After school on Monday, Mochizuki returned to the restaurant alone.
Natural's expression turned somewhat downcast when she saw Mochizuki coming home by herself.
Obviously, she still wanted Teio around for a little longer.
Noticing her mom's reaction, Mochizuki glanced around the shop. After confirming there weren't any familiar faces inside, she spoke up, "Mom, if you really want to live with Teio, why not just find a chance and explain it to her?"
"I can't yet. It's too soon to tell Teio about that."
Tokai Natural firmly shot down Mochizuki's suggestion.
This was understandable.
Natural knew clearly that although Teio had grown close to Mochizuki, directly revealing the truth now would still be too hard for Teio to accept.
Not knowing her mom's reservations, Mochizuki didn't press further after hearing Natural's refusal.
She really didn't feel like trying to decipher her mom's vague words today.
So she turned and walked upstairs.
Then—she came right back down.
"Mom? Where's my staff uniform?"
"Teio took it."
"Really?"
Hearing Natural's words, Mochizuki stared skeptically at her mom, especially since she couldn't see a single uniform anywhere.
"Teio said she wanted a uniform, so she took yours. Well, you're sisters anyway, so wearing hers shouldn't be a big deal, right?"
Natural casually explained, then glanced at Mochizuki as if to ask: Is there a problem?
Seeing this act, Mochizuki quickly figured out her mom probably had taken it to wash and was teasing her now. Instead of exposing her directly, Mochizuki played along, saying, "Alright, got it. So, Mom, buy a new one."
"Eh?"
"You took it for washing, and it's still drying, right?" Natural's overly transparent reaction gave Mochizuki perfect satisfaction as she easily revealed her mother's playful lie. "Even if Teio took one, she couldn't have taken both."
After that, Mochizuki posed another question, "Is it dry yet?"
"Not yet…"
"Then I'll just wear my casual clothes today. Mom, remember to wash my casual clothes tomorrow."
"Mm, okay."
Saying this, Mochizuki went upstairs once again.
A short while later, she returned downstairs, dressed in her casual clothes.
Natural looked Mochizuki up and down before concluding, "You really do look better in casual clothes, Mochizuki."
"Too bad I can't wear them often in Japan."
Not dwelling further on clothing, Mochizuki glanced around the shop again, then asked, "How was business today?"
"Pretty good, I guess. Quite a few students from Tracen Academy came by. And also..." Natural paused thoughtfully before continuing, "I'm thinking of hiring someone."
"Too busy during the daytime now?"
As Mochizuki spoke, she noticed a table still had leftover dishes and chopsticks on it.
Immediately collecting them, Mochizuki placed them in front of Natural before speaking again, "It does seem like you need more help."
"I didn't feel it when we had fewer customers, but now that more people are coming…" Natural sighed lightly with a hint of resignation in her voice. "But we'll have to see how this month's earnings go before deciding."
Seeing her mom sigh, Mochizuki hesitated a little before quietly speaking again. "Mom, have you ever thought about—"
"Hm?"
"No, nothing."
She swallowed back what she'd almost asked—about why her mom wasn't thinking about remarrying—and shifted her gaze instead to the table where Mr. C.B. and Maruzensky usually sat.
After observing carefully over the past few weeks, Mochizuki was quite sure those two definitely had feelings for her mom.
But…
Clearly, her mom either wasn't noticing or was pretending not to.
Maybe she was deliberately avoiding this topic altogether.
Thinking of that, Mochizuki decided it wasn't her place to push too hard.
Instead, she changed the subject back to hiring someone. "Mom, what kind of person are you thinking of hiring?"
"I'm not sure yet. Maybe an Uma Musume, maybe a student, or maybe I'll just grab someone directly from the Mejiro family's kitchen team."
"Huh?"
Hearing Natural's oddly casual tone, Mochizuki looked completely puzzled.
She understood the first two options, but grabbing someone from the Mejiro family's kitchen team?
"The chefs from the Mejiro household always wanted to learn my techniques. But last time, because of my health, we had to stop midway." Seeing her daughter's confusion, Natural quickly clarified to ease Mochizuki's puzzlement. "But it should be fine to invite them over now, since they've asked me back before."
"Except…"
Natural trailed off.
Every time Natural hesitated like this, Mochizuki knew—it probably meant her mom was embarrassed again.
Of course, Mochizuki thought, I'd probably feel embarrassed too. So she offered a practical solution: "Mom."
"Hm?"
"If Teio was staying here—"
"What are you even thinking? You two would be going to and from school together, how could either of you have time to help around here?" Before Mochizuki could finish, Natural quickly scolded her daughter for not being realistic.
But Mochizuki ignored her mom's interruption and simply continued speaking from where she left off:
"Mom, what I meant was—if Teio's here, wouldn't Auntie Roman be around too?"
Mochizuki's explanation finally clicked for Natural. "Roman, huh… She would definitely be helpful."
"But, it's not the right time yet. Didn't I say that already?"
Just like when Mochizuki brought up Teio earlier, Natural again responded with that familiar "it's not the right time yet."
This response stopped Mochizuki from continuing down this line of questioning. She just nodded lightly, "Mm, okay."
Seeing her daughter back down from the issue, Natural also went quiet for a bit.
She watched Mochizuki's understanding expression, carefully considering for several seconds before speaking again:
"About Teio… I plan to handle it during summer vacation."
"Summer vacation?"
"Yeah. During summer break, aren't we planning to visit the Tokai Family training and rehab base with Teio?"
"Is there some connection?"
"That's where I gave birth to both of you. So it seems like the right place to finally make things clear."
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T/N: i yearn for rudolf x natural