"What do you mean, 'self-disciplined, career-first type'?"
The moment the words left her mother's lips, Yukinoshita Shizuku tilted her head and asked at once.
Mrs. Yukinoshita looked at her, tapped her on the forehead with one finger, and smiled.
"Never mind what type. The point is, Kagami doesn't have those kinds of feelings for you."
"You'd do well to simply be his older sister and leave it at that."
"Alright, alright — I'll drop the subject of Kagami."
"Then tell me about you and Father."
"What do you mean Father was the 'self-disciplined, career-first type'?"
Shizuku rubbed her forehead, then took her mother's hands in both of hers and wheedled shamelessly.
"Moooom~ Tell me~"
"You've never once talked about what you and Father were like when you were young."
It was rare for her mother to bring up memories of her father, and Shizuku found herself immediately hungry for gossip.
Looking at Shizuku like this tonight, Mrs. Yukinoshita felt her heart soften despite herself. She let out a long sigh, and then — with a smile playing at the corners of her lips — began to reminisce.
"Your father and I actually met through a family-arranged marriage meeting."
"A political match, in other words."
Mrs. Yukinoshita smiled at Shizuku's astonished expression.
"Didn't that bother you, Mother?"
"When you've enjoyed a lifetime of comfort provided by your family," Mrs. Yukinoshita continued, "it's only natural to accept the responsibilities that come with it."
"And besides..."
At that, Shizuku watched as her mother's smile shifted — from its usual gentle warmth to something she rarely saw: something almost sweetly girlish.
"Your father, you see, was an absolute blockhead."
"Unlike Kagami — your father wasn't just clueless about romance, he was practically incapable of normal socialising with women altogether."
"I never would have imagined Father was like that!"
Shizuku blinked. That description didn't quite match the image of her father she carried from childhood.
"Didn't you find a man like that terribly dull, Mother?"
In response, Mrs. Yukinoshita reached out and flicked her on the forehead again.
"Ah — Mom! Why do you keep flicking me!"
Shizuku clapped both hands over her forehead and looked at her mother with a thoroughly aggrieved expression.
"Don't be foolish!"
"That kind of man is the most interesting of all!"
"And unlike those playboys who spend their nights drinking and chasing women —"
"— a man like that is exactly the type you can build a proper life with."
"So the very day I met your father, I already knew: this is my type."
"Shizuku, do you have any idea how incredibly lucky I was — in the middle of a hopeless political arrangement — to end up matched with a blockhead like your father?"
Shizuku shook her head.
"Not really."
"So Father was just... scooped up by you..."
"Ah — I mean, recognised for his worth by your discerning eye."
Mrs. Yukinoshita shot her a sideways glance, then grabbed her by both shoulders.
"As if it were that simple!"
"There was no shortage of shameless hussies who had their eye on your father too!"
"What?!"
"So how did you win him, Mother?"
Shizuku covered her mouth, genuinely startled — it was a rare thing indeed to hear her usually poised and dignified mother speak in such colourful terms about her old rivals.
Mrs. Yukinoshita's lip curled with cool disdain.
"They were all far too impatient."
"Every last one of them was in a mad rush to force the situation — to present him with a fait accompli and make him take responsibility."
"But your father had a bit of a complex around women to begin with. He simply couldn't deal with them socially."
"So the harder they pushed, the faster they lost!"
"And what about you, Mother?"
Shizuku asked eagerly, leaning forward.
"Me?"
Mrs. Yukinoshita shifted to sit beside Shizuku, took her hands in hers, and continued.
"Back then, I started by quietly gathering information — his likes, his habits, his usual routes."
"Then I arranged 'chance encounters,' one after another."
"And that was enough?"
"Of course not, on its own."
Mrs. Yukinoshita went on.
"The encounters couldn't feel too deliberate. Each one had to end at just the right moment — a simple nod of acknowledgment, nothing more."
"Slowly, your father grew accustomed to my presence. He stopped being so wary."
"By that point, we'd graduated to being something like passing acquaintances."
"Oh — so there was a next stage too?"
Shizuku turned to look at her mother, marvelling at just how much thought and effort she had poured into pursuing her father.
"Of course. Did you think it would be so easy?"
Mrs. Yukinoshita gave her the look of someone who wanted full credit for how hard she had worked.
"The next step was simply to appear in his world more often — the way an ordinary friend would. The occasional greeting. The occasional chat about shared interests. But you couldn't be too attentive at this stage. Not too eager."
By now, Mrs. Yukinoshita had slipped almost without realising it into the same tone she sometimes used to give Shizuku quiet lessons at the office — imparting wisdom through example.
And Shizuku, equally without realising it, gave a firm, serious nod.
"Got it. And then?"
"Then comes Stage Three!"
"At that point, you can begin showing a measured interest in his personal affairs — a little warmth, a little concern for how he's doing."
"And this is also when you start showing him what you're made of."
"How?" Shizuku asked immediately.
Mrs. Yukinoshita gave her hand a light, exasperated slap.
"Use your head!"
"In the course of everyday life together — let him see your charming side, your melancholy side, your rational side, your lively side, your vulnerable side, your strong side..."
"And above all — the sides of you that he lacks and secretly longs for!"
"In short: make him feel that you are a person of endless, fascinating dimensions!"
"Ohh!"
"And then? What comes next?"
Shizuku looked at her mother with wide, hungry eyes — the eyes of someone desperately absorbing the hard-won wisdom of a previous generation.
"Then," said Mrs. Yukinoshita, "you vanish from his world."
Shizuku blinked at that, puzzled. Then she thought for a moment — and her eyes lit up.
"That's the classic 'play hard to get'!"
Mrs. Yukinoshita's eyes curved into crescents.
"At that stage, he should be thinking about you every single day — and finally be forced to make a decision."
"So you just left Father to stew, and in the end he was the one who reached out to you first?"
Shizuku pressed on.
"Well... yes and no."
Mrs. Yukinoshita said, with just a touch of sheepishness.
"I had every intention of going quiet on him for a few days — but before I could even put the plan into action, I got completely swept up helping the family with an urgent project. I didn't have a moment to spare for him. And in the end, I wore myself out so badly that I ended up in hospital."
"After a few days of not seeing me, your father panicked. He tracked me down to the house, then followed me all the way to the hospital."
"And right there, he pulled out a diamond ring he'd apparently been sitting on for quite some time — and proposed."
"Of all places to propose. In a hospital ward, honestly."
Mrs. Yukinoshita cupped her flushed cheeks in both hands, as if the memory of that proposal were something that had happened only yesterday.
It was the first time Shizuku had ever heard the complete story of her parents' love — and she was giddy with it.
"So how long did it take you in the end, Mother?"
Mrs. Yukinoshita thought for a moment, then smiled.
"About two years."
"That's so patient!"
"Two years to get a blockhead to come around — honestly, your father put in a fair bit of effort too, in his own way."
"But... but what if Father had never come around?"
____
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