Epilogue

T+0H

"So that's what you were doing, Onii-chan. It sure became a long and heavy day for you. And how you were narrating it was really confusing."

"Well, I was forced to do it because Yukinoshita was deathly curious about what happened. She wanted the one-hundred-percent full story, so that's what I gave you all."

We were in the club room after school. I had just finished telling the others about what had transpired the day before yesterday.

I'll admit that I went overboard in my narration. But I had no choice when both Yuigahama and Yukinoshita were staring at me so intensely, with the former looking grossed out and the latter wondering how I made it back alive. It was understandable, given that their mothers were involved, but that didn't make things any easier.

My throat was as dry as a desert after speaking for so much. I drained my mug of Yukinoshita's usual tea, but that wasn't enough. The teapot was empty, so I couldn't refill it. Thankfully, I had an emergency can of MAX COFFEE in my bag. One can never be too prepared. In fact, I should consider carrying a separate bag that is only filled with MAX COFFEE.

While I was busy hydrating myself, I look towards the others for their impressions.

"Bouncing… up and down…" Yukinoshita murmured with a defeated expression.

"Mama used my shampoo!? Now I smell like an old lady!?" Yuigahama exclaimed at the top of her lungs.

"Crap, I was at the mall that day too. If only I had run into Senpai that day, I would've been able to spend some time with Hayama-senpai too. Haaaaah…" spoke and sighed a depressed Isshiki.

…What kind of reactions were those? Why didn't they comment on the important bits of the story?

I always told ridiculous stories to them, but even I had feelings that could be hurt. It was soul-crushing when your audience got caught up in a side detail and missed the main point entirely. Dropping my shoulders, I wondered why I even bothered indulging in Yukinoshita's request.

It was my lovely little sister that took pity on me.

"U-Um, Tobe-senpai's gonna be fine from now on, right?" she asked me.

"Relatively speaking, he's at a better place. It was more than likely that he would've gotten rejected outright, if we didn't give him some tools. This was the best possible outcome, when his love interest was someone that was both close and far."

Any more meddling than this was not called for. Our scope of work was to provide a guiding hand, and nothing more. Frankly, I'd be pushed to the point of wanting to shirk work, if it was anything more.

I asked Yuigahama, "So, how is everyone faring?"

By "everyone", I meant their old clique. Though they were spread between different classes now, riajuu had the unique ability to maintain a certain level of closeness in spite of it.

"Well, nothing's really changed. Hayato-kun talked with or messaged each of us separately, so we all kinda got the gist of it. Hina's still joking around, and Tobecchi is the same old. If there's anything different then… Tobecchi stopped holding back?" explained Yuigahama.

That was considered holding back, visiting our classroom that often? That guy has more energy than he looks. Maybe I should stop considering him average.

I followed up with another question.

"I'm actually curious about Hayama. What does he think about it all?"

"You're showing interest in Hayama-kun?" said Yukinoshita, looking as if she's seen a spectre.

"An unexpected rival!?" shouted Isshiki.

"No, I genuinely don't care. It's just a passing thought, or maybe I just want to avoid a bad taste in my mouth," I responded.

Dang, I sounded like a tsundere. Now they'll really think that something's up.

Yuigahama answered, "Considering what happened… It did seem like he was ready to smooth things over, but in the end, he didn't really do anything different. I know he cares a lot about everyone getting along, so he must've been relieved."

Then the case was truly closed. Not leaving a bitter aftertaste was rare for me. It would be fantastic if it was a result of growth over the past year, rather than luck. That way, Hiratsuka-sensei's efforts would not have gone to waste.

"But taking part in club activities even on his days off… Onii-chan sure is diligent!" said our little club president.

No, I was pressured into doing so. Although, I can't deny that it was also something like a force of habit.

"I don't really know how to feel about mama doing the same thing as me," muttered Yuigahama, showing a complicated frown.

Yuigahama must've been imagining a high school version of her mom. There were helicopter parents that intruded on their kid's student lives, but even they stopped short of roleplaying as a student. "My Mother Intruded On My School Life And Became My Clubmate", was this the plot of a light novel?

"I don't feel terribly happy about my mother delivering exemplary results when she was a first-time stand-in for me," said a dissatisfied Yukinoshita, "It makes me feel inadequate."

"She handled it her own way. You're tough on others, but your mother is outright severe. I don't particularly care if you never become like that."

I tried my hand at reassuring her. Thankfully, she showed me a relieved smile. Seeing a smile that picturesque made the beating in my chest a little faster.

Isshiki spoke up, "I don't know Yukino-senpai's mom that well, and I've never met Yui-senpai's mom. But they didn't sound like the kind of adults that would normally have such a rough start with each other."

