The Most Beautiful Girl in School Has Become a Mother

That day, I kept thinking about Imiya-san all day long.

After returning home, Shuri probably still asked, “Where’s Mom?” as usual. However, more than that, the story I heard from her was so shocking that it wouldn’t leave my mind.

When my sister asks me a question, I dodge it with vague words, but I still take care of the housework and her as usual. Cooking, laundry, the bare minimum of cleaning… Honestly, I’m not good at any of it. I don’t like it. I’m not used to it. I just do it because I have to. This must be what being a housewife (or househusband) feels like.

Thinking about such things, I start on the housework. However, no matter how much I immerse myself in the tasks, Imiya-san’s words linger in the back of my mind. At the same time, her lonely smile also resurfaces in my memory.

And then, a sharp pain pierces deep within my chest.

“Why suddenly call me ‘Mom’?”

While putting my sister in the bathtub, I asked her.

Even though I might not get an answer if I asked, I was purely curious. Yes, why had she never called me “Mom” until now, and suddenly started saying it—especially after seeing Imiya-san? I wanted to know the reason.

If it can be replaced with another person or thing just by using the word “mother,” then it’s best to leave it at that. The real mother is no longer anywhere to be found.

My sister groaned while playing with the floating rubber duck in the bathtub.

“Shuri, Mom isn’t here.”

“Huh?”

I was taken aback by the casual words my sister said.

It was a word I never expected to hear. I had never thought that she recognized the existence of “mother” yet believed that she wasn’t in her own home.

Until now, I have never talked about my mother. Even at the daycare, since Kijima Natsumi-san has been considerate, she probably hasn’t talked about her parents and such.

However, she is already five years old. She must have noticed that her family is different from the other families who pick up and drop off their children at the daycare. She must have also realized that the “dad” and “mom” who are normally present in the homes of her friends are not here in this house.

However, Shuri had never once mentioned it until now. I had assumed she was unaware of their existence, but that was not the case.

The reason she didn’t say it is probably because I intentionally hid those words and their existence. My smart younger sister sensed the atmosphere and kept quiet.

“Since Mom isn’t here… I want to play with Mom.”

Hearing those words, I was convinced that my prediction was correct after all.

Shuri probably sensed long ago that her home environment was different from those around her. Yet, she said nothing.

And then, knowing that the concept of a mother did not exist for her, she probably called Imiya-san “Mom.” There must have been her own reasons for that.

──Five-year-olds are terrifying.

Until a few years ago, she was a tiny creature who couldn’t even speak properly, but before I knew it, she had learned to be considerate of her older brother. As expected of my sister, I felt proud, but at the same time, I felt a bit sad knowing she was growing up so quickly.

“…Hey, Shuri.”

“Hmm?”

My sister was playing in the bathtub, submerging and floating a yellow rubber duck while listening to my calls.

“Imiya-san…. Why did you call that older sister you saw at the supermarket ‘Mom’?”

“I smelled Mom!”

My sister said that with a beaming smile.

We go to the same classroom every day, but I’ve never smelled her scent. I somehow know it probably smells nice, but I couldn’t even imagine what kind of scent it would be.

“I see… she smelled like mom, huh?”

While responding in kind, she submerged the frog-shaped float in the bathtub and let go of it under the tub. The frog float, following Archimedes’ principle, popped up to the surface due to buoyancy.

My sister sees that and squeals with delight.

──Is it something instinctual, I wonder?

For some reason, my sister didn’t refer to Kijima-san, the nursery teacher, as “mother,” but called the girl in the same uniform as me “mother.”

However, as can be inferred from her earlier words, Shuri probably has some understanding of the concept of a mother. She knows that it doesn’t exist for her, but it does exist in other typical households. Perhaps that’s why she wanted someone to do something motherly for her just once.

──Huh?

So, I recall the story about Imiya-san’s past that I heard earlier.

When she became aware of her surroundings, her parents were already gone.

When she was born, her parents divorced, and she never met her father. Her mother passed away due to illness. Therefore, she has no memories of her father or mother. That’s why she said she can’t play the role of a mother.

──But, isn’t that… almost the same as us?

It’s not so much “home” as it is Shuri. Imiya-san and Shuri have quite similar situations. Our father doesn’t come home when Shuri is awake, and our mother was already dead when they were born. She also has no memories of her father or mother.

The circumstances may be different, but the fact that they have no memories or recollections of their parents makes them similar. They are more alike than anyone else.

Surely, Shuri must have some kind of memories with her parents. She might have heard about family memories from her friends around her. Of course, I have no idea what those memories are about.

But, perhaps—maybe she was secretly lonely, and I just didn’t notice.

I understand Imiya-san’s point. Her argument that she can’t play the role of a mother because she doesn’t know what being a mother is like is valid.

However, the truth is, isn’t it actually not that important?

The loneliness that Shuri carries. Isn’t it only Imiya-san who can understand it? In that, being a correct mother doesn’t matter. It’s just about whether one can understand it or not.

In that sense, I can’t understand Shuri. Because until I was eleven, I had a mother. Like in a normal family, I also had a father who played with me. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to have parents and what I would have wanted them to do for me.

And regarding Shuri calling Imiya Miori “Mom”… didn’t Shuri sense that “smell” from Imiya-san? As someone who possesses the same thing.

──Maybe we should try talking again tomorrow.

I feel heavy-hearted. My stomach hurts. I might be disliked this time for sure.

Even so, I couldn’t somehow ignore this issue. For some reason, I couldn’t get Imiya-san out of my mind. Moreover, when I think of her expression at the time of our parting, I feel that I couldn’t just leave it as it was.

It might just be my ego. But I had started to think that I couldn’t just leave Imiya-san alone either.

Is it because Shuri and Imiya-san somehow overlap in my mind? Or is it because I have developed different feelings for her?

I didn’t have the luxury to think that far right now.