Even though she'd known that coming in here might mean seeing something like this, and she'd braced herself for it, once she actually stepped inside and saw the scene in front of her, Saya still felt a stronger surge of jealousy and resentment.
Huh?
Her mother noticed it too, and she froze, going blank for a moment, as if she'd drifted into a daze.
That reaction felt wrong.
As someone who'd been through it before, Mom should've been calm.
Ah. Right. Mom had drunk way too much, her mind was a mess. This was Mom who'd just woken up, still half-soaked in alcohol.
And yet, with a deeply affectionate look, Mom stared at that guy. Her lips parted softly—
"Soichiro?"
"Dad? No. Mom, you've got the wrong person."
Saya reached to pull her away.
Mom had used this drinking session to numb herself completely, getting absolutely wasted, so Saya needed to take her to wash up.
And bringing her here in the first place had been intentional.
Saya had more or less guessed what might be happening here, and she'd wanted to drag Mom over to ruin it.
Her jealousy had gotten the better of her.
Now, Mom's brain really was so dulled by alcohol that she couldn't see reality clearly. She was hallucinating. Mistaking someone else for Dad.
"Saya, what are you talking about? Your father is right there."
"Mom, Dad… Dad's gone. Please, wake up."
"Saya, what are you talking about? Isn't he right here? If you keep saying something this cruel, your mother is going to get angry."
Mom's face hardened. She looked genuinely upset.
"Look closely. He doesn't look like him at all. Dad isn't some middle-aged guy."
"Middle-aged? Saya, are you saying he's an old live-in partner now?"
"That's not what I mean. You're just mistaken."
"No, I'm not. When I met Soichiro, he looked exactly like this."
So that was it. She wasn't seeing him as "Dad now." She was seeing him as Dad when he was young.
And honestly, his build did resemble what Dad had looked like back then.
Maybe because she kept staring, she happened to meet his eyes. He glanced back, and Saya couldn't help but shoot him a vicious glare.
His look seemed to say he wouldn't mind if Saya called him "Dad," too.
That infuriating look. So he was getting back at her for dragging someone in to ruin his fun, was he?
"Alright, Saya. You can go now. This is the adults' world."
That made Saya's head spin. What kind of delusion was her mom even having right now?
But she didn't feel embarrassed by those words. If anything, she was even angrier at how bad Mom's state had gotten.
It was obvious how heavy the emotions Mom had been forcing down over Dad's death were—so heavy she could barely breathe under them.
"Saya, didn't you say you wanted a little brother or sister too? What, are you scared you'll lose attention once they're born?"
"That's not it. Wake up."
"Soichiro, what do you think? Another girl, or a boy?"
She didn't listen at all. If anything, she was getting worse.
"If it's a boy, he'll grow up strong and protect Saya as her big sister. But a girl wouldn't be bad either. She could stay closer to Saya, keep her company, so Saya won't be lonely."
Saya's whole body trembled at that.
"Saeko-senpai, please. Help me."
Saya could only turn to her senior. Otherwise, she really couldn't handle Mom anymore.
She regretted it now. She never should've brought her here.
Of course, it wasn't because she felt embarrassed. This wasn't about saving face.
She hadn't expected Mom to mistake someone for Dad and spiral into fantasies like this.
You could say she'd pushed Mom into this.
"Mm… How old should we raise the second child to? That way, Saya won't have to take care of them too much. Five should be about right, don't you think? With my ability, I can make the kid sensible and well-behaved at that age, so I can relax and go find you, Soichiro. And Saya will have someone with her."
Hearing that, Saya suddenly froze, her hand stopping mid-motion.
The next second, everything happened too fast to react.
"Soichiro~"
Mom—like a teenage girl—whined in a coquettish voice, yanked herself free of Saya's grip, and dove straight at him.
Someone was knocked flat in an instant.
And Mom, like a cat, kept rubbing against him, nuzzling, even playfully nibbling.
The sight left Saya completely scrambled.
"Saya, hurry up and go out. Don't disturb us~"
At that, Saya—who should've rushed forward immediately to pull them apart—went quiet instead.
Just as Saeko-senpai raised her hand for a sharp chop—
"Don't knock Mom out!"
Saya blurted it out, stopping her before she could bring it down.
In that moment, an utterly absurd idea surfaced in Saya's mind, and she battled with it hard.
It was a terrible idea, one that could hurt Mom, but it was also the most likely way to save her—so Mom wouldn't immediately spiral into wanting to follow Dad into death.
Watching Saya's expression shift, Saeko looked back and forth between Saya and Mrs. Yuriko—who was drowning herself in alcohol, fleeing reality, lost in fantasy. Saeko's eyes widened slightly.
Because she'd guessed what was going through Saya's head, and the conclusion even shocked her.
If Saya really intended to do it… then Saeko's answer would be yes.
Because he was going to come back and fix this world. Not "if." Not some uncertain word like "maybe."
That man would definitely return. He would survive.
So she wanted this world to become a harbor where he could truly rest.
And to build that kind of harbor, Saeko alone wasn't enough. If someone like Yuriko could help run things, it would be far easier.
Of course, under normal circumstances, Yuriko would never build a harbor for a man out of pure selflessness.
But if the "other circumstance" Saya was hesitating over could happen—then Yuriko would become his greatest support in this world.
Naturally, if she had a choice, Saeko didn't want to share.
But reality sometimes demands it. If she let emotion control her in a world like this, surviving would only get harder.
Besides, after the candlelit dinner that had started at dusk, she'd already told him he didn't need to feel responsible for anything. Everything was her choice.
Which meant he also had the right to like other people, without worrying about how she felt.
"Th-then…"
At last, Saya forced her lips to move, painfully.
She'd made up her mind, even if Mom would hate her for it.
"Um, Mr. Kain… could you… could you please become the 'Dad' my mom is talking about, right now?"
(End of Chapter)
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