Chapter 19 : A Day Out I

"I am home! Mom?! Are you here?!" Furihata shouted, searching for his mom's presence. A second later, he could hear the melodious voice of his mom from the kitchen.

"Here, Kou-chan!" When he arrived, he could smell something so fragrant that makes his stomach grumble.

"It smells good! What are you cooking?" He asked curiously, sneaking a glance at the pan. His mom giggled at the sound of his stomach.

"I try to make a Gyudon that I watch on Youtube last night. It will be ready in five more minutes. Have you not eaten lunch?"

"Aaah.. I just have yakiniku party with the basketball team, but you know I will not refuse anything you cook, right?" She giggled harder at her son's shameless remark.

"Sure, you can have it. But take a shower first, please. You stink here." She pinched her nose while showing a grimacing face with a teasing tone.

"Sure, Mom!" Furihata laughed and ran to his room, leaving his mom as she could only shake her head at her son's antics.

Ten minutes later, Furihata found himself stuffing a spoon full of rice and beef into his mouth.

"You have already had yakiniku before you went home, and now you eat like there is no tomorrow. Where is this big appetite coming from?" His mom teased him while smiling amusedly.

"I am still growing up. I need all the protein to grow up bigger and stronger." Furihata replied, patting his chest proudly. His mom just giggled at that.

"So, how is the taste?"

"It is good, as always. How about you stop your job and start opening your own restaurant?" Furihata replied casually.

"Sure, I will think about it."

"Good." Furihata nodded happily. "Speaking of your job, when will you go again?" He asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Unfortunately, I will have to go in two days." She smiles sadly.

She knows that even if he tries to sound casual, Furihata didn't like her job at all and wanted for her to be at home more often. He didn't voice his dislike because he knows she did it for him. But which son would like to only meet his mom once a week?

However, Furihata is already used to this, and he didn't want to see his mom sad. So, he masked his expression with a happy one as he smiles brightly at his mom.

"So, we still have one more day, right? Tomorrow is Saturday, how about hanging out together? I know a good bookstore that just open their business in Sumida. How about we go there?"

"Sure, I would love to!" His mom nodded, her face brightened at the suggestion.

This pair of mother and son is an odd one. The son loves doing outdoor activities like running, playing basketball, jogging, and something like that. On the other hand, the mother very much like something that she could do inside her home, such as cooking or knitting. But one thing that both of them have is their love of reading and learning something new, and maybe something fun like music.

In other words, they both are bookworms.

So, of course, the prospect of spending her time together with her son, doing something that both of them enjoyed, would brighten her mood. At least, she would have more quality time with her son before she goes to her job.

They spoke for a while before his mom noticed him yawning. He excused himself for the night and went to his room and go back to sleep.

The next morning, Furihata is waiting for his mom, as he is already prepared to go.

"Mom? Come on, we should go while this weather is still nice!" Furihata shouted from the dining room.

"Wait, Kou-chan! Five minutes!" He could only sigh at his mom's answer. It happened a lot whenever they would go together. We would wait for his mom to finish putting on her makeup, and it would be a very long time.

'Women.' He muttered lowly.

He opened his phone to spend his time and looked out for the latest news in NBA. There, he could see Golden State Warriors won another game, and this time against San Antonio Spurs.

"Now they are 70-9. If they can win their last three games, they would beat the Chicago Bulls' record for the most win in the regular season with 73-9. They were the best team last season, but now, they really are stepping up their game this season."

He scrolled down for more news and found something that caught his attention.

"Kobe Bryant's last game would be played at the same time as Golden State Warriors last game. If GSW broke the record, NBA would have two big news in the same day. That would be one hell of a day for their PR staff."

He keeps scrolling until his mom's voice snapped his thought.

"Kou-chan, I am ready! Come on!"

He turned around and see his mom wearing a hoodie and a ponytail hairstyle waiting for him.

"So, what do you think ?" His mom asked expectantly. Furihata rolled his eyes and replied,

"You look good, Mom. Just like always." His mom pouted a little at his answer.

