Chapter Text
Yeah, so, Mera has been talking to a therapist of sorts for the past month and well, the lady actually told her not to show up today.
Today as in Christmas Eve.
Her shrink said it would be best if she avoided Satoru or anyone for that matter that reminded Mera of her brother until they sorted out a way on how to deal with Mera’s incestuous feelings.
She, of course, did not listen. Since, well, Mera was stood outside their family home with several gifts in tow, waiting for someone to open the door.
In the younger’s mind, the justification is that she didn’t want to disappoint her mother and that it had nothing to do with wanting to see Satoru.
Which is the truth—Mera swears!
Anyway, avoiding her brother at a function like this probably won’t be too difficult considering that their mother probably invited their extended family, and their extended family’s extended family, as well as her mother’s ridiculous roster of friends that go well over the hundreds.
God, the house must be so loud right now. Actually, she thinks she can hear the noise from the door right now.
Mera should’ve just listened to her shrink.
Maybe it wasn’t too late to bolt.
And as if waiting for her to think that, the door swings open, Mera greeted with her parents’ beaming faces and three young girls.
“Please don’t tell me you guys had three girls while I was away?” Mera says, half-jokingly, confused by the presence of the three youngsters—they seemed excited.
Her comment earns a snicker from her mother, a playful smack landing on her shoulder. “No, dear, of course not, we’re too old for that,” Her mother still between giggles. “These are your nieces; they’re excited to finally meet you after all this time.” The explanation makes more sense but also makes Mera feel old.
She brings herself to politely smile at the three girls. “Just call me Mera, okay? No auntie stuff, I’m not that old yet,” Mera mumbles quietly as a joke. When the girls only react by eagerly nodding, she’s quick to speak once again. “Uh… I’ll play with you guys j-just after I put all these gifts down, okay?” The blonde is not too sure what to say, she’s never dealt with kids before and she can only assume the reason they look that eager is because they want to play.
Thankfully, her mother saves everyone from the awkward silence that would’ve befallen them if no one stepped in by taking some gifts from Mera to put aside on the genkan for now, urging her husband to take some too. Mera’s attention immediately shifting back to her parents.
“Thanks, mom and dad, I have a couple more gifts in my car, let me just get them,” Mera motions to her car before rushing over to the vehicle to retrieve the rest of the gifts.
Once their genkan was filled with presents instead of shoes, she finally takes the opportunity to hug both her parents, asking them how they’ve been. Their three-way conversation getting cut short because their father could no longer handle the absurd amount of bags and wrapped boxes crowding their entryway and he decided to start moving them under the Christmas tree.
“Mom, that guest of yours that you invited that no one knows is literally standing in the corner like a clueless dog and where are all these gifts that Dad is hauling coming from—?” A familiar voice cutting the older woman off before she can continue speaking, Mera’s ears perking up.
So much for avoiding Satoru, he’s right in front of her.
Mera hopes the color of her face doesn’t drain too visibly but then again, her brother doesn’t seem too enthusiastic with her presence either. The words on his tongue dying as they just lock eyes for a moment, Mera looking away first and Satoru clearing his throat.
“Oh, uh, Merry Christmas, Mera,” Her brother greets through gritted teeth, awkwardly waving at her.
The younger feels a mix of anger and excitement stir in her chest. Mera can already hear the voice of her therapist reminding her that this was exactly what she warned Mera about. “Merry Christmas to you too, brother,” she manages to mumble.
Even if it’s just a second, the silence stretches for too long, only interrupted by their mother who seems eager to pull Mera further into their family home.
“Oh, dear, yes, I forgot, you have to meet the boy I brought along tonight, I think you and him’ll get along well,” the implication isn’t lost on Mera, she understands her mother was probably setting her up with some guy she met at the grocery store but the young one doesn’t have much time to protest, already being dragged along before she can make up some sort of excuse.
They’re moving through crowds of relatives, some of whom greet Mera, pleasantly surprised by her appearance at the family event until they stop at a corner of their home.
She was expecting an unfamiliar face but instead is greeted by the familiar face of her coworker.
“Nagao?”
“Miss Gojo?”
They’re both visibly confused, clearly not expecting to see each other here of all places.
“Oh, you know each other, dear?” Her mother asks, soundly pleasantly surprised by the way things turned out.
