The Lying Counselor’s Eloquent Reasoning - Chapter 10

From the following day, Tomomi’s life changed completely. She no longer had to conceal the grayish color of her skin. Her embarrassment and sense of inferiority faded away, and she regained her confidence. Even her classmates at school naturally became more open to her. Of course, her best friend was still Akane.

The recovery of Tomomi brought great joy to her mother. Upon returning home from Uroma’s, she immediately recognized the change in Tomomi’s skin, and broke into tears of joy, even offering to boil some sekihan to celebrate. As a matter of fact, Tomomi was too embarrassed to do so and thus did her best to prevent it.

At the sight of her mother in a frenzy of delight, Tomomi was overcome with mixed emotions. She was relieved that she had finally gotten rid of her troubles, yet at the same time, she felt a void in her heart, as if a massive hole had opened up. She didn’t figure out why she was having this feeling. In her head, she pondered the reasons for this and that, only to be led to Uroma’s unpleasant point. That was something that Tomomi could not tolerate. Therefore, she opted not to dwell on any of her feelings any longer.

The effect of the medicine was definite. By taking a single pill before going to bed, as Uroma had instructed, Tomomi’s skin maintained its healthy color. The medicine seemed to supply enough for half a year. The prospect of how much she would be charged when she had consumed it all frightened her slightly, but she took it in stride, figuring that since she was underage, she would not be charged that considerably.

Yet, in this way, she had resumed a fairly ordinary and healthy life, and her conversations with her mother had dwindled to a trickle. As ever, Tomomi never had meals with her mother at home. Although she would receive bento, she would only hand it to Akane. Therefore, despite living under the same roof, Tomomi never had the opportunity to converse with her mother. The issue of her skin, which was the only topic of conversation between them, had already been resolved.

Needless to say, if Tomomi had spoken to her, they would have reached a mutual understanding. However, her emotions refused to allow her to do so. Tomomi simply could not acknowledge her as her own mother.

For Tomomi, the only person she could refer to as a mother was her biological mother, who had passed away two years ago. She adored her mother deeply. That was why she was greatly perplexed, saddened, and mournful when her mother passed away abruptly from a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Until just a few days before her death, her mother had been in good health.

As a consequence of the unexpected separation from her mother, she was unable to acknowledge the woman from her father’s second marriage who suddenly appeared in front of her a year later as her mother. To Tomomi, the woman was nothing more than a foreign object.

Nevertheless, before Tomomi’s eyes, she started trying to behave like a mother. In the kitchen where her own mother once stood, she began to cook, just as her mother had done, and even performed other household chores. These actions were extremely unpleasant to Tomomi as if she was being arbitrarily overwritten with her memories of her own mother. Naturally, she rebelled against it.

But on the other hand, she did not feel guilty for continuing to treat her mother so coldly. As Akane had pointed out, her mother was innocent and free of any fault. This was also something that Tomomi thoroughly comprehended logically. Even so, she could not accept the woman as her mother. If she were to do so, she felt that all of her memories of her biological mother would be a lie.

In the midst of this conflict, Tomomi was forced to live with her mother in a rather distant manner. It was extremely discomforting. After a while, she began to think that she would have been much better off if she had gone to the hospital with her.

Eventually, a change in her life was brought upon her. One day, when Tomomi returned home from school, her mother said this to her.

“Tomomi, I’m leaving this house next week.”

“Eh??”

These words were beyond Tomomi’s belief.

“What do you mean you’re leaving?”

“Over there, at your father’s, Kimihiro’s house, I will be moving there. Your illness has been cured and there is nothing to be anxious for anymore. You’re a high school student. You can at least live on your own, can’t you?”

“Uh, yeah…”

Tomomi’s voice was trembling as she answered.

“I’m sorry for everything. I’m sure you must have felt very cramped with me, a complete stranger. But even if you’re going to live alone from now on, you mustn’t be sloppy.”

“I don’t need you to remind me of that! Why don’t you just get out of here already! Don’t say next week, you can go away right now!”

Tomomi yelled furiously and hurriedly left her stepmother’s presence and proceeded to her room. She felt her heart palpitating; her face burning; her body quivering. The emotions that rose in her were intense rage and irritation. She tried to repeat this over and over in her head, “She’ll finally be out of my sight, and I’ll feel better” but instead of feeling relieved, she only grew more irritated.

“What’s with that person… After playing the mother’s role all this time, she’s suddenly going to leave me? Then why bother with me at all!”

Yes, to Tomomi, this act of her mother was nothing but abandoning her and leaving her far away. That was highly unforgivable.

Tomomi’s rage and irritation was quite peculiar considering the cold attitude she had taken toward her mother, but in her rage she could not reflect on the contradictions in her own heart. All she could do was think desperately about how to prevent her mother from leaving.

Yes, one more time…

At that moment, a flash of inspiration struck her. She swiftly opened the drawer of her study desk and took out a utility knife.

T/N:

Sekihan – It is believed that red color has the power to cleanse evil spirits and avoid disasters in ancient times and it is used for celebration commonly