Chapter 37: The Ice Lady vs. Woman of the Moon

“Mind if I call you Fuyuka-chan?”

After exchanging some light introductions, Touko made a suggestion without changing her expression at all.

Fuyuka, on the other hand, swam her eyes a little and then nodded modestly.

Her expression was slightly tense, and her movement was somewhat awkward.

Perhaps she was nervous.

After that father, there was this mother.

It was quite understandable that she would feel defensive.

Asahi could sense the difference in Fuyuka’s emotions due to such trivial changes.

Looking next to him, it occurred to him that maybe that was because there was a precedent.

“Fuyuka, you probably don’t need to be so nervous. For one, mom is a sensible person.”

“…For one?”

“Y-you can’t blame me. Sometimes, you do things that are far from normal…”

His voice became quieter and quieter as Touko stared at him with a sharp slit in her eyes.

He tried to relieve Fuyuka’s tension, but it was frightening because he ended up being the focus in the process.

Ever since Asahi was little, Touko had always been like this.

Basically expressionless and emotionless.

If Kazuaki was the sun, then Touko was the moon.

She was a person with an overwhelming individuality that quietly illuminates the world clad in total darkness.

That kind of mother was beyond indifferent, not only Asahi, but also her husband, Kazuaki.

However, the feeling of fear had long since disappeared.

Of course, when she was angry, she was scarier than anything else in the world.

“You didn’t even tell dad about my reply to your text, right?”

“Yes, I thought that would be more interesting.”

“It’s interesting, huh? Thanks to that, dad just misunderstood and said something about “girlfriend” out loud, and it even got heard by the other customers.”

“Isn’t it fine? You’re with such a nice girl, so it’s not a bad feeling, right?”

“Listen here…”

‘That’s not what I meant’, Asahi said in his mind, stopping himself from further resistance.

As usual, Touko’s face was expressionless and her voice tone was indifferent, but he could tell that she was teasing him.

At times like this, if you get desperate and say something back, you would be doing exactly what they want you to do.

As with the case with the text sent every year before Christmas, Touko’s intentions and feelings were often conveyed through her actions.

When Asahi decided on a career path, it was Touko who was the first one to encourage him, and when he started living alone, she gave him a strong and gentle hug when they parted.

For celebrations such as birthdays and passing high school entrance exams, she would make a gorgeous cake by hand every time and never failed to prepare a gift.

It was hard to understand, but it was also easy to understand.

To a stranger, she may appear to be a person to whom described as scary, harsh, and cold-hearted.

However, the cold expression on her face and the sound of her voice were filled with a certain emotion.

If you spend a lot of time with her as a family, or if you were close to them as a friend or colleague, you would naturally notice it. 

“DId you not like being thought of as a lover of Asahi, Fuyuka-chan?”

“Eh..? You’re asking me…? Ah, me and Asahi-kun… that’s…”

 

“Hey, don’t tease her.”

 

“Even so, if it’s bothering Fuyuka-chan, then I’ll have to apologize.”

If she were that attentive, she would have given Kazuaki accurate information from the beginning.

That the relationship between Kagami Asahi and Himuro Fuyuka was that of friends.

“What do you think, Fuyuka-chan?”

“You don’t have to answer, you know?”

Asahi followed up with Touko, who urged her to answer.

Then there was a short pause, and finally Fuyuka, who had been silent, finally spoke in a small voice with her head down.

“I don’t hate it…”

“Oh, isn’t that great, Asahi?”

 

“Why are you looking at me…?”

In the end, Touko just wanted to tease her son, whom she hadn’t seen since summer vacation.

Asahi thought he must not be conscious of Fuyuka’s words.　

In the first place, no one would clearly say they hate it.

“Like I said in my text, we’re just friends. Right, Fuyuka?”

“Ah, yes, that’s right…”

There was a strange pause in her words as he urged her to agree with him.

“That’s right…”, saying that, was enough but what was she going to say after?

 

“…Asahi-kun is a dear friend… of mine…”

Asahi looked at Fuyuka, who slowly raised her head, muttering in a broken voice.

Shortly after, they turned away from each other.

 

“Are you two really friends?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“You call each other by first names.”

“Cause we’re friends.”

“Your face is red.”

“…That’s just you.”

 

Somehow avoiding the onslaught of his mother, who was just ahead of him when he looked away, Asahi turned his gaze back to the window.

My face, reflected dimly in the glittering illumination, was red enough to be seen through the glass.

Asahi glanced to the side, he saw that Fuyuka was also staring at the window glass.

Her skin, as pure white as a snowfield, was dyed the same color as him.

Yet her profile was still very beautiful and very adorable.

It was as beautiful as a painting combined with the night view shining beyond the translucent border.