The Intrigued Mother

Time passed by, and Aoi finally managed to relax himself.

There was still redness around his eyes, and there was a constant noise of sobbing, but still, it was manageable.

As long as he finally calmed down, he would slowly be able to compose himself.

He could finally face his mother, whom he had long not seen for ages.

He did not waste any chances by blinking, staring intently at his mother's face, seemingly trying to imprint her face on his mind.

He inherited the facial features of his mother, especially her long nose and coal black eyes… even the quality of his hair, similarly shining like his mother's.

Furthermore, his mother's hair was short, and his was long, resulting in having the same length.

Simply put, if others were to compare Aoi and his mother, they would have thought they were siblings.

After all, his mother had younger features, too, having a skin treatment that even caused a headache to his father.

Perhaps the only section on his face that differentiated him from his mother was his predatorial eyebrows that he inherited from his father.

All in all, Aoi felt like staring in a mirror, seeing the female version of himself.

Suddenly, his mother smiled and asked, "How are you doing?"

As always, his mother was sensitive to not directly asking about the reason why he cried.

Aoi could not just say the reason either, for even if he did, his mother would just think he was spouting nonsense.

Who would believe him?

Instead, his mother was simply asking how he was doing – if he could still fight well or if he had any plans in mind for the future.

Thinking about the past, before he returned to the past, and now that he could fulfill his ambitions, Aoi unknowingly smiled genuinely.

His mother was astonished to discern the sparkle in her son's eyes as he smiled, causing her to be mesmerized.

This was the first time she saw him having a genuine smile on his face, and she could not help but be emotional.

After all, ever since high school had begun, her son had become a shut-in, only leaving his room if they were eating or going to school.

Furthermore, his face always remained impassive, and he rarely talked unless the topic intrigued him.

Her son was the most nonchalant in the house before her husband.

Now, she was really seeing a smile on her son's face, and it was never fake.

She was certain about what she felt because she always trusted her intuition.

She could not help but embrace her son once again, causing Aoi to be startled.

Aoi was embarrassed but managed to hold himself back from pushing his mother, letting her be.

He could feel his mother patting his back, somewhat empathizing with what his mother was feeling at the moment.

However, he did not voice it out.

He said, "I'm good. You see, so much happened today. So, yeah, I'm good."

Aoi's tone was so sincere, obviously telling the truth with no mixed lies.

Only that, he did not reveal everything.

His mother finally detached herself from her son's hug as she wiped the tears coming out of her eyes.

Aoi was concerned, failing to stop himself from wiping the tears from his mother's eyes, causing the latter to be taken aback.

She smiled in response, lowering her hand and letting her son totally wipe the tears from her eyes.

She said, "I see. Then, that's all I need to hear. Though, care to tell me what it was about?"

Aoi stared at her, ruminating about her request.

His mother interrupted his ponder, "Y-You don't-"

"Sure!"

Aoi interjected and nodded.

His mother was stunned and then smiled.

She gestured to Aoi to follow her inside the cake shop.

"You can narrate them all inside the shop. I'll have someone to replace me. We can be the customer of your father first." She giggled.

Aoi was stunned and then chuckled, too.

Just like that, they entered the shop, having a full smile on their faces.

Aoi watched his mother in a daze, taking orders from the waitress who replaced her inside the cake shop.

He then turned to the waitress and saw it was a girl above his age, probably doing sidelines to support her college.

He was not close to her, and if he remembered correctly, she had been working in the cake shop to assist his father in the baking process.

He could barely remember her, but when he gave some time to scrutinize her, he finally remembered her as the pastry chef who memorized his family's cake recipe.

She was also the one who requested to run the bakeshop in their stead, to which Aoi declined.

He sighed and lowered his head.

When his mother finished taking an order, she turned towards her son and saw his downcast mood.

She was perplexed but, nevertheless, tried to tease to change his mood.

"Why were you staring intently at her earlier? I saw that." She teased with a mischievous expression on her face.

Aoi was taken aback, staring at his mother in disbelief, and then snorted.

"What are you thinking again, Mother? Forget about it. I already have someone in mind."

"Really?" Her eyes sparkled, intrigued. "Who could this be? Tell me more about her."

Aoi smiled and decided to describe Izumi.

"Well, she's a classmate of mine. You see, she's very popular – enough for her admirers to be jealous of me. Ah, just so you know, she has short hair, too… I must say, you two both are alike."

His mother was stunned and then suddenly asked in a teasing tone.

"So, does that mean you love your mother so much that you wanted to marry someone who looked like me? Am I really that pretty?"

Aoi snorted, almost rolling his eyes, as he turned to the window and stared at the garden.

He said in a daze, "She's as beautiful as the White Lilac."