Chapter 1 The Boy Thought He Was Embarking on a Great Adventure… But, Uh, What’s Going on Here?
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“Everyone done?” the teacher asked. “Okay, back row, collect them for me.”
The students in back stood up and moved forward, collecting the questionnaires.
They’d been taking a survey on parent-child relationships. Not on a xeroxed sheet, but in those little booklets with the really nice paper. Like the answer booklets for a nationwide standardized test. This survey sure seemed important.
Because it was. The questionnaire was sponsored by the Cabinet Office’s Department of Policy on Cohesive Society and was intended to give them real-world data on today’s youth. In other words, it was part of the government’s long-term strategy.
“Still, I was certainly surprised to hear our school was selected to participate,” the teacher said. He was clearly quite proud. “You have been chosen to represent your generation! This is quite an honor. You should all be proud!”
For students forced to waste time filling out a survey right before school let out for the day, this was less of “What an honor” than “Seriously, let us go already. Who cares?”
Masato Oosuki was definitely in the latter group.
I just wanna get home and play my game… Stop wasting my time with this crap, geez.
Masato scratched his head impatiently and let out an exasperated sigh.
Right, calm down. You filled it out. You’re done. As soon as the students collecting them hand them in, you can go. Wrap this up already.
He tried to forget all about it and think about his game. Should he grind for rare drops and craft equipment at 100 percent odds or take a chance at 75 percent using common materials? He tried refocusing his mind on this dilemma.
But one thing bugged him.
“…What was with that last question?”
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If you went on an adventure with your mom, would you become closer?
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Masato had answered it as part of the survey. An official governmental policy study just up and asking something that ridiculous? Really?
“Was this written by a total idiot? I’ll bet it was.”
Was there any hope for Japan’s future? He wasn’t sure whether to shake his head or lament the country’s end.
But whatever. It’s over. Just gotta get home, and I can play my game to my heart’s content. Looks like we’re cool to leave. Let’s go, people!
“Oh, I was afraid of this,” the teacher announced, looking up from the pile of survey booklets. “That entry field on the last page of the survey isn’t for your name, kids! But one of you went ahead and signed your name there anyway. Won’t say who!”
He’d warned against that beforehand, right?
“Wait, did I…? Nah, couldn’t have… Whatever, game time!”
He felt as if the teacher had shot him a dirty look, but Masato was already out the door.
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A few days later, it was the weekend.
His school had a half day, and Masato got home just past noon to find an extra pair of shoes in the front entrance. Looked like a pair of women’s pumps.
He felt as if his mom had several similar pairs, but given their placement right in the center of the foyer, these clearly belonged to a guest. He could hear voices chatting happily in the living room.
Friend of Mom’s? Should I say hello?
Should he help earn himself a rep as a good son? Or was he better off passing on whatever horrors that conversation might lead to?
He debated internally, but his body was linked directly to his id and burning with desire to get to his room and fire up his game. He started sneaking down the hall, hoping to slip past unnoticed…
…but it was to no avail.
“Those footsteps are Ma-kun’s! I’d know them anywhere!”
“Urgh…”
The living room door flung open, and Mamako Oosuki leaned out.
The sight of her always rattled Masato. Even though he was her son, her face always forced a single question into his mind.
…Is she really a mom? My mom?
She was just too young. Her appearance was undeniably, unambiguously too young.
As she beamed at him, there wasn’t a single wrinkle around her eyes, and her skin always glowed. The cuticles on her long, wavy hair were always perfect, bearing an angelic shine.
But she was not his father’s second wife. Mamako was a mom with a son in his first year of high school. She was a housewife who could easily pass for a teenage girl, a transcendent being.
And she acts young, too! Gawd, what is with my mom?
Her youth could only be described as a supernatural phenomenon. At a glance, there was nothing about her that said “mom”…and Masato just couldn’t handle that.
Yeah, that was the best way to put it. There was no real rejection; he didn’t hate her. He just wasn’t sure how to handle her or find the appropriate distance and preferred to avoid trying. Get it?
But the worst part was that she was wholly oblivious.
“Ma-kun, welcome home!”
A sweet, syrupy smile spread across her face, and she flung herself toward him as if a big hug was just inevitable. Too close for comfort.
“Argh, enough already! Lemme go!”
“Oh, too much? How was school?”
“The usual.”
“By ‘usual,’ you mean… Nothing bad happened, did it?”
“Nah.”
“Th-then you had a great time? Like always? …Oh! Did you already eat lunch? I could make you something!”
“I’m good.”
“You…mean you don’t need anything? You ate with a friend somewhere? Is that what you mean?”
“Yeah. Anyway, is this really the time for this? You’ve got company, right?”
“Oh! Yes, you’re right! I’ve got a very important guest. Would you come say hello? I’m just dying to show you off!”
“I’m good.”
“Does…that mean you’ll say hello?”
“Nah, it means I’ll pass. Obviously. Sheesh…”
Who would want to bother with something like that? Masato turned his back on Mamako, taking a second stab at slipping by the living room door. But as he did, he happened to glance through and catch the eye of the woman inside.
“Oh? Seems like your son’s home already!”
She didn’t look like any of his mom’s friends. An intelligent-looking, businesslike woman with long black hair, in a nice skirted suit. Like someone who sold insurance… No, there was something about her that suggested she didn’t do anything that ordinary. This hunch proved right.
The woman stood up, moved swiftly over to Masato, and showed him the ID hanging from her lanyard:
CABINET OFFICE, DEPARTMENT OF POLICY ON COHESIVE SOCIETY, EXTERNAL SURVEYOR
Quite a long and imposing job title.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Masumi Shirase. As my name implies, I’ve come to inform you about some follow-up questions we have related to the recent cabinet survey.”
“Because…shirase means ‘to inform’? We’re just…starting off with bad puns, then?”
“Children at school made fun of me so mercilessly that I must inform you that I have long since decided to own it.”
This woman didn’t just have a complex about her name. She’d willfully chosen to handle it in the worst possible way.
Mamako was sidling closer to Masato again. She always stood far too close to him, convinced her son would accept it.
“Hey, Ma-kun! The survey Ms. Shirase is talking about…”