Tomoka Yuigahama’s expression was complicated—not angry, not purely shy, but tangled with emotions difficult to put into words. Countless feelings surged inside, twisting together like a ball of yarn a kitten had just unraveled with its tiny claws—impossible to cut through, impossible to untangle.

Kotomi Izumi thought Tomoka hadn’t processed what she had just said, so she spoke again: “Mrs. Yuigahama, be with me. You might think I’m too young, unreliable, but give me some time. Let me prove to you that I’m someone you can rely on.”

Such bold, almost reckless words left Tomoka at a complete loss for how to respond. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel★fire.net

She was already the mother of two daughters, and now, faced with Kotomi’s confession, she could only stand there half-opening her mouth, as if she had lost the ability to speak.

“—Haven’t you noticed? The one Kotomi likes is you.”

The words the bookstore owner had once said echoed in her mind again. Tomoka had never dared to think of them seriously. The thought that Kotomi, who was the same age as her eldest daughter Yui, might actually like her—this middle-aged aunt—made her toes curl unconsciously in shame. A strange, inexplicable feeling stirred within, her cheeks faintly flushed as she looked away, unable to meet Kotomi’s burning, determined gaze. Her voice carried a note of reproach:

“Kotomi, that’s impossible for us…”

“How is it impossible?!”

Tomoka hadn’t expected that her words would suddenly ignite Kotomi’s tone.

Kotomi was proud to her core. She hadn’t even finished explaining herself, and Tomoka was already rejecting her? A trace of frustration flared in her heart. She had thought everything through so carefully, convinced Mrs. Yuigahama would never refuse her. Fueled by emotion, she refused to yield to Tomoka’s words and pressed forward.

But in her agitation, Kotomi didn’t realize she hadn’t fully expressed what she meant. As a result, she and Mrs. Yuigahama were suddenly talking past each other, like two people separated by a wall.

“I know, I’m only sixteen now. I’ve still got two years before I’m legally an adult. And even then, I’ll still just be a third-year student preparing for university entrance exams. Most people would think—even if young love is acceptable—this is just too young, right? You might also think that even if I’m good at writing novels, I might not have talent in other areas.

“But Mrs. Yuigahama, think about it. I haven’t even had the chance to truly spread my wings yet. My current funds may not be enough. If I acted recklessly, it could easily lead to failure.”

“Isn’t what you’re doing right now already reckless?!” Tomoka gasped, feeling her mind whirl into chaos.

“If it’s not reckless, can you even call it youth? Besides, even if I fail, I can still take care of you. My grandparents have more money than they could ever spend—in their eyes, it’s just meaningless numbers. If I told them about you, they might even double their support.”

“You… you plan to tell your parents?!” Tomoka was shocked pale. She hadn’t expected Kotomi to be so bold. Confessing to her wasn’t enough—she even intended to tell her family?

There’s no way they’d agree to it! Not every household was so open-minded as to allow their daughter to have a girlfriend—let alone a high school girl wanting to be with a woman who had already been married and was the mother of two daughters.

Tomoka looked at Kotomi, heart growing more frantic. Kotomi seemed utterly unbothered, leaning slightly forward, as if about to kiss her, eyes locked firmly on Mrs. Yuigahama.

“Mrs. Yuigahama, don’t you feel exhausted?

“You’re running both the cake shop and doing illustrations. Online shopping is becoming more and more dominant—physical stores are losing their space to survive. Even if it’s not completely gone, the decline is visible to the naked eye.

“And your energy—it’s impossible to sustain both managing the cake shop and doing illustration work well at the same time. Even if you force yourself to keep going, what if one day you collapse under the pressure? What will happen to this family then? To Yui and Yuka?

“When necessary… you’ll need to make a choice. You don’t need me, a child, to teach you that, right?”

“But…”

Before Tomoka Yuigahama could finish her “but,” Kotomi spoke again, her eyes flickering with nervousness yet filled with firm resolve:

“Mrs. Yuigahama, I hope that from now on, every light novel I write, you’ll be the one to illustrate. At first, it was because I loved your art style that I made this decision. But gradually, I realized… more than the illustrations, what I truly treasure is you.

