"Mm... Senior was a little strict, but she looked after me pretty well."
She gazed at the gravestone for a while, then straightened up.
"Are you going to live with your grandparents from now on?"
This woman didn't seem very good at talking, and didn't seem to care much about children's feelings, either.
The surroundings were quiet and cold, but Kazama Kiriori felt surprisingly calm.
"My grandparents have passed away."
Everyone from her grandparents' generation was already gone. The only family she had left were her relatives.
But they didn't want to take her in, either.
Nobody wanted her now.
Kazama Kiriori found it a little strange.
She had plenty of classmates at school who liked her. Everyone thought she was a good kid, and adults envied her parents for having a daughter like her. But now, those same adults were passing her around like a parcel.
The woman's expression remained as cool as before.
"That's a tough situation. It seems your senior's relatives don't really want to take you in, either."
This woman really wasn't very good at talking.
She was terrible at being an adult...
Why had Mom worked with someone like her?
Kazama Kiriori lowered her head, feeling a little down. She didn't know if it was because her parents had left her, or because of those unfamiliar, cold relatives.
Those relatives seemed even colder than the woman.
"Nobody wants me..."
Kazama Kiriori wiped her tears and spoke plaintively.
Seeing Kazama Kiriori cry, the woman realized she'd said the wrong thing and looked troubled for a moment.
She crouched down and held her umbrella over Kazama Kiriori, shielding her from the rain.
"Mm..."
The woman looked at Kazama Kiriori and thought for a while.
"How about this, then? I could take you in."
Little Kiriori, wiping away her tears, froze when she heard the woman's words. She raised her head and looked at the woman with reddened eyes.
"...Why?"
"I don't have parents, either, and I probably won't find a woman to be with me in the future. I might as well take you in."
Afterward, Kazama Kiriori learned that the woman's surname was Haihara, and that she was still in college. She'd once interned at the place where Mom worked.
The woman was probably in her twenties. She'd graduate next year, and after her parents passed away, they'd left her an inheritance. It was enough to support two people. Since she was a woman, there wouldn't be as many restrictions, so she should be able to adopt Kazama.
But then the relatives who hadn't wanted to take her in tried to stop it.
They thought Haihara was after Kazama's parents' inheritance.
The Kazama family was quite well-off. Her parents were still young, but they'd already saved up a good amount of money. Once Kazama became an adult, she'd be able to inherit it.
So a woman like Haihara, who wasn't related to Kazama at all, was probably after her parents' inheritance.
The rain had gotten a little heavier, pattering against the umbrella. It made everyone want to hurry home and go to bed.
In fact, most of the people there wanted to wrap things up and get home as soon as possible.
Haihara didn't answer the adults' questions right away. She simply glanced at the rain dripping from the umbrella, then at the little girl sheltering beneath it.
Then she casually ruffled the little girl's hair.
"The inheritance does sound like a hassle. I don't think I can prove I'm innocent, either... If it's going to be that much trouble, you can divide up my senior's inheritance among yourselves. I'll take care of her either way."
She didn't mean anything by it, and she wasn't being sarcastic. She simply thought the whole thing was a bit too much trouble. Right now, she just wanted to get home.
After hearing Haihara's words, Kazama Kiriori lifted her head and, without realizing it, edged a little closer...
She wanted to live with this woman named Haihara.
With her head lowered, Kazama Kiriori made up her mind.
"I don't mind giving up my parents' inheritance... but I want Miss Haihara to adopt me."
After that, Haihara became her mother.
The Temptation of Going Home
In the end, Kazama Kiriori became Haihara's adopted daughter. As for her parents' inheritance, she would receive it when she came of age.
Haihara had made taking her in sound easy, but in reality, it was still hard.
Haihara had to work part-time to support them both and finish college, too. She only had one year left, but it was still an extremely difficult year.
Because she had to take care of Kiriori, Haihara stopped living in the dorms and rented a place close to her university. The rent was cheap, but the conditions weren't great. The two of them had to sleep on the floor in the same room, and there was no air conditioning in summer.
Kazama went to a middle school nearby, too.
But neither of them ever complained.
They'd both decided that from then on, they would live together and rely on each other.
