I'll post an extra chapter every 300 Power Stones. Good luck with that!
Goal for the next extra chapter: 105/300
####
As soon as we entered the house, I noticed how clean it was and how high-quality the furniture was. It was a very nice house.
'Miu doesn't seem to be struggling financially...'
Besides, she had never shown any signs of being in serious financial trouble.
She always brought a generously packed bento to school.
The real problem was her relationship with her mother, which was far from good.
My mother and I sat down at the table, and shortly afterward Miu's mother appeared carrying a tray with tea and several cups. After serving the tea, she sat down across from us. I decided to stay quiet and just listen this time.
"First, I'd like you to pack some of Miu's clothes for me to take with us."
"..."
Miu's mother looked at my mother. I thought she was going to get angry, but instead she simply said,
"All right. I'll do that."
Even my mother was surprised. She hadn't expected it to be that easy.
"You accepted that surprisingly easily."
"There's no reason to get angry at a time like this. I know I was wrong."
Her expression changed. She looked visibly saddened. She seemed to be speaking sincerely, but my mother wasn't moved.
"Yes, you were wrong. Very wrong. What you said should never, ever be said to your own child."
"Wha—"
Miu's mother looked ready to explode, but she calmed herself. She took a sip of her tea and said,
"She said things that hurt me too, you know? Your son heard everything."
"I don't care what Miu said. You're her mother. How would you feel if your own mother told you she wished you'd never been born? That you were nothing but a burden in her life?"
"..."
"It would hurt, wouldn't it? I heard something very similar in the past. It hurt a lot."
What?
I didn't know that.
"But that's beside the point."
Wait, I want to know about that! What did Grandma say to you?
"I know what I said was wrong, all right?" Miu's mother let out a sigh. "I regret it."
"It doesn't seem like you do."
My mother looked at her sternly.
My mother was right.
She seemed to be getting more irritated by the minute. She wouldn't be able to keep herself under control for much longer.
"Mom, I think we should go," I said, realizing this conversation wasn't going anywhere.
"All right. You said you'd pack Miu's clothes, didn't you? I'll wait here."
Miu's mother's hand was trembling, but she sighed and stood up.
"All right. I'll get everything ready."
She left the living room.
"That woman... she really doesn't care about Miu at all."
"Yeah..."
"If I were in her place, I'd be doing everything I could not to hand over those clothes. She's basically handing her daughter over to us."
"Do you think she'll try to reconcile with Miu?"
My mother, who had always had excellent intuition and understood relationships far better than I did, answered,
"I think that's unlikely. But don't worry. Miu can stay with us for as long as she needs."
####
Miu's mother returned and impatiently dropped two bags onto the table.
I recognized one of them. It was the bag Miu took to school.
"Everything's here. Her school bag and another bag full of clothes."
"All right. Kyo, could you wait outside? I'd like to speak with her in private."
"Huh? Oh, sure."
I left Miu's house and waited outside.
My mother stayed inside for a full ten minutes.
While I waited, I read the messages Miu had sent me. She had asked a lot of questions, like how her mother was doing and what she'd said about her. I answered everything honestly.
When my mother finally came out, Miu's mother shut the door immediately, refusing to even look me in the eyes.
"What did you two talk about?"
"Nothing special. I just told her a few truths. Mother to mother."
Ugh...
I'm sure that was quite an intense conversation.
I called an Uber right afterward, and we headed home.
As soon as we got home, my mother had a private conversation with Miu. When I opened the office door, Miu was crying. I quietly closed the door again and decided not to disturb her.
I went to my room and used my MacBook to write and reply to a few emails.
One of those emails was from Mr. Kuroda.
It was about "Oregairu", which was going to receive an anime adaptation. When I read it, I got really excited.
[I'm so happy to hear that! I'll finally get to see Yukino and Yui animated on my TV screen! I hope they choose a great staff. My dream is for this anime to have an amazing production!]
I sent the email, making it clear that I wanted the adaptation to receive high-quality production.
Well, since I was Aoi Haruki, the anime would probably get a good production anyway.
I had more than enough reputation for that. A good studio would definitely be chosen, along with a capable director.
Surprisingly, Mr. Kuroda replied to my email almost immediately.
[Don't worry. The production committee knows exactly what it's doing!]
I hoped he was right.
####
A few days had passed since Miu started living with us.
My mother gave her one of the spare bedrooms, so she stopped using my office. I had to admit that living with her had been a pretty enjoyable experience.
Whenever she wasn't at school, we spent most of our time together.
We wrote together, played games together, and watched things together.
It was almost as if we were actually dating.
But I didn't think it would last much longer.
Miu had started talking to her mother again, and the two of them were slowly working things out. It wouldn't be long before she went back home.
But for now, I wanted to enjoy this.
As I sat in front of my computer finishing Volume 12 of "The Apothecary Diaries", Miu suddenly spoke.
"Kyo, don't you have to go film today?"
"Hm? I've already finished filming the movie. I wrapped up last week."
"I see."
Then, all of a sudden, I remembered something important.
"Oh, right. The TV series I was in premieres today."
It had been so long since I'd finished filming it that I'd completely forgotten.
####
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