Mera nods, gaze darting from her coworker to her mother. “We work together in the same company,” She explains, still a little baffled. Her mother makes an understanding noise beside her. “Well, it’s even better now, at least it’ll be less awkward, no?”
The young woman wants to agree but then again; probably not. Mera wouldn’t really describe her interactions with Nagao as not awkward.
Before the young woman can get a word in to respond to her mother, she is out of the younger’s sight. Mera wants to believe it’s because someone called out for her and not because she wanted Mera to be alone with Nagao.
Not that Mera had anything against the man—of course.
“Huh, funny, right? Who would’ve thought,” Mera can only muster a tight-lipped smile. “Certainly not me,” she mumbles under her breath, baffled still.
Silence hangs over them for a moment before Nagao speaks once again, probably just as nervous as she was. “So, Miss Gojo—”
“Oh, god, just Mera please, we’re not working, it’ll be weird if you’re referring to me all night as Miss Gojo,” She cuts him off, unable to hold it in, perhaps a little too sharp.
That seems to help relax Nagao a smidge, his smile more comfortable now. “Okay, Mera, I, uh, didn’t know you had such a lively family,” The young woman smolders. “Just because I don’t say much at work, doesn’t mean my whole family is the same.”
“No, of course, not- I didn’t mean it like that,” Panic quickly floods Nagao’s expression once more.
“Relax, I’m not going to chew you out, was just trying to be humorous,” The young woman quickly trying to ease the man’s anxiety—it’s clear he needed it.
She spends the rest of the night with Nagao—sorry, no, Makoto, for tonight—getting to know him.
Sure, Mera wasn’t falling in love, because well, you know, but Makoto seemed like a great enough guy, especially as she continued to speak to him throughout the night.
Apparently, her coworker ran a book club in this side of Tokyo every weekend just for fun and that’s how he ended up connecting with Mera’s mother. To which Mera remarks that she wasn’t even aware her mother was in a book club, especially since there was no bookshelf in sight around the house.
Makoto only chuckles, “Well, most of the older men and women just come so they can gossip and have some time for themselves,” The young woman making a soft noise of understanding. “Well, my mother is certainly nosy and loves some time for herself,” Mera jokes, her coworker chuckling once more.
“I couldn’t tell,” The man mutters half-jokingly, causing Mera to smile once again.
This was nice.
A nice distraction from everything going on around her and everything going on in her mind.
For a few hours, the contents of her mind didn’t revolve around her brother or work; her job was usually the only reprieve she had from thinking about Satoru so it was always work with Mera if not the older man.
In fact, it was so pleasant, she hardly wanted to say goodbye to Makoto. The young woman seeing him off at the door, where they spoke for another few minutes, only stopping because Makoto had to go home by train and the last train was departing soon.
“I hope tonight was fun for you,” her coworker only shrugs. “Of course it was fun, I had a great time tonight, I didn’t even know you could talk this much,” Makoto says before taking it back once he realized how that came out. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean it like that—”
Mera just waves her hand in response. “Don’t worry about it, I understand,” She assures the man between laughs. Makoto visibly relaxing when she doesn’t take offense.
After her laughter has died down, she clears her throat before speaking again. “Uh, just have a safe trip back home, I think the snow has piled up since you arrived,” Mera suggests, looking over his shoulder to try and scope how deep the snow was now.
“I’ll see you on Monday?”
“Yeah, of course, Makoto,”
The edges of his lips perking up as he smiles, waving goodbye before turning his back.
It’s silent for a while then, Mera trying to savor the silence before her brain catches up and becomes aware of the fact that she was no longer speaking to Makoto.
“Oh, how was Makoto, dear?”
Mera jumps at her mother’s voice, clutching her chest. “Mom— geez- I… I uh… Makoto was great,” She scrambles to create a coherent response, still coming down from her surprise.
“Really? You liked him? He’s such a sweet boy, no? You were speaking to him all night—!” Her mother excitedly asks, probably having waited all night just to rapid fire questions at her daughter. “Yes, mom, he’s a great guy,” Mera affirms as she moves to walk to their kitchen.
