Asano Nao stared at the man next to her daughter. He was the man she had met countless times in her dreams and thought about endlessly. He was her lover, Miu’s father.
She understood now why Grandma had kept it a secret and why she ran away. The uncle at the small shop was him.
She wanted to turn and run. The cold winter wind, carrying fine snow from the ground, blew against her body. She felt her body and mind freeze.
She couldn’t move. She couldn’t think.
Yumemi Miu finished picking up the snowballs on the ground and ran to her side, pulling her into the house and seating her at the low table.
The mother and daughter sat on one side, while Minami Yuuki sat across from them. The young man sat cross-legged, leaning back, smiling, his eyes fixed on Asano Nao.
Asano Nao kept her head down, not daring to look at Minami Yuuki.
The air conditioner had just been turned on, and the temperature in the living room was slowly rising, but the atmosphere was chilling. Yumemi Miu took off her coat, looking at her silent mother and then at the uncle whose eyes never left her mother.
What’s going on?
Her little head couldn’t figure out the complicated situation.“Uncle, you haven’t had breakfast yet. I’ll make something.” She didn’t want to wait any longer. She pulled her legs out from under the table and stood up.
“I want noodles, with onions, gluten, and seaweed.” Minami Yuuki shifted his gaze from Asano Nao to Yumemi Miu.
“I don’t know where the noodles are, Uncle. Can you help me find them?”
Yumemi Miu, who knew Minami Yuuki’s house better than her own, couldn’t possibly not know where the noodles were. This was just an excuse to talk to Minami Yuuki privately.
“Okay.” Minami Yuuki first went to the door leading to the backyard, locked the sliding door, and then followed Yumemi Miu into the kitchen.
“Uncle, can you handle my mom?” Yumemi Miu opened the refrigerator, took out the ingredients, and started preparing.
“No problem, don’t worry.” Minami Yuuki took out some oolong tea and poured himself a cup.
“Mom just told me she wanted to separate us, Uncle! Don’t be fooled by her looks; she’s very stubborn!”
“Just cook the noodles. After I eat, I’ll show you how easily your mom can be dealt with.”
Minami Yuuki put the oolong tea back in the fridge, patted Yumemi Miu’s head, and returned to the living room.
Yumemi Miu quickly finished cooking the noodles, watching nervously as Minami Yuuki ate.
Minami Yuuki placed his chopsticks on the bowl and looked at Asano Nao. Feeling his gaze, Asano Nao shivered.
“Miu told me you want her to leave me?” he said.
Huh?
So direct!
Yumemi Miu was startled.
“…No.” Asano Nao panicked and decided to deny it.
Hey? Mom, if you say that, it makes it look like I lied to Uncle!
Yumemi Miu was even more startled.
She hurriedly stood up to explain, but Asano Nao grabbed her waist with one hand and covered her mouth with the other, holding her in her arms to prevent her from speaking.
“Mmm!” Yumemi Miu struggled.
“So, you have no objections to Miu coming here in the future?” Minami Yuuki asked again.
“…No.” Asano Nao answered.
Yumemi Miu sensed something was wrong.
She stopped resisting, looked up at her mother, and then at Minami Yuuki. Her mother’s expression was hidden by sunglasses and a mask, while Minami Yuuki’s expression was serious. Except when performing, this was the first time she had seen Minami Yuuki like this.
“Take off your hat, mask, and sunglasses,” Minami Yuuki said again.
Mom would never take those off! She relied on them to come out!
Yumemi Miu wanted to smooth things over and help her mother explain, but she saw her mother release her, reaching for her face.
Huh?
Asano Nao pulled down the hood of her coat, took off her knit hat, removed her sunglasses, and took off her mask.
Her somewhat pale face came into view of both Yumemi Miu and Minami Yuuki.
Yumemi Miu was shocked again.
She touched her mother’s forehead, suspecting her mental state. She looked at Minami Yuuki, wondering if he had cast some spell.
From the moment she saw Uncle, Mom had been acting very strange!
She saw that the once upright uncle was now lying on his side, his posture more relaxed, and the sternness on his face had faded.
“My waist and neck are a bit sore, give me a massage,” Minami Yuuki said as he turned over and lay face down on the tatami mat.
Yumemi Miu stood up, grumbling internally: Uncle, look at the situation! My mom is still here, and you want to order her daughter around in front of her?
Before she could stand properly, a figure had already knelt beside her uncle and started massaging him.
Mom, why are you taking my job!
No, wait, was the request originally meant for Mom?
What is going on? Why is my extremely shy mom listening to Uncle so obediently and even daring to touch him!
Yumemi Miu stumbled back in shock and fell onto the tatami mat. She pinched her leg to make sure she wasn’t dreaming and rubbed her eyes to confirm she wasn’t seeing things.
At this moment, Uncle made another move. He raised his head and said, “The tatami is too hard. Let’s go upstairs.”
He got up, pulled Mom’s hand, and headed upstairs. Mom kept her head down, without a hint of resistance, and followed him up the stairs.
