/
Yeah. Mother.
It was my first meeting with my mother.
‘A, all of a sudden like this?’
Confused, I didn’t know what to say.
Badump, badump, badump.
My heart beat fast.
‘What do I say? What should I say first? Nice to meet you? Or my introduction? Should I pretend to know her?’
I, who had been frozen as it was, opened my mouth after a long time—.
“Excuse me.”
Tak, my mother picked up the ball in my hand.
Then she turned around and disappeared as if she were running away.
“…? Hey, wait!”
My mother was far away, overshadowing my reflexively stretched hands.
‘W, what is this? You don’t even want to pretend to know me?’
I just stopped and blinked.
Looking sideways, the roommates were tilting their heads in wonder.
“Hmm.”
I slowly lowered my hand, which reached into the air, coughing in vain.
It’s embarrassing, confusing, and—.
I felt a little weird.
*****
‘What is it?’
Cheshire, who found Lilith on the school ground, stopped casually and kept looking at her.
The trembling expression with a pale face looking at a strange woman was not like the usual Lilith.
It seemed similar to the woman’s side that was bewildered.
“Hey, wait!”
Lilith tried to catch the woman.
For some reason, the woman hurried away as if she had encountered a ghost.
‘Does she know her?’
Seeing Lilith’s expression standing there, Cheshire couldn’t bear to step away.
She looked bitter and confused.
Is something wrong?
Who is that person?
He wants to ask her if she’s okay.
Unlike the always bright Lilith, it was a face he had never seen before.
****
Theoretical training sessions for the ‘Attack’ class.
Cheshire and I will be taking classes with other children in the afternoon.
‘It’s really boring.’
I thought while flipping through the magic formula book.
Theoretical education was nothing special.
All you had to do was draw the attack-type magic formula and memorize it.
Of course, it didn’t apply to me, who didn’t need to implement magic formulas in my head.
‘Phew, I have to pretend to memorize it so that I don’t get caught.’
I saw the magic formula and drew it in a notebook.
In the training school textbook, there were magic formulas from B to F.
The higher the level, the more complicated the magic formula and the more difficult it was to implement. Of course, the attack power becomes stronger in proportion to it.
‘Wow, but it would take me a week to memorize one grade B?’
I was bewildered and soon convinced.
Anything that can be used with magic is God—.
‘Let’s memorize it even if I don’t need it! Don’t think about anything else! Lilith!’
I slapped myself on the cheek.
When I was spacing out, I kept thinking about the mother I had met earlier, and my head was complicated.
‘What’s with mother’s eyes?’
I kind of guessed that she wouldn’t bother to meet me.
Is that why?
Just in case I pretend to know?
But I happened to run into her and she disappeared without a word of the conversation.
Is she angry?
What did I do wrong?
There were dozens of questions in my head.
“…Lith.”
“….”
“Lilith.”
“U, ung!”
I was startled by Cheshire’s voice and came to my senses.
“Why are you so spaced out since earlier?”
“…Me?”
Cheshire chinned at my notebook.
I thought I was drawing a magic formula, but there was a picture of a person out of nowhere.
A picture of a woman with ponytail hair.
The damn fingers seemed to have drawn my mother inadvertently.
“Mmhm, yes. I was dazed. Why did I do that—”
“….”
I thought I would be all right, but it must have been more shocking than I thought.
‘No, how can it be okay? It’s my mom. It’s my first time meeting her since I was born.’
I let out a sigh.
“Did you know that woman earlier?”
“Huh?”
“You brought a boy a ball from outside earlier.”
“Ah, did you see it?”
“Yeah. At that time, your expression in front of the female researcher was a bit strange. Do you know her?”
I thought for a moment, then said it insignificantly.
“She’s my mother.”
Cheshire’s eyes widened.
“What? Is that person your mother?”
“Mmhm. I saw her for the first time too.”
I once told Cheshire about my mother, but I didn’t say who it was—.
Maybe that’s why Cheshire was quite surprised.
“Is it your first time seeing each other then? But why did your mother leave without saying anything?”
“Right?…Ah! The baby was crying. Is that why she’s flustered?”
“….”
“And since we’re not going to live together anyway. Uhm, so… I guess she just didn’t pretend to know.”
