Chapter 16 – Miina’s Past②

“I never thought I’d see my own mother in the adult section of a video rental store~. The shock was so huge I literally collapsed to my knees.”

Perhaps vividly recalling that moment, Miina let out a dry laugh. Faced with her like that, Shinta was at a loss for words and fell silent.

(I braced myself, but this is a heavy story… Shit!)

The shock of learning her mother’s dark secret in a place she knew nothing about—it must have been an impact he couldn’t even begin to imagine. Shinta felt a frustrating sense of helplessness, knowing her experience was on a level where any clumsy words of comfort wouldn’t even serve as a temporary solace.

In contrast to the speechless Shinta, Miina, who had seemingly cast her hesitation aside, gouged at her own wounds even further.

“So I confronted my mom. Asking her what the hell this was all about.”

When she cornered her mother, who had just come home claiming she’d finished work, with fierce intensity, her mother must have realized she couldn’t hide it anymore and confessed.

Her mother had taken a part-time job after the divorce from her father, but even then, they were barely scraping by. It seemed she felt anxious, and above all, deeply apologetic, that she couldn’t even provide her adolescent daughter with a normal level of happiness. She hadn’t wanted to make her innocent daughter suffer for the marital problems that occurred between her and her husband.

It was when she was backed into that corner that she was scouted to be an adult video actress after her shift.

Miina’s mother was so youthful and had such a great figure that you wouldn’t believe she had a high-school-aged daughter. That was exactly why she caught the scout’s eye.

If their standard of living hadn’t changed at all from before the divorce, Miina’s mother would have flat-out rejected such an invitation. However, the conditions offered were exceptionally good, clearly promising an income far beyond her part-time job. More than anything, feeling guilty over putting her daughter—an adolescent girl who never uttered a single selfish complaint—through such hardship, she agonized over it, and after much conflict, ultimately accepted the scout’s offer.

After hearing the entire story, the very first thing Miina felt toward her mother was anger.

“Why… why would you sell your body so cheaply!?”

“I-I’m sorry. But I didn’t want you to suffer…”

“You’re making me suffer more than enough emotionally!!”

Miina’s emotions were a complete mess. She understood that her mother’s words about doing it for her sake weren’t a lie. But, that was exactly why she couldn’t help but feel enraged at the path her mother had chosen.

Why didn’t you talk to me about it? Why do you treat yourself with such little respect? If it’s something this important, shouldn’t we discuss it as a family? Are you really able to smile even if you become miserable just for the sake of my happiness?

Countless questions kept spinning round and round in her head like a merry-go-round. But what Miina found more unforgivable than anything else was the fact that, even if it was a job, her mother was exposing her naked body to other men, and having sex with them.

“You condemned Dad for cheating, and now look at you!? Aren’t you ashamed of yourself, getting it on with men you don’t even know!?”

Those words seemed to pierce her mother’s heart the deepest, leaving her completely at a loss for words. But Miina, showing no signs of cooling her agitation, continued to string together words of contempt.

“Whatever, I don’t care anymore! If you like sleeping with other men so much, then do whatever you want! But I’m never thinking of you as my mother again, you whore!!”

After riding the momentum and spitting out the entire litany of insults that came to mind, Miina’s agitation cooled slightly. And as her head cleared, she looked back at the words she had just hurled and gasped.

“Ah…”

When she raised her head to look at her mother, she was silently shedding tears.

Making no excuses, offering no apologies, she simply closed her eyes and accepted her daughter’s condemnation without a word. That agonizing sight made Miina’s chest ache, but even so, she didn’t apologize, instead throwing out one last remark.

“I’m… moving out as soon as I graduate high school. Once I’m gone from this house, you won’t need to spend money on your daughter anymore.”

“I’m sorry…”

“I told you, you don’t need to apologize anymore. I don’t care…”

Looking back, that was the last proper conversation she ever had with her mother.

Since that day, Miina had no memory of having a real conversation with her mother. Even if they did exchange words, it was at most just tossing out an occasional nod of acknowledgment.

Even after that, Miina’s misfortune didn’t end. The rumor that her mother was a porn star spread to the people in her class, and Miina, the daughter, became the target of bullying.

“Man, looking back on it, it was so rough. Being the daughter of a whore, the girls treated me like a germ, and some of the guys just assumed I was a slut too, asking me out on dates or to love hotels with entirely ulterior motives… My middle school days were pure hell.”

“Then that girl who picked a fight with us at the arcade earlier was also…”

“Yeah, exactly. A girl from the same class. On top of that, her boyfriend tried to jump ship to me since I was rumored to be a slut. He probably figured I’d be an easy lay. So that girl got her heart broken, held a massive grudge against me, and subjected me to some especially vicious harassment.”

“I see… That must’ve been rough…”

“Yeah, it really was~. That’s why I changed my character to act pointlessly cheerful in high school. I tried to erase my middle-school self by changing my personality and hairstyle, but… now that you’ve found out, it’s all meaningless…”

Saying that, Miina turned her gaze toward him for the first time since she started recounting her past. Her eyes were murky and muddy, just like a dark quagmire.