"Kou-chan, you will always praise me with the same sentence that I doubt your sincerity now. Praise me more!"

At this time, Furihata couldn't help but wonder, who is the children and who is the parent here. After a moment of thinking under the pressure of the puppy dog eyes he received from his mom, he finally sighed.

"Okay, okay! You look amazing here. The outfit makes you look like a normal teenager, and you did a great job with your makeup. Not too thick or too thin, yet still show your natural beauty. And the hairstyle is also good, making you look like a sporty teenage girl. Overall, 10/10. Happy?"

He could see a sincere smile beaming on his mom's face. But it changed suddenly into a teasing one.

"Yup, I am happy right now. And what about you, Kou-chan? Look how handsome you are! Is there anyone you wanted to impress?"

Furihata groaned inwardly.

"I don't know what you mean, mom. This is how I look like every day." He replied, trying to sound casual. Unfortunately for him, his mother wouldn't let this go easily.

"Come on, young man! Even though I didn't see you a lot, I know this cardigan is not your style! And you even wear your glasses! You said you hate wearing it outside! Any reason you wear it now? The only reason I can think for a boy to change their appearance willingly is that you want to impress someone. Any special lady you wanted to introduce?"

"I just find this is comfortable, mom. No special reason or special lady. Let's go" He objected to what his mother said.

"Are you sure?" His mother keeps pestering him about her non-exist special lady.

They keep bickering all the way to the bookstore. But when they arrived in front of the bookstore, Furihata could see the shine in his mother's eyes.

"Kou-chan! You sure know a really good place, right?" She went in without waiting for an answer, leaving Furihata alone with a wry smile.

He followed her to the store, looking for something that might catch his interest. Or so he thought. However…

"Kou-chan! Look at here! Have you heard about this 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'?"

"Kou-chan! What do you think about this book?"

"Kou-chan! Look at this! Have you read this 'Men Without Women' from Murakami-sensei?"

"Kou-chan!"

"Kou-chan!"

Furihata sighed as he was dragged by his mother all along the store, looking for books that caught his mother's interest. A few people looked at him amusedly, and somehow, he could detect pity from the male visitor.

'Probably suffered the same from this so-called 'accompanying women for shopping'.' He muttered inwardly.

However, when he saw how excited his mother is, Furihata couldn't help but smile.

"Well, it is good he enjoyed his time here."

His thought suddenly was snapped by a tap on his shoulder. When he turned around, he could see a girl with glasses smiling at him.

"Hishida-san?" He was taken aback by the sight of Hana Hishida, the smartest girl in his class, and the second smartest student only behind him.

"Hello~"

"It's good to see you here. What are you doing?" He smiles pleasantly, causing a slight red tint blush to appear on her cheeks.

"I am looking for a book that was recommended by Takeda-sensei. How about you?"

"Me? I am just hanging out with my mom here, looking for something that might catch our interest."

"Is that so?" She stares at the book in Furihata's hand.

Cosmos by Carl Sagan

"Yup. If you like reading something sci-fi yet you wanted to learn something astrophysics from it, I recommend this book for you." He handed the book to her.

"What is this about?" She flipped the book to see the synopsis. Furihata shrugged a little.

"It is about a bunch of astrophysicists who received a radio signal from space. They believed that it was a sign of extra-terrestrial intelligence. But I only read the summary from the internet and haven't read the book itself. That is why I wanted to buy it."

The girl nodded at his explanation, still reading the synopsis.

"Seems pretty interesting. If you are done reading this book, can I borrow it?"

"Sure!"

They exchanged conversation for a while, not realizing their surrounding. When Furihata turned around, he saw his mother standing side by side with a little girl whom he didn't know who she is, they both are smiling mischievously at them.

"Is there something you want to tell us, Kou-chan?"

"I thought you don't have a boyfriend, Nee-chan?"

Hearing that, Furihata could only utter two words,

"Fuck me!"

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Author note:

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You can also read this fanfiction up to chapter 34 on that page. Thank you! :)