Day21

“She’s not the girl you spent Valentine’s day with, is she?” mom whispered to me, looking at Yumi, who was sitting across the table from us.

“That was Miya,” I laughed. “This is Miharu,” I added. “She’s usually by herself on Sunday so I thought I’d ask her to spend the day with us.”

“Yumi’s my first name!” Yumi announced, raising her hand.

“How nice,” mom replied. “She’s so cute too! I never knew I raised such a flirt,” she laughed. Yumi blushed. “By the way, I’m Kaori!”

“It’s not like that between us!” I complained. “She’s even younger than I am,” I added.

“Hey! There’s nothing wrong with a guy dating a girl two years younger than he is. I wouldn’t approve it if it was the other way around though,” mom replied.

I continued trying to convince my mom that Yumi and I were just friends. I thought mom was really joking, but I kept it up nonetheless as I noticed that Yumi was amused at what she was seeing.

“Since Kyosei asked such a cute girl over, we must commemorate this day. Let’s eat somewhere good today!” mom enthusiastically announced.

“Yeeey~” Yumi cheered.

“Woo, it already feels like she’s part of the family!” mom exclaimed. “Yumi-chan, would you be my daughter?”

Yumi just giggled in reply. Seeing Yumi play along convinced me to just play along with them.

Despite announcing that we’re eating somewhere good, all of us ended up just eating at home. Mom said she wanted Yumi to try her cooking. After eating, I washed the dishes. Yumi and mom remained at the table, chatting along. When I returned after washing the dishes, mom and Yumi glared at me as if I was interrupting them. I decided to just go to my room as it seemed like they didn’t want me there. I didn’t think the two of them would get along so well so quickly. But I was happy that they did. I lay down on the bed, falling asleep by accident.

I was woken up by the sound of the door closing. I looked at the door and saw Yumi standing there.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up,” she apologized.

I shook my head, sitting up. “Don’t worry about it. I didn’t really plan on sleeping.”

“Can I join you there?” she asked, looking at my bed.

“Huh?” I wondered. “You mean sit beside me, right?”

Yumi giggled. “Of course, silly!”

“What happened to mom?” I asked as she walked to my bed.

“She said she’s feeling tired and went to bed,” she answered, sitting down on my right.

I looked at the time. It was 3:17pm. “She usually takes a nap at 4pm. Looks like you really took a lot out of her.”

“I guess,” Yumi laughed. “She’s really fun to talk to.” Yumi looked at me, “I really appreciate your inviting me here.”

“It seems mom also enjoys finally having a girl to talk to. Feel free to drop by every Sunday.” I whispered.

“Thanks,” she replied as she reached out for my pillow. She hugged my pillow, burying her face in it, “I will…”

It wasn’t long after that until Yumi fell asleep, remaining on a sitting position. I gently laid her down and just watched her, her lips formed a peaceful, contented smile. Watching her like that made me feel like an older brother. It felt as if I wanted to make her happy all the time, protecting her from anything that might hurt her. That smile she had at the moment would be all the reward I will need.

It was around 5pm when the door silently opened. Since the room was very quiet in the first place, I quickly noticed the opening of the door. Mom peeked in and saw Yumi fast asleep. I stared at her, surprised she was already awake.

Giving me a thumb-up sign, mom whispered, “Nice!” winking at me.

I stifled a laugh and woke Yumi up, telling her that her playmate’s back. When Yumi woke up, mom asked us to join her in buying the groceries. Having nothing else to do, both of us came along with her.

While we were in the supermarket, I felt as if I was walking with Yumi and her mother, instead of mine. The way they continued talking to each other made it seem that way to me. Despite her looking cheerful and happy all the time, I always thought mom was actually feeling lonely inside. After all, I’ve been spending time with her only in Sundays. During other days, she’s usually too tired to talk. Yet, even during Sundays, we don’t really have much to say. With both of them being girls, Yumi and mom probably had a lot to talk about.

The three of us eventually walked back home, each holding a bag of grocery stuff. Mom and Yumi were still chatting until something suddenly caught Yumi’s attention. Her sudden silence made my mom look at Yumi, wondering what was wrong. I turned my attention to where Yumi was looking and saw a woman, on the right across the street, holding a mobile phone against her ear, looking back at Yumi. Yumi wrapped the grocery bag around her right arm and waved to the woman with her left hand.

The woman said something to whoever she was talking to on the phone and kept it on a purse which hanged on her left shoulder. Looking at both sides for any car, the woman crossed the street to approach us.

“Kaori-nee-san, Izaki-sempai, this is my mom.” Yumi introduced as the woman stood beside her.

“I’m pleased to meet you,” Yumi’s mom bowed a bit. Turning to me, she asked, “Are you Yumi-chan’s classmate?”

I was still surprised to meet Yumi’s mom at the time, so it took a while for me to reply. “Aah, no… I’m a senior at her school,” I answered, shaking my head. “My name is Kyosei Izaki. This is my mom,” I added, gesturing to my mother, who gave Yumi’s mother a nod.

“I usually spend time with Izaki-sempai and his classmate after school,” Yumi cheerfully told her mother. “It’s why I get back home late recently.”

Yumi’s mother looked at me with a surprised look. I suddenly realized that she must have thought that Yumi didn’t have many friends, if she had any, especially among guys.

“Miharu’s a nice girl,” I said, not knowing what else to say.

“She is, isn’t she?” Yumi’s mother laughed a bit. “Thank you for taking care of her,” she bowed again.

“Well, it’s getting late and I still have to prepare dinner,” mom nudged me, subtly gesturing to Yumi.

I turned to Yumi, who seemed like she was lost in thought. She was looking at the ground; her face had a deep expression. I couldn’t make out whether she was happy or sad. I walked toward her and took the grocery bag she was carrying.

“Go home with her,” I whispered to Yumi while her mother talked to mom. “You probably have a lot to catch up on.”

She turned to me with uncertainty. Smiling, she breathed out, “I will.” She then ran towards her mother, and pulled her arm. “Let’s go home.”

Her mother smiled at her and nodded. “It looks like we’ll be going first,” she laughed, waving to us.

Mom and I happily watched them as they walked away, talking to each other. We were both very happy that they seemed to finally get along. Hopefully, they will continue to get along forever.

The two of them stopped, not far from us, and Yumi turned around. “Izaki-sempai, looks like I won’t be making much use of your offer after all,” she smiled.

I knew she was talking about my inviting her over to our house on Sundays. “That’s fine,” I smiled back.