I’m Nanami. I live with my husband, Tatsuya, and our third-grade son, Riku. I’ve given everything to raising my son properly, believing I had to turn him into a responsible, well-rounded adult. But recently, Riku stopped going to school. At his request, we decided he would stay at my in-laws’ house three times a week. That’s when I found out Riku had been going to my sister-in-law Haruna’s place and playing video games—the very games I’d repeatedly said were off-limits. I couldn’t forgive it. The whole family had been deceiving me. And my husband, instead of supporting how I felt, took their side. I lost trust in everyone and was completely exhausted.
Then my husband suggested, “Why don’t we spend the weekends doing what Riku wants to do?” I wasn’t enthusiastic, but if it might help change our situation, I decided to try.
The anime Riku wanted to watch as a family was one he’d asked to see before. We had a rule: one episode a day, and only approved shows. Because of that, I really wasn’t keen on the idea. Still, if it helped Riku move forward—even a little—I agreed.
Once the anime started, Riku seemed less focused on the show itself and more on my face. He reacted to every tiny change in my expression. Watching him, I suddenly couldn’t tell where his feelings were anymore. Had Riku been unable to express his own emotions all this time? Had he been suppressing how he felt, becoming overly sensitive only to my emotions? When that realization hit me, the tears just started to fall.