Vol 1 Chapter 24 (2/2)
“Probably,” said Touya with a nod.
On the other hand, the woman accompanying the two policemen was someone that Homura vividly remembered.
It was the mother of the wolf girl Suzuran.
“……”
She looked healthy and vigorous compared to the last time Homura had seen her. Unlike the two police who seemed nervous and fidgety, she looked extremely calm in comparison. She was conscientiously closing her umbrella as she entered.
The three adults met up with Fujimori and Tanakura, and then they all headed to the elevator.
Homura and the others stealthily followed after them.
They proceeded to a waiting room beside a nurse station. It wasn’t a closed-off room like a conference room, but rather a shared and open s.p.a.ce with a clear and un.o.bstructed view through its windows. It was convenient for Homura and the others, as they could secretly peer in to watch what was going on. They might have chosen the location out of consideration in order to make the partic.i.p.ants less tense.
Unfortunately, the weather outside was filled with clouds and rain.
“……”
Homura looked at the window while thinking it a shame, since clear weather would have been perfect for this commemorative day of reunion.
After several minutes of holding their breath, she arrived.
She was wearing clothing appropriate for a child and her hair was neatly combed, giving off a very docile impression compared to when she was on Nutella.
But she seemed healthy and in good spirits.
“…Thank goodness…”
“Ah, there’s senpai.”
Senpai was also there, accompanying Suzuran.
Senpai was dressed in traditional j.a.panese clothing. She seemed very used to wearing them, and the outfit suited her quite well.
Perhaps surprised at the number of people present in the waiting room, Suzuran was anxiously clinging to senpai’s waist.
Homura and Touya were startled by how identical that scene was to that of Subaru-hime and Suzuran nestled together back at the castle on Nutella.
They knew that Misasagi-senpai had frequently visited Suzuran recently.
That was due to Fujimori’s judgment and senpai’s own wish.
Even on the way back to the base camp, Suzuran had been very much attached to senpai, so much so that she kept Homura at a distance as a meddling intruder.
However, during the past few days since their return to Earth, Suzuran had experienced unknown effects from the transport and weakened to the point where she couldn’t even walk, worrying all the club members. Thankfully, though, there was no threat to her life, and with senpai’s nursing she had soon regained health.
Homura and Touya hadn’t been informed of where Suzuran was being cared for and had only learned of this second-hand through senpai’s reports.
“Uugh…”
“Homura-san, the color of your face is #AA8877… Are you all right?”
“Guh… M-My stomach hurts…”
“Ouch, I’m the one in pain here. Hinooka, stop digging your nails into my shoulder.”
Despite the fact that Homura herself had made that confident declaration in front of Subaru, now that she was actually witnessing the reunion between parent and child, she felt incredibly uneasy.
Her baby had been missing for three years. And now, when the mother was finally able to reunite with her daughter face to face, her girl had grown up to be over ten years old. Just what was that woman feeling after being thrust into these circ.u.mstances?
As Homura watched while gnas.h.i.+ng her teeth, the woman finally stooped down quietly and spoke to Suzuran.
“You’ve grown a lot, Eri-chan.”
Her voice was gentle and clear.
“You were still small at the time, so you probably don’t remember your Mama. The long hair you had back then has also been cut, I see.”
“……”
“Is it all right if I touch you?”
Suzuran timidly nodded.
The girl separated herself from senpai, and the woman wrapped her arms around her shoulders and gently hugged her.
Homura and the others couldn’t see Suzuran’s expression, but she seemed to be in a dumbfounded daze.
“……”
“You’re called Suzuran now?”
“…Ah… yes. Hime gave me that name.”
“That’s the person who acted as your mother on Nutella, right? Someday, I have to meet that princess and tell her thank you. Thank you for protecting Erika-chan.”
“…N-Not now. If you’re going to do meet her, it has to be on a clear day. She’s even more easily angered on days when the fog is thick.
“Is that so? Then on a clear day it is.”
Slipping out a giggle, the woman separated herself a bit and fully looked over her grown-up daughter.
“Please let me properly look at your face…”
The woman touched her fingers lovingly to Suzuran’s cheek as she looked at her.
“How strange… You were so small not long ago, and yet…”
Seemingly ticklish, the girl twisted her body to escape the fingers.
The other people in the room silently watched from a distance as the two tried to re-forge their hazy bond as parent and child. The elderly police a.s.sistant inspector, who had partic.i.p.ated in the search for the girl, had been wiping his eyes with a handkerchief since the moment the mother and daughter had come face to face.
Putting both hands on her daughter’s shoulder, the woman spoke again.
“If you prefer it, I can call you Suzuran too.”
“……”
The girl awkwardly averted her eyes and sent a lost and uncertain glance at senpai standing nearby, but then she returned her upturned gaze to the woman and spoke.
“It… It’s fine, you can call me Erika.”
“Really?”
“In exchange… C-Can I call you Mama?”
The woman nodded happily.
“…Mama…”
“Yes.”
Warm tears once more appeared in the eyes of the woman who had long since quit crying—
“Mama… Mama, Mama, Mama!”
The girl’s choked cries began to gush out.
While tightly hugging her clinging daughter, the mother kept nodding over and over.
As their heart-aching voices resounded through the waiting room, Homura suddenly stood up.
“This is enough. I’m going home first, all right?”
“—Hinooka? Hey.”
Homura abruptly left and headed towards the stairs attached to the side entrance.
Touya stood up to chase after her, but his sleeve was tugged back.
When he turned around, Ameno winked at him while waving her finger.
“What’s wrong, Misasagi?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
After being spoken to, senpai turned her gaze to Fujimori.
“It’s better if you don’t stare at that hallway over there too much. No need to stir up unnecessary trouble.”
“…True.”
Senpai smiled.
“But, another time.”
“Yeah. It’d be nice if it happens.”
After taking time to breathe, the woman came forward to senpai, Fujimori and Tanakura and bowed her head deeply.
With the girl in the middle of them, the group exchanged congratulations and words of grat.i.tude respectively.
“Fuu… guh… *sniffle*…”
Every time she descended a step on the stairs, tears dripped down at Homura’s feet one by one.
When she managed to restrain her tears, this time she leaked out a strange voice.
But she was happy, so happy.
Homura stopped on one of the stairs’ landings—
And then she covered her face with both hands and let herself cry her eyes out.
She was probably making a terrible face that would be quite a sight for anyone to see.
But she didn’t particularly care if she had cried back there.
She truly didn’t care if Touya and Ameno saw her like this.
She would have even jumped into the room and surprised Suzuran and the others without caring about the circ.u.mstances.
It was just that she’d had trouble breathing from shock and felt choked.
She felt bewildered and overwhelmed at the fact that from within a person like her, who always tried to spice up her emotions while peeking at the reactions of the people who saw her, such frank and honest feelings could overflow, and that these feelings were a prayer of happiness.
It’ll be all right. She’ll surely be able to share her feelings next time, with her friends and comrades.
Chapter 24 END
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