"Indeed. I rarely hear of my mother losing her composure. I wonder what was running through her mind?" commented Yukinoshita.

Yuigahama pondered, "I can see mama getting passionate, but she usually makes the effort not to start on the wrong leg."

I was surprised as well, but I was not shocked out of my mind.

A first meeting between people was as erratic as a sparkler. Countless factors affected how things would turn out. Maybe their personalities were highly harmonic in the sense that they were able to react to each other to create a big bang. Maybe their insane resemblance to people they already knew threw them off. Maybe it was something unexplainable, except with the word "intuition".

"In the end, that rough start didn't really matter. They got along pretty well in the end. I'd say that they were compatible with each other," I spoke.

"That is a very fortunate thing. Isn't that right, Yuigahama-san?" spoke a smiling Yukinoshita.

Beaming back at her, Yuigahama replied, "Yup! Ehehe, our moms are close to each other now, so that means we, ourselves, can be even closer! Maybe we'd even be something like sisters!"

"Sisters? Or maybe we can expand it to something like cousins? But wouldn't that require one of our relatives on both our sides to get married? Or maybe you're suggesting that our mothers are getting married to each other? I'm not quite sure how this works. I think things would get confusing."

One person was saying heart-wrenchingly sweet things while the other side was hopelessly lost in the semantics. This nostalgic scene really brought a tear to my eye. Next on nostalgia would be to call me disgusting and creepy. Then, I'd really cry.

"Speaking of meeting up with people, your date with Ebina-san went well, Hikigaya-kun. She even showed a lot of restraint when it was just the two of you," said Yukinoshita with an extremely wide smile.

Ow ow ow ow! My foot! Her shoes, they're digging right in!

"Ahaha, yeah. It's hard to believe that she'd go out on a date at all," spoke Yuigahama, with a voice sweet enough to give you diabetes.

No no no no, not the other foot! Oooowwww!

"Senpai, you rascal. Do I have to remind you about your debts and responsibilities to me?" spoke Isshiki with cute, high-pitched voice.

I'm out of feet to kill off, and you're not even hiding your hatred. Wait, are you hugging me from behind? No wait, it's a choke!

I shouted, "Listen! I already explained that it wasn't a date. It was closer to an experiment. She doesn't normally act like that, unless she had a reason."

Taking a boy out like that should have caused enough misunderstandings in said boy to turn him into a loser with unrequited feelings. Yet, those feelings never threatened to bubble up even once. I could not fall for vanity, and she knew that. Even so, she did it for the sake of a change of pace.

Still, for me to have that much resistance to it, it was probably because I had already found something else.

"I know that already," muttered Yukinoshita with a muted voice, "That still doesn't make it a good thing, though."

So, she was sulking enough to forget to hide it in front of others, huh. I guess I really did do something bad.

"Sorry. Maybe I'll let you know next time something like this happens?" I suggested.

"Uwaaa… she has Senpai wrapped around her finger…" murmured Isshiki in amazement.

"This is kinda like how dad would react to mom. I'm surprised that I'm seeing it between people around our age," Komachi muttered.

My story had quickly become something that the Service Club ran our mouths at. It became just another conversational topic that we casually made light of. Had things ended roughly, I was sure that our reactions would've been different. Perhaps this was how GahaMama envisioned how good memories ought to be made.

The sun began to set, turning the interior of the club room orange. The vivacious voices of the athletic club members in the school fields began to subside.

Any remaining drops of tea had become lukewarm. Yet, the girls continued to chatter, chirping away like excitable birds.

There were definitely others who longed for days of bloom that gently rolled into a warm, orange evening.

—The mothers who had an unexpected meeting

—The two who once encountered each other in a bamboo forest

Another slice of cake, and another relatable topic—

Grappling with each other and accepting each others' quirks—

In other times and other places, people reached for the sour grapes, so that it might one day become fine wine. They would run, sweat and become shameless. I could sympathize only too well. After all, I also sought for the genuine thing.

"Hikki, it's almost time to go, but there's still some fruit tarts left. I don't want them to go to waste, so could you help finish them up?"

Yuigahama pointed at the table. Atop laid familiar desserts. The fruit tarts had been today's snacks. They seemed extravagant, but they were actually easy to make. They were quite customizable, so you could put your own touch to them. Several of them had peaches. There were even a few with a sweet coffee-flavoured filling — but didn't that leave the realm of "fruit" entirely?

They didn't say anything to me, but I could tell that the tarts were made by the four of them. Three of them were quite good at it, and even the fourth could do it, with a little assistance. I had no idea when they found the time to get together to make them, but that didn't really matter to me.

