Life is a Mess Ever Since My Mother Won an Ero-Novel Grand Prize - Chapter 3.1
"Please Rate this Novel 5★ in NovelUpdates!"
Click Here
Chapter 3.1
My life turned out to be a mess because of Starbucks girl
A few days after the award ceremony.
I was waiting for someone in front of the station which was quite crowded because of the National Holiday.
Indeed I had this thought of at least dressing up a bit good today, so I tried on a variety of clothes, but I was afraid that if I put too much thought into it, my mind would end up spinning out of control. In the end, I ended up wearing all black, which made me look mysterious. Does it look shady…? No, what’s wrong with being shady!
I instantly defended myself.
“Shimomura.”
“Oh, Rinka?”
I turned around at a familiar voice, I froze with my mouth wide open as I saw my classmate all dressed up.
She was looking absolutely stunning in a white crinkle dress with a slender silhouette. Although she was wearing a camisole, which made her look cute at the same time, her revealing sexy points such as her back and collarbone gave off a sophisticated look. To avoid being too pretentious, this high school girl paired her feet with plain sandals and her wrist with a simple bracelet.
“Hya! Wait?”
Her cheeks flushed red as she gave me a peek-a-boo look.
I had always thought she was beautiful, but today, seeing her in her casual clothes, I was convinced otherwise. Rinka was a real beauty.
But I shook my head as if to shake it off. Meeting in front of the station on a holiday sounds like a date, but it was not.
Today we were being summoned by someone.
I thought back to last night.
It was a peaceful night with a crescent moon in the starry sky.
I was in my room, facing my laptop, when I heard a knock at the door.
“Haru-kun, this is your beloved mother.”
“Oh, you might’ve gotten the wrong room, I don’t know any beloved mother.”
“Um you see the thing is…”
The door opened with a bang, revealing Mirei. I thought I locked the door, how did she?
She had her phone in her hand.
“I’ve got an email from an unknown person. It’s addressed to Mating Press.”
“Oh, I see. I exchanged a lot of business cards at the award ceremony, so maybe one of the senior writers sent me an email. … From whom?”
“It’s from someone name Senri Ebidensu.”
“What, from Senri?”
“Is it a woman? What!? And you guys call each other by name? Could it be? Haru-kun, don’t tell me the day of the award ceremony, the reason you came home the next day was… You were in a hotel with that woman named, Senri…!? No way!!! My Haru-kun has turned into an adult~~! But you promised me that I would be your first~~!”(E/N: Quite the mom you got there bud.)
I pulled out my phone with cold eyes, launched the email app and logged into my account as Mating Press. It was the account that I shared with my mother.
I found an email from Senri. And I opened it.
“To, Mating Press, Hello, I’m Senri Ebidensu, the person you spoke with the other day. I have sent an email to Karin-Sensei with the same Agenda. I want to counter the drastic issues that lie between us and make breakthroughs with better solutions.”
Eh… it was too lengthy, thus I skipped.
Hmm?
In short, she wanted me to come with Rinka to the Starbucks in front of the station to talk.
It was fine to have a talk, but there was a problem. It was the meeting place.
Why does it have to be at Starbucks…?
“Why are you so cautious about meeting at Starbucks?”
Thus I replied to Rinka,
“Then why are you dressed up like that? We’re gonna have a normal conversation with a senior writer, aren’t you the one who’s cautious?”
“I-It’s not that! It’s my normal clothes! Simple!”
“Is it because of Starbucks? Is there a dress code to enter Starbucks?”
“No, Starbucks has nothing like that…”
“I see. Well, I guess there may be something about female writers that men can’t perceive. Still I think you used too much makeup. You’re too cute even without makeup, so you should make the most of your skin.”
“Ah, oh, really? hehehe(squirming) … Am I cute even without makeup? (glancing)”
“Yeah. Now then, let’s go.”
“That’s too short! Say more!”
Stop it, You’re too cute to keep looking at. You have to understand it girl.
“If you don’t tell me I’m pretty, there’s no point in me trying…! You have to understand a maiden’s heart.”
Rinka also seems to be complaining about something in a whisper.
Anyway,
Damn, it would have been nice if this was really a date. Being able to spend the day off with Rinka, the most beautiful girl in the school, would have been a great deal. If only this wasn’t for work!
“Even though it’s kind of like a holiday date, you bigot… you don’t have to act like it’s a serious extension of your job, you dummy…!”
I have no idea what Rinka was talking about, though.
Anyway, we have yet to reach our destination, Starbucks, so we proceeded on our way.
—How ridiculous!?
I gritted my teeth in frustration as the memories of that time popped into my head.
Yes, that was when Senri-Senpai rejected us at the bar.
At that time, I was so angry that I reflexively replied,
“Maybe that’s what Senri-Sensei thought, but the rest of the judges were different weren’t they? Perhaps Senri-sensei is the one who’s wrong.”
I later regretted that it was quite a rude statement to say to a senior author who had also made an anime. And I knew that she was a nice person who loved her junior staff, who would take them to such an expensive bar, if only I should’ve given more thought to it.
