Becoming Monsters Chapter 58: Equal Treatment
Honoka should have been tired. It was late, and not only was she recovering from a mentally exhausting meal, followed by a bout of sex still tingling her womb and prostate with aftershocks; but the cleanup, travel and caring for her children was enough to drain anyone of SP. She should be sleeping. However, what Honoka felt like right now was a need to walk off her energy and someone to talk to about her recent problems. Knowing what to do, Honoka checked the guest list Diane made, beelining to the rooms where her parents stayed.
*knock knock*
"Hono-chan?" Uzume asked, opening the door in a floral
yukata
, immediately motioning her daughter into the large common room where Honoka's brothers and their families lounged. Although some of Honoka's six nieces and nephews were hunched over electronics, most of the family surrounded a rousing game of Monopoly. "We are currently in the middle of a game, but as soon as James realizes he is only one turn away from going bankrupt, we can start another game with you using the iron."
The crowd laughed and jeered while James good naturedly stuck his tongue at his mother, his wife planting him a consolatory kiss. Honoka waved her hands side to side in the Japanese gesture of not wanting to be a bother. "Maybe next time. If it isn't too much trouble, I was planning on going for a walk and wanted to talk to you, ๆฏใกใใ."
Uzume nodded, slipping on
geta
near the door, wooden sandals clacking on the ground in time with Honoka's longer barefoot strides. In ten minutes, the pair were strolling along the outer wall of Padmava's compound, enjoying quiet and empty streets as the patient parent waited for her daughter to begin.
"Is it always this hard, being a mother?"
The tiny Japanese woman didn't respond immediately, giving the question all her attention. "No. Caring for a child is difficult, but that isn't all you're doing, is it? You feel a need to hold your babies while also making sure the family has a roof and means to provide necessities. I'd even go so far to say your breasts probably ache for no reason you've been able to determine because you need to connect with your children on a feminine level while the rest of you is so worried about the future you can't think straight."
Honoka absently rubbed her breasts under the sweater, the ache flaring up even as her mother said it. "What does it mean? Why am I any different?"
"You're a smart girl, you would have figured it out." Uzume took Honoka's hand and brought it up to her cheek, rubbing it lightly as she smiled. "You aren't just a mother, you're also a father. Parental instincts are separated by the sexes for a reason, each parent has a role to play. At the moment, you probably feel overwhelmed because your body is telling you to be both parents. I'm surprised you haven't had another one of your breakdowns."
"It has been close," Honoka replied softly, turning her face away, keeping her hand up against her mother's face.
For most of a lap around one of the walls, they stayed silent, only their footsteps and the sound of light rainfall close by distracting them from their thoughts. Wanting to change the subject, Honoka stiffened her back and went for the next big question.
"Can you tell me more about Isami and grandmother, why they are here?"
Uzume stiffened, her eyes shining with a burning light hot enough to forge a katana. "My father - and don't think I haven't noticed you only using his name instead of his proper pronoun - is trying to save face over pushing me away from the family. By financially paying for this wedding and gathering all these people, he feels as if his honor is redeemed and he is no longer obligated to you and your family. This has never been and will never be about you to him."
Honoka took that in, anger clenching her fist tightly into her mother's hand as she wanted to scream out all the hate in her soul. It took nearly another lap of walking, but Honoka finally managed to regain her center while putting aside all the bad and taking in the good. "I think I can live with that. He might not care for me and mine, but he loves you and in his twisted little mind, this is him paying you back for something that happened thirty years ago. On the plus side, you get to see me married proper and it doesn't cost us a dime. If I was a less practical woman, I'd tell him to take his money and leave, but I'm realizing how much things cost and this is a very generous gift."
"Not generous from him, no." Uzume clenched just as tightly, both of their fingers red and white from the strain. "Father is here and gave permission, but Mother is the one who is making this happen. Try to meet with her privately soon so you can thank her properly for her love and charity."
Honoka smiled, hugging her mother at the broken gate and parting ways, burdens a little lighter as she walked towards her room, thinking a little sleep would be enough to help her get her through the coming day.
On the way, her phone buzzed and Honoka was a bit surprised to get another message from
tabinda_likes_girlz
on her DoubleD app.
tabinda_likes_girlz:
I have to admit I'm an alpha personality, not taking no as an answer. I got a reservation at Dungeon Falls Monday morning at 9am for an early breakfast date. Will you be there?
Honoka didn't know what to do. Stopping in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by ambient silence of the dungeon, Honoka took the time to look the woman up on her DD profile.
The picture was of a woman...? Honoka wasn't sure because it was a white face without any features. Not subdued features and white as in caucasian, her skin was
white
white, like printer paper. Her face lacked eyes, a mouth and only had the indent of a nose without nostrils. Honoka was reminded of Faceless from
