Chapter 421

"Kiriori, you don't want to end up like Color Feather, do you?"

Here, Kazama Kiriori heard a name she didn't particularly like.

She stood there, paused for a moment.

Perhaps unsure of what to say, or perhaps unwilling to give a direct answer, a temporary silence fell over the research institute.

As to what those words actually meant, no one knew for a time.

Chapter 180 Wishes and Amulets

Kazama Kiriori woke up at six in the morning, barely feeling sleepy.

As the cool sunlight gently swept across the curtains, the girl with long, black hair kept her eyes open, quietly gazing into her dimly lit, unlit room.

"..."

After realizing she had woken up earlier than planned, she first turned off the alarm clock.

He breathed heavily through his nose for a moment.

Beside the bed, there was a worn-out, patched rag doll.

Besides these, there were many other items belonging to Kazama Kiriori, almost filling the entire bed.

After that, she just stood there in a daze until seven o'clock.

When she felt it was about time, she got out of bed, put on a sweater to keep warm, and after a quick wash, she started preparing breakfast.

Kazama Kiriori has always maintained a regular sleep schedule of going to bed early and waking up early, and she has always eaten breakfast. This has been her habit since she was a child.

The Haihara is exactly the opposite.

Although Mom doesn't really like eating breakfast, as long as she prepares it, she'll get up even if she wants to stay in bed.

There wasn't much smoke from making breakfast. While Kazama Kiriori was frying bacon and bread, she was also preparing sweet steamed egg custard.

Kazama Kiriori wasn't particularly confident about the taste of her breakfasts, but she did enjoy listening to the bubbling sound of soup simmering in the pot as dawn broke; it always gave her a sense of fulfillment in her life.

After preparing all the breakfasts, Kazama Kiriori glanced at the time again and nodded in satisfaction. She felt her time management was quite good.

It's time to wake the young lady up.

With a nervous heart, she gently pressed the doorknob, then slowly pushed it open, quietly observing the scene inside the room.

When Kirito Kazama Kiriori saw Haihara Lily Chou, her mother who looked somewhat unfamiliar, sleeping soundly in the bed that used to belong to her, she felt a sense of relief.

She pushed the door open.

Then, she slowly walked to the bedside.

"Mmm..."

She gently shook the other person's shoulder.

The thin girl on the bed let out a cute, soft humming sound because of her exhaustion.

Kazama Kiriori waited patiently for a while.

Haihara Lily Chou opened her eyes from her drowsiness and saw Kazama Kiriori's handsome face, meeting her gaze.

Instinctively, Haihara grabbed the blanket and covered the lower half of her face, leaving only her eyes visible.

"Breakfast."

Kazama Kiriori patiently stayed by the bedside and said...

Meanwhile, Haibara, still Haihara in bed, could smell the aroma of breakfast wafting from outside the bedroom.

She felt a little embarrassed that a beautiful older woman, whom she wasn't very familiar with, was waking her up so gently.

I haven't even dressed properly yet.

She had no choice but to be a little shameless and crawl out of bed. But soon after she crawled out, the person named Kazama Kiriori had already thoughtfully brought her coat and was about to dress her like a mother taking care of a child.

Haihara wanted to say that she could dress herself.

But that would be too childish.

So she raised her arm, and the girl, who was taller and older than her, stood in front of her and patiently helped her put on her warm coat, bit by bit.

Even though it was just after waking up in the morning, Kazama Kiriori's hair still had a faint scent of shampoo.

Afterwards, Kazama Kiriori took the hand of Haihara Lily Chou, who was still too sleepy to keep her eyes open, and led her to the washbasin.

Haihara was still sleepy-eyed, yawning like a cat.

Next, Haihara picked up her toothbrush and began to wash her face.

In the mirror, Kazama Kiriori stands behind Haihara, who is washing up, and naturally picks up a comb to begin grooming the lazy black cat's messy fur.

At that moment, Haihara's brushing motion faltered for a split second.

She lowered her neck slightly unconsciously, clearly feeling awkward, yet somehow also strangely comfortable with it.

Behind her, every movement of Kazama Kiriori was gentle.

At least Haihara didn't feel any pain from having her hair pulled.

"I'll go prepare breakfast."

After making sure her mother was properly awake and washed up, Kazama Kiriori didn't disturb her and went to set the table herself.

