Chapter 37: Mother’s Thought
Higo was nervous.
After fighting tooth and nail against Engaru High, he thought he could face anything. Oh, boy, how wrong he was. Here, the boy was, sitting still like a small prey under the predator’s watch, which, coincidentally enough, took form as his mother.
Yeah, his mother.
She just sat calmly on the other side of the table, arms folded in front of her chest. Her gaze was sharp, observing her son from head to toe as if afraid that she would miss sothing. Higo squird, not used to the intensity that his mother showed.
In the end, he couldn’t take it anymore. Nervous, he asked, "Mom... Is there anything you want to ask
about?" He asked, his tone full of uncertainty.
His mother didn’t answer imdiately. She was like a Buddha statue, quiet, still, but enough to make the boy fidget in his chair. In the end, the woman just asked slowly, "Since when was my son so good at sports?"
It was not a loud question. But in the house where only two of them lived, the voice resounded through the air, enough to reach Higo’s ears. The boy blinked, confused. "Um... I am sorry?"
"Yes, you should be sorry here!" The mother suddenly slamd the table out of nowhere.
"EEP!"
"I an, I watched your ga, I watched how you scread, how you jumped, how you fell! I cannot believe that it is you!" She scread hysterically. Not in a negative way, mind you. She suddenly turned into a fangirl, showing an album full of photos of him earlier in the ga. "Here! This is your photo when you commanded your friends! Oh, and there is a photo of you jumping! I am so proud that I caught that mont!"
Higo had a sweat drop on his face, not expecting this developnt. Also, he couldn’t help but wonder here. ’It has only been two hours after the ga was over, how could she have all the photos printed already?!’
His mother started to show off her work, which Higo could only watch silently, while inside, he was dying in embarrassnt. For all the love he had for his mother, Higo was a normal teenager, in a phase of always getting embarrassed by whatever his mother was doing to him. His mother also didn’t help here, acting like she was his biggest fangirl or sothing like that.
Still, a soft, genuine smile curled slightly on the corner of his lips. His eyes drifted from one photo after another, recalling every mont in that ga and how he acted.
He would never say it out loud, but this was a mory that he would probably never forget until he was old, the mont when he stepped out of his comfort zone and turned into a hero for the football team.
Then... His eyes caught one particular photo, and before his mind could catch it, his body reacted quickly.
BAM!
He slamd the book without hesitation. His cheek hued, turning into a bright pink. Right now, the only thing he wanted was for the ground to eat him alive, letting the mother earth hide him forever from the living plane.
His mother just smiled knowingly, a hint of mischievousness flashed there. She knew exactly why he reacted this way. "You saw that photo, huh? The one where I caught you staring longingly at Kumiko-chan?"
"Mooom! How could you do that to ?!" Higo whined childishly.
"What?! Am I not allowed to take a picture of my son?" She asked back, trying to defend herself. "Oh, what a great photo that I have taken! I wonder, can we show it at your wedding in the future?"
"Urgh... Too far!" Higo covered his face in embarrassnt, smoke escaped from his brain. Then, he snapped his head imdiately, suddenly realizing sothing. "Mom... Have you sent the photo to Oneechan?" He whispered the question, color drained from his face.
His mother’s grin was so wide that he felt his facial muscle hurt when he saw one. However, that grin confird his suspicion, and he moaned in resignation. "Not cool, Mom! She is going to use them all to tease !"
"Oh, don’t be dramatic! It is your sister that we are talking about!" She giggled playfully.
’It is because of her that I know she wouldn’t let
go.’ He grumbled lowly. ’Now, I dread the thought of opening my phone. I am sure that she is already there, laughing at my ass for this.’
His mother just smiled knowingly, sohow enjoying this precious mont. The woman always felt guilty whenever she saw her son back at ho right after school was over, thinking that she robbed him of his youth.
She could still rember that when he was young, the boy was cheerful and full of spirit. However, as he grew older, as she spent more ti in the office rather than back ho, it changed.
He didn’t go out anymore.
He left the club he joined.
He followed his sister’s path, taking care of the ho in her absence.
His youth was dulled by responsibility, one that no teenager at his age should bear.
Now, she could see the light glimring in his eyes again, the one that she herself didn’t know when the last ti it appeared in her son’s eyes. It made her hopeful, alleviating her guilt. She didn’t know how Kumiko pulled her son from the dark, but she would forever owe that girl for what she had done here.
Thinking of it again, an idea suddenly popped into her head.
"Ah! I know!" She clapped. Higo looked at her warily, knowing his mother was up to no good. "If you are so embarrassed by the photos here, what if I co to all of your gas in the future and add more photos? Maybe you will get past the embarrassing phase and even enjoy the fruit of my labor!"
Higo was dumbfounded. He didn’t know how his mother’s brain worked, reaching that conclusion. His brain short-circuited, and in the end, he could only ask a question here, "Can you really afford it? I an, will your job allow you to go?"
"Oh, don’t worry! I am sure that my boss will allow
to leave." She laughed, waving off his concern nonchalantly. However, below the table, her palm turned white from clenching it too hard. ’If he didn’t allow , I could just leave. My son has just co out of his shell, there is no way I would miss it!’
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