This is it, isn’t it?
The kind of scene in TV shows where the screen goes black and then a long time passes!
Yumemi Miu covered her face and peeked at the two going upstairs through her fingers.
Why, Mom, do you have to do that with Uncle as soon as you meet him!
Something’s wrong, something’s very wrong!
It’s not surprising that Uncle likes to order people around, but what’s going on with you, Mom?
Yumemi Miu was troubled and deep in thought.
“Hey, Miu!”
A low voice called to her from the backyard.
She turned to see her grandmother crouching by the door, beckoning her.
She turned off the air conditioner in the living room, put on her coat, and opened the sliding glass door to go out.
“Let’s go home, Miu. Don’t disturb them,” Grandma said, holding her hand.
“Did Grandma see what just happened?” Yumemi Miu asked.
“Yes. But don’t worry, Miu.”
“But Mom and Uncle went upstairs. Why is Mom so obedient to Uncle?”
Grandma hesitated for a moment, thinking it wasn’t her place to reveal the truth, so she softened the facts.
“Because your mom also has something Uncle is holding over her,” she said.
“Oh, that’s why!” Yumemi Miu exclaimed in sudden realization.
Thinking about it, everything made sense now.
Mom sees Uncle, remembers her secret, and thus obeys Uncle without defiance!
“But isn’t it too much for Uncle to use that secret to make Mom go upstairs?” She had a new doubt.
This question concerned Uncle’s integrity.
“Doesn’t Uncle also use your secrets to threaten you? Do you think he’s too much?” Grandma smiled.
Yumemi Miu thought for a moment and concluded, “I think Uncle is a good person. Even though I’m being threatened, it’s kind of fun.”
“Exactly. As long as the person being threatened doesn’t mind, it’s not really a threat. It’s just their unique way of interacting, like a game just for the two of them.”
“I get it now!” Yumemi Miu said, enlightened.
Grandma held her great-granddaughter’s hand, adding two new sets of footprints next to the ones they had made earlier.
“By the way,” Grandma suddenly had a bright idea, “Wouldn’t you like Mom to go out and play with you?”
“Of course I would, but Mom never goes out,” Yumemi Miu said.
“Go and act spoiled to Uncle, get him to ‘threaten’ your mom, and then she’ll go out with you!”
“There’s such a way? Grandma, you’re so clever!”
“Of course. When I was young, I had my fun too!”
Under the pure white sky, snowflakes were gently falling again. The snow was fine, silently landing on rooftops and tree branches. It was near noon, and the village children and the young-at-heart adults were building snowmen in the snowy weather.
Yumemi Miu built one in front of her house and, with her grandmother’s permission, went to build another one in Minami Yuuki’s backyard.
Upstairs, Minami Yuuki sat by the bed, lifting the curtain to watch the girl below.
The air conditioner hummed softly, warming the bedroom considerably.
He turned his head to look at the woman on the bed.
The woman was secretly watching him.
When she saw his sudden gaze, she quickly pulled the blanket over her face to hide her expression.
Minami Yuuki smiled. After nearly ten years apart, they were still so in sync, and Asano Nao was still so shy.
He leaned down to pull the blanket off Asano Nao’s face, but she held it tightly, not letting it go easily.
So, he changed tactics and went to lift the other end of the blanket.
Asano Nao immediately let go, revealing a face flushed with red. Her watery eyes had nowhere to settle their gaze. She glanced at Minami Yuuki and then quickly looked elsewhere, letting her eyes roam over the room’s furnishings.
Minami Yuuki gave her a light kiss on her rosy lips and patted her leg. “Get up. Let’s go downstairs and build a snowman with Miu.”
“I don’t want to go down,” Asano Nao said, covering her face with the blanket again, feeling both shy and frustrated.
After what they had done, how could she face Miu?
“Eh? Does that mean sister wants to stay and keep me company? I wouldn’t mind that at all,” Minami Yuuki teased, pausing his movement towards the wardrobe.
“Let’s go down,” Asano Nao sat up.
“Oh? Does that mean sister dislikes my company?” Minami Yuuki teased again.
“No! I don’t…” Asano Nao quickly denied, meeting Minami Yuuki’s teasing gaze and realizing she had been tricked.
She dared not stay too long with this man she had longed for day and night. His voice, more mature than in his youth, the unchanged smile at the corners of his mouth, the new scent of his shower gel, his strong arms, his firm chest… all made her feel happy.
The man was the embodiment of happiness.
Happiness was the concept in his words; happiness was him. This small bedroom was filled with his scent. His every move, every glance was a projection of happiness in reality.
She dared not stay here too long, fearing she would drown in this sea of happiness.
“Let Miu play by herself for a while longer,” Minami Yuuki said, sitting back on the bed.
[After learning about her daughter’s experiences, Asano Nao came to confront you. The moment she saw you, she lost her purpose, lost her words, and you led her to relive old memories.]
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