Work Text:
You sat at the your school desk and waited. The bell had rung 15 minutes ago and all the other kids, even the overachieving suckups, were long gone. You would walk home, as you often did, but the rain was coming down in sheets outside and you weren't about to ruin your favorite sweater...or rather, your only sweater.
You were waiting for your mother to finish her "work" so she could drive you home. After checking your phone one last time, you decided you had waited long enough.
Getting up, you approached her desk with slow, deliberate steps, hoping it would signal your presence. Your stomping did not produce the desired effect. You were now towering over her, but her attention was still entirely on her monitor. You found your nerve and spoke up.
She jumped at the sound of your voice and hit a key combination to switch the contents of her monitor's display to something more school appropriate.
"O-oh! Hey Kris" she said, "I-I thought you were one of the other teachers. Why are you still here?"
You pointed to the window, which was currently being battered by this apparent typhoon.
"Oh. Do you want me to give you a ride?"
You nodded.
You arrived at your apartment door, as dry as you could hope to be under the circumstances. Propped against the door was a small package. Judging by the shape it was a DVD. Your mother lit up at the sight of the box and stumbled past you to pick it up. You stepped back to avoid her now-flailing tail.
"I-it's here! Season three of Emily-hime Densetsu! I ordered this months ago, it must have finally cleared customs! You know Kris, people say it really picked up after season two. Do you remember when…"
You grimaced at the mention of Emily-hime and fished her keys out of her purse, unlocking the door as she continued to gush over the new addition to her collection. You began power-walking to your room, hoping you could get there before-
"U-um, Kris, would you want to watch this with me? I-I mean, I understand if you have other plans...,
You inwardly groaned and turned to face her. You were planning to stay in your room and finish the game you were borrowing from Berdley, but you had already declined two different invitations this month from her for other events, which in retrospective were both more appealing than marathoning a foreign children's cartoon. Seeing no other option, you accepted her offer.
A wide smile spread across her face. "Great! It's only one cour, so we can finish it today! How about we make a pizza!"
You perked up at the idea of pizza. You tried to cook as often as you could to stretch out your mom's paycheck, but she was the one who went shopping last time and, as usual, she had picked up a load of pre-made, exorbitantly-priced junk. Still, you loved pizza, and you couldn't be mad at her for wanting to do something nice for you.
You opened the freezer and grabbed the frozen pie. The bold letters on the front of the box read: Fish Lover's Stuffed Crust Pizza....You hoped it was on sale.
You were now six episodes into the third season of Emily-hime. Your memories of the previous seasons were hazy. From what you remember though, you wouldn’t say the show has improved. It was still the same melodramatic adventures of a girl who was your totally-average-high-schooler by day and a magic fantasy princess by night.
Your mother, however, was spellbound. On screen, Emily was giving a teary-eyed confession to the Fae Queen. Her best friend, Victoria, had turned evil, for some convoluted reason that you didn't care to understand. Emily needed to confront her, but she couldn't believe the Victoria she knew was completely gone. Your mother was on the verge of tears herself, her grip tight on a now-empty bowl of chips in her lap.
You glanced at your phone. It was getting late. You spoke up and told her you both needed to get started on work. She looked at her work bag on the kitchen table, then back to the screen.
"You're right. I have to grade your papers…"
And you have to do your homework. You got up to leave.
Before you made it out of the living room, mom spoke up. "Do you remember the last time we watched this show? I was still subbing back then."
Had it really been that long?
You realized it was years ago since you last watched anime with your mom. Back then you thought the show was so cool.You liked it so much, in fact, that mom bought you some official merch. It was a fuschia shirt with Emily on it, striking a pose as she fired a beam from her magic crown.
The next day you wore it and showed it off to everyone in your 4th grade class, telling all who would listen about the magical adventures of Princess Emily. That purple girl laughed at your enthusiasm and said you were a freak. She pushed you into the mud, ruining your prized shirt. The other kids tried to sympathize, but you only saw pity in their faces. You never told your mom about that, and afterwards you would decline to watch any more anime with her.
Not long after that a permanent teaching position opened up at the school and she started working regularly and stopped having time to marathon DVDs of obscure, nerdy shows from overseas. She never seemed thrilled with her sudden promotion…
You looked back to your mom, who was now cleaning up the mess the two of you had made on the coffee table. You were struck by a pang of guilt, and walked over to help her clean up. You told her that tomorrow, you would finish the rest of the season with her.