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Chapter 45: Sara and Mom.
With the exception of going to school for club activities, I have nothing to do but relax and play this summer vacation. Student council work is also exempt during this time.
Recently though, I’ve been so busy that I haven’t been able to read Yuri as much as I’d like, so let’s enjoy as much Yuri as I can this summer vacation! There was a time I believed that could happen.
It’s the night before summer vacation. Now the closing ceremony is over, so it’s safe to say that summer vacation has begun. So then why am I cleaning the bath on my first “day” off?
Immediately when I got home, my mother said “A guest is coming, so get a duster.” Not only my room, I was entrusted to clean the windows, the hallways throughout the house, and waxed the floor. Currently I am polishing the bath to make it shiny.
I can’t half ass it either, because I know it’s also for Sara. From the walls to the drain. It’s a delicate and meticulous task, although no matter how you slice it, Sara is just an excuse by my mother for me to help with a deep cleaning. I understand it isn’t easy to clean this much alone. However I just don’t like the fact that Sara is an excuse.
“Mother, aren’t you a little too hyper?”
After cleaning my bath I asked. My mother was in a good mood as she dealt with her back pain cleaning the toilet. She said with a smile “You could say that.” So she was aware of it.
“It’s because it’s the first time Shiori has made a close friend? You’re Not the type of person who’d actively get along with someone for long, and you’d always have a lot of personal space between you and others.”
“But I’ve always had a social life.”
“That’s true. But it’s even worse because you’ve been purposely creating this. You make friends, but don’t make best friends, right?”
“. . .You know me well.”
The power of a mother can’t be underestimated.
Sara is the first “Special” person for me, I had this close of a relationship. She was a friend just the other day, but now she is my crush.
“I was surprised to hear you were going to study and tutor every week, and when you stayed overnight it was even more surprising. Plus then you rushed to visit her when she was sick.”
“I only rushed to her when she was sick because I was the only one who knew she lived alone. . .”
“So you felt forced to?”
“. . .Well no.”
It seems that she completely sees through me. I couldn’t help but spite my mother’s smug face. How much does she know this much?
Even if I add this life and my past life experience together, I still can’t reach this person’s intuition. I feel like I can’t win against her when it comes to reading people.
“Well, if my daughter has found this person, as a caring parent, I want to meet them. From what I heard on the phone, she sounds like a nice girl.”
“She is a very nice girl.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting her.”
She gave a satfisted look at the polished bathroom. She did look genuinely happy.
I had no problems with my grades, and my lifestyle. I intended to be a hands off daughter, but it seems that I have made her worry in an unexpected way.
It was Sara that gave me the opportunity to notice it, another thing I have to be grateful for.
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By the next day, the whole house was cleaned up, my room was dusted, and the “valuables” were tightly sealed and hidden away.
Sara then arrived at my house.
“Nice to meet you, I am Sara Fujioka. Shiori-san has always been a great friend to me. I will be in your care.”
Sara gave a graceful greet and a bow, she looked like a solid young lady. It wasn’t obvious that this was the same girl shivering and full of anxiety in front of my door just a few minutes ago.
By the ways, Sara’s outfit today is a very neat and clean style. White lace shirt and a pink chiffon skirt. The very image of that style.
When I went to meet her, she said very clearly that “I want Shiori-san’s mother to have a good impression!”
Geeze really, Would it even be okay for this deceitful lady to be my girlfriend?
If I was a person who could tag along as a third party, I wouldn’t  hesitate to say”You guys should just go out.”
And naturally of course my mother’s tension rose after seeing this elegant firm greeting from a beautiful girl.
Like the tension an otaku gets from being pushed in front of their favorite idol, a sinful sight was clearly before one’s eyes. Of course my mother wouldn’t show it infront of one of her daughter’s friends, though I could relate. She is definitely my mother.
“I heard that Sara lives alone, have you gotten used to it?”
My mother asks as she brewed tea and brought a cream puff snack.
“Yes, at first I did not understand how to prepare meals or do household chores, but little by little I learned how.”
“Ara, it’s wonderful you know how to properly cook-! Shiori never helps me at all, I wish she’d follow your lead.”
“Eh. . ?”
I was stunned, as Sara glanced at me surprised.
Crap. I forgot to tell Sara it was a secret I was teaching her. I was a little embarrassed when she exposed it here and said “I was taught how to cook by Shiori-san.”
“I can cook if I need to.”
I interjected.
“You are just saying that here. Right, Sara-chan?”
“Eh? Ah, ahaha. . .”
Sara had no choice but to laugh with an indescribable face. I gently apologized in my heart.
We drank our tea sitting at the table with oblivious faces. Although from under the table besides me there was a tap tap as in a refusal-like way.
This silent objection was discrete, but a little heart warming.