I’m Ai, 28 years old. I live with my husband. My dad is a sexist old jerk, and my mom is the kind of woman who always obeyed him without question. My two older brothers—Hajime and Keigo—grew up just like our parents, stuck in the same outdated mindset. I swore I’d never live the way my mother did.
So when I visited my family home for the first time in years, I was shocked. The old sushi restaurant had been transformed into a cozy little diner—run by my mother. And then, Keigo and his wife Marika showed up. Over drinks, I started venting everything I’d been holding inside.
A stupid father, a stupid mother, two stupid brothers, and their equally stupid wives… That’s how I’d always looked down on them. But even though I knew their values were wrong, I never spoke up. I never tried to change anything. So when Marika said to me, “You’re the real fool here,” her words cut deep. It’s not like I ever had the kind of environment where I could speak up. I learned to survive by staying quiet—doing whatever it took to avoid trouble or losing out. That’s how I ended up living the way I do now.
And yet… somehow, my aging parents had changed. They’d started caring for each other, helping each other—like all those years of control and resentment had never existed. But I can’t just erase the past like that! Watching them now, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. My emotions spilled out before I could stop them.