Parental Concern and a Passing Pain

…Mom, you can't just send Mahiru photos like that."

On the last day of Golden Week, Amane phoned his mother.

He was ostensibly calling to ask whether she would be at home on Mother's Day, but

before he could do that, he felt the need to stress his objection to her going behind his

back to send Mahiru photos of him. Nothing disastrous had slipped through the cracks

just yet, but this was his mother he was dealing with, and he knew if Mahiru asked,

she would absolutely send something mortifying.

So Amane rushed through the typical greetings and right into sullenly hurling

accusations.

"Uh-oh, you caught me," his mother replied in an indifferent tone.

She definitely was not remorseful.

"Mahiru was acting suspicious, so I questioned her, and then I saw the photos."

"Mahiru really needs to work on her poker face, huh?"

"Say you're sorry for sending them."

Thanks to Shihoko, Mahiru's image folder was full of all kinds of strange pictures, and

he was worried what else might make its way to her. For some reason, Mahiru seemed

to enjoy the photos, and rather than forcing her to stop looking at them, he had

decided it would be faster to go right to the root of the problem.

But his mother didn't seem the least bit ashamed. "What's so wrong about sending

photos of my adorable son to my adorable future daughter-in-law?"

"I don't even know where to start correcting everything wrong with that sentence…

Anyway, don't send stuff I haven't okayed."

"So if I get your permission, it's fine, right? The photos made Mahiru very happy, you

know."

"At least give me a chance to choose which ones you can send. I'd die if I found out

you'd sent anything embarrassing."

"Don't worry, I won't send any pictures of you in the bath."

"If you do, I'm boycotting Mother's Day." Amane scowled at his smartphone as he

delivered his ultimatum. His mother wasn't on hand to feel his wrath directly, so that

would have to do.

She obviously did not appreciate how upset he was, because she laughed gaily at his

demand. Before Amane could raise his eyebrows and go off on her again, she added,

"One way or another, you always show your appreciation for me every year, don't you?"

When Amane heard that, he held back his complaints.

"…I mean, yeah, you're my mom."

Of course, she could be irritating and obstinate, and sometimes he got completely fed

up with her, but his mother had carried him in her belly, given birth to him, lovingly

raised him to be healthy—and she did it all with plenty of love, so naturally he was

grateful to her.

Thanks to his parents, Amane had grown up okay and had rebounded whenever he'd

gotten hurt. He had turned out a little sulky, though.

But since it was embarrassing for a young man of his age to express gratitude directly

to his mother's face, he faltered a little.

His mother laughed cheerfully, as if she could see straight through her son. "It makes

a mother happy to see that she's raised a good child. I'm looking forward to this year's

flowers."

"…Yeah."

"Also, make sure you invite sweet Mahiru here for the summer, okay? I'm looking

forward to it."

His mother was obviously excited for his homecoming.

"Got it," Amane replied curtly, and he was treated to another laugh. "Well, Mahiru wants

to come anyway," he continued. "It seems like she's looking forward to it as well."

"It sounds like you are, too, Amane."

"Oh, be quiet."

He was excited about the prospect of spending the summer with Mahiru, but he didn't

appreciate being teased about it by his own mother.

Suddenly, Amane was in a bad mood, but Shihoko didn't seem to notice. On the other

end of the line, he could hear the peals of her cheerful laughter.

"Heh-heh. That's great. It sounds like you're okay with the idea of returning home."

"…I guess so."

She was probably thinking of the summer after his first year away, when he had

resisted going home during the break.

Now Amane was more positive about going home than he had once been. It wasn't

that he had forgotten the past. Even though he had experienced certain hardships, he

could see now that it had probably been for the best. Things were much better than

they would have been if he had stayed so trusting and good-natured, thus inevitably

exploited for all he was worth. More importantly, if he hadn't escaped those guys, he

never would have met Mahiru.

"If I let what happened derail my life any more than it already has, Mahiru would kill

me. So yeah, it pretty much doesn't bother me anymore."

"You told Mahiru?"

"Yeah."