"Don't mind if I do," I replied.

I wasn't crazy enough to turn down free desserts.

T+2H

Club time was over, and the sun had set. We had long since parted ways.

I told Komachi to eat dinner without me. I had gone in a different direction.

I was resting on a bench in a park. The cool, crisp air filled my lungs. The sky was dark, and the moon gazed down at me in all of its pale glory. Lampposts brightly illuminated the walkways, giving the park an atmosphere of safety and comfort, even at this time of day. Under the lunar and artificial lights, I sat and fooled around on my phone.

I would much rather be at home and eating dinner with Komachi. But I had abruptly changed my plans because of one reason.

Let's meet up at the park, but only if you want to 😊

I had received that message earlier in the day on my phone. A request like that was hard to refuse for an adolescent, but not because of an improper reason. Rather, I wasn't able to find a reason to refuse when it came to that person. Even if I threw tact out the window, I was sure that she would begin finding any excuse to meet with me — beginning with her daughter.

Respect your elders, as they say. I really was becoming an upstanding member of society. Put another way, I was becoming a boring old cog in the system. Maybe that's why gyarus and yankees are popular right now.

Soon, I began hearing the tapping of footsteps. They grew louder and louder, until they abruptly stopped at their loudest tap.

I moved my head up from my phone. Instinctively, I straightened my back while I was at it.

If I had desperately wanted to see something like a sun even at night, I did not have to look any further than the smile of the woman in front of me. For something as blindingly precious as that to be directed at me, I felt undeserving to the point of guilt.

"Hikki-kun, it's a nice and cool evening tonight," she spoke with a voice more refreshing than a fruit and yogurt parfait.

GahaMama stood before me with her hands together at her front. Over her usual beige sweater, she wore a mature, pale-brown coat with two rows of buttons down the front. She had the kind of homely attractiveness that you grew fonder of the longer you looked, like a treasure that needed to be discovered.

"Yeah. I guess you're only free now, huh?"

It was not late into the night yet, but by no means was the current time an early one.

"If you've got a normal schedule, that's what your free time will look like," she replied, "Depending on the career you choose, you can have a completely different schedule, but then it won't be synced up with your family and friends."

Without losing her smile, I was hit with an uncomfortable fact, making me sweat a bit. She was starting to figure out how to talk to me.

"Do you mind if I sit next to you?" she asked.

"Um, no, by all means."

I scooted over on the bench to make room for her. Despite the fact that I was an awkward guy, I at least had the sense to not keep my someone standing all day.

She placed herself next to me, with little distance between us. The soothing scent of an unfamiliar soap filled my senses. She had a markedly different scent than Yuigahama.

Even though the scent was unfamiliar, I could guess that it was the product of her shopping trip two days prior.

"Don't you have to cook dinner at this time of night? I feel a little bad for Yuigahama and her papa now," I spoke with a wry smile.

"Oh, don't worry about that! I've already whipped a few things up quickly. That's what kitchen cheats are for. Bonus points if they can't detect the slight drop in quality!" she responded before giving a guffaw.

She was scarily efficient. Why are all the adult women that I know superhumans? What about the men? If there's any men out there tucked away in the periphery of my life's story, they must be vastly minimized in the backdrop of the women. Don't give up, papa!

"Such as…?" I asked.

"Instant potatoes in croquettes, one-pot recipes, and making things that need nothing more than a frying pan," she spoke with a raised finger, "In other words, using pre-processed ingredients, planning your meals right, and using cooking methods that don't take a long time."

"I-I see…" I muttered.

She sure put a lot of thought into it. There was little chance that she came up with those ideas on the spot, no matter how good search engines are these days. It was the result of accumulating many experiences.

An advantage that adults had over a child was the sheer number of experiences they had. They've seen everything, from the lowest of abyssal lows to the highest of mountain highs. It was because of those experiences that they could fathom things that I could not and could approach things from angles that I would never consider.

That's how they were able to steer Tobe in the right direction.

That's how they were able to make me realize that there were some things that couldn't be summed up in a single cynical word but required dictionaries of words and multitudes of actions.

"Say, Hikki-kun…"

Her gaze was directed at the endless night sky. Urban light pollution blotted out the twinkles, but evidence of the little stars was surely out there, somewhere.

"What do you think of Yui?"

The unexpected directness of her words sent a shock to my gut. Yet, I was able to withstand that shock.

It was a question that I had been expecting.

Run away or bury it. Either way, GahaMama would've caught up or dug it out. It would be more idiotic to believe that the person who watched over Yuigahama every single day would not have caught even a whiff of it.

