"Mutsumi: How's Soyo?"
After thinking for a moment, Mutsumi still chose to check on her friend.
Seeing the message from Mutsumi, Kamijou Mutsuki raised an eyebrow slightly.
He looked at Miss Soyo beside him, whose flushed face had not yet completely faded, directly took a photo, and sent it to Mutsumi.
"Capitalist: Your friend is doing very well!"
"Mutsumi: ???"
Looking at the photo of Soyo, whose eyes seemed to carry a hint of springtime (?), Mutsumi fell silent.
In just this short amount of time, what exactly did you do behind my back?
However, due to her personality, Mutsumi ultimately chose to ignore the question. As long as Soyo was fine, that was enough.
"Mutsumi: That's good then. Good night."
After sending the message, Mutsumi put down her phone and looked at the table beside her, filled with the sumptuous dishes she had prepared.
Back when she lived at home, she was also always alone. She should have already been used to it.
So why did she suddenly feel a bit lonely?
Mutsumi scratched her head, feeling that her emerald-green long hair looked unexpectedly eye-catching at this moment.
"What are you doing?"
On the other side, Soyo also noticed Kamijou Mutsuki's small movements. After seeing his conversation with Mutsumi, there was naturally another round of playful scuffling, until Madam Nagasaki came over—only then did Soyo, a bit angrily, loosen her fists.
Author: Eastern Sage
As for her own mother's somewhat ambiguous gaze…
Soyo was already used to it.
Let her think whatever she wanted. Anyway, she had given up caring.
"Kamijou-kun, how's my cooking?"
"Ten points—no, even nine points delicious!"
Although it was just ordinary home-style cooking, Kamijou Mutsuki wasn't picky.
And besides, who could refuse a wife looking at you with a face full of anticipation?
Kamijou Mutsuki felt that he had a responsibility to give Soyo a complete home.
"It's actually just average. Soyo's cooking is even better than mine~"
He didn't doubt this at all. After all, the one who truly handled the cooking in this house was actually Soyo. Madam Nagasaki, on the other hand, behaved most of the time like a child waiting to be fed.
"Whoever marries Soyo will really have struck gold…"
Madam Nagasaki still didn't forget to promote her daughter, because Soyo was truly different when it came to Kamijou Mutsuki.
"Mom, can you just eat properly?"
Soyo, of course, couldn't not react. Faced with Miss Soyo's eyes that lacked any highlight at all, Madam Nagasaki was instantly frightened into sitting up straight, not daring to say another word.
After dealing with her mother, Soyo let out a small sigh.
Actually, she no longer cared about Madam Nagasaki's habit of randomly playing matchmaker. It was just that, compared to herself, she felt her mom was the more dangerous one.
After all, someone like Kamijou Mutsuki was capable of doing just about anything.
She really didn't want to come home one day and see some scumbag attacking her spawn point.
Thinking this way, a chill crept up Soyo's spine.
But when she looked at Madam Nagasaki beside her, the girl's gaze softened again.
After all, with Madam Nagasaki's 007-level work intensity, it was already rare enough that she could spend time accompanying her.
Even if there was some abstract creature causing disturbances, it wasn't a big problem.
…Probably?
"It's already this late, and there's still work for me to handle? And if I remember correctly, I'm on leave today, right?"
Watching Madam Nagasaki frown as she stood up and walked aside to answer the phone, the smile on Soyo's face gradually faded.
And the final result was, as expected.
"Sorry, Soyo. Mom has some work matters to take care of. You and Kamijou-kun go ahead and eat."
"It's fine, Mom. Go take care of your work."
Busy—being busy is good!
Soyo forced a smile as she said this, but the disappointment in her eyes was impossible to hide.
At this moment, Soyo looked like a "daughter," rather than a "mother" who could even accommodate her own mother.
Watching the exchange between the mother and daughter, Kamijou Mutsuki on the side found it a bit hard to hold back.
Did it really have to follow the script this closely, Madam Nagasaki?
Soyo's mom suddenly being called in for overtime, Sakiko's dad stealing (robbing) his daughter's money—these two were practically must-taste delicacies when watching MyGO!!!!!. This time, Kamijou Mutsuki had truly sampled the classics.
As she watched her mother's departing figure, the disappointment on Soyo's face became impossible to conceal.
In fact, it wasn't that she didn't understand Madam Nagasaki. After all, Soyo wasn't born a rich young lady. At the beginning, her family conditions weren't exactly "working-class misery," but they definitely had nothing to do with wealth.
As a single mother, for Madam Nagasaki to struggle her way into owning a several-hundred-square-meter duplex high-rise in a place like Tokyo, where every inch of land was worth a fortune, while also maintaining a pampered, young-lady-like lifestyle, naturally required efforts beyond what ordinary people could imagine.
But even if she reasoned with herself as much as she wanted in her heart, she would still feel lonely.
And that was precisely why she cared so much about Sakiko and CRYCHIC, wasn't it?
"…What are you doing?"
Just as Soyo was about to "Net-Ease-Cloud-Depression, activate," she suddenly felt a pair of ill-behaved chopsticks reach toward the juicy, tender hamburger steak in her bowl. She immediately frowned and used her chopsticks to knock them away.
"I thought Soyo-chan didn't want to eat it, so I was going to take it."
Facing the girl's questioning, Kamijou Mutsuki put on an innocent expression.
"No need for your concern. I don't have a habit of wasting food…"
Soyo was practically about to laugh. She was clearly feeling down over here—if you weren't going to comfort her, fine, but you were actually eyeing her hamburger steak?
The girl once again firmed up her belief: this kind of abstract creature really was something only bugs would like!
Soyo didn't notice that the loneliness and emptiness she had felt earlier had quietly disappeared at some point.
-----------------------------------
As a qualified drifter, Kamijou Mutsuki had always been the type to sleep until the sun was high in the sky before getting up.
When he came to the living room, it was only natural that he didn't see the figure of a certain divorced wealthy lady—but he did see the breakfast she had left behind.
She really is—this makes me want to cry.
Taking in the aroma of grilled fish and tamagoyaki, although he felt a bit sorry toward Mutsumi, Kamijou Mutsuki had to admit that, as a "Mom-role," Soyo's cooking skills were indeed on a higher level.
But speaking of which, wasn't today the weekend?
Where had Miss Soyo run off to?
Taking out his phone and looking at the messages on LINE, Kamijou Mutsuki quickly understood—she'd been called by Miss Taki to go train at RiNG.
Or rather, band bonding?
Even Tomori had invited him, but he'd been asleep at the time.
He tried replying to Tomori's message, and the reply came instantly from the other side. …
Alright, alright, I admit it—you really are the Gravity Queen!
Although as her manager he'd probably only be able to watch from the sidelines, getting to watch the Bang Dream girls perform for free was naturally something he was happy about.
However, just as he was about to head to RiNG, another message—from Mutsumi—caught Kamijou Mutsuki's attention.
............