Beep. Beep. Beep —
The alarm went off right on time. Friday.
Soyo removed her sleep mask and tucked it away with care.
She hadn't slept a wink all night.
Her thoughts had been a mess — one moment adrift, the next steeled with resolve. Either way, happy was the one thing she couldn't manage to feel.
All Soyo knew right now was that she had to see her band's mission through. She had to show her mother that every lesson she'd poured into her over the years had not gone to waste.
Her phone buzzed. She didn't bother checking who it was.
All she wanted was to get to Tsuki no Mori, finish the day's classes, go to rehearsal, and practice bass over and over again.
She was going to shine on that stage.
Her eyes steady with quiet determination, Soyo climbed out of bed.
That was how it was going to be.
…
"Watching that child come this far — it truly warms my heart."
At the gates of Tsuki no Mori, Chiose waited as usual for Soyo to finish school. Her health had been declining sharply of late; she had grown visibly thinner.
But today was their standing appointment — rain or shine, nothing came between it. They would go back to Chiose's apartment and spend a cozy little weekend together.
One hand draped lazily over the steering wheel, Chiose drummed her fingers and turned her own schemes over in her mind.
"When Soyo was in fifth grade — still an Ichinose back then — she found me."
And not long after, she became a Nagasaki.
"From fifth grade to sixth, I'd go to her whenever she was at her loneliest — keeping her company, coaxing her along."
She had always been obedient. From the very beginning until now, always obedient.
"In middle school, whenever she hit a wall, I was there to help her through it. I taught her so much."
I've taught you so many things. I wonder — what day will it be when you finally turn what I taught you back on me? Nagasaki Soyo.
A quiet, private hope stirred somewhere in Yoshiiro Chiose's chest.
Even if the love Soyo held for her eventually curdled into resentment — that was fine. She had already been a responsible guardian. She had taught Soyo how to be a person, and she had taught her what love was.
"Before the end of first year in middle school, I cultivated Sakiko Togawa as well — so that Soyo would come to understand just how unsafe a thing [love] truly is. That there are countless people who will come to steal your [love] away from you."
What Chiose wanted most was for Soyo to feel jealous. To want to snatch back the share of her [love] that Sakiko had received — and then to resent Chiose for it.
Best of all would be if Soyo refused to speak to her.
Yoshiiro Chiose wanted Nagasaki Soyo to throw a little tantrum. Because only then, somewhere down the road, would she have plenty of chances to regret it.
"We're at the last step now. The very last one."
Soyo — what will you do to your Chiose-mama?
Even if you only resent me just a little — just enough to feel stung that I've been so good to Sakiko — that alone will be enough to drive you to fight for the [love] you want.
Just let it go to your head. Once it does, you'll make yourself regret it — that's certain.
Nagasaki Soyo… Nagasaki Soyo!
Tonight — will you come home with me, or will you choose to go to rehearsal and head back on your own, to cool your head alone?
Yoshiiro Chiose rolled down the window and let the faintly warm wind — the kind that comes just before summer fully arrives — spill into the car.
The three little dolls hanging from the rearview mirror swayed with the breeze, free as anything, carried by a predetermined wind toward a destination already decided for them.
"Soyo — a child hurt by the calculations of her parents. Every single one of those who loved her also hurt her…"
Chiose paused, blinking. She had already spotted Nagasaki Soyo in the distance, walking toward her.
Wait —
[Doesn't that mean I'm one of them too? One of the people who love her and hurt her. Ah… I suppose I am. When I think of it that way, Soyo is even more pitiable.]
Of course, Soyo would never know about the scheme Yoshiiro Chiose had been weaving for years. The gap between what they each knew would never be closed.
"Soyo — over here! Shall we head home?"
She leaned her head out of the car window and waved at the girl not far away.
"Hm? Oh — it's Mama."
Chiose had the sense that Soyo had grown in some way, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it. In her eyes, the girl before her was still the same little child from fifth grade.
Soyo trotted over to the car — but she didn't get in the way she always had.
"I still have rehearsal today, so I won't be going home with Mama!"
"Eh~? Really? I made your favourite dishes, you know."
Soyo shook her head with an apologetic little dip.
"Can't be helped — things have been really busy lately… Mama, don't forget to come see my show at Ring next week, okay?"
Nagasaki Soyo deliberately placed extra weight on the word [me] — as if to make clear she was asking Yoshiiro Chiose to come and see her, not anyone else.
"Eh? But I…"
"Mama! I'm already grown up — I need to go take care of my own things."
"Oh, is that so… I was thinking I might…"
"Doesn't Mama still have Little Sakiko to keep her company? She calls you [Mama] too, doesn't she."
Soyo left those words behind without turning back, and walked away.
It was as if she had been holding it in for a long time, and in the end simply couldn't keep it in any longer.
The child's silhouette shrank into the distance. Soyo walked at the front, leaving Sakiko and Mutsumi behind her in her wake.
She had practically shut both of them out, all on her own.
"…That child."
To Chiose's surprise, it seemed Soyo had been holding back quite a lot after all.
Yoshiiro Chiose said no more. She started the car and pulled away from Tsuki no Mori.
"Not coming home with me, then."
Well. That was fine.
…
"Miss Nagasaki — it's a rare day off. Shouldn't you be with Little Soyo?"
In a hospital room at Yoho Rain Hospital, Yoshiiro Chiose was idly tossing her watch up and down, killing time.
The hospital food was terrible, and yet here she was again, eating it.
"I… I just wanted to spend a little more time with you. After all, you…"
Ms. Nagasaki bit her lip, and in the end left the sentence unfinished.
"I don't have much time left — is that what you're trying to say?"
"Mm… Little Chiose, about what you said last time…"
"Pfft — Miss Nagasaki, why are you being so coy? You're like a little girl."
Yoshiiro Chiose's teasing laugh was enough to make Ms. Nagasaki's eyes go red.
She was very fond of this younger woman. This junior who had given so much to their family — and whom her own daughter had come to think of as a mother.
So why, in the end, had things come to this?
Why had tragedy come to pass without her doing a single thing to bring it on?
"Mm…"
A soft, broken sound of crying drifted to her ears. Chiose found herself thinking back to the day in that other reality when she had been discharged from the hospital for the first time.
Soyo — don't you want your mama to be with you?
Then let me send the two of you back together. Will that make you happy?
Don't you want to make your mother proud? You'll do it — you will. Whether it's me or Miss Nagasaki, we're both proud of you. Will that make you happy?
What else do you want? Someone to stay by your side?
Don't worry.
Once I'm gone, Miss Nagasaki will have time to be with you. My death will be the thing that teaches both you foolish little girls what love truly is.
All it takes is for me to slip quietly away, and every last wish of yours will be fulfilled.
And besides — I never really belonged here to begin with. I'll only be taking my warmth and my breath with me. That shouldn't matter much.
Yoshiiro Chiose lay in her hospital bed and thought through it all — and in the end, said none of it aloud.
What was Soyo doing right now?
Soyo was throwing herself wholly into her rivalry with Sakiko, fighting it out in the open and in the shadows. She needed to prove herself — wanted to prove herself — and that proof existed only so she could claim the love she had always been hungry for.
Yoshiiro Chiose had already prepared the love the other girl so desperately wanted. All she had to do now was wait for Soyo to come and take it.
She only hoped that when the moment came, Soyo would be in time.
"Miss Nagasaki — can you promise me something?"
"Hm? What is it?"
____
________________________________________
🌸 Help Love Bloom!
Our girls need a little push... and you can help!
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