After the sleepless weekend, the final exams continued.
"…Phew… Everything should be okay for the time being…"
I felt tired because I hadn't slept much, but I still had to do my best studying for the exam.
I splashed more cold water on my face than normal to wake myself up. It kind of worked, but I still felt a little sleepy, but I should be fine .
For now, I need to concentrate on what's in front of me.
"Good morning, Maki."
"Good morning, mom. You're making breakfast? Aren't you gonna be late?"
When I came back to the living room, I saw mom in the kitchen, making breakfast. This was an unusual sight, normally she would just take a piece of bread, some milk and immediately run out of the house.
"Well, I've been leaving all the housework to you lately, so I wanna show off some of my motherly power a little. Alright, everything's ready."
Rice, miso soup with tofu and wakame seaweed and fried eggs. They were dishes that mom previously taught me.
I quickly placed some of them into my mouth. It had been a while since I ate her cooking, everything tasted better than usual.
"How is it? It's been a while since you've eaten my cooking, right?"
"…It's not bad…"
"I'm glad that you like it."
The two of us munched on our rice while facing each other.
I kinda missed the time when we ate together like this. Umi had been visiting us often these days, so the days when just the two of us eating breakfast together like this were quite rare.
I wanted to spend more time with her, but I knew I shouldn't be greedy. She had to work to support us.
Besides, when she was working hard, she looked really cool.
"…Maki."
"Mm?"
"I decided to take some time off work."
"Eh?"
She was smoking her cigarette on the balcony when she told me this. It was after we finished breakfast.
It was unbelievable. She was someone who always overworked herself. She never took a vacation, never took a day off, and she worked through the weekend like it was nothing. And now she said she wanted to take some time off work.
Now I understand why she decided to make breakfast today.
"You're taking some time off work, mom? Really?"
"Yes. I won't lie to you about something like this."
"For how long?"
"Around two or three months… Maybe more…"
"…Mom, are you okay? You aren't sick, right?"
"No, I'm perfectly healthy… Well, if I keep working like this, it would be really bad for my health, so I need to tone it down a little, or so they said. They also told me to smoke less."
Well, if she consulted a doctor about her lifestyle, I think every doctor would say the same.
But still, she wasn't the kind of person to suddenly change her mind about things like this, did something happen?
Does she have an illness that I'm not aware of? …No, no way that's the case. It's her we're talking about, she wouldn't hide such things from me.
"My decision was really sudden, so the company didn't take it very well… But anyway, that's why I'll be the one doing the housework from now on. Sorry for making you do everything prior to this, Maki."
"You don't need to be sorry, mom, it's not a bother or anything…"
I don't really care about the chores, but what about the money?
If she's going to be absent for two or three months, then for that period of time, she won't receive any salary.
"Of course, you don't have to worry about money. I have enough money saved, if you need money for your dates with Umi, you can ask me anytime."
"Ah… Mm…"
The money she received from dad because of the divorce shouldn't be small, but if we were to keep spending, it won't last.
…I probably should start looking for a part-time job or something.
"Alright, I'm going to clean the house today. Maki, if you have something I'm not supposed to see, make sure to hide it in your drawer properly~"
"I-I don't have anything like that!"
Well, I do, but I kept it in my flash drive.
After that, we spent some time together until it was time for me to go to school. But my mom's face looked much less energetic than usual.
* * *
After finishing my exams on Monday and Tuesday, I finally decided to talk to Umi about mom's condition. It was after school after we escorted Amami-san back home.
"Well, I think your mom worked too hard, so it's great that she's taking a break… But that means we won't be able to hang out freely like usual, huh?"
Right.
It's great that mom is able to take a break, but it's hard to hang out like usual when she's around the house. She is my mom, but to Umi, she's her friend's mother, nothing more.
Normally, we would play games while eating pizza on the floor or read manga while eating snacks. We would leave crumbs all over the place like a pair of elementary school kids. Of course I cleaned everything up when Umi went back home, but I don't think mom will be amused to see us doing that in front of her.
Sure, mom gave us permission to do whatever we wanted, but Umi had enough common sense to behave when mom was around.
"So, what are we gonna do this week? Hang out at my home like usual or something else?"
"Mm~ I don't mind either of them… Huh? …Ah, wait a second, my mom's calling me… Hello? What is it, mom?"
While Umi was talking with Sora-san on the phone, I tried to come up with something.
As our relationship progressed, our weekends recently had become the time for us to sneak off together. It was something we originally did to help Umi deal with her mental exhaustion.
Since I had been bothering Umi with the matter of exams and my dad, I wanted to do something to ease her mind a little.
Is there a place for her to spend her time without worrying?
"Ah… Well, I don't think it'll be a problem… I'll ask him about it, bye."
"…That took a while. What's up?"
"Nothing, really… Just… My mom invited you for dinner this Friday, Maki. Do you want to go?"
"Eh?"
"My dad will be there too."
"No."
I said that almost reflexively.
"What do you mean 'no'? …Mom had been talking about you back at home… Dad wants to see your face at least once."
"No–"
"Don't give me that."
With that said, a rather surprising event came up right before Christmas. I knew this would come sooner or later, but I didn't expect it would be so soon.
…Maybe I should worry about my own life before worrying about my family's situation.