"That's wonderful. That's one more person who really understands you."

His mother sounded very happy, and Amane felt his chest grow just a little bit warm.

"…Sure."

"So that must mean those photos of you from middle school I had held back on sending

are fair game. I've got one from when you hit your growth spurt. You looked so smug

because you'd gotten taller than me. And that's just the beginning!"

"Hey, listen, I'm not kidding. Cut it out, all right? You've got some awful stuff in reserve."

All the warm feelings he'd had toward his mother evaporated.

"But you were so cuuute!"

"Dammit. This time, when I come home, I'm taking those out of the album."

"I've got that album hidden," Shihoko countered. "So they'll be fine."

"I'm definitely going to find it," he insisted.

He had to dispose of the photos before Mahiru saw them. He could just imagine Mahiru

grinning as she told him what she thought of them after his mother smuggled them

into her hands behind his back.

He could hear Shihoko laughing at him on the other end of the line, and with a curt

good-bye, he hung up on her, sighing angrily.

"…What are you doing?" a quiet voice asked. He turned to see Mahiru, peeking

inquisitively at him from the living room door. It looked like she had heard him talking

and tried not to make any noise as she entered the apartment.

Amane averted his eyes. "I was talking to my mom, telling her how I've decided to

completely destroy her photo albums. Scorched earth."

"Wh-what do you mean?! That'd be awful!" she exclaimed. She sat down next to him

in an angry huff and jabbed him in the shoulder.

Amane grimaced. "What are you even hoping to see, Mahiru…?"

"Photos of you, from long ago, of course…"

"No way."

"…You see? I have no choice but to get them from Shihoko, behind your back."

"Hey, listen—"

"I'm just joking. Well, half joking anyway."

"Geez… It's the other half that worries me, you know."

Amane couldn't help but feel like if he dropped the matter, Mahiru would end up

plotting something with his mother behind his back. On the other hand, Mahiru was a

good person, and he trusted that, whatever happened, she wouldn't do anything too

outrageous.

Amane sighed dramatically, but Mahiru didn't seem bothered by it. Instead, she smiled

broadly, looking pleased. "…I don't think you're going to like this much, but I'm really

looking forward to summer vacation."

"You're kinda early," Amane replied. "Golden Week isn't even over yet."

"Well… I'm looking forward to seeing your mother and father again, and I can't wait to

check out your photo album, and I really want to see the place where you grew up with

my own eyes."

Amane felt his heart leap as she adorably rattled off her list, but she had added in one

item too many.

"Thanks… except for the album thing. The album is off-limits."

Mahiru gave him a peevish look when he shut her down, so he stroked her head to

distract her from the existence of the cursed photo album.

Mahiru apparently liked having her head stroked more than he had ever expected. She

still looked a tiny bit dissatisfied, but when he gently touched the top layer of her hair,

careful not to mess it up, she quickly settled down.

"…I'm looking forward to going home, too," Amane admitted.

"Really?" she asked.

"Why would I lie about that?"

"…I mean, with everything that happened…" Mahiru hesitated, probably recalling what

he had revealed to her yesterday.

"That thing with those guys doesn't really bother me anymore. Just the fact that you're

upset about something that happened to me really means a lot. How do I put this—? I

think I'm a pretty lucky guy to have someone who's willing to get genuinely angry on

my behalf."

He knew it was a small, simple thing, but just having someone who listened to him talk

about those old wounds—and be there to support him—had already gone a long way

toward helping him heal.

Besides, it was clear he couldn't carry on being depressed about it. Sooner or later, he

would exhaust Mahiru's patience with him, and he didn't want her to think he was

completely hopeless.

"It's only natural that I would be angry you were hurt, Amane. I mean, if someone was

to hurt me, you would be angry, right?"

"Of course I would."

"So it's the same thing," Mahiru asserted softly, letting her eyes drift closed. Amane

could tell how much she enjoyed it when he stroked her hair.

Amane felt a little embarrassed by how much she trusted him, but he continued gently

caressing her, and she smiled graciously and leaned against him.