Vigilante Slimming Scanner – Chapter 7

TORO

My mind is so full of what-ifs and questions about my parents that I operate in zombie mode until I’m faced with the hundreds stairs. I don’t remember dropping my bag off at the gym, but here I am, and I just can’t do it today.

The first step invites me to sit down in the shade, so I plop myself down and pull out my phone. Should I call Mitsuo first? Ask him what to do? He’ll only tell me to call my mom.

“Toro-kun! It’s so good to hear from you,” Mom croons into the phone. I sigh happily under her comforting voice. I have such a good relationship with my parents. It’s shocking to find out they’re not my birth parents.

“Hi Mom. How are you?”

“I’m good, son, especially hearing from you. Are you okay?”

“Actually, I’m not. I need to ask you something, and I don’t want you to get mad, okay?”

“Hmmm, okay. This will depend on what you’re about to ask me for. If it’s money, we might have a problem.”

I laugh because this is a personal, long-standing joke between us.

“No. No money. This is going to sound like a weird question, but am I adopted?”

I hold my breath, waiting for her to respond, and the moment drags out to an eternity.

“Mom?”

I immediately regret asking her over the phone. I should have waited for the weekend and gone to visit them. Asking in person would have been a more honorable choice.

“Yes. It’s true. You’re adopted. How… How did you find out?”

I rub my face with my right hand, switching my phone to my left. “It’s a long story. I can’t believe I never figured it out.” I should have. I’m taller than both my parents. My face is shaped differently, and my parents have never gained a gram of weight in their lives. I never saw the signs.

“I always thought we would tell you, but I never had the right opportunity. I’m sorry. Both your birth parents are dead, and they came from very little family. We adopted you when you were just a newborn. We were so lucky.” Mom bursts into tears on the other side of the phone, and I cradle my forehead in my hand. This was not what I was expecting when I woke up this morning.

“Do you want to try to find your family?” Her voice cracks on the other end of the phone, breaking my heart in two.

“No. No. It’s fine. You’re my family. You, Dad, and all the rest of us crazy Noguchis.” I laugh, trying to break the tension, and Mom chuckles. “But I need his name and family register information so I can get health records. I’m worried about my health, and I think his family medical history may come in handy.”

Mom pauses a moment and I can hear pot lids banging in the background. I must have interrupted her cooking breakfast. “I have that information for you. It’s in the safe deposit box at the bank. I’m glad you want to take care of your health, Toro-kun. Maybe you should take up a sport.”

I glance up at movement in my peripheral vision. The young foreign woman is making her way up the street towards me. She’s early this morning. As she passes me on her way up the stairs, we smile at each other, and warmth grows in my chest.

Nothing about this information really changes who I am, right?

“I’ll figure something out. And I’ll come up this weekend to visit. I miss you guys.”

“We miss you too. Toro-kun, … are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. Bye, Mom.”

“Bye,” she says, and she hangs up. I turn off my phone and stare into space for a long moment.

I’ve never been very good about follow-through. Start a diet and give it up in a week. Join a gym and never go. Have a fabulous first date with a fantastic lady and never call her back. Do all the research on getting a dog and never actually make it to the rescue shelter. The only thing I have been able to follow through with is finding an apartment and getting a job. I do the bare minimum.

Look at this guy over here, this doctor walking up the street in scrubs, pushing a bike and probably heading to a nearby clinic to work. He had to go through a ton of schooling, residency, waiting on patients, lab work, or whatever, day in and day out. Why didn’t I ever have that kind of ambition? What do I do? I manage a database for a company that makes erasers. It’s not glamorous, but it’s a steady paycheck, and I’ve made friends there.

The doctor starts to walk past me, wheeling his bike with one hand and checking his phone with the other.

“Excuse me,” I say, jumping up and bowing. “I don’t mean to bother you, but I was wondering how you like your bike.”

“My bike?” He blinks at me and looks down at the bike, nodding his head. “It’s a good bike. Gets me to work and home again every day. Are you thinking about getting one?”

“Yeah, for the past week.” A thin vein of sweat trickles down my back being baked by the morning sun. “I thought I would try biking to and from work instead of taking the train.”

The doctor smiles at me. “I do it. Even in the rain. It’s great exercise as long as you can handle coming into work sweaty.”

“I already shower at the gym before work.”

He smiles and bows. “We have showers at the hospital. I have to get going. Have a nice day!”

“Thank you,” I respond, bowing again.

“Toro-san?” Kamiko’s voice echoes down the stairs, and I turn to see her standing at the top. “Is everything okay?”

“I’ll be right there!” I take the first few dozen stairs two at a time, even though my legs immediately begin burning. I may have climbed these stairs regularly the past few weeks, but that hasn’t made me a master of them yet. When I reach the top, I’m so out of breath, I have to sit back down again. Kamiko sits down beside me.

“I was worried you were hurt or in pain when I saw you talking to that doctor,” she says, tucking her skirt under her legs.