Kazama Kiriori gradually got to know the woman.
Haihara was a cold and slow-witted woman, like a snake.
Every morning, she got up on time, washed up, made breakfast, then rode her bicycle to take Kiriori to school. After a full day of classes at university, she came to pick her up on time. Then she made dinner, watched TV, and went to bed.
If Kazama didn't start a conversation, Haihara wouldn't say anything on her own.
When watching TV or eating, she didn't smile, either. She was simply passing the time or eating because she had to.
Haihara had once thought about growing flowers, but they soon withered because she forgot to water them. She gave up not long afterward.
Kiriori heard that Haihara had once kept hamsters and tortoises, too, but they'd all died as well.
Sometimes, Kazama thought that snakes were probably the only animals Haihara could take care of properly.
The woman didn't have any particular hobbies or strong opinions. She didn't like talking or smiling, and she had no real enthusiasm for life.
She was completely different from Kazama's own parents.
Sometimes, Kazama found her a little boring.
If only Haihara would talk to her more.
There were only a few times when Haihara talked to her at length.
One of those times was when she was sick.
Haihara wasn't good at taking care of children, and she didn't know what to do when a child had a high fever. So, for the first time, she seemed clumsy and flustered. She kept calling people she knew to ask for advice, then rushed all over the place for medicine and cold compresses.
Kazama Kiriori just lay on her pillow, watching Haihara panic. For some reason, it made her a little happy.
Haihara slowly laid a towel soaked in cold water on her forehead, then quietly watched Kazama Kiriori.
Kazama Kiriori stared at the ceiling and asked weakly:
"If Mom has a child of her own someday, will you take care of them like this, too?"
Haihara would probably get married someday.
And then she'd have a child of her own.
If that child got a fever, would Haihara take care of them like this, too?
"Taking care of you is already enough trouble. I don't want another kid, and giving birth hurts, doesn't it?"
Haihara didn't particularly want to have children.
"That's true. Kiriori doesn't want Mom to be in pain, either, so don't have a baby, Mom."
"I won't."
Haihara said coolly.
Kazama Kiriori smiled, then reached out to touch Haihara. This time, Haihara actually reached out first and gently took her hand.
"Will you get married someday, Mom?"
She asked again.
"There's no one who likes me. No one would marry me, right?"
Haihara gently squeezed Kazama Kiriori's hand, her other hand propping up her cheek as she spoke casually.
"Didn't you have a boyfriend once, Mom?"
Kazama Kiriori was a little unhappy when she brought that up.
Even though that experience hadn't even counted as a first love, Kazama Kiriori still felt jealous.
"Who knows? It was probably some kind of prank. Besides, I didn't like him, either."
"Heh..."
Kazama Kiriori gave a little snort.
So Haihara wouldn't get married someday.
Didn't that mean they would be together forever?
But... what if she wanted to marry Mom someday?
"...Mom."
"Hmm?"
Kazama Kiriori looked at Haihara, gazing into her eyes.
"Why did you adopt me back then?"
"Didn't you agree to it yourself?"
"But it must have been hard. And it's not like I couldn't have survived." Kazama Kiriori edged a little closer and gently rubbed her head against Haihara's knee.
"I just thought it sounded interesting. And my senior had been good to me, so I asked if you wanted to try living with me."
It was just a very ordinary reason.
She'd wondered whether to live with her, and in the end, she'd adopted her.
As if she weren't taking life seriously at all.
Sometimes, Kazama Kiriori got that feeling.
Everyone else took life seriously. Only Mom Haihara seemed to live so carelessly, as if nothing really mattered.
"Were you and Mom close, Mom Haihara?"
"More or less."
"Then how did you meet Mom?"
Haihara lowered her head and thought for a while, then answered slowly.
"Back then... she was a few years older than me, a senior in my doctoral program, I think. Then she introduced me to an internship, and after that, we worked at the same place."
"She looked after me a lot during that time, but I quit after a while."
Kazama Kiriori asked curiously:
"Why?"
This time, Haihara actually looked a little awkward.
"...I suddenly found out she was already married, and already had a child, too."
Kazama Kiriori was a little confused.
Before you continue