“So, you would date him, yes?” The young woman stops in her tracks at the question. “I- what? Mom, no— I just like the guy, he was great company, I don’t even know him that well,” There’s a slight flush on her cheeks, not at all expecting her mother to ask.
Her response seems to dampen her mother’s mood though. “Oh, but dear, it’s about time you bring home a guy, right?” The older woman’s sad tone makes Mera’s heart squeeze.
Mera doesn’t know what to say in response to that, only going quiet. “I… I’m only twenty-two,” it’s a flimsy excuse considering most twenty-year-olds are usually—probably, Mera can only imagine—are itching to get into some sort of relationship.
“And? Your brother got with Etsuyo when he was twenty-two, didn’t you, dear?” Their mother suddenly ropes Satoru into the conversation, Mera whipping her head towards him.
Her brother was busy washing the dishes, looking up a moment and locking eyes with Mera before his gaze darts towards their mother beside her. “Yeah, I did,” His answer is straight to the point, bowing his head after to return his focus on washing the dishes.
“See? Your brother found the love of his life at 22, there’s no harm in trying, love,” while she understands where her mother was coming from, she also acknowledges that the older woman had no idea of the peculiar situation Mera was in at the moment.
Mera wishes to hell and back that she could date someone right now—be normal and love someone that wasn’t related to her but she can’t. She’s loved Satoru all this time and still does after everything.
“I… okay, mom, I- I understand,” that’s all she says in response, a non-committal answer. “Let’s just… let’s just get to cleaning, mom,” Mera switches the topic, hoping her mother would let the conversation go for now.
Which, she thankfully does; at least her mother was a merciful woman.
The three of them tidying up the mess made by a long night of celebration, only the sounds of cleaning and their father’s drunken snoring filling in the silence for a great while.
Her mother breaking the silence to announce she was heading to bed because her back was starting to hurt, leaving Mera to do the rest. Neither sibling protests, only mumbling a good night’s rest to their mother as she walks up the stairs.
Great god, she ended up alone with Satoru anyway—what the actual fuck, universe?
The tension between them was so thick, it was suffocating Mera. She wishes she could just bolt out of the kitchen.
“You’re staying here for tonight?” Her brother was the first to speak surprisingly.
Mera was not at all prepared, biting her bottom lip as she tries to think of a coherent response, thankful her brother’s gaze was still on the dishes he was washing.
“I, uh, probably, the snow seems to have piled on the road,” The younger finally manages to respond after a grueling minute of silence. Which Mera woefully regrets spending time on, thinking up a response because Satoru doesn’t even fucking respond?
Instead, he just stops washing and leaves—literally just ups and leaves, like genuinely what the fuck.
Mera was cursing him out in her mind while she continued to wipe the kitchen counter, trying to calm the racing her of heart before a nicely gift-wrapped present lands before her on the countertop.
A confused grunt leaving her lips before Satoru cuts her off. “For you,” Her brother’s voice doesn’t sound too fond, but it also doesn’t sound angry either.
Her lashes flutter as she blinks a few times, her eyes flitting between her brother and the gift. Her brows scrunching and her gaze softening as she processes his words.
Mera mumbles a soft thanks and moves to get it out of the way for now, but Satoru pulls her back.
“Open it,” Her brother insists. No further explanation, no polite please, just… just the older man’s insistence.
Mera wants to protest and say she’ll do that after she’s done cleaning up but her brother’s gaze makes her rethink. Mera swallowing thickly before she sighs, looking away from Satoru and onto the gift.
It’s inconspicuous enough, the box is small but still wrapped nicely with a fancy looking ribbon adorning the box’s exterior. Mera reaching out to undo the ribbon and begin unwrapping the gift.
Once she’s done, she moves to open up the box, which looked fairly expensive too—where did her brother get this gift?
The young woman continues to open her present until she reaches the inside of the box, Mera’s breath hitching slightly.
It was… it was a necklace, it looked like the necklace Satoru got her for seventeenth birthday, just more expensive and adorned with a bigger charm.
The furrow of her brow and her gaze softening as she continues to take in the piece of jewelry, not knowing what to say. Her lips parting as she tries to muster up the courage to say anything.
“Satoru, I—”
Before she can complete her sentence, Satoru cuts her off again, like he’s been doing their whole exchange, but instead of words, it’s with the press of his lips.
Fuck.