“I don’t want you to exhaust yourself supporting this family—running the cake shop late into the night, then staying up even later to draw. If this continues, you’ll break down sooner or later. Between the cake shop and illustration, you’ll eventually have to make a choice.

“You might think that if you close the cake shop, you’ll lose a significant portion of your income. With Yuka about to start elementary school, expenses will only increase. Without the shop’s earnings, can illustration income alone really sustain your household?”

Tomoka instinctively nodded. What Kotomi said was indeed one of her greatest worries. Closing the cake shop and focusing on illustration wouldn’t only improve the quality of her art—it would also give her more free time each day. She wouldn’t have to drag her exhausted body to the desk after bathing at night to force herself to draw. She wouldn’t have to keep sacrificing the chance to personally cook a meal for her daughters.

In the eyes of others, Tomoka Yuigahama was an admirable mother—after losing her husband, she had bravely supported the family and raised her two daughters alone.

But in her heart, she always felt like an unqualified mother. She had missed countless moments in her daughters’ growth. Didn’t Yui and Yuka want to act spoiled with their mom like other girls did?

Of course, they did.

But they were sensible children who understood how exhausted their mother was each day, running the cake shop and baking cakes in the kitchen. The only time she could rest was after coming home from the shop at night.

So, in that time, the only thing they could do was avoid disturbing her, so she could rest more easily.

That was why Yui took the initiative to prepare nearly every dinner. From a girl who once didn’t even know how to hold a knife, she had grown into someone with decent cooking skills—just so her mother could come home and eat right away, without needing to do anything.

In the past, Yuka often misbehaved, causing trouble and making her playmates cry. She had given her parents no shortage of headaches.

But after their father passed away, when she saw her mother and sister crying, Yuka swallowed her grief and told herself: You have to grow up now. From this day on, you can’t cause Mom and Onee-chan even the slightest trouble.

Compared to other children her age, Yuka’s mischievousness seemed to vanish completely. She no longer acted like a child at all.

A child too well-behaved, one who doesn’t even know how to be mischievous, is a pitiable sight.

Because of this guilt toward her daughters, Tomoka forced herself to keep running the Dango Cake Shop and staying up late each night to draw. The combined income of those two jobs was what supported the Yuigahama family.

Tomoka never allowed herself to think about whether she was tired. She only knew she had to keep enduring a little longer, so her daughters would never be unable to attend school because of money.

Kotomi’s words pierced straight into that soft, hidden place in Tomoka’s heart. She… she wanted to. But what could she do? She still had two daughters to raise!

Looking at Tomoka, Kotomi’s gaze softened, pulling back the sharp decisiveness from earlier.

Even though her expression softened, her resolve never wavered.

“A sixteen-year-old girl sits beside you, saying she wants to start a company and invites you to be its very first employee.

“If it were me in your place, I might just pull out some money from my wallet out of pity and hand it to her, thinking: What a poor child. So young, yet her head’s not working right. Not even an adult yet, and she’s already dreaming of starting a company? Ridiculous!

“But if it’s me, then ridiculous dreams will become reality. I admit I’m proud, but even so, I will establish a game company called Type-Moon World. And I want you to be its exclusive illustrator, with the highest salary. I had originally planned to tell you officially after graduating high school.

“But now, not just for myself but also for you, I’ve chosen to reveal this plan of starting a game company.

“So that you won’t need to keep running the Dango Cake Shop. So that all you’ll have to do is draw for me. The money you earn each month will not only cover this household’s expenses, but also pay for Yui and Yuka’s tuition. You won’t have to wear yourself out like this anymore.”

“Huh? You… you want to start a game company, and then hire me as an employee…?”

Only then did Tomoka Yuigahama catch up, and her brain immediately fell into complete chaos. She instinctively pointed at herself in disbelief. Wasn’t Kotomi confessing to her just now? How did the topic suddenly shift to starting a company and inviting her as an illustrator?

When had the subject changed?

She hadn’t even noticed!

Or… had Kotomi from the very beginning been inviting her to be an illustrator, while she herself had misunderstood from the start?

She thought Kotomi had been… confessing to her!

“That’s right.” Kotomi nodded firmly, sealing the matter.

What in the world did I just interpret Kotomi’s words as!!!

