Friday Night Favorites

By the time Haruka brought the popcorn into the living room, Minato had already turned off the lights and claimed their favorite corner of the sofa.

“You started without me?” Haruka asked.

“It’s the menu, Mom.”

“Good. I’d hate to miss the part where we argue about how loud it should be.”

Minato grinned and lowered the volume two clicks.

Beyond the window, Tokyo glittered beneath a clear Friday-night sky. Tokyo Tower glowed between the buildings, and the occasional hum of traffic drifted up from the street. Inside, the television illuminated Minato’s loose dark hair, her cat-print shirt, and the pink plaid trousers tucked beneath her on the cushions.

Haruka settled beside her in a soft mauve top and cream lounge trousers, looking considerably more comfortable than she had in her work suit an hour earlier. She placed the warm wooden bowl between them. Two glasses of soda waited on the coffee table, ice clicking as Minato picked hers up.

Haruka’s phone buzzed.

Minato glanced at it. “Is Zack asking for something again?”

“If the next Dead or Alive tournament requires any more smoke machines, the request can wait.” Haruka silenced the phone and set it facedown. “Tonight, I’m unavailable.”

“Even for international fighting emergencies?”

“Especially those.”

Satisfied, Minato pressed play.

They had watched Spirited Away so often that its opening music was enough to make them exchange a smile. Minato settled deeper into the sofa while Haruka drew a cushion behind her back.

When Chihiro’s parents began helping themselves to food in the deserted town, Minato glanced pointedly at the popcorn in her mother’s hand.

“Would you do that?”

“Eat food from a mysterious unattended restaurant?”

“It does look delicious.”

Haruka considered the screen. “I would at least find someone to ask first.”

“And if nobody answered?”

“Convenience store.”

Minato laughed. “We’d have a very short movie.”

“You’d thank me when we got home.”

They fell quiet as the town changed around Chihiro. Even knowing what would happen, Minato watched the gathering spirits with the same absorbed expression she had worn on their first viewing.

In the boiler room, the soot sprites appeared, and she immediately leaned forward.

“There they are.”

“Your favorites.”

“Look at their little arms, Mom.”

Haruka smiled as Minato laughed at their antics. “You say that every time.”

“Their arms haven’t stopped being little.”

That startled a laugh out of Haruka. Minato looked pleased with herself and took another handful of popcorn.

“I still have that drawing you made of them,” Haruka said.

“The one with the crooked stars?”

“On my desk.”

Minato turned toward her. “At work?”

“Of course.”

“Mom, I could draw you a much better one now.”

“Then I’ll have two.”

Minato lowered her eyes to the bowl, smiling as she searched for a particularly buttery piece.

The popcorn gradually disappeared. When they reached the bathhouse scene with the filthy river spirit, Haruka straightened a little.

Minato noticed. “Your turn.”

“I love this part.”

They watched Chihiro struggle with the spirit’s unexpected problem. As the bathhouse workers joined the effort and the enormous tangle of rubbish came loose, Haruka’s hand paused halfway to the bowl.

“There,” she said, delighted. “Still satisfying.”

“You look like that when somebody finally fixes something at your events.”

“Usually when a delivery truck arrives at the correct entrance.”

“Has anyone delivered a bicycle inside a river spirit?”

“We haven’t hired Zack for enough tournaments to rule it out.”

Minato laughed into her sleeve, careful of the soda she had just swallowed. Haruka reached for a napkin anyway.

Afterward, their conversation came in brief murmurs between scenes. Minato admired Haku’s dragon form; Haruka confessed that Yubaba’s office still made her want to inspect every drawer. They shared a last handful of popcorn, then Haruka set the empty bowl on the table.

By the time Chihiro boarded the train with No-Face, Minato had leaned against her mother’s shoulder.

Neither spoke at first.

The train moved across the water, and the music filled the darkened room. Haruka rested her cheek lightly against Minato’s hair. Outside their window, a distant siren rose and faded.

“I always wish this part lasted longer,” Minato murmured.

“The train ride?”

“Mm-hm. I’d like to sit there and watch everything go by.”

Haruka glanced down at her. “Shall we take the train somewhere tomorrow? Somewhere we don’t usually go?”

Minato lifted her head. “Really?”

“After breakfast.”

“Somewhere with lunch.”

“Naturally.”

“And someone actually running the restaurant.”

Haruka nudged her gently. “Now you’re learning.”

Minato settled against her again. They watched the rest together, offering only an occasional comment until the familiar ending arrived. Haruka’s arm stayed around her daughter as the credits began.

For a little while, neither reached for the remote.

“Still our favorite?” Haruka asked.

“Still our favorite.”

Then Minato peered into the empty bowl on the table.

“We need more popcorn next time.”

“We always say that.”

“And we always forget.”

Haruka held out her hand. Minato took it and let her mother pull her up from the cushions. Together they gathered the glasses and carried them into the kitchen, where Minato fetched a pen from the drawer.

On the shopping list attached to the fridge, she wrote popcorn and underlined it twice.

Haruka leaned over her shoulder. “We haven’t even decided what we’re watching next Friday.”

Minato gave her a look.

Her mother laughed. “All right. I’ll get the big bag.”

Dead or Alive - Minato & Haruka Movie Night [short story in the text below]