What Did You Do to My Mom?

Amamiya Natsuki opened the door and entered the room with Miko.

"Let's get started."

Amamiya Natsuki set down his schoolbag and lay flat on the floor.

Miko's mother worked to support the family and often had to work overtime, so she got home very late. Cleaning, doing the housework, preparing meals, and taking care of her elementary-school-aged younger brother were all Miko's responsibilities.

It was almost dark, and Miko still had plenty to do. He couldn't take up too much of her time.

"Um..."

Yotsuya Miko turned to look at Mrs. Kaguya beside her.

Using her feet to step on a boy's body to help generate electricity was already so embarrassing that she'd hate for her younger brother to see it, let alone her classmate's mother.

"Miss Shimizu, could you step outside for a moment?" Amamiya Natsuki looked at the Guardian Spirit lady. "Miko and I are about to do something we can't let anyone know about."

On the way home, after they'd talked, Amamiya Natsuki had learned Mrs. Kaguya's real name.

Shimizu Nayotake.

She'd even refused to be called Mrs. Shinomiya.

Amamiya Natsuki hadn't asked why. It was probably no more than the usual power struggles in a great family.

"Don't say things like that." Yotsuya Miko's pretty face flushed, and she couldn't help scolding him. "People will get the wrong idea!"

It was just a back massage, not some secret they couldn't let anyone know about. It was a perfectly respectable service at massage parlors, wasn't it?

"Understood." Mrs. Kaguya blinked, a knowing look on her pretty face as she walked toward the door. "Don't worry, Natsuki-kun. I'll keep your secret and won't tell Little Kaguya."

What would it matter if she told the Ice Sculpture Girl?

He hadn't cheated on anyone or been unfaithful. He'd only had his Childhood Sweetheart generate electricity with her feet. There was nothing shameful about that.

"That's not what you think." Yotsuya Miko's pretty face was slightly flushed as she quickly explained, "I'm just helping him with a back massage."

"I see." Mrs. Kaguya nodded in sudden understanding and passed through the door. "Take your time. I'll guard the door and make sure nobody comes in."

Apart from Miko, there wasn't even a third person in the room!

"..."

The room fell quiet.

Miko sighed tiredly, lifted her right foot, and gently stepped on Amamiya Natsuki's back.

Perhaps because Miko was wearing black over-the-knee socks today, the sensation of her foot against his back felt even smoother and silkier to Amamiya Natsuki.

A little while later.

"That's enough for today. I'm heading home." Miko's nose was slightly sweaty. Keeping her balance while giving him a back massage was pretty exhausting. "See you tomorrow."

Amamiya Natsuki sat up and clenched his right fist. "Great. I've gotten stronger again."

Yotsuya Miko covered her skirt with her right hand and looked down at him with disdain as she retorted:

"Getting stronger just because someone steps on you feels really weird."

"There are no weird skills, only weird people." Amamiya Natsuki looked righteous. "I only redeemed this skill because it was you, Miko."

Yotsuya Miko turned her face away. "...Goodbye."

Mrs. Kaguya had been in a dazed state before. Having come back to life today, she was full of curiosity about the world more than ten years later, and her thirst for knowledge was especially strong. She just couldn't stop.

Amamiya Natsuki still needed to rest, so in the end he simply gave her a spare phone and let Mrs. Kaguya surf the web on her own.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, after getting up, Amamiya Natsuki left his room and was shocked to discover that Mrs. Kaguya had become blurry all over.

"Good morning, Natsuki-kun."

Mrs. Kaguya, her black hair reaching down to her waist, sat on the sofa, absorbed in her phone. When Amamiya Natsuki came downstairs, she looked up and greeted him.

"When I died, phones were still Nokias. You could call and send messages, but that was about it. Now you can even make video calls... Scientific technology really is the primary productive force!"

You're a ghost, a being of the mind. Don't go converting to the religion of science!

"Stop playing on your phone." Amamiya Natsuki raised an eyebrow. "Do you feel unwell?"

"Huh?" Mrs. Kaguya tilted her head, sounding confused. "What's wrong?"

Your body's practically transparent. What do you think is wrong?

After one night, something was clearly off with this Mrs. Kaguya.

If she'd been in high definition yesterday, today she was unmistakably down to 720p.

"That's strange. Why is this happening?"

Mrs. Kaguya looked down at herself, then quickly widened her eyes.

Amamiya Natsuki was speechless.

"Don't you know what's happening to you?"

"Even if you put it that way, Natsuki-kun, this is my first time being a Guardian Spirit. I don't have any experience." Mrs. Kaguya hugged herself with both hands, looking pitiful. "Could I be sick?"

You're just a Guardian Spirit. You don't even have a body, so how could you get sick?!

Amamiya Natsuki asked in a low voice:

"What did you do last night?"

"Let me think..." Mrs. Kaguya raised a finger and held it to her lips. "After Natsuki-kun fell asleep, I played on my phone in the living room the whole time. The phone ran out of battery, so I played while it charged... and then it was morning."

