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“Ahh…?! Auhht…! I-I’m sorry…! Mother-in-law, Father-in-law…”
{…You don’t have to add ‘sir’ when you say Father-in-law.}
“F-Father-in-law… I bit my tongue… ahaha…”
To prove that it wasn’t intentional, Jinzuko stuck her tongue out slightly. The spot she bit had already swollen up
red, with a little bit of blood seeping out.
“……”
Maybe it was thanks to me correcting her about the ‘sir’ part just now.
Jinzuko’s eyes—and her injured tongue—were both awkwardly pointed in Father’s direction.
It seemed like Father took that as some sort of desperate plea for help.
“…Ahem. Honey, I’ll go check if we have any medicine… Maybe some Albochil.”
“Oh dear, I don’t think we have any Albochil at home, do we?”
“…That’s actually great—wait, no, I mean, that’s unfortunate. I’ll just step out and grab some from the store.”
That was how Father made his escape.
“Ah~ come to think of it, we haven’t even properly welcomed you yet. While he’s out, maybe he can also pick up some
snacks you girls might like?”
“Well, I’m not too sure what girls would like…”
Unlike Mother, Father has a very low tolerance for sudden chaos.
“…Actually, it’s simple. Just get whatever that boy used to like. Both of these girls came all the way to Korea just to
see him, after all.”
It’s only been about two months since they lost their eldest son. The wound had only just started to scab over.
Then, out of nowhere, two girls showed up in front of them in a single day—both calling them Father-in-law and
Mother-in-law.
One of them a blonde who was barely legal.
And the other, a silver-haired girl who, no matter how you looked at her, was clearly a middle schooler.
Her uniform alone made it undeniable.
“Aah, uhh… Do you think Father-in-law started to hate me… because I was too sudden…?”
“No need to worry~ That expression just now wasn’t because of you. It’s because you reminded him of that boy.”
“Ah… I-I’m sorry…”
“Oh my, why are you apologizing?”
“Well, that’s…”
Jinzuko couldn’t find the words to respond to Mother’s gentle question.
Mother tilted her head slightly, then curved her eyes into a soft crescent smile, patting the seat next to her.
“Come here.”
It was the spot next to Mother, who was seated on the futon.
She had grown up as the cherished daughter of a well-off family, and even now, she insisted on keeping the old-
fashioned sitting style in the traditional guest room.
Of course, her mindset was anything but old-fashioned.
“Uh…? Oh, yes, yes ma’am…”
Jinzuko timidly approached Mother’s side—moving like a kitten being offered food by a stranger for the first time.
Mother didn’t rush her, patiently waiting with her usual warm smile.
…Yeah, I know from painful personal experience that this is a trap.
“Well then, excuse me for… Hyaaak?!”
“A little girl like you~ shouldn’t be making such serious faces~”
“Abaat…! Ahbuhbuhbuh…?!”
Mother started to knead and squish Jinzuko’s cheeks, hair, and face all at once.
Even when I was in elementary school, middle school, and occasionally in high school…
Whenever I wore a serious expression, Mother would always force me into this ‘Face Massage’ session.
For the record, this ‘Face Massage’ doesn’t stop until every trace of tension is erased from your face.
She always said frowning too much as a kid would leave permanent wrinkles.
Honestly, I could understand it when I was in elementary or early middle school, but by high school?
At some point, I started to wonder if it was actually her endless kneading that was messing up my face.
“You said your name was Amae Shizuko, right~? Is Japanese name order the same as Korean one?”
“Y-Yes, ma’am…! I-I think so…!”
Even while her face was being thoroughly kneaded, Jinzuko somehow managed to answer without a single complaint.
“Then I’ll just call you Shizuko, alright? Huup~”
“…Eek?”
Mother finally let go, then immediately scooped Jinzuko up into her arms, hugging her close.
“You’re so light. Like a feather. Just like that boy when he was little.”
Her voice was thick with nostalgia.
“Ah…”
“Of course, he was a boy, so he was a little heavier than you are now.”
“……”
“Oh dear, that face again? Should I knead it some more?”
“Ah, ahhh…”
Jinzuko desperately tried to fix her expression.
She forced a big smile, blinked rapidly like there was dust in her eye, then scrunched up her face as hard as she could,
trying all sorts of methods to look normal.