Tomoka’s brain was in complete chaos, screaming inside. If the tatami had split open at that moment, she would have immediately crawled into the gap without hesitation! This was far too embarrassing. She never imagined she had been miscommunicating with Kotomi from the very start.

And of all possible misunderstandings—why did she have to assume Kotomi was confessing to her?!

Right now, Tomoka even felt like fleeing the Earth.

Thinking back, Kotomi’s reactions did seem odd.

After she had said, we’re impossible, Kotomi’s tone had risen sharply.

Tomoka had said we’re impossible because she thought Kotomi was confessing to her. Her mind had been too overwhelmed then; she’d nearly forgotten how to even speak properly. Without considering her true feelings deep down, she forced herself to say the most “appropriate” thing: we’re impossible.

It wasn’t strange at all. Imagine it: you’re already the mother of two daughters, and suddenly one day, your daughter’s friend confesses to you. How would you feel? No matter how short or long the moment, you’d certainly experience shock and disbelief, thinking perhaps she lost at a game of Truth or Dare.

During that time, whether calm or panicked, the sheer impact of a friend of your daughter confessing to you would completely overshadow any true thoughts you might have had about the confession.

As an adult, you’d instinctively respond with what you thought was the most correct reply in the shortest time possible.

But Kotomi, upon hearing we’re impossible, believed Tomoka was rejecting her outright. Her emotions spiked instantly—she couldn’t understand why Tomoka would refuse her, especially before she had even explained things in detail!

Then again, Kotomi wasn’t blameless either. When she first started speaking, she hadn’t clarified she wanted to start a game company and hire Tomoka as her illustrator. Instead, she had blurted out, let’s be together.

Tomoka thought about it, realizing her misunderstanding wasn’t entirely her fault. Kotomi bore half the responsibility. The thought made her cheeks flush faintly, her expression both mature and adorably shy.

When Kotomi unintentionally caught sight of Mrs. Yuigahama showing such an adorably shy expression, her heartbeat quickened by several beats. She almost wanted to take out her phone and capture this moment forever in a photo.

But Mrs. Yuigahama was Yui’s mother. As Yui’s friend, wouldn’t it be far too rude if she suddenly pulled out her phone to take a picture?

Though regretful, Kotomi suppressed the urge.

Maybe it was just her imagination, but Kotomi felt that even if she didn’t get a chance this time, there would be many more opportunities in the future. And when that time came, she could have perfectly legitimate reasons to capture Mrs. Yuigahama’s adorable—or perhaps even mature—expressions.

Just thinking about it…

Kotomi rubbed her nose, her mood bubbling with excitement.

Meanwhile, once Tomoka Yuigahama realized Kotomi wasn’t actually confessing to her, her emotions became complicated, tinged with something like disappointment?

Could it be… that while she had been nervous, she had also been secretly expecting Kotomi to confess to her?

Impossible! Absolutely impossible!!

Tomoka, Tomoka, look at the age difference between you and Kotomi. In her eyes, you’re nothing but an old auntie! How could she ever like you? Stop dreaming!

Besides, don’t you know that Yui likes Kotomi?

As her mother, how shameless would it be to even entertain the thought of competing with your daughter for Kotomi’s affection?!

Tomoka scolded herself harshly inside, forcing her heart to calm down. Clearing her throat, she said:

“You’re right. When you suddenly said you wanted to start a game company, I was really shocked. Type-Moon World… that’s a wonderful name.”

I thought you were confessing to me. There was no way Tomoka could ever say those words aloud.

So she pretended she had simply been listening to Kotomi’s invitation to become Type-Moon World’s first employee all along.

Even though at the start, they had been speaking at complete cross-purposes…

In the end, Kotomi’s words truly did strike a chord with Tomoka Yuigahama.

On one hand was the Dango Cake Shop, on the other her illustration work. Juggling both brought in a stable, comfortable income, easing her household’s financial burden.

But just as Kotomi had said—it was exhausting. So exhausting that more than once, in the dead of night, Tomoka had thought about giving up.

Between these two jobs, maybe it really was time to give one up and devote herself entirely to the other…

For the first time, Tomoka Yuigahama fell into deep contemplation. In her busy life, she had rarely ever given herself the chance to truly think about it.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep