Vol 1 Chapter 22 – Meeting His Mother

I blew it.

I, Takahashi Chihiro, completely and utterly blew it.

In a word, that’s all there was to it.

How did it come to this? This is the part where I get chewed out, right?

I covered my face with my hands.

I couldn’t face anyone.

Especially not Kajiwara-kun’s mother.

“Aaargh.”

Like some kind of animal, I kept repeating the groan, “Aaargh.”

I have a responsibility.

A responsibility as the president of the Modern Culture Research Club.

A responsibility as the supervisor who brought Kajiwara-kun to the fan convention.

The responsibility for the uproar he caused falls directly to me.

No, it must fall to me.

Of course his mother would be angry.

Her precious son, while not scantily clad, had suddenly started cosplaying, and photos of it were now being shared with the entire world.

And to top it off, it was going viral on social media.

In a society where men are so precious, for his existence to become known like this is a massive problem.

Some kind of trouble could arise.

He could get caught up in a crime.

With this incident, where the personal information of one Kajiwara Ichirou was released via the medium of photography and leaked onto social media, there was no doubt he had garnered a great deal of attention.

It’s like, no matter how civilized modern society is, there’s always the possibility of a stalker popping up.

There was also the chance that his mother, as his guardian, could be ridiculed or blamed by the public for the actions of her minor son.

Kajiwara-kun didn’t seem to grasp any of this, though.

As for me, when faced with reality, all I could say was, “I blew it.”

…

I was clutching my head.

No, this was no time for that.

Kajiwara-kun’s mother had said it herself.

She wanted to speak with me directly about this matter.

Without Kajiwara-kun.

The moment I gave him my phone number, I got the call.

This is definitely about her wanting me to make him quit the Modern Culture Research Club.

What would I think if I were his mother?

Her son had done something incredibly selfish.

I don’t think I’d blame the president of the club he belongs to, but—most mothers out there wouldn’t think that way.

They’d want to eliminate the source of the trouble somehow.

In this case, it was his otaku hobby.

There was a good chance she would move to make Kajiwara-kun quit his otaku pursuits.

“Aaargh, honestly.”

It was all my mistake, a misjudgment from not thinking things through.

I groaned again.

I let out a cry and whimpered.

But it couldn’t be helped.

Anyway, right, I just have to listen to what his mother has to say.

I opened the door to the coffee shop.

I believe she said she was at the table in the very back.

“Oh, over here. Right here.”

A voice called out the instant I walked in.

I could see a cheerful-looking woman waving her hand energetically.

She was dressed in the kind of sharp suit that screamed “businesswoman.”

I’m just a student, so I couldn’t tell for sure, but it looked quite expensive.

If I recall what Kajiwara-kun told me, she’s in sales for one of the five major trading companies.

A true elite.

“Excuse me.”

I bowed my head politely and greeted her.

“Please, have a seat. Would you like to order something? The strawberry shortcake here is just divine. My treat, of course.”

“Thank you, I will.”

It would be ruder to refuse.

I nodded and ordered the recommended shortcake and a coffee.

“So, it goes without saying why I’ve asked you here today.”

“Yes.”

It’s obviously about my failure as a supervisor.

All I can do is bow my head.

I should try to answer briskly and lower my head to make the best possible impression—

“I am so sorry for all the trouble our Ichirou has caused you.”

The first one to bow her head was Kajiwara-kun’s mother.

No, no.

If anything, I’m the one who should be—

Huh?

For a moment, my brain just shut down.

“You must be shocked, being summoned by me out of the blue on your day off. Please forgive such a selfish old lady, won’t you?”

“No, no, not at all.”

I was certainly shocked, but not by that.

This was not how I’d imagined things would unfold.

“Um, isn’t this meeting to discuss my responsibility as his supervisor?”

“What? What are you talking about? From what I hear, Takahashi-san, you’ve done nothing wrong, have you? My idiot son just showed up in cosplay on his own, didn’t he?”

“Uh, well—that is—”

“I’m not so old that I can’t grasp basic common sense, you know. I might look like a frumpy old woman, though.”

That wasn’t true at all.

She didn’t much resemble Kajiwara-kun, but she was a beautiful woman.

I even found myself hoping I would age just as gracefully.

“You know, you might have imagined I’d be furious, like some hysterical mother throwing a fit over her son’s selfish behavior, but I am that boy’s mother. I know better than anyone that acting like that would only make him miserable.”

“Yes.”

She was right.

How rude of me to think of Kajiwara-kun’s mother as some overprotective shrew.

I had been making my own disrespectful assumptions.

I continued the conversation, chastising myself internally.

“What I’m actually worried about is that this will drive a wedge between you all and Ichirou.”

