Part-3 Final Chapter Ep-03

(Maki's POV)

On a Saturday morning in late January, I was visiting Mari's house just like always.

That being said, when I arrived at her house, she was still asleep in her room, which was also entirely normal.

Ordinarily, I might've dragged her out of bed, but since this was Mari's first Saturday after finishing her individual exams, I wanted to let her sleep a little longer.

Even so, we'd promised to study together, so I came over anyway.

"Well, make yourself at home until that girl wakes up," Mari-mama said, and taking her up on the offer, I decided to relax and wait for her to wake up today.

Already familiar with the house, I sat down in my usual seat at the dining table beside the kitchen, and Mari-mama placed a cup of coffee in front of me as naturally as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.

"Thank you as always."

"It is fine. Do not worry about it."

Saying that, she sat down across from me with her own mug in hand, took a sip of her freshly brewed coffee, and let out a soft sigh.

It felt like a brief moment of respite amidst a busy morning.

"...I am sorry for always coming over so early."

"Oh, it is fine. I am already awake anyway."

Mari-mama answered in a tone that made it clear she truly didn't mind at all.

As I took a sip from the coffee set before me, I discreetly glanced toward Mari-mama.

I really thought the two of them were alike.

It wasn't only their appearances, but also the way they so effortlessly welcomed an outsider like me into their home.

And the fact that they treated something that had continued every week for years as though it were completely natural.

Well, it was probably also because she'd known me since I was little.

"When are your exams, Maki-chan?"

"The day after tomorrow."

"Oh my, that is so soon! ...Are you sure you have time to look after Mari?"

The way she asked made it sound as though she was sincerely worried about me, and that made something inside me feel strangely ticklish.

"I am fine. Actually, it is better than studying alone. Besides, I am the one intruding on her day off right after her exams ended."

"That is not a problem at all. She has not received her results yet, so we still have to keep dragging her along to study."

The face she made as she laughed looked exactly like her daughter's, making me think all over again that she truly was Mari's mother.

With that thought in mind, I turned my gaze toward the living room.

Inside the living room stood a rather large sofa, a television, and a low glass-topped table placed directly in front of it.

Back then, there hadn't been any low table on the floor in front of the television, only a pastel green rug spread out there instead.

I remembered how Mari and I used to scatter our toys all over that rug while playing with dolls, pretending to run shops, or drawing pictures together, endlessly repeating the same games without ever noticing the passage of time.

Of course, there were times when we played with other friends too, but by far the person I spent the most time with was Mari.

Now, both that rug and those toys were gone, leaving behind only the small low table in front of the television.

As I reminisced about those nostalgic days, I keenly felt just how much time had passed.

"Maki-chan, thank you for always looking after her."

At the sudden call, I turned back toward Mari-mama.

"I really never know what that girl is thinking, though I suppose you could also say she is easy to understand. Even so, the moment you let your guard down because she is being quiet, she suddenly goes and does something utterly eccentric."

"Ah... I understand."

I hesitated over whether I should agree, but far too many examples immediately came to mind, so I simply nodded.

Her constant injuries and absurd tendency to get caught up in accidents ever since childhood were surely included among those eccentricities.

Come to think of it, Mari-mama had apparently lost several years off her lifespan yet again after receiving the school's report regarding the forest school incident during our first year of high school.

That reaction made perfect sense.

Anyone would be horrified to hear that their own child had nearly ended up stranded during a forest school trip.

Having personally witnessed the moment she tumbled down that slope together with Asahina-kun, even the blood had drained from my own face back then, so naturally a parent would feel even worse.

"I have sort of decided to just accept it because she is that kind of child, but she still surprises me all the time."

"I agree."

"So, thank you for always staying by her side and looking after her."

"No, not at all, I am not looking after her or anything."

Panicking, I waved both hands as I hurriedly answered.

If anything, I felt like I was the one constantly intruding on Mari and clinging to her.

"But you know," Mari-mama added. "Maki-chan, you do not have to push yourself too hard either."

"...Eh, what do you mean by that?"

"When you two were even younger than you are now, Mari was taken to the hospital, and Maki-chan, you said this to us while crying, did you not? You said, 'I will do my best to protect Mari-chan'."

"........."

"I was wondering whether perhaps, even now, you are still bound by that and trying to protect her."

Mari-mama said those words gently and smoothly, as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

Gently wrapping both hands around the mug resting on the table, she looked straight at me.

"Ah, I see..."

Back during our childhood, those were the words I desperately pleaded with the adults while waiting for Mari to receive treatment after being taken to the hospital.

『I am sorry... but, I... want to stay friends with Mari-chan.』

『I will do my best... I will protect her so Mari-chan does not get hurt, so... I want to stay friends...』

I still remembered those words I'd spoken back then.

Because I believed that if I didn't say something like that, they wouldn't allow me to keep playing with Mari anymore.

It was true that perhaps that incident was still binding me even now.

But if that incident had never happened, then what would've become of me?

What kind of child would I have grown into?

At the very least, I surely wouldn't have become the sort of selfish person who stubbornly insisted on pushing her own way when it came to her childhood friend.

Thinking about it that way, even though there had been several turning points throughout my life up until now, I felt that I liked the current version of myself, the one who had arrived here, the most.

"If that had not happened, then the current me would not exist either, so I am not pushing myself," I answered.

Besides, we were no longer merely 『friends』 either.

Just thinking about that made my face grow hot, and I quickly averted my eyes from Mari-mama.

Mari-mama stared at my expression with curiosity before saying, "I see. Well then, I will leave Mari in your care. She will probably listen properly to whatever Maki-chan says, after all."

"Mari... I wonder if she will really listen to me."

Her anxious expression from these past few days surfaced in my mind.

At the very least, I had a feeling that the current me wasn't capable of dispelling the anxiety Mari was carrying right now.

"Oh, it will be fine."

She said those words so casually that my eyes widened in surprise.

"It is fine. That girl loves Maki-chan more than anything else in the world, after all."

This time, my face truly burst into flames.

"Your face is bright red."

'Whose fault do you think that is.........'

Mari-mama chuckled as though she were watching something genuinely amusing.

I was fairly certain we still hadn't told her that we were dating yet.

So then, what exactly had she meant by that remark just now?

"But, yes, that is right. Mari... r-r-really loves me... after all."

Somehow managing to squeeze out that response despite my burning face, I heard her smoothly reply, "Yes, therefore, please take good care of her."

For some reason, I already felt completely exhausted.

Even though it was still only morning.

Right then, I heard the sound of a door opening from deeper inside the house.

"Ah, it seems she has woken up. Well then, my break is over too."

The moment she said that, Mari-mama swiftly rose to her feet and headed back toward the kitchen.

"You can just leave the mug right there," she told me as she walked away, exactly like always.

"...Okaay."

Replying in the same relaxed tone I would've used with my own parents, I headed toward Mari's room.