisted with rage as she stood up and stepped forward. "LILY–"
"No! I don't care who you are! Just because you're my Mom, doesn't mean you're always right!"
Without giving Mom a chance to respond, Lily turned around and stormed toward her room.
Mom tried to grab her from behind, but Lily swatted her hand away and ran upstairs.
"Wait! Lily–"
Lily covered both her ears as she ran. It was a childish, desperate tactic. And yet, if it didn't end this way, the argument might've gone on forever.
Lily slammed her bedroom door shut.
*BAM*
The sound vibrated through the floorboards and settled in our chests.
Mom stared at the stairs with a mixture of anger, hurt, and disbelief.
Dad let out a quiet sigh beside me before slowly walking toward Mom.
He gently reached out his hand, a tentative, broken gesture of comfort.
"Hey–"
But before it could touch her, she slapped it away. Time seemed to grow still as the *SMACK* filled the living room.
"How… how could you let her talk to me—your WIFE—like that?!" she hissed.
Dad stepped back, staring at his now trembling hand. His once contagious smile had turned into a pained frown.
Still, with whatever composure he had left, he continued to try being a loving, understanding husband.
"Wh-what do you–"
But Mom pushed him away before he could finish—denying him even that.
"I'm your wife! And yet… You never defend me! It's always been like this! Ever since Hoshino was born!"
Dad flinched. He stood completely still for several moments, as if omens of the past had come rushing back.
Then—it happened.
His face darkened, showing a glimpse of the man with dishevelled hair that once haunted us.
He clenched his fists, his veins threatening to pop from the back of his hands.
Goosebumps erupted on my arms and crawled to my back just from seeing it. It was a look I—no, we—hadn't seen in a long time.
One that my Father had worn all the time.
A twisted grin formed on my lips.
Old habits die hard…
Slowly, wrinkles began to crease his entire face. I could tell he tried to stop them, but they forced their way through regardless.
He let out a low sigh, then glared at Mom.
Mom, who was under direct fire, didn't even flinch. She just stared at him right back with red, watery eyes.
"Sure…" he muttered slowly. "Maybe I am like that… but–"
He paused, trying to keep the words in his throat as he bit his lip.
Then, after a long stretch of silence, he turned away with a loud, exhausted breath.
"Never mind. You don't listen anyway," he muttered through gritted teeth.
With that, he made his way up the stairs. Each step he took resembled a stomp despite his steady pace. Once he finally arrived upstairs, he slammed the door to his room shut.
Mom and I were the only ones left alone in the living room.
I glanced over at Mom. She was standing next to the sofa, staring at the staircase where Dad had disappeared.
She bit down hard on her quivering lips as she struggled to contain the tears pooling in her eyes.
This… was something I shouldn't have seen. A fight between parents. Even if I wanted to, there was nothing I could have done.
No—maybe that's just an excuse to make myself feel better. I've seen them fight in front of me more times than I can count.
And yet... I've never actually done anything to help.
So maybe... I'm at fault too.
Mom collapsed onto the couch, hid herself under the blanket, and curled into a tight, defensive ball.
From her silhouette, I could see her shoulders shaking. And in the next moment, a single, loud sniffle filled the room.
And with that one, I knew many more were coming. So, I decided to give her some space.
As if I were part of the air itself, I quietly climbed the stairs and retreated into my room.
Unlike Lily and Dad... I was sure no one even realized I had been there.