The Broken Earphones

When Haruto came home from cram school, he found his earphones on the floor of his room. The cable was bitten in two places, and one side no longer worked. He had saved his allowance for two months to buy them. Angry, he walked straight into his little brother's room.

"Sota, did you use my earphones?" Haruto asked. Sota, who was nine, looked up from his comic book and shook his head. "No, I didn't touch them," he said. But Haruto did not believe him. Last week, Sota had borrowed his phone charger without asking. "Don't lie," Haruto said. Sota denied it again and again, and finally he started to cry.

At dinner, the two brothers did not speak to each other. Their mother noticed and asked what was wrong. When Haruto explained, she said, "Sota was at his friend's house all afternoon. He only came home a few minutes before you did." Haruto did not say anything, but for the first time he began to wonder if he had made a mistake.

That evening, while Haruto was doing his homework, he heard a small noise behind him. He turned around and saw Mochi, the family's new kitten, pulling at the cable of his desk lamp with her sharp little teeth. Haruto stared at her for a long time. The marks on the lamp cable looked exactly like the ones on his earphones.

Haruto went to Sota's room and said, "I'm sorry. It was Mochi, not you." Sota was still a little upset, but he smiled when Haruto offered to share his snacks. Later, Haruto thought about what had happened. When Sota kept denying it, Haruto had refused to believe him because of what had happened the week before. He could not deny that he had been unfair. From then on, he tried to listen first before deciding who was wrong.