“I-I’m sorry… No, I mean… it’s just…”
But none of it worked. In the end, all she could do was repeat ‘I’m sorry.’
Even that, she couldn’t fully say—because the moment she tried, she remembered that promise under the moonlight.
Watching her struggle, Mother spoke softly.
“You’re different from that blonde girl, Iriya.”
“…Huh?”
“Unlike you, that girl kept crying, saying it was all her fault. She wouldn’t stop blaming herself. But you, Shizuko—
you’re completely different.”
“I… I am?”
“And yet, you carry even heavier guilt than she does. I can see it in your eyes, in your expression. It’s like…”
“…”
“Like someone who knows, better than anyone, that our son didn’t actually die by ‘suicide.’”
“…?!”
Jinzuko’s whole body stiffened, trembling uncontrollably.
“…Ah, ugh… ahh… th-that’s….”
“It’s alright, it’s alright. I’m not doubting you, and I’m not blaming you either.”
Mother gently stroked Jinzuko’s hair, as if to soothe her trembling, tearful face.
“Because I, as his mother, think the same way. I believe it. I’m certain of it. There’s no way my child would take his
own life over something like that, right?”
There was no denying it.
“After all, back when he was your age, I remember how light he was—just like you. And then he’d go on about…”
Of course, the way she’d convinced herself of that afterward was… a bit much, but still.
“…What did he say again? Oh, right. This was it. He said he had to live a long life until technology advanced enough
to upload his brain into a computer and build a brain-in-a-vat system~ So he said from now on, he’d eat less, and
he’d only consume the exact number of calories his body needed. He said no matter how delicious my cooking was,
he couldn’t eat more than that. Can you believe it? Isn’t that just too much~?”
“Ahaha… that’s so like Gocchan….”
“Oh my, is that what you used to call him~? Did you come up with that, Shizuko?”
“…Hehe, yes. But even though he said all that, today at Yoa-jeong, he… hyaah?!”
Jinzuko’s slip of the tongue.
“Aah, u-umm… t-that was…!”
Well, I figured this would happen, so I wasn’t too surprised.
“…S-schizophrenia! I-I have schizophrenia…!!”
…That excuse, though. I didn’t see that one coming.
“I-I see hallucinations and delusions…!! And g-ghosts…! I see ghosts!! I can even talk to them, and swap bodies with
them, and, and also….”
Amae Shizuko was evolving in real time—from a strange, eccentric Japanese middle school girl to a full-blown
mentally ill middle school girl.
Even for my parents, hearing their self-proclaimed daughter-in-law, who calls them Mother-in-law and Father-in-
law, claim she has schizophrenia… that’s gotta be a lot to take in.
“A-also… um, so just now… that wasn’t really….”
But I knew there was no need for her to go that far.
No matter what she said, it wouldn’t change anything.
Because my mother—
And my father too—
They had seen it.
My corpse.
At the funeral.
“It’s alright.”
And yet, my mother didn’t seem the least bit bothered by Jinzuko’s bizarre behavior and utterly ridiculous claims.
“Because it just shows how much you care about our child, how much you love him. So don’t worry. Calm down,
Shizuko.”
That’s just the kind of person she is.
“Ah… th-thank… I mean, thank you….”
“That’s right~ At your age, it’s much better to say thank you than I’m sorry. Once you’re an adult, you’ll end up
having to say sorry all the time anyway.”
“…Okay.”
Mother’s intuition was sharp.
“And if you don’t mind, Shizuko, would you tell me? About everything you know about my child? You can tell it like a
story, or however you like. However you feel comfortable, in your own way.”
She had always been like that.
Ever since I was little.
“About the story you’re still treasuring in your heart even now.”
Even if my brain itself might have been a genetic anomaly—
“The story you carried all the way here, across the sea, to this foreign land.”
“Ah….”
That insight, at least, was definitely something I inherited from my mother.
“That’s what this auntie sees in you. Or am I wrong~?”
Just like when I was little, whenever I was sulking or pouting—
She’d tease me just a little, the same playful smile as always.
That’s how she nudged Jinzuko forward.
“…Ah! No, you’re not wrong! Not at all…!”
