Chapter 196

Amane had naturally taken off work for his parent-teacher conference. When the meeting was over, he went back to his apartment, accompanied by his mother. It was normal now for Mahiru to spend most of her time at Amane’s, and that day was no exception. She had apparently been waiting for them in the living room, and she trotted over to the front door as the sound of the lock turning signaled their arrival. Amane’s mother was no longer surprised by any of this—she seemed to consider it a natural part of their everyday life. Amane wasn’t sure anymore whether he should feel displeased that she saw things that way or if he should be embarrassed by it, but if he complained, he would only get teased for being upset about something so normalized, so he simply had to accept it. “Miss Shihoko, you came to visit!” The two of them had seen each other at the culture festival, but it must have seemed like it had been longer than that for Mahiru, considering everything that had happened since then. Mahiru smiled at Amane’s mother as if this were an annual homecoming. Amane’s mother was even more energetic than Mahiru. She cheerfully clung tightly to his girlfriend and cried, “Oh, Mahiru darling, you look well!” Although she looked embarrassed, Mahiru accepted Shihoko’s hug happily, so Amane didn’t raise any objections. A part of him did want to complain that her reunions with Mahiru were much more emotional than her reunions with her own son, though. Their affectionate embrace lasted awhile before Shihoko noticed the exasperated look in Amane’s eyes. “Amane’s getting jealous, so I think that’s enough.” She clearly misunderstood the situation, and Amane glared at her even harder. “Were you here for Amane’s meeting today?” Mahiru asked. “That’s right. Obviously, I had to come for parent-teacher conferences. Amane’s already at the tail end of his second year, and his teachers really wanted me to come in with him.” Although it was rare for students at Amane’s school to be living alone, the school was understanding, and they hadn’t raised any objections when Amane’s parents had failed to appear at any of the previous parent-teacher conferences. However…now that their exams were approaching, it was important for his parents and teachers to talk at least once, so they had asked him to, if possible, bring a parent to the next meeting. Even Amane would have felt uneasy leaving his parents out this time, and his teachers knew he was working hard to prepare for exams, so just this once, he had made sure to ask his parents to come. “Did Shuuto have to work?” “He did. It’s a busy period for him, and it didn’t seem like he could take any time off. Though it would be nice to have a four-person meeting, since it’s an important time.” “That sounds like it would be really stressful,” Amane said. “Let’s table that idea for now, please. The regular meetings are already awkward enough for us students.”