That night, Kazusa made a rare call to her mother.
After more than two years of a cold war between them, this was the first time Kazusa had taken the initiative to dial her mother's number.
In the past, it had always been her mother who called.
Kazusa would listen quietly, only answering questions when prompted—how she was doing, how school was going, how her piano practice was progressing.
Their communication had been reduced to the bare minimum, more like a routine and formal report than any genuine connection between a mother and daughter.
So much so that Touma Youko, who was abroad, rubbed her eyes in disbelief when she saw Kazusa's name appear as the caller ID. This had never happened before.
Her first instinct was that something had happened to her daughter, and the person on the other end of the call was a police officer or teacher using Kazusa's phone to reach out to her.
"Kazusa! Is that you?"
Hearing her mother's voice on the other end, filled with urgency and a tremble as she spoke her name, Kazusa was momentarily taken aback.
Still, she replied in a calm tone, "Yes."
She could hear her mother let out a long sigh of relief.
Kazusa wasn't entirely sure why her mother reacted this way, and though she was curious, she chose not to ask.
"This really is rare. You're actually calling me on your own. Did you miss your mother?"
Now that she had heard Kazusa's voice and confirmed that nothing was wrong, Youko's tone returned to its usual light-hearted and indifferent demeanor—the one Kazusa was all too familiar with from her mother, who never seemed to take anything too seriously.
She didn't respond to her mother's playful comment and instead got straight to the point of why she had called.
"Did the things from my childhood get moved with us?"
"Things from your childhood? What exactly do you mean?"
"Books, toys, photo albums, clothes—stuff like that."
Not wanting her mother to know her real intention, Kazusa added a few irrelevant items to conceal her true goal.
But even so, Youko could sense something was off.
"Why are you suddenly asking about these things?"
"You've never been the nostalgic type. If you need something, just go buy it. If you can't find it in Japan, send me a list and I'll have my assistant buy and ship it to you."
So, it's just like I thought...
"I just felt like asking. Looks like you don't know either. Never mind, then."
Kazusa was about to hang up when her mother stopped her.
"Ask Aunt Obara. After we moved, I hired her to take care of you, and she's the one who organized everything."
"If those things were packed and moved, she would've made sure to store them properly."
Kazusa was silent for a moment.
After a short pause, she heard her mother's voice, now filled with a relaxed, teasing tone.
"Did you really call just to ask me about that?"
"Yeah."
"Nothing else you want to talk about?"
"How's work?"
"Thanks to you, it's going well."
"That has nothing to do with me."
"As your mother, I have to work hard to build up some assets, so my precious daughter can enjoy life in the future."
"You can keep those assets for your retirement. I'll take care of my own life."
"Still as stubborn as ever. You really remind me of myself as a kid. Makes me feel a little nostalgic."
"…If there's nothing else, I'm hanging up."
"Alright. Goodnight, Kazusa."
"…Goodnight."
Youko hung up the phone with a smile on her face.
"Goodnight, huh? Silly girl, it's broad daylight here."
Leaning back on a bench in Vienna, Youko gazed up at the sky.
Her assistant, Kudo Miyoko, stood nearby, holding a medical report with a worried expression.
"President, considering your condition, wouldn't it be better to tell your daughter?"
Youko casually waved her hand dismissively.
"There's no need. I'm not dying anytime soon. Telling her would only make her worry. She still has two years left of high school. Let her enjoy that time without any burdens."
"But at least you should listen to the doctor and take some time off to recover."
"If I did that, I wouldn't be able to make any money, and then I wouldn't be able to pay you, Miyoko-chan~."
"Please don't joke about this!"
Miyoko stood up in frustration.
"I know what I'm doing."
Youko's lazy, reassuring smile never left her face.
"Life is full of disappointments. I've had a smooth ride for the first half of my life, so I guess it's only fair that I face some challenges now."
"It wouldn't be fair to others if I didn't. I'm not worried, so why should you be? No need to change my schedule; everything stays as planned."
"…"
Miyoko turned her head away, silently expressing her disapproval.
"That's an order from your president."
"…Understood."
…
Kazusa dialed Aunt Obara's number and asked her a question.
According to Aunt Obara, after the move, she had organized all the less frequently used items and stored them in the back room on the first floor.
Each box had labels indicating what was inside.
Aunt Obara offered to come over the next day to help find what Kazusa was looking for, saying there was no need for her to do it herself.
She remembered Youko's instructions to make sure Kazusa didn't do anything that might hurt her hands.
But Kazusa couldn't wait.
After hanging up the phone, she went straight to the room she hadn't entered since the move.
She opened one box after another, until she found the one labeled "Books."
Excited, she quickly tore it open and rummaged through it, eventually finding what she was looking for.
Several piano lesson books, given to her by her piano teacher and her mother.
These books had been her constant companions during her early years of piano practice. Some pages were creased, others marked with childish doodles.
When Chisato had asked her to teach him piano, Kazusa's heart, usually hidden behind her cold exterior, had been stirred, and she immediately thought of these books.
Those books, from the simplest and purest time in her life, held great meaning for her.
If she could give them to the boy who made her smile and kept her engaged no matter how long they talked, she thought it would be a very romantic gesture.
That was all.
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