And just as expected for someone her age, Jinzuko shook her head wildly, answering with desperate urgency—
As if this was the one person she absolutely couldn’t afford to lose her chance with.
“…That’s right! That’s exactly why I came! I, Amae Shizuko…!!”
“I see~ So that’s why Shizuko came all the way here~”
Just like always.
Whether I was a kid.
Or just becoming an adult.
Or visiting home now and then.
With the exact same gentle smile she always showed me—
“Then, would you tell me?”
She smiled tenderly as she asked Jinzuko again.
“…Yes!!”
And so, Jinzuko—
No, Amae Shizuko—
Began her story.
A story neither long nor short.
There was no proper structure.
The order was all over the place.
What to say to avoid suspicion.
What to hide, and what to emphasize.
She gave no thought to any of that.
She simply spoke from the heart.
Following the voice of her soul.
Even now, if you turn on the TV, you’ll see the same kind of middle schooler talk you’d find anywhere.
She just spoke.
Pouring it all out, without hesitation.
At first, with a bright smile.
Sometimes, with a bit of grumbling.
And suddenly, on the verge of tears.
But then, once again—
With the expression of someone who’s certain this moment is the happiest they’ve ever been in their entire life.
Jinzuko told the story.
The journey of the past two months, the one between me and her.
{…Well, yeah. I figured it would turn out something like this.}
I couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle at the scene.
A little embarrassed, but also just a bit more satisfied.
{…?!!}
That’s when it happened.
“……Fufufu.”
Mother was looking directly at me, smiling.
I jumped in surprise before reflexively turning around.
But it wasn’t Father coming home early.
It wasn’t Irina waking up either.
Nor was my former little sister secretly eavesdropping on all this.
There was only the wall.
Just a plain wall and empty air.
“……Mother-in-law? Are you listening?”
“Hmm? Ah, sorry, sorry~ I just thought I’d look at the spot you kept glancing at now and then. Is he over there?”
“……Ah! Yes! He’s right there, getting all flustered and embarrassed! My Gocchan!”
“Hmm~ You know, I happen to know a really good psychiatrist. Should I introduce you?”
“……Hehe, no thanks! I’m totally fine with having schizophrenia!”
Jinzuko shouted nonstop, as if she physically couldn’t hold back.
“In fact, I want this schizophrenia to last forever!!”
“Fufufu, is that so?”
No, absolutely not. That’s a huge problem, Jinzuko.
……Well, even so, this was the same mother who spent every month and every year watching her son’s face morph
into something unrecognizable in real time—
And yet, not once did she ever complain.
If anything, it was me begging her to worry about me just a little.
If I were the parent back then, I would’ve lined up old photos and freaked out, wondering if it was some disease.
At the very least, I would’ve dragged myself to a plastic surgeon or something…
But to her, none of that ever mattered.
No matter what my face looked like, no matter how much it changed—
As if appearance meant nothing at all—
She always knew it was me.
She always greeted me with the exact same face.
Saying that a mother knows her own son better than anyone else.
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Nothing changes.
It’s all the same.
From the past to the present—and even into the future—
The fact that I’m her son has never changed, not even once.
That was why she could be so sure my death wasn’t a suicide.
And it was the reason I was able to stay myself.
That’s why I chose to study physics.
Even if my appearance twists and warps and crumbles beyond recognition—
The essence of who I am will never change.
There’s no one who knows that better than me.
I just wanted to prove it, that’s all.
That’s how I lived.
And that’s how I’ll keep living.
“But anyway~ Shizuko-chan, you’re still in middle school, right?”
“……Huh? Oh, yes! I’m 13! Fresh and full of life and bursting with youth! Oh, wait, my birthday hasn’t passed yet, so
maybe I’m still 12…? But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m fresh and full of life and bursting with youth!”
“Fresh~ Full of life~ Bursting with youth…? Don’t tell me that weird phrase is something that boy—no, Gocchan
taught you?”
“Yes!!”
Hey, come on…
“……Ah! And Gocchan said there’s something you absolutely have to know if you’re talking to a middle schooler!”
“Oh~? And what’s that? Can you tell me right now?”
……Hey!!
You think this chapter was thrilling? Wait until you read Academy Life That Never Fails! Click here to discover the next big twist!
Read : Academy Life That Never Fails
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