Chapter 26 – Mother, Himeko, 29 Years Old

Time flew by, and it was already after school.

I spent the day getting glared at by Wano-sensei, receiving messages from Watase-san saying, “I came from home braless, so I’ve been braless all day. What should I do?”, and getting photos from Fujimiya-san that looked straight out of a girl’s secret alt-account—showcasing her lips, cleavage, and bra—with the text, “I put a bra on properly! My boobs are bigger than Yukina’s, you know! Yukina’s only an A-cup! My lips are way plumper, too!” All the while, Nao-chan spent the day sniffing, smelling my jersey after PE.

Honestly, I wish Nao-chan would talk to our classmates more. Hidaka-san is going to worry, you know? What am I supposed to say if someone asks me about it?

But amidst all that, what really caught my attention was Watase-san’s behavior. She was making way fewer of her usual crazy remarks. No, I guess that’s a good thing, but still?

From the way things looked this morning, I thought it might be the parent-teacher conferences, but Ayane-san, who shares the same parents, seemed completely unchanged. She was giving off total Empress! vibes.

Well, having her weird behavior decrease like this is something I’m thankful for. If anything, I wish she’d just give up on trying to pull a zamaa revenge on Ayane-san.

“Alright, the parent-teacher conferences are starting now, so please come to the career guidance room when it’s your turn. The parents are already here, since the PTA general meeting just finished.”

Wano-sensei said that before stepping out of the classroom.

…Wait? What exactly were you planning to do yesterday, striking such a provocative pose in the very room we use for parent-teacher conferences!? Well, it was only an attempt, so I guess it’s fine.

Anyway, moving on from that, my turn is… second to last, right after Nomura-san. Hmm? Oh? Ayane-san is last. Which means… I see.

◇◇◇

As the meetings finished one after another and students headed home, I sat on a chair lined up in the hallway, waiting for my mom to arrive. Around ten o’clock, she sent me a message saying, “Just hit a jackpot! But it doesn’t look like a long streak, so I’ll probably make it in time!” — which left me with nothing but anxiety. I’m sure she attended the general meeting, but where on earth is she and what is she doing?

Sitting next to me were Watase-san, Ayane-san, and their mother. Since they’re twins, it seems they’re doing them back-to-back. Watase-san’s homeroom teacher is on standby in the hallway, too. As for Watase-san’s mother, she just looked like your average mom. She talks a lot and laughs a lot. Since neither Watase-san nor Ayane-san was paying her any mind, she was just talking to herself. But she didn’t seem to care about that either. Her mental fortitude is insane.

By the way, why is Watase-san as quiet as a borrowed cat? She won’t even look in my direction.

Hey there. …I gave a small wave, but got zero reaction. Oh well.

Sitting next to the Watase family was our class representative, Nomura-san. It looks like Nomura-san’s dad came to pick her up. With his slicked-back hair, gold necklace, and white suit, he looks exactly like a yakuza and is incredibly scary, so I really wish he wouldn’t look over here. Is Nomura-san’s twintail, fake-cute act a reaction to him? It’s irritating to watch, but I do think it’s amazing that she ranks first in our grade. Her character gimmick is a total failure, though.

“Alright, Nomura-san, come on in next.”

Wano-sensei poked her head out of the career guidance room and called out, leaving only the Watase family and me in the hallway. Right at that moment, I saw a silhouette at the end of the hall walking toward us. It looked like a woman. And then, that person stopped right in front of me.

The woman looked like she was barely touching thirty, if that. Dressed in a navy suit, she was a bit on the tall side, with a great figure, and her gentle eyes gave the impression of calm reassurance. Her long hair was tied back in a single ponytail with an unassuming scrunchie. …Except she was blonde. This woman spoke to me in a sweet, coaxing voice.

“Takuma, sorry to keep you waiting♪ . So sorry about that~? I got caught up chatting with my old homeroom teacher, so I ended up being late♪.”

“…Who are you?”

“Ah?”

Her tone dropped so low that it made her voice from a second ago seem like a lie. Her eyes slanted upward, a deep crease formed between her brows, and a hand with popping veins grabbed my face with an iron-clad grip. No, she was crushing it.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!”

S-Stop. Stop with the iron claw. You’re going to crush my face!

“The hell do you mean, ‘who’? Watch your mouth when you’re talking to your Mother, punk.”

“L-Liar! My real mom is the kind of person who wears a jersey with gold embroidery, lines up at six in the morning for new pachinko machine installations, and eats rice smeared with jam! She’d never dress up all neat and talk with musical notes at the end of her sentences! And that ‘chatting’ you just mentioned was definitely letting your fists do the chatting!”

“A-Aw, you’re making me blush… Hehe♪”

I wasn’t praising you, you know?

“Well, anyway, you’re up next, Takuma? Leave it to me!”

“I don’t think there’s anything I can leave to you, though?”

“Really? I always skipped all my parent-teacher meetings, so I really don’t know how these things work.”

“This is hopeless. I’m filled with nothing but worry.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll make sure to ask all about what you’ve been up to at school! If you’ve been causing any problems…”

“…If?”

“I wouldn’t know unless they tell me?”

“…”

I’m asking because I don’t know — is my mom an idiot?

“U-Um… excuse me… are you, err, Akasaka-kun’s… mother? You look incredibly young.”