The Most Beautiful Girl in School Has Become a Mother - Chapter 30: Pure Feelings

Following yesterday, today I will also take Miori to the bus stop.

She complained, “Forget about me and eat the omelet rice while it’s warm,” but since I received the order from Shuri-sama today to “take Mom home,” there’s nothing I can do about it.

However, since Shuri was still waiting at home without eating the omelet rice, I had to return as soon as possible.

“Oh, right. This.”

I took about five thousand yen bills from my wallet and handed them to her.

Not only did she make lunch, but she also made dinner, so this is for the cost of the ingredients and her labor. I haven’t seen the receipt, but since she bought various small items, plus her labor, this amount seems reasonable.

“Eh, that’s a lot, isn’t it? The material costs aren’t that high.”

As expected, Miori is surprised.

“Well, you said you would pay for the labor of preparing lunch and dinner and also teach me some recipes, so for that…”

That’s right. Besides Neapolitan pasta and omelette rice, she says she’ll pick out a few other simple menus that even I could probably make and teach me additionally. Considering that, it feels like five thousand yen is actually quite cheap.

However, Miori turns her face away with an annoyed expression.

“I don’t like that kind of thing.”

“Huh?”

For some reason, Miori is giving me a reproachful look. I don’t know why, but it seems I’ve upset her.

For a high school student, 5,000 yen is quite a lot of money, so I thought she would be happy. But then again, it hurts my wallet too.

“When I get paid, it feels like I’m really doing it as a job. That’s not how I feel when I’m with Shuri-chan.”

Miori said sulkily.

However, I feel like I understand why she got upset. It’s precisely because she truly cares about Shuri that she has been coming over every day to take care of various things.

Surely, for her, it was an act done with very pure feelings, without any calculation of profit or loss.

However, if I were to accept money there, a profit would be generated. The actions taken out of pure concern for Shuri would end up being tainted by a sense of profit and loss.

“I’m sorry…”

I sincerely apologize.

This time, it’s completely my fault. I trampled on her pure feelings for Shuri.

“If you understand, that’s fine.”

Seeing my remorseful expression, I thought she would smile, but Miori pulled a single 1,000 yen bill from my hand.

“If we’re talking about material costs, it would be around this much, right?”

“Eh, there were things like sauce and honey too, so didn’t it take a bit longer?”

Just from what I saw, she bought not only vegetables and thick noodles but also bacon, honey, and ice cream. It’s certain that it cost at least around 1500 yen.

However, Miori laughed and said, “You can just offset the rest with the crepes from before,” as she put the 1,000 yen bill into her own wallet.

Well, that would defeat the purpose of asking under the pretext of thanking her for playing the mother role at the beginning.

However, I would have been happy if she had faced Shuri with such sincere feelings.

We walked down the night road for a while without any conversation. There was no conversation, but it was by no means uncomfortable.

Could it be because we spent the last two days cooped up at home? There was no doubt that a strange sense of relief had emerged between us.

“Hey…”

Miori seemed to want to say something and started to speak, but the words that followed didn’t come out.

“What is it?”

“Uh, no. Never mind.”

And then, she hurriedly shakes her head.

Was there something concerning Shuri that was bothering her?

“Um… if there’s anything I can do, just let me know, okay? My house isn’t that far, so if you tell me, I’ll come running.”

“I’ll come over and make you some food if you want,” she added.

However, I somehow understand that this is not what she was trying to say earlier. What was she trying to bring up?

“Well, but… isn’t it a bit too much to ask for that? I mean, we spent the entire weekend at our place this week.”

“It’s fine, I’m coming because I want to. Besides, they say we help each other out when we’re in trouble, right? So if you help me when I’m in trouble, that’s all that matters.”

Miori smiled gently and said so.

Even so, while there are many things that trouble me, I wonder if there are any things that trouble her. Even if there were, judging by her specs, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything I could do for her.

“Oh, the bus is coming, so I’m going to get on it.”

Just as she could see the bus stop, the bus she was supposed to take was also arriving.

“Ah, ah. Thank you for the two days!”

“You’re welcome. Isaki-kun, make sure to go to bed early and get plenty of rest.”

Miori said that, waved her hand lightly saying “See you tomorrow,” and then ran off to the bus stop. After seeing off the bus she got on, she turned on her heel and headed back to the house where Shuri was waiting.

──Ah, I see. Maybe I was worrying her because of my lack of sleep?

I was curious about what she was going to say in the end, but I decided to tell myself that it was for the best.

And so, the noisy yet fresh and enjoyable weekend came to an end. It was so fresh that I feel like I will remember these two days even ten years from now. They were two days that vividly colored my otherwise uneventful high school life.

By the way, the omurice that Miori made was more delicious than any I had ever eaten before.