So you stayed up all night playing on your phone?! You jumped right into pulling an all-nighter. Be careful you don't drop dead!

Wait.

You're already a ghost.

As a ghost, staying up all night probably wasn't a problem at all.

"I feel a little weak," Mrs. Kaguya said hesitantly. "Maybe I'm... hungry?"

A Guardian Spirit was still essentially a ghost, not a human.

Mrs. Kaguya had tried it the previous night. She could drink and eat, but she couldn't taste anything, and it didn't make her feel full.

As for where the food went after she swallowed it, only heaven knew.

Amamiya Natsuki thought for a moment, then asked in a low voice:

"You said yesterday that touching physical objects takes some kind of energy?"

In her ordinary form, a ghost couldn't interact with matter. Otherwise, the whole world would have been turned upside down long ago.

Mrs. Kaguya blinked. "...I think that's right."

Case closed.

There was only one truth.

You'd been using some unknown energy to play on your phone the whole time and had drained yourself dry!

As a ghost, staying up all night had somehow drained you dry. You're way too weak!

"What should I do now, Natsuki-kun?" Mrs. Kaguya asked pitifully.

"I don't know either." Amamiya Natsuki shook his head. "Let's go to school first."

After eating a little bread and drinking a glass of milk, Amamiya Natsuki picked up his schoolbag and headed to school alone.

The difference from usual was that a Guardian Spirit lady was with him today.

"I wish I could stay home and keep playing on my phone..."

Mrs. Kaguya sounded disappointed.

You still want to play on your phone? If you overdo it, you might just vanish into thin air!

As he walked out of the house, he happened to see Yotsuya Miko coming out of the neighboring house.

"Morning, Miko."

Amamiya Natsuki raised a hand in greeting.

"Morning." Miko nodded slightly, her gaze falling on the lady. "Good morning, Miss Shimizu," she said quietly.

Mrs. Kaguya smiled and nodded gracefully. "Good morning, Little Miko."

"Um..." Yotsuya Miko pursed her lips and hesitated. "Why does Miss Shimizu look different from yesterday?"

Mrs. Kaguya covered her face with both hands. "Because Natsuki-kun spent all last night putting me through this and that kind of position..."

Don't say things like that! If the Ice Sculpture Young Lady heard you say that, she'd surely kill someone!

This was his first time having a Guardian Spirit, that "accessory," so of course Amamiya Natsuki wanted to test her abilities properly. He couldn't just keep her around and treat her like his mother-in-law, could he?

Yotsuya Miko's expression didn't change as she turned to look at Amamiya Natsuki. "What happened?"

Amamiya Natsuki sighed, explained the situation, then earnestly advised her:

"...You've got an example right in front of you. Don't stay up playing on your phone in the future, Miko."

Yotsuya Miko gave him an exasperated look. "You've got some nerve saying that. You do the same thing."

As they chatted, they soon arrived at school.

Ever since learning that Amamiya Natsuki could drive away evil spirits, Yotsuya Miko had decided that they would go to school together from then on.

Being misunderstood by others was nothing compared to the exhaustion and despair of being alone.

They were Childhood Sweethearts anyway. It didn't matter if people misunderstood.

Amamiya Natsuki and Miko said goodbye at the shoe lockers, changed into their indoor shoes, and went to their separate classrooms.

It was still early, and the classroom was nearly empty, with only a few people there.

The black-haired, red-eyed Ice Sculpture Young Lady sat in a corner, quietly gazing out at the schoolyard. The sunlight fell across the flawless side of her face. Her astonishing beauty was impossible to fault, and boys had already walked back and forth along the corridor countless times.

Unfortunately, she was as famous for her coldness as for her beauty. With her keep-your-distance aura, everyone could only admire her from afar and didn't dare approach.

That was, until Amamiya Natsuki appeared.

"Little Kaguya, Mommy's here!"

Mrs. Shimizu's eyes lit up, and she called out happily.

Shinomiya Kaguya pressed her lips together slightly and said nothing.

"That's so mean." Mrs. Kaguya covered her face. "She won't say a word to me. Little Kaguya really doesn't want to see Mommy, does she?"

"..."

Shinomiya Kaguya bit her lower lip with her pearly teeth, feeling very troubled.

Nobody else in the classroom could see you. How was she supposed to talk to you?!

In her memories, her mother had been quiet and reserved when she was little. Why had she become like this now?

She turned to look at Mrs. Kaguya, and when she noticed that something was wrong with her, Shinomiya Kaguya's pretty face turned serious.

"...What happened?"

Shinomiya Kaguya asked quietly.

Amamiya Natsuki sighed. "It's a long story."

Before he could finish, Amamiya Natsuki felt a movement at his finger. He turned and saw Fujiwara Chika walking in from the doorway with a bright smile.

"Good morning, Natsuki-classmate... Huh? Huh?!"

Fujiwara Chika's eyes widened in disbelief. "Is that Kaguya-chan's mother?"

Mrs. Kaguya, who had been covering her face and pretending to be upset, now flashed a V sign.

"That's right. It's me."