"Going to attend Tsuki no Mori?"
Spring break was nearly here, and after spring break would come the new school year.
Nagasaki Soyo had heard the name Tsuki no Mori before — but she had truly never connected the words [Tsuki no Mori] with the words [Nagasaki Soyo].
Maybe she still hadn't quite grown into a proper [Nagasaki Soyo] yet. In her heart she was probably still wandering through the days when she'd been [Ichinose Soyo].
"That's right! Isn't it amazing?! Mama talked the principal's ear off for ages before he finally acknowledged little Soyo's talents, you know."
My talents?
Soyo blinked vacantly again. She found herself struggling to keep up with her mother's somewhat scattershot train of thought.
Her expression was a little awkward, but she made the effort to respond anyway.
"That's... not bad at all, I suppose."
"Hehe, right?! Come give Mama a hug!"
"O-okay then."
Soyo gently hugged her mother — but for some reason she couldn't name...
When she held her own biological mother in her arms, the person her mind drifted to wasn't Miss Nagasaki at all.
[Why is it that when I'm hugging my mother, I'm thinking of Chiose-mama?]
How strange. It felt weirdly like eating a meal-replacement bar instead of real food.
Soyo gave her head a little shake, doing her best to stop her thoughts from running away with themselves.
Her mother smelled lovely — and somewhere beneath the fragrance was a hint of... Yoshiiro Chiose's scent?!
Eh?
Nagasaki Soyo couldn't help taking a few more quiet sniffs, and everything she knew about Yoshiiro Chiose began to rise, unbidden, to the surface of her mind.
[How wonderful.
I hope my future has a little less unease, a little less instability — and a little more time spent being loved. A little more Chiose.]
…..
It is now three-fifteen. I find myself looking forward to three thirty-three. That anticipation fills me with both excitement and a faint sadness — because I know that after three thirty-three comes the thoroughly unpleasant, incomplete time of three thirty-four. How heartbreaking.
"Little Chiose, what are you doing?"
Miss Nagasaki returned to the office and hung her wind-shield coat on the rack. She stared, bewildered, at Yoshiiro Chiose — who was standing in front of a portrait of a flying cucumber, muttering to herself.
"Me?" Chiose turned around, her expression carrying an unreadable hint of amusement.
"I'm just spending my break time talking to myself to decompress a little. What's the matter, big sis Nagasaki — did you miss me?"
Chiose spread her arms wide. "Need a hug?"
"Not today, thanks... ah, actually what I wanted to say is — I told little Soyo about the thing. Hehe!"
"And how did she take it."
That child Nagasaki Soyo must have looked completely dumbfounded and vaguely unsettled — and while hugging her own birth mother, her head was probably full of nothing but me, Yoshiiro Chiose!
"How else would she take it — just the normal amount of surprise and worry a kid her age would feel. Ahh, raising a child really is exhausting. Even harder than making money."
Miss Nagasaki pressed her palm to her forehead and handed a stack of documents to her newly acquired assistant.
This assistant was, it had to be said, quite striking in appearance — particularly her white hair and golden eyes, and the simmering resentment that never quite left her gaze.
That resentment really was something rare.
You generally only see an expression like that on someone who [was perfectly content lazing around at home until they were suddenly conscripted into work, and the pay isn't even that satisfying, and the workload is enormous, and there's mandatory overtime on top of everything].
Chiose gave a little wave to The System — the poor thing she'd dragged in to work — and redirected her attention back to her conversation with Miss Nagasaki.
"Oh, come on, sis, relax. Taking care of little Soyo is actually pretty easy, you know."
"I really wish I were as good with kids as you are. Ahh."
[You wish you were like me?
Chiose smiled — and, multitasking as ever, began kneading Miss Nagasaki's shoulders as she pressed her down into a soft chair.
The reason she knew how to handle a girl like Nagasaki Soyo was simple: Yoshiiro Chiose had already run three other simulations and practiced on two other young ladies.
The first attempt had been a rather spectacular failure — but the second and third simulations had taught Yoshiiro Chiose a great deal.
Still, it wasn't enough.
She believed she could learn even more from Soyo, and then apply all of it to the next person.
It would be interesting if the next person turned out to be Soyo again.
"Taki only got one simulation — isn't The System a little too biased toward Tomori? Haahh."
When's the next Taki simulation going to happen?! I want to teach Shiina Taki all about success, achievement, and a happy family life all over again! Let me go teach her! Love!
"Little Chiose, what are you mumbling about over there? You're on holiday, stop fretting about work."
Miss Nagasaki draped her own coat over Chiose's shoulders, made a show of being exasperated, and pushed her toward the door.
"Get out of here and enjoy your holiday properly. And, ahem—"
Her face had gone as red as a young girl's, and she stumbled over her words for quite a while before she could get them out.
"What is it?" Chiose asked.
"If you can manage it... spend a bit more time with Soyo in my place. I've been feeling terrible about my girl all these years."
"Good that you know you should feel terrible."
Chiose was wearing her hair in a braid today. She glanced down at the plait resting against her chest, and without any further lingering, she left.
"I thought you were going to ask me to spend more time with you."
"I'm an adult — older than you, in fact. How could I possibly need you to keep me company."
"I'll head off then. Tonight — shall I go keep little Soyo company?"
"That would be wonderful! I feel most at ease when it's you."
Chiose had her back to Miss Nagasaki, and so missed the weary yet deeply relieved smile that spread across her face.
Not that Chiose would have paid it much mind even if she had seen it.
She suspected a certain System was probably hiding in some corner of the office right now, stabbing a little voodoo doll of her.
But even if it were, Chiose would never notice. Oh well.
It is now three thirty-three.
It is now four forty-four, and by rights Nagasaki Soyo should have been getting herself ready for dinner.
Ever since her mother had grown wealthy, Soyo's allowance had climbed steadily to a number she would never have dared dream of before.
With that money, everything she'd once wanted was now within easy reach. She'd taken to eating vegetable minestrone regularly, and drinking black tea often.
But today her mother's news had shattered the quiet rhythm of her days, and Soyo still hadn't quite recovered — her appetite, accordingly, was poor.
Knock knock knock —
Three light, cheerful knocks on the door, unmistakable! Soyo's heart leapt. She tumbled out of bed in a flurry, tangled up in her sheets.
"C-coming! Is that Chiose-mama?!"
Surely it was! It absolutely had to be!
Those quick, fervent knocks — they were like a lovestruck girl who couldn't wait another second to see the person she adored, rapturously rattling the latch!
It had to be Chiose!
"It's me, sweetheart,"
The door swung open, and Chiose leaned her head inside.
Golden light danced in her wine-red eyes, and she made no effort at all to conceal how she felt about the girl standing before her.
She looked at Soyo the way a farmer who'd toiled through an entire year looks at fruit that is finally, finally ripening.
My thanks to Miss Nagasaki for this generous gift — now let me show your little girl a proper time. Hehe.
____
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