I ran into Maaya by the shoe lockers.
"Saki~ I'm leaving early~ Saki-you later!"
"…What are you even talking about? So are you on your way home?"
"Yup, although I'm not going straight home. I want to enjoy my freedom a bit longer~"
Oh yeah, she mentioned that she didn't have to take care of her younger brothers today, which was why she didn't go home with her parents after the parent-teacher meeting.
"So you're done with your meeting, huh?"
"Yours is up next, yeah? Is your mom here already?"
"Should be. She's taking care of Asamura-kun's meeting as well." When I finished my sentence, Maaya made a somewhat complicated expression.
"Ah, that reminds me, I ran into Asamura-kun in the library."
"Really?"
So he was waiting there for his meeting to start. He really loves books, all right.
"Yup. He reads so fast, too. I barely finished half of my book, and he almost finished two whole books. He reads at the speed of light!"
So you mean he's reading at 300,000km/s, huh? That doesn't make any sense. I made a wry smile and just nodded along.
"He's amazing."
"Yeah, yeah. I get it."
Even though I knew that Maaya was saying it lightly, hearing her praise Asamura-kun to such a degree was close to making me happy. Keeping my lips from curling upwards took a lot of effort on my part.
"Anyway, I'll get going now. Your meeting is starting soon, no?"
I checked the time. Indeed, there were only five more minutes left.
"See you~ bye bye~"
"Yeah, see you." I split up with Maaya and hurried towards the classroom.
I had gone home thinking I had more than enough time, but it would be awfully embarrassing if I ended up late despite all of that. Not to mention that there would be no point in waking Mom up only to be late myself. I rushed up the stairs, turned the corner, and right then, I saw Asamura-kun and Mom walking out of the classroom. They seemed to be talking about something, but I was too far away to pick up any part of the conversation. All I knew was that Mom looked really happy, which also made me feel joyful inside.
Whenever she shows that kind of face, she really feels delighted from the bottom of her heart. When I was accepted to Suisei, she made a similar expression. Asamura-kun truly is amazing. I'm so glad he's the one who became my older brother—But hold on, why is Mom suddenly embracing Asamura-kun like that? Even if you're a parent and child, you shouldn't overdo it with the excessive skinship, right? I panicked for a bit, but then I remembered that Mom is the type of person who'd immediately hug me about everything as well. Well, we're mother and daughter, so this much is normal… maybe. She noticed that I had arrived and jogged over towards me. There was a poster right next to us that read 'Don't run in the hallways!' but that's how we were reunited anyway.
Right after the meeting began, my teacher Satou-sensei began explaining something before we even got to the questionnaire.
"If I may be so honest, the first time we saw her, we were a bit worried about your daughter Saki-san." Satou-sensei is the type of teacher who speaks pretty frankly, and she very clearly stated that she was worried about my appearance and the rumors surrounding me.
Rather than beating around the bush, I prefer people who get right to the point. However, I wonder how Mom feels about this? While listening to the teacher's explanation, I glanced over at her. She sat still with a straight back, listening to every word Satou-sensei said.
"However—I changed my opinion in regards to that." I subconsciously raised my head, looking at my teacher. "Recently, her grades in Japanese, which she previously had trouble with, have gone up, and those concerning rumors have subsided as well. Regarding her fashion, I do have to reprimand her, but I also understand the desire to dress up."
Mom nodded in an exaggerated manner.
"I'd like her to still enjoy her time as a high school student, so I would be happy if you could watch over her as her mother."
"I will look after her with everything I have." She declared with a confident tone, and then went silent once more.
Satou-sensei looked at Mom's eyes for a moment, nodded, and then opened up the future aspiration questionnaire I filled out.
"Then I'd like to talk about Saki-san's choice of university."
Taking the grades from the first term into consideration, and depending on my grades improving in Japanese, Satou-sensei said that if I keep working hard as I have so far, I might be able to get into the university of my choice. She even offered names for universities every student in Japan knew.
"I will leave that choice to my daughter." Mom said and sent me a gaze like she wanted me to take over the conversation.
Satou-sensei also directed her eyes at me. It made me feel a bit tense.
"I… want to attend a university with the cheapest possible study costs, and one that prioritizes finding a job."
Mom looked at me with a 'Are you sure about that?' sort of gaze, but this is something I can't back down from. Sure, I might have been able to secure myself a spot in a research facility or something resembling that, but I don't particularly have anything I really want to do right now. If so, then I shouldn't go to an expensive university, which would only put more pressure on Mom. However, thinking about my future employment, just picking a random university won't do, either.
"Then…" Satou-sensei gently tapped one end of her pen on the desk and continued. "How about Tsukinomiya Women's University?"
"Tsukinomiya?"
It's a rather famous women's university inside of the Tokyo metropolitan area. Basically everyone knows its name, and I thought that it sounded a bit heavy.
"If you keep up your current grades, you should be able to make it in. They keep strong ties with graduates, they prioritize employment over everything, and since it's a national university, the student fees are pretty manageable. They have scholarships that are fully paid by the government, and they also have some interest-free student loan options. I think it would be a perfect fit for you."
"Huh… I never thought about that."
I didn't expect her to bring up Tsukinomiya. However, she flashed me a faint smile, mentioning that they will be having an open campus this Saturday.
"An open campus…"
"Maybe it would be a good idea for you to find out what a university is like."
"You're… right."
If it's Saturday, then I might be able to make it.
'That's why you force yourself to walk forward!'
Maaya's words repeated inside my head like an endless march. Doing something new and throwing yourself into it. In order to forget these feelings I have for Asamura-kun, and also to make something good out of my life. It's tomorrow. I really should check out that open campus. The parent-teacher meeting ended, and I walked out of the classroom. That was when I decided.
"If anything, if she keeps her moderation in check too much, she'll just end up exploding…"
On the way out, Mom was muttering something, but I decided to ignore it.