I’m Anna, and I live with my husband, Takuya, and our preschooler, Asahi. Being the shy type, I was naturally drawn to Takuya’s outgoing, charismatic personality, which led us to get married. He’s always been so devoted to me and Asahi, making every day feel like a dream. But then, Takuya’s job required us to move. I was so anxious about fitting into a new environment, but the first people to truly welcome us were the Moritas—Meiko and her son, Naoto—whom we met at the park. Naoto became a best friend to Asahi, and Meiko became a “mom friend” I could truly rely on. Before long, we were close enough to visit each other’s homes all the time.
Asahi was always telling my husband all about Naoto, and I’d kept him in the loop about finally finding a mom friend I could trust. Takuya would just smile and say, “That’s great, I’m happy for you.”
But when my husband walked in today, I noticed something slightly off about Meiko. She turned pale, and suddenly she had almost nothing to say. Even so, both my husband and Meiko greeted each other normally, acting like they were meeting for the first time. Since the school didn’t have any events for parents to observe during the first semester, there’s no way they could have met before. “Maybe I’m just imagining things,” I thought.