Chapter 55 - The Phone Call and Mirei

Prrrr, prrrr—.

It was past evening. During his free time after finishing the dinner dishes, Souta was sitting in a chair drinking barley tea when he answered his ringing phone.

“Hello, long time no talk Souta. Are you doing well?”

“Ah, hello. I’m doing well, Mom.”

The caller was his mother, Rie, who he hadn’t heard from in a while.

“But still, this is a sudden call… What’s up?”

“Saying it’s sudden is a lonely thing to say. Parents always want to hear their son’s voice, you know.”

“In your case, it sounds like a lie.”

“Correct.”

“See, I knew it.”

“You’re not hurt by that!?”

“I wouldn’t be hurt by something like this.”

Souta didn’t know it, but this was also Rie’s way of hiding her embarrassment. 

Parents don’t like to show weakness to their children. They want to keep showing a strong image.

“Well, getting to the main topic, I wanted to check how work is going for you. As the one who recommended you, I need to know about that.”

“I see. Yeah, I feel like I’m finally getting used to it now. Compared to before, I have more free time.”

“Oh, so you’ve grown… I want to praise you, but that free time isn’t because you’re slacking off and doing sloppy work, is it?”

“That’s harsh. I can’t do a half-hearted job since I’m doing it in place of you and Grandma Shizuko. I may not be perfect, but I think I’m doing well enough that the residents have no complaints.”

“I see, I see. That’s my son for you.”

“You raised me well enough to be able to live on my own.”

Souta jokingly replied to Rie, who let out a sigh of relief.

“Um… So, are you not angry?”

“Huh? Angry about what?”

The sudden, vague question. Souta understood with Rie’s next words.

“There’s only one thing, right?… About me keeping quiet about a certain resident’s circumstances.”

“Ah, you mean about Mirei-san.”

—Thump.

At this time, Souta didn’t notice a sound coming from the hallway.

“Don’t just say ‘you mean that’… You never called me once about that matter, right? That’s why I thought you might be angry.”

“Hahaha, of course I was surprised at first. She hurled insults at me the moment we met…”

At that time, Souta hadn’t been told anything about Mirei’s situation. Getting that treatment without knowing anything must have been quite hurtful. It would be rare for someone to laugh it off like Souta.

Souta took a sip of the barley tea on the table to wet his throat.

“…Hmm. From the looks of it, Koyuki-chan told you to some extent?”

“Yes. That’s why I didn’t need to contact you, and I quickly realized the reason you chose me as the manager.”

“Well… Let me say, I did feel sorry, okay? It’s just, for Mirei-chan, it would be an opportunity to get used to men, and I thought you could handle it well despite any complaints, and above all, with that broken mentality of yours, Mirei-chan’s verbal attacks wouldn’t affect you.”

“That last line is definitely not something a mother should say to her son.”

“Well, that’s why—I also wanted to ask about that today.”

Suddenly, Rie’s tone changed. She was telling him to speak from now on without any lies…

“Enough time has passed, so I was thinking… if there’s no change in Mirei-chan… Thanks to you making time, I was able to find a woman who said she’d be willing to be the manager.”

“Th-that means…”

“If it’s hard for you right now, you can switch out. But the other person has things to do, so if you miss this chance, it’ll take time to find a replacement… What will you do?”

These were words that would change someone’s fate.

After a few seconds of pause— Souta answered like this.

“Thanks for looking Mom. But I’m fine. Nothing’s hard, and there’s nothing to worry about.”

“…I see. I’m relieved to hear that.”

Souta had refused the offer.

“I wasn’t planning to continue this job for long.”

These were Souta’s words on his first day as manager. 

There was no doubt that changes were happening in Mirei, but changes were also occurring in Souta himself, wanting to continue.

“As you said Mom, all the residents are good people, so I’ll try continuing a bit longer.”

“Fufu, got it.”

“Ah, but Mirei-san has a sharp tongue.”

“…If you get too carried away like that, Mirei-chan will hear you one day.”

“Ahaha, that’d be bad.”

—Clatter.

Next was a sound that reacted to the voice. Souta, absorbed in the phone call, still didn’t notice.

“…But you know, even considering that, Mirei-san is a really kind person. I think I’ll find more good points about her that I just don’t know yet.”

“If you’re praising her that much, you might as well make her your girlfriend, you know?”

“How did it come to that… I don’t see even a glimmer of that possibility.”

“Well, who knows about that. I think kind people are especially grateful for your care.” 

“Yeah, yeah.”

From the flow of the “make her your girlfriend” remark, Rie kept teasing him, so Souta gave simple responses.

After that, he chatted with Rie for a few minutes and ended the call.

“Geez… Mom is really something.”

With half joy from the call and half exasperation, Souta downed the barley tea he had poured into his cup.

After checking the call duration and putting his phone in his pocket, Souta was about to stand up to do his final task.

“Well then, I should go check the locks soon…”

Just then, the door connecting the living room and hallway opened with a click, and the person they were talking about appeared…

“Sorry for having a sharp tongue. Perverted manager.”

“Huh!? M-Mirei-san!?” 

Souta was surprised by the unbelievable timing. On the other hand, Mirei was glaring intimidatingly while twirling her pink ahoge with her index finger. It was only natural since she heard him badmouthing her.

“D-Don’t tell me you heard the phone call…?”

“Of course I’d hear it if you’re talking that loudly.”

“I-I see…”

“You should be grateful that I waited in the hallway to not interrupt your call.”

Souta shuddered at Rie’s words hitting the mark. This is what they call women’s intuition.

Ignoring the frozen Souta, Mirei, wearing pajamas that showed her slender legs, headed toward the kitchen with her footsteps resounding.

She must have been thirsty, as she took out the barley tea pot from the fridge and poured it into a cup.

“…Um, Mirei-san. For now, could you not call me a pervert?”

“Says the pervert who got Kotoha-san drunk and took her to bed.”

“I-I explained that was a misunderstanding, didn’t I!?”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Please believe me…”

“Ah, don’t move from there until I leave the living room. Sit.”

“Wh-why?”

“You might assault me like you did Kotoha-san.”

“I won’t assault you!”

The conversation was going in circles. However, it had become normal, so there was no sense of discomfort.

In the living room where there were no other residents, only the manager Souta, Mirei had come to set foot…

After drinking the barley tea, Mirei washed the cup and put it in the sink. Then, holding the cooled barley tea pot, she approached and—

“…Here, I’ll leave the pot here.”

“Huh…”

She wasn’t staying for long. Leaving those brief words, she left the living room.

Mirei wasn’t playing a prank or being mean. She had seen Souta’s empty cup and acted based on that.

“Kind people are especially grateful for your care.”

Mom, Rie’s words were correct.

In a way, Mirei was putting her utmost gratitude into action, in the way she could now.