The Most Beautiful Girl in School Has Become a Mother - Chapter 50

After the fourth period class ended, I received a bento from Miori at the stair landing and headed to the rooftop.

I think it would be fine if she just handed it to me directly on the rooftop, but apparently, it’s embarrassing in front of Shinya and Sumomo. However, they also know that my bento is made by Miori. I mean, the side dishes in the bento are exactly the same, so anyone can tell just by looking. The only difference is the size of the bento box.

However, the two of them don’t seem to have any intention of teasing about it, and they pretend not to notice. I thought they would tease me playfully, but this was surprisingly unexpected.

“Hey, we’ve been kinda bored lately.”

“I’m bored.”

Shinya and Sumomo are voicing their complaints in unison. The one imitating Shinya’s speech pattern is the familiar Sumomo.

“Isn’t being free a good thing?”

From my perspective, being free is enviable.

Thanks to Miori, I’ve been able to relax quite a bit, but in the end, I still have to take care of Shuri, so I’m far from having free time. I don’t even have time to think, “I’m so bored,” while reading manga on my phone.

“That’s not it. You guys are together all the time, so I can’t hang out with you.”

“I can’t play with Mi-chan.”

“That’s why we’re bored,” the two added in unison.

Miori and I exchanged glances and, at the same time, felt embarrassed and looked away.

“no… I mean, that’s true, but it’s not like we’re alone together or anything.”

“Y-Yeah! It’s not just us, but also Shuri-chan.”

Somehow, we end up making excuses in a hurry. Who are we making excuses to, and for what?

“That’s it!”

Sumomo steps forward and says.

“Ever since Mi-chan took on the role of Shuri-chan’s mom, I haven’t been able to play with Mi-chan at all! After school, on weekends, everything is taken by Sanada!”

“Even I, too, am having my precious time with Isaki taken away by Imiya!”

The two of them come to protest in front of the National Diet Building, exuding an atmosphere like a demonstration group.

“Wait, you’re saying I’m being taken by him… That’s a terrible thing to say.”

It’s not me at all; the culprit is Shuri.

While denying it, I secretly check Miori’s expression.

She was just looking at me from above, and when our eyes met, we both hurriedly looked away.

Somehow, the atmosphere has become awkward. I don’t really like this kind of thing.

However, this might have been the perfect timing for it.

I was starting to worry that I might be relying too much on Miori, or perhaps putting too much pressure on her. Miori has come to our place every weekend since she started being the “mom,” whether it’s for my health or for Shuri, I don’t know. From morning till night, every weekend. I can’t help but think that this must be quite a burden on her.

She wouldn’t hesitate to take on the role of a mother, and I thought we would have to talk about it somewhere.

“As for me, it can’t be helped… What about Miori? She doesn’t have to come every weekend if it’s too much.”

When I brought it up, Miori shot me a piercing, accusatory look.

“I’ve told you many times, but I’m not forcing myself at all. I’m going because I want to hang out with Shuri-chan.”

I got the same response as usual.

Whenever I bring up something like this, Miori always gives the same response. It’s for Shuri, she says.

“But hey, isn’t it tough for Mi-chan too? I think raising kids is hard, and I don’t think it’s possible to not get tired at all.”

If it were just the two of us, it would end here, but this time we had Sumomo’s cover fire.

If someone says it’s for “Shuri-chan,” I can’t say anything back, but having someone with a personality like Sumomo’s around during times like this is really helpful.

“I don’t really think it was that hard for me… but I think it was harder for Isaki-kun.”

“No, it’s just something normal for me, so you don’t have to worry about me.”

“…Is it possible that my coming every week is a bother?”

“It’s not like that. In fact, I’m really grateful, so I’m worried too.”

The conversation is going in circles.

No good. No matter what I do, the conversation isn’t going well. I could never think of her coming as a nuisance. Out of gratitude, I’m worried that I might be tiring her out.

“Hmm… I see, got it!”

After seeing our exchange, Shinya clapped his hands.

“Let’s join Shuri-chan’s playtime too! I mean, I want to play as well!”

“Oh, that’s great! I want to play too! Then we can spend time with Mi-chan and Sanada, killing two birds with one stone!”

“No, no, wait, wait, how did it come to this──”

When I tried to stop them by saying that, Shinya and Sumomo tightly wrapped their arms around my shoulders and turned their bodies around to face the back. They turned their backs on Miori.

