The Most Beautiful Girl in School Has Become a Mother - Chapter 67

For now, I only understood that I was being hugged by Miori, but I didn’t really grasp the situation.

When I remembered my mother and ended up crying, she unexpectedly hugged me. There’s no doubt about that. However, I didn’t understand the reason for her doing so.

When I try to move, she tightens her arms around me just a little.

“…You don’t have to push yourself anymore.”

Miori whispered softly in my ear.

“What, tha…”

The moment she said that, my chest felt warm deep inside.

Until now, I had been desperately gripping the doorknob to keep my true feelings locked away in the room of my heart, preventing them from overflowing. But now──her hand seemed to gently and softly envelop mine, which was gripping the doorknob tightly.

“It was tough for you too, Isaki-kun, losing your mother, right? You kept holding it in all by yourself, trying to be the ‘big brother’ and doing your best… But you don’t have to hold it in anymore.”

Miori gently released my hand from the doorknob.

In that moment──a relentless wave of uncontrollable emotions surged over me, like a tsunami. It was akin to vomiting, something utterly unbearable. It completely shattered the dam I had maintained for five years.

Small memories with my mother, the sadness of her absence, the hardships, the things I forced myself to endure──everything I desperately held back within me is overflowing without restraint.

──Ah… this person, she knew all along.

Miori must have noticed my true feelings a long time ago.

The truth is, it was so painful that my heart felt like it was going to break when my mother was gone. And to hide that, I took care of Shuri.

Miori was helping me not only because she had experienced the same suffering as Shuri, but also to support me, who was suffering in the shadows.

“When you’re sad, just say you’re sad, and when you’re lonely, just say you’re lonely. I can’t do anything about your mom… but I’m right here by your side.”

Miori loosened her grip on my head and pulled her face back a little, continuing to gaze at me with gentle eyes.

“…You said you would be troubled if I wasn’t by your side, right, Isaki-kun? So, I want you to let me stay by your side.”

I can’t do without you by my side──these were the words I said at the aquarium during the day.

At that time, I thought I was saying it to comfort her. It was a word I said with the sole intention of cheering her up, who was crying and saying it would have been better if she hadn’t existed.

However, those words were now directed at me. I was using those words to cheer myself up.

“When you feel like crying and someone is by your side… surely, you won’t feel lonely. I felt the same way just earlier. So, you see?”

It’s okay to cry─I felt her say, and in that moment, the dam of my emotions completely broke. Various feelings spilled out like a dam that had burst, and I couldn’t control them on my own.

Tears overflowed endlessly, and I just sobbed. Like a child, I buried my face in her chest and wept.

During that time, Miori kept stroking my head. Even though we are the same age, for some reason, I felt a motherly comfort there and couldn’t help but lean on her.

I hadn’t relied on anyone for the past five years.

“Because.”

“…Yeah.”

I tightly embraced her slender body, letting out the true feelings I had been hiding from myself.

“Suddenly disappearing like that… it doesn’t make any sense, right?”

“Yeah.”

Miori nodded firmly at every word.

“Hey Dad, I get that you’re having a hard time since Mom passed away… but being left with everything, it’s tough for me too. How am I supposed to know what to do?”

“Yeah…”

Even while shedding tears myself, I simply affirmed my words.

Those were words I couldn’t say to anyone, a weakness I wanted someone to hear. And my true feelings, which I wanted someone to agree with by saying, “Yeah, I get .”

I continued to express the feelings I had been suppressing all along. It made me realize just how much I had been repressing, even to myself.

Miori listened to my story in silence and simply nodded.

In the meantime, while expressing my own feelings, there was also a part of her that was observing the situation with a certain calmness, and I was wondering when exactly she had become aware of my true feelings.

Was it when she took on the role of “mom”? Or was it the first day she came to our house? Or was it when we were eating spaghetti napolitan? Or was it when I told her the reason I don’t make friends?

I don’t know when that will be. However, she must have noticed my true feelings and surely wanted to save me.

Just like I wanted to save her.

