The Story of Waking up With My Beautiful Childhood Friend and Realizing We Had Spent the Night Together - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Yukimura Shizuka

——The top floor of a certain hotel.

A private room in a restaurant with a full view of Tokyo’s night skyline.

Two beautiful women sat across from each other, quietly eating their meal.

“……”

“……”

Clink, clink…

The only sound in the room was the clinking of tableware.

A meal between mother and daughter. But not a single word was exchanged.

Yet, that was nothing unusual.

A ritual-like monthly dinner with a mother who was rarely home.

Most of the time, they barely exchanged a few words, and a simple update on recent events was the best they could manage.

Some nights, they didn’t speak at all.

Mizuki assumed tonight was one of those nights.

“……Mizuki.”

Her mother, Yukimura Shizuka, called her name softly.

Mizuki slowly lifted her gaze.

Their eyes met.

It had been a month since they last saw each other.

…Yes, just a month.

What is she going to say? Mizuki straightened her posture. But—

“——What happened to you?”

At her mother’s words, Mizuki blinked in confusion and tilted her head slightly.

——Yukimura Shizuka.

Mizuki’s mother was, in a single phrase, a woman who knew nothing of love.

‘——Do not disgrace this family.’

‘——You only need to do as you’re told.’

Born to a father who was the president of a major corporation and a mother who was a lawyer, she was raised under a strict regime of elite education.

A cold voice. Cold eyes.

There was not a trace of parental affection.

And for Shizuka, that was simply normal.

‘……Yes, Father, Mother.’

Days filled with studying and lessons.

She had no memories of playing with friends. No recollections of student life worth cherishing.

Her emotions and humanity eroded away.

It didn’t take long before she became a rational machine, just like her parents.

Ten years, twenty years.

She lived obediently under their rule.

And when she finally graduated from university—

Her parents told her as if it were the most natural thing in the world:

‘——Shizuka. Your fiancé has been decided.’

‘He is the son of a business partner’s company president. Serve him well.’

She froze for only a brief moment.

‘……Yes.’

Then, she nodded immediately.

Someday, this would happen. She had always known.

She had been “conditioned” enough to accept it without resistance.

Somewhere deep inside, she thought she heard a scream.

But she pretended not to notice.

‘——Nice to meet you, Shizuka-san.’

Her fiancé was a few years older.

She didn’t think he was a bad person.

But, in the end, she couldn’t love him.

Because it was necessary, she got married.

Because it was necessary, they lived together.

Because it was necessary, they had sex and conceived a child.

She did it all because it was necessary for the family.

Her own will was irrelevant.

…However.

‘Yukimura-san! Great job! You have a beautiful baby girl!’

The moment she held her child in her arms for the first time—

She felt an unfamiliar emotion.

It was something like joy, something like sorrow, something that made her want to cry.

She had no idea what to call it.

At that time, she couldn’t even recognize the word “love.”

…But at the same time, she realized something.

If I raise this child, she will surely be unhappy.

There is no way I can be a proper mother.

I don’t know love.

I don’t know how to be a normal parent.

How could someone like me ever bring happiness to this child?

That was why—

‘——Mizuki. Be a good girl and wait at home.’

She distanced herself from her daughter.

Her husband, whom she divorced soon after giving birth, was no help.

So she left the child-rearing entirely to helpers and immersed herself in work.

She would visit occasionally, just to check in.

Exchanging only the bare minimum of words.

Five years. Ten years.

Before she knew it, her daughter had grown into a beautiful young woman who turned heads wherever she went.

Of course, she couldn’t take pride in it.

Because she had done nothing.

Not a single thing a parent should do.

What she had done was nothing less than “neglect.”

She understood that.

…And yet, she still felt “regret.”

It wasn’t that she had no love for her child.

If it were possible, she wanted them to be a normal mother and daughter.

If there was still time—

If she could still make up for it—

These dinners were her clumsy way of holding on to that lingering attachment.

A desperate attempt to know, even a little, about the daughter she had neglected.

…But.

Looking at her daughter for the first time in a month, she thought:

——Is this truly my daughter?

“——What’s wrong, Mother?”

The “thing” in the shape of her daughter called her “Mother.”

Her daughter, who had never smiled in front of her before—

Curved her lips ever so slightly.

It was a beautiful smile.

Pure, yet radiating an unsettling allure.

That smile filled Shizuka with an indescribable dread.

If she put it into words, it was— “disgusting.”

It was a smile no seventeen-year-old girl should ever have.

She clearly “knew” men.

And not in a normal way.

The person who had taken her daughter’s body and heart.

There was only one possibility.

“…Mizuki.”

“What?”

“——Break up with Iori-kun.”

The words left her mouth almost reflexively.

If he was the reason for this change—

She had to separate them immediately.

A sense of urgency pushed her forward.

“……”

“He is not suitable for you. I will find someone better.”

“……”

“The other day, I had dinner with an American corporate president. His son saw your picture and took an interest. You should meet him—”

Without a doubt, it was an act of love.

A mother’s concern for her child.

Clumsy, but sincere.

…However.

“……”

It was the worst possible move.

“——Mother.”

“……!?”

A chill ran through her body.

Just one word.

Just hearing her name spoken once.

It felt as if countless insects were crawling all over her skin.

“——That won’t do.”

Like scolding a child.

Like teaching what must not be done.

…A final “warning.”

“Okay, Mother?”

——Mother.

Again and again, she was called that.

As if to remind her that she was still her daughter.

As if pleading to be allowed to remain her daughter.

At that moment, Shizuka understood.

——Ah, this is no longer my child.

The girl named Yukimura Mizuki no longer existed.

They would never understand each other.

Because her daughter no longer needed her.

And it wasn’t mere “independence.”

——If necessary, this child would…

“…Mizuki.”

“…Thank you for the meal, Mother. It was delicious.”

She watched as her daughter stood and left the room.

Her hand instinctively reached out—but didn’t make it in time.

…Clatter.

The fork slipped from her hand and fell to the floor, echoing in the silence.