The chance for ambiguity had long since been lost. It was crushed by Yuigahama herself.

So, there's this person I like, and he has someone who's like a girlfriend, and she also happens to be my most important friend… But I want to keep getting along with the both of them from now on. What should I do?

If, at this point, one was to intentionally say "Huh? What did you say?" and retreat out the door, they would be considered the epitome of patheticness and genuine scum.

I took a deep breath. I gathered my thoughts and decided what I would say to Yuigahama's mother.

It would do her no good to tell a lie. Neither would it be respectful to exaggerate in either direction, no matter what I thought of Yuigahama and regardless of the unknown depths of pain I inflicted her with.

Thus, I attempted to rid myself of pretenses and excuses. I spoke as plainly as Hikigaya Hachiman could.

"She is an irreplaceable clubmate. Things would feel incomplete without seeing her everyday after school. She's important to me. To all of us."

In the end, the word "clubmate" still left my mouth. That was as far as I could go without going through the painstaking effort of setting up an inescapable stage for myself. That was my current limit.

"Running after two hares… You already know, right?" said GahaMama with a wry smile.

I shook my head.

"No, that's not it. More precisely, there's no legs left to run. You know how it is, with Yukinoshita."

I spoke decisively. When it came to that, I was able to speak without hesitation. I was sure that Yukinoshita felt the same way, after admitting that we were partners to everyone and after speaking those troublesome words to me after the joint prom.

I was not even all that embarrassed. Perhaps I had already begun seeing GahaMama in a similar light as Hiratsuka-sensei.

She gave me a smile full of kindness — but also tinged with sorrow.

"I guess that means I can't cook for you that often. And it'll be hard to invite you alone. Say, what do you like to eat? As you know, I'm quite confident in my cooking, so I'm sure I'll be up to the challenge!"

"Uh, um, ramen?"

Being put on the spot, I spat something out that didn't fully overlap with the definition of "answer" yet was something that, nonetheless, dwelled at a reachable part of my mind.

That teacher who left loved to eat ramen.

My partner managed to find enjoyment in eating ramen.

GahaMama put a hand on her cheeks and made a wistful expression.

"Hmm, something like that takes expertise. But if you'd let me, I can make a homemade version that you won't regret eating!" she exclaimed.

Suddenly, she grabbed hold of my left hand with both of her hands. Without any warning at all, I was unable to avoid it.

"Hey, Hikki-kun, after meeting that woman, Yukinoshita-san, I can tell how heavy it is. I've only heard bits and piece from Yui about everything that happened, but after seeing her for myself, I felt that you must have gone through a ton of stress, right? I think Yukinoshita-san has a lot of expectations for you."

Her gaze had the same warmth as a mug of hot cocoa. Her frown was full of concern. The grip she had on my hands were free enough for me to pull away at any time yet tight enough to feel a sense of security.

She continued, "So, if you find their household too stuffy, too hard on you, and too much to handle, you can come over to our house. Anything and everything — we can chat over coffee. You love it when it's sweetened, right? It'll be fun and relaxing. And those gaming consoles! We've got one too, so we can play together."

I was overwhelmed by her insistent invitation.

Because of what I committed to Yukinoshita, it was now a non-negotiable factor to become involved with her family. However, getting involved with the Yukinoshitas was like dropping into a battlefield. The worst thing that can happen is to earn the ire of Yukinoshita's mother. I also had the added hardships from the sporadic Yukinoshita Haruno, which hit me like high-frequency random encounters. There was also the father, and I definitely didn't want to think about that.

What GahaMama offered me sounded like consolation. She pieced together the difficulties that I will face and offered a method to cope with it all.

Yet, I had an ominous gut feeling.

GahaMama was just as shrewd as Yukinoshita's mother. I repeated that to myself for the millionth time.

If I were to accept the invitation, the first visit would feel like honouring a promise. The second visit would feel like I was solving a problem. On the third visit, it would be too late. I would be completely hooked.

How warmly she was looking at me and holding onto my hands beckoned me to accept. Her partially opened mouth wordlessly communicated the temptation to me.

I already knew what my answer would be. But before I said them, I posed my own question to her.

"Why are you going this far?"

Without missing a beat, GahaMama confidently gave her response.

"A mother will always prioritize her daughter. No matter what."

She gave me a tiny smile that had pride but also troubledness.

I did not have any children of my own, so I could not fully understand what she felt. Even so, the logic of her statement made perfect sense.