“Just listen, this is also for your sake.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’re thinking about it too.”

The two of them start talking in hushed voices.

“What do you mean?”

“If Shuri-chan is always in between, you two won’t be able to be alone together. The cowardly Isaki wouldn’t take the initiative to be alone with you either.”

A blow that felt like being pierced by a stabbing sword struck me.

“I-it’s nothing… I’m just getting help taking care of Shuri.”

“See, you always get all timid like that. Once we get used to Shuri-chan, you can go out together a bit, right? It’s not all bad.”

“Then, there’s no need for us to go out together just for the sake of it──”

“Hey, what is that thing you eat every day for lunch?”

Looking at the bento box in my hands, Sumomo said with a stern expression.

Of course, it was the bento that Miori had made for me.

“That Mi-chan is going this far for the boys. Come on, enough already. It’s unreasonable to say that all of this is for your little sister. It’s just a woman’s excuse, can’t you see? I’ve never even eaten Mi-chan’s lunch!”

“That’s right, that’s right! Realize how happy your situation is!”

I feel like there’s some jealousy involved, but maybe it’s just my imagination. However, perhaps this is a good thing for Shuri.

With only me and Miori as playmates, everything tends to become one-sided.

By interacting with people like Sumomo and Shinya, who are different types from me and Miori, there might be things I can gain.

“…What are the three of you whispering about?”

As expected, Miori felt suspicious, narrowed her eyes and looked at me with a questioning gaze.

“N-No! Not at all! I was just saying that Mi-chan is cute today too, right?!”

Sumomo is making another incomprehensible excuse.

So she should come up with a few more variations of excuses, too. It’s the same as before, isn’t it?

“…And what does it have to do with the three of you whispering?”

Miori still has a suspicious expression on her face, as expected.

To prevent Sumomo from seeing Miori, she thumps Shinya’s back. It’s a baton pass, but Shinya has been handed quite a baton. One might even feel pity.

“Uh, um… well, the combination of the spring blue sky and the shrine is so beautiful, like a painting, that if we took a high-quality DSLR photo and sold it as an NFT, I thought it might be auctioned off for hundreds of thousands by wealthy overseas buyers. That’s what we were talking about, right?”

Shinya added an even more nonsensical excuse to his already nonsensical excuse, forcing a strained smile.

Isn’t he just saying whatever comes to his mind? It’s getting even more complicated.

By the way, NFT is a technology that proves “you own something digitally,” and digital art transactions use blockchain. Shinya says that since the photos of the spring blue sky and the weaving have artistic value, they could be sold as digital art and make money. Of course, there is no connection in context, and the conversation is just getting more complicated.

“How does Shuri-chan’s story connect to me and NFTs?”

Miori’s expression becomes even more severe.

Her argument is reasonable. It only deepened the suspicion.

Shinya looked apologetic and, making sure Miori didn’t see, gave my back a sharp slap.

The baton was passed to me in an even worse way than before.

“Uh… well, both of you are saying various things, but basically, aren’t you trying to say that by hanging out with Shuri, you can also spend time with me and Miori?”

For now, I’ll completely ignore these two’s excuses and get back to the topic.

“Hey, remember what Miori said before? It might be a bit different from the usual high school memories, but we want to create our own kind of memories. Maybe that’s all he wants to say.”

I quoted something Miori said in the past and tried talking about it.

At that moment, Miori also gasped. She must have remembered her own words too.

“Spending time with Isaki-kun and Shuri-chan, playing together… then it will surely become a memory just for us.”

She said this before.

Sumomo and Shinya have said various things, but fundamentally, I think they started with an idea close to this.

With Shuri’s situation in mind, Miori and I started spending more time together. However, as a result, Miori and I had less time to spend with Shinya and Sumomo. They must have felt lonely because of that.

Whether Shuri will accept Shinya and Sumomo is uncertain, but if she doesn’t, then it will be what it will be.

Perhaps convinced by my words, Miori smiled and nodded.

“Yeah… that’s true. I’m sure it will become a really wonderful memory.”

The smile she showed at that moment was very gentle and filled with compassion. It felt like the shadow of my mother, who was far beyond my memories.

Upon seeing her like that, I can’t help but smile naturally.

Thus, it was decided that Shinya and Sumomo would come to play on one of the days of Golden Week.