“No, I was just asking him about his bike. I’ve had a rough morning. I’m sorry I’m late with the milk.” I hand the bag over to her and she sets it next to her feet on the stairs.

“Is something the matter? Can I help?”

I hesitate because this is so personal, and I’ve only known Kamiko very briefly. It doesn’t seem like the kind of thing to burden a stranger with.

“It’s nothing,” I say, waving her off.

“I’m sure it’s something. Want to walk and talk?” She stands up and walks away from me, heading into her apartment with the milk for a minute and re-emerging with her work bag. She locks up and waves me to her. I’ve seen her talk with her three kids and know what a good person she is. I believe I can trust her.

We walk in silence for half a block before I get up the nerve to say something.

“I found out this morning that I’m adopted.”

She raises her eyebrows at me. “That’s big news.”

“It is. I had no idea. I just talked to my mom on the phone and she says it’s true.” I sigh, my shoulders slumping forward. “I’m not sure how to feel now.”

“I can imagine that’s quite a shock. Do you want to find your birth family?”

We reach a corner of a major street, and Kamiko pauses in a doorway, so I stop with her.

“Well, both my parents are dead. My birth father died before I was born and my mother died in childbirth. So I may have family out there, but not much.”

“I adopted my youngest child,” she says, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder. “The first two are mine, and the third is my late-sister’s child. She… died and left her baby all alone.” A film of tears covers her eyes as she gazes off down the street. “Her husband deserted her in pregnancy.” She chuckles, a ruthless tint to it making me squirm. “We had awful taste in men, the two of us. Anyway, I adopted Minako, and she’s my baby girl now.” She sucks in a quick breath. “You’re happy, aren’t you? Your parents treated you well?”

“They’re the best parents in the world. I’m very lucky. I had no idea how lucky until this morning.”

“Then I wouldn’t worry. Just look at my baby. She’s happy, healthy, and loved. That’s all that matters.”

She’s right. That is all that matters.

“It was good talking to you. Thanks for confiding in me.” It felt like confiding in my own mother. I smile at Kamiko, grateful that I’ve met her. “See you on Monday?”

“Of course,” I say, bowing to her as she bows to me, and turns to walk in the direction of her office.

I’m happy and loved. I need to work on the healthy.

—-

I bounce into work, filled with purpose and determination. I’m going to buy a bike. I have some money set aside for these kinds of things, little trips, video games I want, et cetera, so I should be fine to buy something of good quality.

I set my bag on the floor next to my computer and extract my bento lunch. I’ve been packing one all week, prepping the food at night and filling it with hot rice in the morning. These packed lunches have fewer calories than my usual lunches, but I make sure they’re filled with protein. Besides, it’s actually fun to make a bento lunch. I quite enjoy it.

In the break room, Mitsuo’s making tea in his usual mug, the water steaming from the electric kettle next to him.

“Morning!” I sing as I slip past him to the fridge. Inside, the space is filling up with bentos from everyone on our floor. I set mine next to Mitsuo’s and grab my mug for coffee. I’m willing to live healthier, but I still need coffee. Only people like Mitsuo can live on green tea every day.

“You’re in a good mood.”

I can’t believe I just found out I’m adopted and yet I’m in a good mood! It must have something to do with the run I took after parting ways with Kamiko.

I lean against the wall and fold my arms. “So, this morning, I went to get that milk delivery I’ve been doing from the convenience store…” I wave my hand around as someone from the floor enters the break room, puts her bento in the fridge, and heads back out.

“As one does.”

“Right. So I’m talking with the register when it tells me I’m adopted and both my original parents are dead.”

Mitsuo’s eyes widen and his mouth falls open. “What?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow… Are you okay?”

I shrug my shoulders as I pour some black coffee and add half the sugar I usually do. “I guess it’s true. I called my mom, and she admitted it. But the real news is that my birth father died before I was born, and I’m wondering if it was because he didn’t take good care of himself. I need to lose weight and get in shape, or I’ll end up like him.”

I draw my finger across my neck, as Mitsuo nods in agreement. But despite how important this is, getting fit and healthy feels like a huge hurdle.

“So, what’s the plan? You’ve already joined the gym and you’re running now, too, right?” He turns to lead us back to our desks.

“I’m buying a bike. I think that’s my best choice. There’s a place to park bikes around the corner, and I can shower at the gym. I just need to go buy the bike.”

“And actually ride it. It can’t sit at home.”

I sigh as I collapse in my chair. Imagining riding the bike to work every day is exhausting, but I have to up my game. The gym, the stairs, and the running won’t be enough. “I know. I will.”

Mitsuo nods as he powers on his computer at the next station over. “This sounds like an excellent idea. Do it.”

“Okay. Tomorrow!”

But I immediately start to sweat. How am I going to handle all of these changes? What I want to do is go out for a huge bowl of noodles, a giant beer, and then sleep all day tomorrow. Ugh. I suck at being good to myself. Why can’t I be good?