Chapter 78: Who Says You Can't Have Two Mothers!

[Seeing Ibuki Yuko enter her son's room, Minami Haruna excitedly went downstairs to share the news with her husband.]

[Minami Ryota, who worked at the police station, appeared calm on the surface but was secretly overjoyed.]

[Minami Haruna urged her husband to use the peeping skills he had honed at work to see what the two youngsters were up to, but he sternly refused. Left with no other choice, she decided to sneak upstairs herself.]

The memory scene appears.

The room where Minami Yuuki slept today was a usually empty guest room, quite simple, with some magazines and idle items piled up.

Minami Haruna had given Minami Yuuki's original room to Ibuki Yuko, unable to bear the thought of such a sweet girl sleeping in a plain guest room.

This arrangement provided her with a perfect excuse, as the family shrine was located in the guest room.

Taking a stick of incense as a cover, she quietly went upstairs. She pressed her back against the wall next to the door and peeked inside.

It was late afternoon, and the sky was misty, seeming like it was going to snow. The curtain was only half-drawn, letting in a thin light from the uncovered half of the window.

Ibuki Yuko was gently shaking Minami Yuuki's shoulder, looking somewhat troubled.

"Wake up," her clear voice sounded in the boy's ear.

Minami Yuuki had been awake for a while but was deliberately pretending to be deeply asleep to tease the girl.

"Uncle is cooking, get up quickly," Ibuki Yuko shook Minami Yuuki again.

"I'm too sleepy, I don't want to get up. But, if I got a good morning kiss, I might wake up," Minami Yuuki teased.

Minami Yuuki opened a slit of his left eye, sneaking a peek at the girl beside the bed.

Ibuki Yuko had long been accustomed to such requests from Minami Yuuki. Ever since that day when he had a fever and it happened for the first time, every day thereafter, the boy would demand such a reward.

What troubled her wasn't that he would make such requests, but that he would always deliberately misbehave for a while, either lingering in bed, lying on the ground pretending to be out of energy, or clutching his heart and saying he was very sad, before asking for the reward.

Clearly, he could just ask directly.

She looked at Minami Yuuki's lips, lifted her bangs, and bent down.

Outside the door, Minami Haruna, seeing that her son hadn't gotten up for a long time, was about to step forward and ask Ibuki Yuko to wake him up, but she overheard such embarrassing words.

The seemingly well-behaved girl actually agreed to his request!

For the conservative mother, this was too shocking.

Minami Haruna stepped back against the wall, waiting for more than ten seconds.

Peeking into the room, she quickly pulled her head back, feeling ashamed and furious:

Why are you still kissing?

Can it really take this long?

Won't you run out of breath?

After waiting another twenty seconds, she peeked again.

Still not done!

She covered her face.

When she peeked a third time, the two young people finally separated, but the scene in the room shocked her even more.

She saw her son sitting on the bed with the quilt pushed down to his legs, while the girl had taken off her cotton slippers and placed her sock-clad feet on the bed.

What are you trying to do? The door is still open!

Minami Haruna looked at the door, hesitating:

Should she help close it?

But the sound of the door closing would reveal her presence and might ruin her son's moment.

No, she definitely wanted to ruin his moment, and she would give him a good lesson!

How could he be so careless!

This was at home, but what if it was somewhere else?

Just thinking about the shrine woods, park benches, and building balconies made Minami Haruna's mind race.

She took a step forward to stop them, but then she noticed something off.

The girl had climbed onto the bed to retrieve clothes from the far side. She rolled up a gray sweater and slipped it over Minami Yuuki's head, then grabbed his hand and guided it through the sleeve. Finally, she smoothed out the sweater.

Minami Yuuki squinted, looking at the girl with eyes full of affection.

So, she was just helping him get dressed.

But still, it's weird to help him get dressed!

Why are you acting like a child!

Even elementary school kids can dress themselves!

Minami Haruna couldn't stand it anymore.

Besides embarrassment, she felt a bit jealous.

Minami Yuuki had refused her help with dressing since the first grade, but now in his first year of high school, he was cooperating so well with this girl!

She suddenly felt like she wasn't Minami Yuuki's mother; that girl was.

Carefully retreating downstairs, she went to the kitchen to join her husband.

A new wave of jealousy arose—her husband had never helped her dress, nor had he ever kissed her for that long.

"How's it going?" Minami Ryota put the food from the pot onto a plate and looked at his wife.

Minami Haruna glanced at her husband, snorted softly, and walked out of the kitchen.

"What's wrong now?" Minami Ryota looked around, trying to recall any mistakes he had made in the past three days but couldn't pinpoint anything.

He shook his head and continued cooking. His wife liked to throw little tantrums, but she usually forgot about them quickly.

Sure enough, before he could finish the next dish of Mapo tofu, she came back, full of enthusiasm.

"Did you know? I saw them kissing! And that girl was helping Yuuki get dressed. I just went up and saw she was even helping him wash his face! She looks like a child but is so good at taking care of people! If they can get married, I'll finally be at ease with Yuuki."

"That boy has good taste." Minami Ryota couldn't help but smile, "But I wonder what that girl's family situation is like."

"What else could it be? Didn't Yuuki say it before? Her family left her alone during such an important holiday like New Year. It's good this way; after they graduate, they can come live with us."

The couple whispered in the kitchen, quickly moving from the kids' graduation and jobs to when to have kids, how many, which hospital to deliver in, where to buy baby supplies, and how to make their grandchildren closer to them...

If it weren't for the cold weather and the food not keeping well, they could have talked for a long time.

At dinner, Minami Haruna suddenly worried about the relationship between the two kids and whether they were taking precautions.

She kept looking at Ibuki Yuko's belly in her white sweater. The sweater was of average thickness and didn't reveal any curves on the girl's upper body.

Minami Haruna then worried about her future grandchildren's health.

Minami Yuuki noticed his mother's anxiety, though he didn't know what she was worried about, he decided to divert her attention.

"Mom, can I have another scoop of rice?" He held up his bowl.

Ibuki Yuko and Minami Haruna stood up at the same time, their hands reaching for Minami Yuuki's bowl and their fingers touching.

Minami Ryota: "…?"

Minami Airi: "…?"

Minami Haruna: "…!"

[You didn't hide your closeness with Ibuki Yuko, and your mother noticed it first, followed by your father and sister.]

[Your sister threw a tantrum and didn't talk to you or Ibuki Yuko for a day. The next day, she peeked into your room and found Ibuki Yuko wearing a maid outfit, immediately demanding to join.]

[Your sister, similar in size to Ibuki Yuko, took out a bunch of her own clothes and dressed Ibuki Yuko up. She was happy, you enjoyed the view, and the relationship among the three of you improved.]

[Your father had some worries. Were you, in love, still studying seriously? If you didn't get into college, it would affect the laid-back path they planned for you.]

[He called a friend at Tsukimori High School and learned that your reported grades were accurate, and Ibuki Yuko's grades were among the top in her class. He was completely relieved.]

[Your mother bought Ibuki Yuko a kimono. On New Year's Day, the girl wore it and went to the shrine with you. You made a wish, hoping your relationship would go smoothly.]

Reading this, Minami Yuuki, who was originally feeling sweet, suddenly slapped his forehead, and felt something was wrong.

Why do you make such a wish?