Cheshire stared at me, muttering.
There was something embarrassing and restless about the gaze.
“Uh, I don’t know.”
I broke my heavy body like wet cotton onto the desk.
* * *
I won’t be able to meet her anymore, well.
“Sistwer!”
…That’s what I thought a few hours ago.
I was taken aback at the restaurant where I came to have dinner.
Kyle smiled and held out his hand to me. A candy was held in the hand of a child as small as a maple leaf.
“Are you giving it to me?”
“Ung! Eath ith, Sistwer!”
He seemed to remember that I brought the ball earlier.
I carefully took the candy from the child’s hand.
“Thank you.”
“Ungh! Sistwer!”
After answering loudly, Kyle turned his body and moved away.
‘Brother…’
I stared blankly at Kyle’s back as he walked.
I didn’t feel anything when I didn’t know.
But when I found out that he was my half-brother and had the same blood as me, I felt very strange.
“….”
As I looked down at the candy Kyle gave me, the juice on the tray suddenly came into my eyes.
I quickly picked it up and ran to Kyle.
“Huh?”
“You know, thanks for the candy. Have a good meal! Well, here! I’ll give you this!”
Kyle blinked at the juice I offered him, then smiled brightly and accepted it.
“Thank you, sistwer!”
“Ung, hihi.”
“…Kyle!”
Startle.
‘It’s my mother.’
I hadn’t even heard it a few times, but I was already frozen in the familiar mother’s voice.
My mom ran over and hugged Kyle like she was fishing.
“Mom! Sistwer givhe me dhis!”
“….”
Unlike before, Kyle was as bright as ever, but my mother’s expression looking at me was paler than before.
‘Why are you doing that? No, do you need to be wary of me like this?’
When my mother looked at me, her eyes were shaking like crazy.
“Do you have something to say?”
“Yes?”
“If not… What did he do wrong?”
I was embarrassed and waved my hand.
“No, it’s not?! It’s not like that. I got candy from this kid. Um, so the juice, I gave it because I was grateful….”
“….”
“I, is there a problem?”
The gaze stung me silently, so I laughed awkwardly.
“Take it.”
“Ah.”
“Whaa! My juicee!”
Mother put Kyle’s juice back into my hand.
Then she said quietly, averting her gaze.
“I, you know. The child doesn’t know anything about it. If he talks to you… just say go. And if you have something to say, say it to me, not to the child.”
“….”
I just realized
My mother seemed worried that I might say something strange to Kyle.
“I won’t ask any more about the day before. Please don’t do that in the future. Please.”
The day before?
I lowered my eyes helplessly and raised my head.
As expected. She seemed to misunderstand that I stole Kyle’s ball and bullied him earlier.
“You know, before….”
But there was no time to explain.
My mother looked from behind again.
“Uh, hey, wait!”
Please stop avoiding me! I’m trying to catch up and explain—.
‘Cheshire?’
I saw Cheshire.
He, who had been eating until a while ago, was standing in front of mother.
“Excuse me.”
Cheshire had a rare angry voice.
“What did she do wrong?”
“Huh?”
“I ask you, what did she do wrong?”
My mom looked embarrassed when Cheshire pointed at me.
“At noon, Aunt’s son cried because another boy took the ball. Lilith brought the ball back to him.”
“….”
“And it looks like he went to Lilith first. Also, that juice.”
Cheshire strode up and took the juice from my hand.
And handed it to Kyle.
“Juicheee!”
“It just came out for dinner. There’s no poison.”
Cheshire’s aggressive attitude surprised me.
My mother was bewildered too.
“Ah, I see. Sorry. It seems I misunderstood during the day. And this juice. That’s not what I mean—.”
“She didn’t do anything wrong. She has no intention of harassing Aunt’s son.”
Cheshire, who cut off my mother’s words, took my hand.
And he added, staring at my mother with a scary look.
“So don’t look at her with those annoying eyes. She haven’t done anything wrong, but don’t make it like that.”
“….”
“If Aunt so worried about your son, you should teach him well not to go next to Lilith.”
I opened my mouth at the words of Cheshire pouring out.
“Let’s go.”
Cheshire took my hand and left the restaurant, leaving my speechless mother behind.