It's a Chastity-Reversed World, But It's Different From What I Imagined? - 70

Chapter 70: Mother’s POV – 3

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【Sei Kurose】

“I-I’m going home too.”

As I watched Tsuki leave, even Yuuna-chan said she was going home and walked away. I had called them intending to press Tsuki for answers, but instead, I was overwhelmed by her barrage of words and left speechless. The dinner gathering ended up with the atmosphere completely ruined.

“They both left, huh. So, will you tell me now?”

“Tell you what?”

Yui spoke to me, radiating an indescribable pressure. Back in the military, this one had never once let go of her smile. Even during training, when others were in pain, she never complained—she always endured with a smile. If she hadn’t gotten pregnant around the same time I had, she would still be in the military now. And if she had stayed, she’d probably be a general by now.

“Tsuki-chan said it earlier, didn’t she? ‘Don’t tell me you seriously called him gross out of your heart?’ So what’s that about? Did you really call Yoru-kun gross? Seriously?”

The pressure intensified even more. I could hardly breathe.

“Yeah. I said it. You saw him on the day of his middle school graduation too, didn’t you? His messy hair, those lifeless eyes, that weak, flimsy air, just like every other modern man…. I didn’t want Yoru growing up into a kid like that. That’s why I was strict with him… But honestly, I was disappointed.”

I admitted the words I had spoken to Yoru, as if letting my feelings spill out. This was between me and my child. It had nothing to do with Yui.

Or so I had let myself think… And let my guard down.

Suddenly, with a crashing impact, I was hurled—chair and all—into the wall.

“What? What the hell did you just say? You were disappointed in Yoru-kun? You called him gross? Are you stupid? Do you have a death wish? Do you want me to kill you?”

There stood Yui, in her combat mode—the one I hadn’t seen in so long. We still both trained our bodies at gyms and dojos to maintain our figures. But her aura now was far more overwhelming than it had been even in her active service days.

“Yui! This has nothing to do with you! Yoru is my child!”

“He’s not just your child! You were always buried in work, barely ever paying attention to those kids. Middle school entrance ceremony, elementary school sports day, kindergarten graduation and even when Yoru was crying because he wet the bed. You don’t know about any of that! I’m the one who raised him! All you ever did was occasionally drag him off and abuse him, or yell your head off at home! Don’t get full of yourself!”

Yui, my best friend, my comrade-in-arms. Maybe this was the angriest I had ever seen her. But there were things you should never say.

“No matter what you say, Yoru is the child I bore in my belly! It’s up to me, as his parent, to decide how to raise him. I don’t need to hear your lectures.”

I stood up and glared at Yui. Right. Yoru was my child. It was up to me to decide his path.

“Haah… Do you think being a parent makes you some kind of god? You really are an idiot. It’s Yoru-kun himself who decides how he grows up. A parent only guides. When he can’t walk, you pick him up. When he can only toddle, you take his hand and walk with him. In kindergarten, he learns to deal with strangers, to discover what he can and can’t do, to experience all kinds of things. In elementary school, he studies, grows physically, and prepares in various ways to become an adult. In middle school, he enters puberty, struggles with his feelings, and shapes his heart and character. A parent should be happy about those changes—calling it gross is just insane. You will apologize to Yoru-kun! I’ll even set up the place for you. And if you can’t apologize, then you’re unfit to be a parent. I’ll raise Yoru-kun myself. Of course, the choice will be his alone, but I’ll tell him everything that happened today and let him decide.”

Taking Yoru away from me? Even though he was my child? That was unacceptable.

“For summer vacation, during Obon, I’ll book a hot springs inn. Come there and apologize to Yoru-kun.

And probably not just you—Yuuna messed up too, so we’ll have to deal with that as well. I really am an idiot too. How could I not notice all of this?”

Yui paid the restaurant for the canceled meal and compensation for the trouble, then left. I remained there, stunned, sitting alone. I ate the food as it was brought out, by myself. It was always like this.

Buried in work, I rarely ever cooked at home. I knew Yoru had been changing. Before I realized it, he had grown into a man—into the kind of man I had idealized.

“Haah… What’s wrong with me? Feeling lust toward my own son…”

That feeling I had sensed toward Yoru back at the restaurant… Was that truly something inside me? Or was I just remembering that person?

“I need to find out. A hot springs inn, huh…”

The message from Yui had the inn’s name and the date written on it. I contacted my manager and cleared my schedule for that time.

“I guess I’ll have to go.”

Because of an emergency matter that came up that morning, I arrived late at night, behind Yoru and the others.

“So, you finally came.”

When I asked Yui where she was, she said she was alone in the bar.

“It’s not like I came because you told me to. I came for my own reasons—to confirm something for myself.”

“I see… But… Maybe there’s no place for you anymore.”

Yui smiled weakly as she drank alone.

“What do you mean by that?”

“It means Yoru-kun grew more on his own than we ever imagined. He already moved far beyond the stage of us guiding or protecting him. He became an adult.”

Not as something bitter, but as something both lonely and joyful, Yui downed her drink in a toast.

“Maybe your apology isn’t even necessary anymore…”

“Is that so? But it doesn’t matter. I came here just to confirm something.”

I had no reason to speak with Yui further, so I headed to the room where Yoru must have been.

For propriety’s sake, the men’s and women’s rooms were separated, and Yoru’s room had a lock. I took the key from Yui and went inside.

Because I had arrived late, Yoru was already asleep. I stripped off my clothes, approached him, and pulled back the futon.

“Yoru.”

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