Yet, I couldn’t stop myself from talking.
I was merely a proxy. But both “Giri-Gami” by Mating Press and “Stardust” by Karin were written by the people who are dear to me. I couldn’t stand it when people spoke ill of them.
[TLN: Sorry I forgot to mention it in previous chapter that “giri-gami” is actually the short form of “greek mythology.”]
Surprisingly the one who objected to my voice was not Senri, but Kimeseku-sensei.
“Mating press, there is no right or wrong in evaluation. That’s what she thinks, that’s all. In a competition, there is no single judge, but rather a majority vote.”
“Well, that doesn’t mean you can just ignore my opinion, does it?”
Senri argued,
“Both of your works are based on family love. But my issue is with the family love you portrayed.”
“Excuse me, what is the issue?”
“It’s a point of controversy, that’s the problem.”
Kimeseku-sensei added,
“Senri-Sensei, as a judge for the final round, I also looked over your critique for the fourth round. You ragged on it in various ways, but in the end it can be summed up in one thing. Family love is not a theme that fits today’s times, and its timeless nature is what concerns you.”
“Hey, tell me… What exactly is a family?”
Senri spat out in a tone of clear contempt.
“It’s always about this family, that family, their family… isn’t it the same as a flower garden?”
What nonsense…? I gritted my teeth in anger. What Senri said may have been directed at the world, or at society in general, but I felt as if my own family was being mocked.
My mother is certainly not a reliable parent, and I’m probably not a very strong brother to my younger sister, Miyuha. But I’m convinced that we have a bond as a family that no one can tear apart. Though, I’m too embarrassed to say it out loud.
That’s why Senri’s comment about making fun of the family itself was not something I could tolerate. It was too unacceptable and disrespectful.
I was so angry that I couldn’t find the words right away.
At this point, Rinka interjected in frustration,
“What’s wrong with family? Family love has always been the center of stories of all ages.”
That’s right. I agree 100% with Rinka’s opinion. However…
“I’m telling you, that era is over!”
Senri shouted with all her might.
“Look at today’s society! The typical family has clearly collapsed! There’s no conversation between family members due to cell phones! Children are separated from their parents because they don’t like them! The parents are alienated from their elderly relatives and throw them into nursing homes! Married couples are now getting divorced and remarried all the time, and the young people who grew up watching them feel that marriage is meaningless. The rate of unmarried young people is rising rapidly! In other words, it’s the age of the single person! The family system is obsolete!”
So she meant to say the theme of family love is also outdated. If we’ve to write about it, we have to make it about the collapse of the family.
This was the opinion of Senri Ebidensu, a socially-oriented Light Novel author.
I have to admit, she had a point.
From a contemporary point of view, the theme of family love does not fully reflect the modern Japanese Society, or even the family problems in developed countries around the world…
I’ve never written with such social issues in mind before. I just scribbled down what I thought was interesting with shallow thoughts.
Senri was indeed a professional writer. I don’t think this is sarcasm; I think she’s really conscious.
Of course, not all of Senri’s opinions were correct. Kimseki-sensei immediately refuted her.
“That depends on how you view it. Mating Press’s ‘Giri-Gami’ is more of a story about a broken family regaining genuine family love. The same goes for Karin’s ‘Stardust’. It can be interpreted as a story of a family that once collapsed, regains a genuine bond. In this respect, I interpreted their themes as a story that implies modern society and evokes the family love that people are really seeking deep inside. The contemporaneity is rather fitting.”
“That’s what you want. That’s what you want to think. That’s just you, you know?”
When Senri made fun of him, Kimiseku-sensei narrowed his eyes.
“What about you then!? Aren’t you the one who’s putting your personal feelings into the assessment?”
“Of course I will!!”
Senri’s face was grim.
“What are you trying to say?”
Kimeseku-sensei still had the same cold expression on his face, and he was looking at her cunningly.
“Senri Ebidensu, that’s enough. I’ve tolerated you up until now, but your aggression has become too much to bear. Just because you were not blessed with a family of your own, how dare you put your personal feelings into the assessment? You should be ashamed of yourself!”
At that moment, Senri snapped out.
“I don’t want to be told that by you!”
She shouted and ran away.
After that Kimiseku-Sensei apologized to us, “I’m sorry I got you into trouble.”
He called two cabs for us, paid the fare in advance, “I’d like to have a few more drinks by myself,” and stayed at the bar by himself.
Kimeseku-Sensei and Senri Ebidensu-Senpai. I could tell that there was something between them that the rest of us could not understand.
To be honest, Rinka and I were supposed to be discussing our work, but the two people who critiqued it went off into their own little world. We ended up leaving up that day without really understanding what just happened.
It may have been something that should be forgotten.
However, there was one thing that I could not overlook.
She had tears in her eyes…
At that time, Senri was crying.
… Yes, I’m sure this is an issue between Kineseku-sensei and her.
It may be something I can’t do anything about.
I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help, and this thought kept lingering in the corner of my mind since then.
***