Yuigahama Yui was the one who was most important to her. She would definitely do her utmost to help fulfill Yuigahama's wishes. Even if there was someone else in their lives who was important, in the end, they were always secondary to Yuigahama Yui herself.

Prioritization was something that was done when there were conflicting interests. Despite how considerate GahaMama was acting throughout the night, what she had suggested to me was excessively shameless. If I didn't happen to like her a lot, I might've even considered her actions unscrupulous.

There were few real heroes in this unfair world who had the power to carry out absolute justice. Yet, no matter how well-liked they were, there still existed selfish factions of society that would hate them, as justice meant that the unjust were punished. Unless you loved to feel pain, you wouldn't feel good about being punished and, as a result, begin to hate the heroes.

If you were going to be hated anyway, why bother?

A world of balance just didn't exist.

That's why, after you grew up and discarded your immature delusions, you'd settle with being a selfish villain. You might make compromises here and there to get people off your back. More importantly, when it came down to it, you'd fiercely protect only the small circle around you. Anything outside of that, if you couldn't spare extra resources, you would consign to oblivion.

Yet, if something was within that tiny circle, the lengths you'd go for them would be vast. Because I understood that, I did not change what I thought of GahaMama.

But the concept of a small circle applied to me as well. So, in honour of our open exchange that allowed the both of us to freely display our cards, I spoke without reservation.

"I'm sorry. What you're proposing, it wouldn't be right. Besides, the burdens I will face will be a proof of… something that I'd rather not say. I guess you could say that my words wouldn't be empty."

Words that only Yukinoshita should hear, well, I suppose that'd be a good enough excuse to hide my embarrassment.

I wouldn't be giving all that I have if I withheld a few things, right?

"I see…"

GahaMama hung her head. But her expression wasn't hidden from my view. Indescribable sorrow filled every bit of her face, from her closed eyes to her broken frown. If I had watched her from a far, I would not be able to tell if she was silently sobbing or not.

What kind of sorrow filled the hearts of adults? What do they recall, and what do they do with it?

Questions like those filled my mind. I would never see an expression like that from someone close to my age. I doubt I could even catch Yukinoshita Haruno making that kind of an expression.

"It's how it is."

Breaking my own habits, I spoke words that were intended to offer some form of comfort yet left my mouth as coldly as winter wind. I regretted saying them immediately.

In response to the abrupt cruelty, GahaMama forced herself to smile. There was no way it would look anything like her normal smiles. Her smile ended up looking sardonic.

"Mama tried her best, even though she was expecting it, you know?" she murmured.

I was rendered speechless.

Despite knowing my answer, she chose to meet with me anyway.

Even though the chance was zero percent, she picked up her arms and marched.

She had already told me the reason why. Whether or not it was mistaken, she had already made her choice.

Two days ago, she mentioned that she stuck around out of revenge. Maybe she was trying to prove a point. Or, maybe she was trying to win on round two, after losing at round one.

But the way that she looked at me was not out of enmity.

Even now, I had a bad habit of looking too deeply into things. I had a sense of pessimism so severe that even Ebina-san found it insane.

Thus, it was possible that her reason was a lot more straightforward. At the same time, it could be more troublesome to say aloud.

If you asked me if I was fond of GahaMama, I would answer with a resounding yes.

"Mmmmmmhhhh!"

GahaMama stood up from the bench and gave a big stretch. She seemed considerably more relaxed.

She turned towards me once more. Her usual vigour was restored. She looked energetic enough to break into a jog, right this instant.

"I really would like it, though. Please do come eat dinner with us sometime. And bring Yukino-chan with you, too!"

Giving her a wry smile, I replied, "Well, as long as you don't stuff me too much. Seriously, don't."

I don't think I could handle doing that more than a few times a year.

GahaMama's words could be taken as compromise, but strangely enough, I didn't see it that way. How could I, when her optimism was so blinding?

"Until then. Have a good evening, Hikki-kun. You don't need to worry about walking me back. I parked nearby," she said, pointing outwards.

She denied me the chance to act like a gentleman, not that I cared that much. This must've been her own way of teasing me.

"Right. Until next time, then," I spoke.

We waved goodbye to each other and parted ways. She disappeared into the darkness of the parking lot.

Sprint, trip on a hurdle, and fall. Others may laugh, and you might feel dead inside. Even so, there's nothing like the feeling of crossing the finish line. That's coming from someone who finished pretty close to last place in a marathon.

Except I'm not feeling dead inside right now. Heat settled in my chest like a comforting fireplace. A little bit of cheer managed to fill me with pleasantness. This feeling was all too familiar. That's Yuigahama's mama for you.

Fearful for my wallet, I was suddenly craving expensive sweets.