Chapter 27 – Let’s Go to a Hotel

With his feet perfectly together right down to his toes, Nomura-san’s dad executed an incredibly beautiful, ninety-degree bow from the waist.

Seeing that, Mom made a slightly thoughtful face before snapping her head up with an “ah!”

“Ah! From old man Nomura’s place! Long time no see!”

“It’s been a while! I’m glad to see you’re as beautiful and healthy as ever, Himeko-san!”

“Eh? Eh? Wait a minute, Father!? Eh?”

Nomura-san was so bewildered by her father’s sudden transformation that her twintails were swinging wildly. Also, she normally calls him “Father,” huh.

“Ah, by the way, this is my daughter, Miku. We look forward to your continued favor! Hey, Miku, bow your head!”

“E-Eh, yes. My name is Miku. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

Nomura-san’s speech is incredibly polite. I wonder if this is her true self? This is way better than her usual character. I might just end up liking her second best after Ayane-san.

“I’m Himeko. Nice to meetcha. Just call me Hime-chan, okay?”

“I wouldn’t dare! Well then, we’ll be taking our leave here! See you later. Let’s go, Miku.”

“Y-Yes! Excuse me, then.”

Nomura’s dad walked off, his shoulders cutting through the wind. Nomura-san followed quietly behind him. Yep, total yakuza.

After watching them go, Mom slowly turned her head toward Watase’s mother, put on a smile, and opened her mouth.

“…About what you said earlier, regarding him ‘not being the child I gave birth to’…… Indeed, I didn’t give birth to Takuma. But Takuma is undeniably my son. I have no obligation to listen to strangers meddle in that. I don’t know what the kids think, but I’m being a mother in my own way. And despite that, they still call me ‘Mom.’ Isn’t it a mother’s job to answer to that? Well, I don’t know what kind of mother you are, though?”

Mom is so cool. Your true colors are slipping out, Mom. But I know the truth. I know that she’d secretly call Dad at night to ask him all sorts of things about us. And everything she heard — our favorite foods, what kind of clothes we like to wear, even our memories with our late mother — she wrote it all down in a notebook until it was completely worn out.

That’s why we call her “Mom.”

So I really can’t forgive someone looking at a mother like that with such mocking eyes. Besides —

“I think that’s wonderful, but if it were a child you actually gave birth to, you wouldn’t need to worry about such things, you know? Just by showing them your back and trusting them, they’ll meet those expectations. That’s why I’m not worried in the slightest. Because they’re our children, after all.”

This is it. This is why Watase-san has been acting so strange ever since she heard about the parent-teacher conferences.

Excessive trust. But to anyone else looking in, it just looks like a completely hands-off approach. She does nothing, says nothing, and takes credit for everything her children do. Whether they do something good or bad, she probably neither affirms nor denies it.

This woman definitely isn’t looking at her children. She only sees the reflection of herself in their eyes. It feels like the only person she trusts isn’t her kids, but herself.

Good grief. Watase-san has it rough, too. Well, I wasn’t asked to help, so I won’t go sticking my nose into another family’s business, but still.

“Alright, Akasaka-kun, come on in next.”

Ah, it’s our turn.

“Mom, let’s go.”

“Yes, alright. Let’s go.”

“Your true colors are going to slip out anyway, so why don’t you just drop the act?”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it♪.”

And so, I stepped into the career guidance room — but before that, I walked right up to Watase-san. And dropped a single line.

“Miori-chan, let’s go to a hotel again today after the parent-teacher conference.”

“T-Takuma!? What are you saying…!”

“……M-Mii-chan? Eh, what? What is the meaning of this? Eh?”

“!?”

There you go, you just said you trust your children. So make sure you trust her properly.

Now then, time for my meeting.

“Takuma.”

Just as I put my hand on the door to the career guidance room, Mom leaned in close to my ear and muttered.

“What is it, Mom?”

“You’re testing them, aren’t you?”

“…Who knows.”

“Good grief. Doing something so sly… I wonder who you take after.”

“Definitely you, Mom.”

“Yes, yes. But is this really okay? The girl you actually like is the one next to her, right? I could tell immediately just from where you were looking.”

“………………”

“Don’t tell me you…”

I immediately whipped around to look at Ayane-san.

When I did, Ayane-san was looking at me with an expression I had never seen before. Instead of her usual sharp, piercing glare, her eyes were wide open, looking as though they couldn’t possibly open any wider.

W-What do I do…