Chapter 93: Mother Bullies Daughter!

After understanding your daughter's personality, you heaved a sigh of relief.

It turned out that Mayuri's rejection and harsh words were just an external facade, not her true feelings.

You quickly found a way to get along with your daughter, and your relationship grew closer by the day.

However, the growing closeness didn't change Mayuri's character; you began to worry about her future, fearing that her tsundere nature would make her miss out on many things.

During the day, Mayuri didn't want to be seen with you by acquaintances or be asked about her parents, so she never agreed to go out with you.

You then invited her to go out at night. Although she refused outwardly, you helped her come up with a suitable excuse.

A small memory scene flashed in Minami Yuuki's mind.

"Mayuri, do you want to go to the supermarket with me? You can pick out some snacks."

"No way!"

"It's so dark outside, just come with me."

"You're actually scared of the dark? How cowardly! In that case, I might as well go with you."

"Then let's go."

You took her to a big supermarket in the city center. She had never been out so late before, and everything at night fascinated her. The novel items in the supermarket captivated her.

"Mayuri, do you want this excavator?" Minami Yuuki stood in front of the shelf.

"No way, only kids play with that!" Contrary to her firm tone, her eyes lingered on the blue remote-controlled excavator.

"I think it's pretty fun. Let's buy it and dig in the backyard."

When Minami Yuuki put the excavator into the cart, a quick smile flashed across Mayuri's face. She quickly withdrew it, glanced at Minami Yuuki, and pretended to say nonchalantly:

"This is pretty hard to operate. If you can't figure it out, I can teach you."

You bought many things that she clearly liked but claimed she didn't. Her stubborn demeanor made you chuckle.

After returning home, Mayuri played with the excavator in the backyard until late. You sat beside her and told her a ghost story.

The ghost story you carefully prepared had the desired effect. While playing wildly, the girl didn't find the ghost story scary, but when she lay alone in bed in the dark room, she felt like something terrifying might be hiding under the bed, in the closet, or under the desk. The shadows in the corners seemed to be moving.

She opened your door.

"Are you afraid of the dark?" The girl pushed the door open a crack, poking her head in to look at Minami Yuuki on the bed.

"No."

"You said you were scared of the dark before!" The girl's voice was urgent, her tone and eyes already pleading.

"Okay, I actually am afraid of the dark."

Mayuri immediately smiled: "Then there's no other way. I'll have to sleep with you."

She pushed the door open a bit more, squeezed in sideways, climbed onto Minami Yuuki's bed, and lay down beside him.

The warm bed calmed her anxious heart quite a bit, but it wasn't enough to dispel her fear entirely.

"If you're really scared, you can hold me a little." She hinted to Minami Yuuki.

She was very scared and wanted to sleep with you, but she refused to admit it, placing her fear on you. You struggled to hold back your laughter.

In the days that followed, you told your daughter a ghost story every day, letting her sleep beside you every night.

Mayuri tried to refuse to listen to ghost stories. When you asked if she was scared, she immediately changed her mind and asked you to tell two stories.

Mayuri also tried to make herself stronger. At night, she endured her fear and didn't come to you. You controlled the speaker in her room, playing the sounds of monsters breathing and footsteps. Within five seconds, the girl appeared in your arms.

[Your relationship with Mayuri began to improve.]

[At the same time, Honoka's advice to Yuko had an effect.]

[Staying in her childhood hometown, recalling happy scenes of her childhood with her mother on the streets and alleys, Yuko finally relented. After countless times of persuasion from Honoka to bring Mayuri back home, she softly replied with a "yes."]

[Honoka immediately took her back to Ino County.]

[You made a phone call, extending the trip for Haruna and Ryota by another month, to prevent their return from affecting your relationship.]

[Honoka stayed at your house, and Yuko came to the old house, living together with you and Mayuri.]

[Mayuri was extremely hostile towards this sudden appearance of her mother. This extended to you, her bedmate who she saw as an intruder, and she refused to speak to you for days.]

[One night, seeing Yuko enter your room and take her place, Mayuri's resentment grew deeper.]

[Late at night, she finally gathered courage and came to your room door to confront Yuko, only to find Yuko sitting on top of you, giving you a lecture, and you were completely defenseless. It startled her, and she looked at Yuko with fearful eyes for many days.]

[Initially, the relationship between mother and daughter was not smooth. Yuko was too cold, and Mayuri was too tsundere. Their interactions seemed like Yuko was intentionally teasing Mayuri.]

[Yuko went to wake Mayuri up, and instinctively, Mayuri refused. Yuko simply responded with an "okay" and left. Mayuri, needing to use the bathroom, had to hold it in for another hour, keeping her promise to not get up.]

[Yuko offered fruits to Mayuri, who said she didn't want any. Yuko responded with another "okay," and ate the fruits deliciously in front of her.]

[The cunning wife soon discovered a pattern: no matter what she said, Mayuri would contradict her, and she did so physically.]

[Yuko began to exploit this pattern.]

[When Mayuri played games with you, Yuko walked over and said, "Playing games with dad is great," causing Mayuri to drop the controller and run back to her room. Yuko picked up the abandoned controller, gave a small "yeah," and started playing with you.]

[Mayuri liked beef, and so did Yuko. Mayuri had a strong appetite and ate quickly, always beating Yuko to it. So, Yuko started by saying to Mayuri, "Eat more beef," and from then on, Mayuri never touched the beef plate again. Yuko gave a small "yeah" in her heart and took the entire plate for herself.]

[Initially, you didn't want to intervene, as it was their way of interacting as mother and daughter. However, Yuko's actions became too extreme, and Mayuri was deceived too miserably. You had to make a pact with Yuko: she could only bully her daughter three times a day.]

[You couldn't understand how such a shrewd person like yourself and a cunning person like Yuko could have raised such a naive daughter.]

[You felt that Mayuri had spent too much time with her beloved aunt, which made her naive.]

[Mayuri didn't really hate Yuko; she kept her distance because Yuko resisted getting close to her. Now, despite enduring many of Yuko's tricks, her resistance towards Yuko slowly diminished.]

[From Yuko's attitude, she noticed that her mother was no longer resisting her.]