“Between us and Kajiwara-kun?”

“Yes.”

His mother speared a strawberry with her fork.

She seemed like the type to eat the best part first.

She brought it to her lips, took a sip of tea to wet her throat, and then—spoke with genuine concern.

“You see, that boy is a fool, so he acted this time without thinking. But from what I’ve heard from him, he did it because he thought it would make you and everyone else in the club happy. Please, forgive his selfishness.”

“No, that is—I really should have stopped the photoshoot. I’m so sorry.”

Why did I even allow it?

I should have thought it through more carefully.

“No, that’s fine, too. He seemed to be having fun… Yes, he looked so, so happy. It might have been the first time in his life I’ve ever seen him look that happy. If he was enjoying it, then even the photoshoot was fine. I have no intention of stopping his otaku activities anymore. He can do as he pleases.”

“Is that right?”

“It is. It seems he desperately wanted otaku friends. That boy has always had trouble clicking with others, and I think he even avoided interacting with other boys…”

Is that so?

No, that’s probably right.

I remembered seeing him standing all alone in front of a card specialty shop.

I thought about Kajiwara-kun.

It seemed likely that until he met me, he didn’t have a single friend.

He may be handsome, but his personality is probably close to Ema’s.

A little subservient, with low self-esteem.

“Say, Takahashi-san. Will you continue to be friends with Ichirou?”

His mother’s question.

For a moment, I just thought of Kajiwara-kun.

Thinking about him made my chest feel warm.

This must be…

No, this is probably love.

I was aware of it.

And so, the voice of my heart just…slipped out.

“I’m very fond of Kajiwara-kun. Please don’t worry. I have no intention of changing how I treat him.”

I said it so clearly.

Of all places, right in front of Kajiwara-kun’s mother.

I felt my cheeks flush.

“You’re fond of him, are you? Do you mean that romantically? Because you know, you can change how you treat him.”

“Huh?”

And then, she spelled it out for me.

This was probably—

“I don’t care if you like him as a friend, or as a fellow otaku. I’m asking if you, as a woman, like Ichirou, as a man, romantically. The fact that he was cosplaying without permission or trying to put out a photo book, none of that matters to me. I just wanted to find out why he’s been so happy. I figured it was because of you, which is why I asked you here.”

“Um, well…”

I was flustered.

I never imagined I’d be asked something like that today.

Especially by his mother.

But I couldn’t very well lie about it now, could I?

“Um, well, I’m hoping that maybe we could…date as a couple someday.”

I rubbed my hands together.

Rub, rub.

I rubbed the same palms that had been pressed against Kajiwara-kun’s.

As if I were trying to butter his mother up.

“I knew it. He is my pride and joy, after all. It’s about time at least one girl like you came along, isn’t it?”

Hmph, his mother nodded, her nostrils flaring with pride.

She was beaming.

Rather than rejecting my confession, she seemed genuinely pleased.

“You know, the reason I called you here today is that Ichirou does nothing but talk about you, Takahashi-san.”

“Kajiwara-kun does!?”

“He does. ‘Today, I talked about this with President Takahashi.’ ‘Tomorrow, I’m going to the convention with President Takahashi, I hope I can be useful.’ ‘President Takahashi this, President Takahashi that’—lately, you’re all he talks about.”

That’s why, she said, gesturing for me to eat.

Flustered, I copied her and put the strawberry in my mouth, then took a sip of coffee.

I was too worked up to even taste it.

My face was probably beet red.

“It’s true I wanted to apologize for Ichirou’s blunder. But more than that, I just wanted to meet you once. And you know what? You seem very responsible. I think I can cheer you on.”

That’s what his mother told me.

She approves of my relationship with Kajiwara-kun!

She’s encouraging me, saying it’s okay for me to be his girlfriend in the future!!

“Please, take good care of my Ichirou. I doubt there are many people out there who share his hobbies.”

His mother bowed her head respectfully toward me.

“I will.”

I hurriedly bowed my head back—and grabbed my necktie with my right hand.

I tugged on it as if to strangle myself, trying to get a grip.

I felt like I was about to lose it from the sheer joy of having accomplished the single most difficult task in this world with its messed-up gender ratio: earning the approval of his mother.

What kind of face am I supposed to make when I talk to Kajiwara-kun tomorrow?

Just because his mother approves doesn’t mean I can suddenly start acting like his girlfriend.

To get Kajiwara-kun to accept me as his girlfriend.

For that, I would overcome any trial, any hardship.

With that resolve, I let go of my tie and faced his mother once more.

First things first, I needed to address Kajiwara-kun’s concern—his worry that he had caused us trouble with this whole affair.

I would have to put his mind at ease.