“Up until now, Isaki-kun has had a really tough time… but it’s okay now.”

As I choked on my words and sobbed, Miori spun her words gently.

“Because I’m here. I’ll share in everything you’ve worked hard on alone until now. So… you’re not alone anymore.”

She smiled gently, her eyes also red and filled with tears.

Why are you going this far for me?──The question I had about her has grown much bigger than ever before.

“Why… Why do you go so far for someone like me? I don’t have anything special to offer──”

“Hey, Isaki-kun.”

Miori interrupted my words and continued.

“…Don’t make me say any more.”

Blushing, she stared at me as if to scold me.

In her large, glistening eyes, I see myself reflected, and from those eyes, her feelings inevitably reach me.

No, I should have noticed her feelings much earlier.

I was just scared. If this relationship changed and the bond between “dad” and “mom” couldn’t continue, and if I lost my connection with her, it was unbearably terrifying.

So, even though we somewhat understood each other’s feelings, we couldn’t move forward. It seemed only natural that everyone called us cowards.

“Yeah… you’re right. I’m sorry.”

We stared at each other intently.

It was the first time I was overwhelmed by such a strong desire to cherish and hold someone dear. If I’m not being presumptuous, I think she might feel the same way.

When we confirmed each other’s feelings through our gazes, Miori gently closed her eyes. A tear slipped out as she closed her eyelids, trailing down her cheek.

I gently wiped away her tears with my fingers, then placed my hand on her cheek and leaned in closer.

Overlapping, our two lips.

The heat and body temperature of each other are conveyed through the parts that touch. From that heat, her feelings for me also came through at the same time.

I wonder if my feelings are being conveyed to her in the same way. I hope they are──thinking this, I continue to feel her warmth and heart.

Strangely, I wasn’t nervous. When I imagined the kiss that would eventually happen, I was much more nervous and thought I might never get used to it.

However, when it actually happened, we exchanged kisses as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

It was a long kiss.

Tears streamed down our cheeks as we cherished and loved each other──such feelings radiated from those thin lips, overwhelming them with the urge to shout. But no matter how much we shouted, we knew this feeling could never be expressed, and we had no way to convey it other than to think of the other as dear.

In the room two doors down, my younger sister is soundly asleep, and there’s no one else in the house. The surrounding area is a quiet residential neighborhood, so there were no sounds of cars. It was a time that made me feel as if there were only the two of us in this world.

We slowly pulled our lips apart and stared at each other intently.

“Umm, Miori.”

“…What is it?”

Miori smiled and tilted her head.

The smile at that moment was unlike any smile I had ever seen before.

It was a smile that was gentle, cute, full of compassion, and I could tell it was directed towards me with the most important feelings.

“You’ve been called ‘Mom’ by my little sister, and now I’m being called ‘Dad’ too. It feels like we’ve skipped over a lot of things, and it’s a bit late to say this, but…”

“Yeah…”

“When we’re together, can’t we become something different?”

At my words, Miori’s eyes widened in surprise, and she stared at me intently. Her expression seemed to say she couldn’t believe it.

I took a deep breath and then connected it to my confession.

“I’ve always liked you. If you don’t mind, I want you to be my girlfriend.”

I gaze intently into Miori’s eyes and weave words that are free of lies and deceit.

Then, Miori was still blushing as she made a slightly sulky expression.

“I think it’s unfair to say things like that after kissing…”

Looking away, she puffed her cheeks slightly and said, “It was my first kiss.”

“Did you dislike it?”

I know the answer, but I’ll ask anyway.

Because I wanted to hear her true feelings beyond that.

“There’s no way I hate it, right? I’ve always… liked it.”

Looking at me hesitantly, Miori said.

“When did that start?”

“That’s… a secret.”

She said that and closed her eyes again. I responded by closing my eyes once more and gently bringing my lips closer.

Once our feelings connected, it didn’t matter when our meals turned into true love.

I like Miori, and Miori likes me. That alone made everything perfect, and the world was complete.

We love each other, and our feelings are mutual──that alone is enough.