Chapter 18 – Mother and Daughter

Miina had been standing in front of her house’s entryway for over five minutes now. She reached for the front door, then pulled her hand away. She just kept repeating that motion over and over again.

“Jeez, what am I losing my nerve for now? I already decided I was going to talk to Mom.”

While scolding herself for getting cold feet after coming this far, she looked back on the daily life she had spent in this house.

Her mother had become a porn star. She basically stayed at home on her days off. She didn’t have work today either. Right about now, she was probably inside getting dinner ready. She was doing it all for the sake of her daughter coming home.

When her thoughts reached that point, Miina’s chest gave a painful squeeze.

Ever since condemning her mother, Miina hadn’t even tried to speak to her properly. Despite her acting so hostile, her mother had always prepared meals for her. Her mother had always washed her dirty clothes. She had even given her an allowance every month.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized her mother had been taking care of her all along. And yet, in a momentary fit of passion, she had stopped treating her like family.

“What the hell… I’m the absolute worst.”

Perhaps part of the reason she had kept avoiding facing her mother was a sense of guilt. It was true that after completely rejecting her mother as a human being like that, she had no idea what kind of face she was supposed to make.

(When I open this front door and see Mom’s face, will I be able to call her ‘Mom’ just like I used to?)

Even though she had supposedly steeled her resolve, Miina felt her legs freezing up. Then, she remembered the words Shinta had spoken while looking straight at her.

“Words are something you gotta say to the person you want to hear them while you still can. Otherwise, you’re gonna regret it.”

Those words he said resonated deeply within Miina’s chest. She had felt in her very bones just how much remorse was packed into Shinta’s line.

He had pushed her forward. He even went so far as to gouge open his own old wound of a tragic parting with his grandmother. So what was she doing, flinching right here? Was she really saying it was best to just maintain this daily life where she put up a wall between herself and her blood-related mother?

“Like hell… that’s true…”

Miina voiced her denial aloud against the conflict swirling within her chest.

Then, she took a deep breath. She firmed up her resolve and opened the front door.

“Ah… welcome home, Miina.”

It was incredible timing. At the exact moment she opened the door, her mother stood right in her line of sight. She was carrying a laundry basket.

Greeting her as she returned home, her mother offered a weak smile.

Faced with her mother acting like that, Miina paused for a split second before answering.

“I’m… home… Mom.”

“Eh… Mii… na… did you just say you’re home… and did you call me Mom…?”

When she returned the greeting, her mother was so shocked she dropped the laundry basket right there. It was to be expected. Miina hadn’t even given her a normal greeting for a very long time now.

Seeing her mother shed tears over a simple greeting squeezed Miina’s chest even tighter.

“Yeah, I said I’m home, Mom.”

“Ah… aah…”

A light returned to her mother’s seemingly lifeless eyes. Hot drops fell rapidly from them.

Seeing her mother like that violently shook Miina’s own emotions. Before she even knew what was happening, she was spilling a flood of tears.

“Mom… Mom… Mommy…”

“Uuu… Miina… Miina…”

Before they knew it, the two were holding each other in a tight embrace. Neither one had initiated it.

Miina’s original plan of calming down and talking things out first had completely vanished. The warmth of her mother’s body holding her left her speechless. Instead, tears just kept overflowing endlessly from both her eyes.

Her mother, too, was at a loss for words. She was overjoyed that her daughter had called her Mom again. Her daughter had treated her like a stranger for so long. She was left only able to sob just like her daughter.

“I’m sorry… I’ve… been doing horrible things to you for so long, Mom. I’m truly sorry…”

“It’s okay, Miina. I’m the one who should have talked to you more instead of trying to shoulder it all by myself.”

“Mom… I really have so many things I want to talk to you about. Sniff, is it… too late?”

“It’s not too late. I’ve always wanted to talk to you too…”

A mother and daughter had continued to pass each other by for years. The frozen time between the two melted in this very moment.

Feeling her mother’s warmth, Miina felt profound gratitude toward Shinta. He was the one who had pushed her forward. If he hadn’t given her that push, she surely wouldn’t have been able to reconcile with her mother like this. If things had gone wrong, they might have spent their whole lives passing each other by.

Up until now, her own home had been a suffocating space for Miina. But from this day onward, she became able to direct smiles at her mother, just like any ordinary family. She no longer needed to stay on high alert in the space she shared with her mother.

And toward Shinta, who had freed her from years of suffering, Miina began to harbor a special kind of feeling from this day forward.

(Aah… Shinta, you’re so kind and manly, restoring Mom and me back into a real family♡ To me, you’re my knight in shining armor♡ I feel bad for Ichizu, but I don’t want to hand over the spot next to you. I’m going to start seriously pursuing him too…♡♡♡)

And thus, in a place completely unbeknownst to Shinta, yet another maiden in love was born.