Haihara Lily Chou was left alone in the same spot, her mind still replaying the various "natural" acts of care that Kazama Kiriori this time.

If she didn't know how to use a spoon and chopsticks herself, Kazama Kiriori would probably have to feed her.

Well, how should I put it?

She looks a bit like a mother.

Meanwhile, Kazama Kiriori herself was also beginning to adapt to living with her mother.

And so, a new day began.

The snow outside had stopped for once, and the winter wind was still blowing softly. Kazama Kiriori and Haihara were enjoying breakfast, a meal they were starting to get used to, and for a moment they couldn't tell whether it was cold or warm.

Recently, Kazama Kiriori has had a strange idea.

That is, she feels very happy lately.

Of course, this isn't to say that it's strange.

However, it had been a long time since she had lived with her mother like this, eaten breakfast together, and spent so much time with her.

These moments made her feel like she had returned to the past.

Although she felt a little regretful that they couldn't be too intimate, she was still very happy just being with her mother like this, to the point that she wanted to put many things about the future out of her mind.

However, let's quietly let such thoughts disappear.

There are many more things to worry about now than that.

Half the day had passed without them realizing it, and life at the Kazama household was no different from the previous two days.

To be honest, Kazama Kiriori really wasn't in the mood to prepare for the exam. As she listened to the ticking of the clock, she turned her gaze to Haihara Lily Chou beside her.

"Don't you get bored here since there's nothing to do every day?"

Beside her, Haihara Lily Chou was still looking at the book propped up on her thighs when she heard Kazama Kiriori raise her head and speak, at which point she turned her head slightly.

"No, not at all."

The girl answered crisply and decisively.

Of course, my mother is someone who enjoys a lot of free time.

If we're talking about who gets bored staying home all the time, it's definitely Kazama Kiriori herself.

However, even so, Kazama Kiriori still felt that the current life was not good for her mother.

So she said:

"After a while, Aunt Kougami and the others should be able to come up with a solution, so please stay by my side during this time."

All she had to do was protect her mother's safety.

As for other things, they are not within her consideration for the time being.

I wonder if Haihara Lily Chou listened attentively.

She simply lowered her head slightly, her gaze remaining fixed on the pages of the book she had been reading, but she was actually distracted.

Kazama Kiriori always felt that she knew her mother very well.

However, Kazama Kiriori has always known that she doesn't understand her mother.

At that moment, she couldn't quite explain what her mother was thinking.

Or perhaps I wasn't thinking about anything at all.

For a moment, Haihara's gaze froze.

"I..."

Haihara slightly opened her mouth.

But it only emitted a very faint sound, and its pupils remained as deep and dim as ever.

"What's wrong?"

Kazama Kiriori felt somewhat uneasy.

Seemingly finally unable to hold back any longer, Haihara lowered her head and said in a very soft voice:

"... Am I sick?"

Kazama Kiriori, of course, heard it clearly.

But what does that mean?

She wanted to touch Haihara's forehead, but her intuition told her she couldn't do it now.

Once she realized she had said it, even the usually thick-skinned Haihara instinctively shook her head and stammered, "Sorry."

Can you tell me what that means?

Kazama Kiriori didn't ask her if she was feeling unwell.

Haihara's gaze darted away.

This time, Kazama Kiriori seemed to have become a little bolder. She moved closer to Haihara, her face close to Haihara's cheek, so close that they could feel each other's breath.

"You can tell me anything, you can say anything to me, even if you hit me I won't mind, because I won't hate anything you do."

"So don't keep things to yourself, tell me."

She took Haihara's hand and placed it on her face.

As if to tell Haihara how docile and loyal she was, she placed her slender neck into the hand that was caressing her.

Perhaps Kazama Kiriori herself is unaware of this.

But to Haihara, Kazama Kiriori's body temperature seemed to be very high.

Haihara lowered her head, wanting to pull her hand away, but in the end, after Kazama's comforting words, she spoke:

"I just feel... it's very strange."

"I'm right here, and I don't feel like there's anything wrong with me, but just because I'm here, everyone thinks something's off, like I'm a patient."

She didn't feel that there was anything strange or wrong with her, that she was the same age as everyone else, a high school student.

But to everyone she met as an adult, she was a patient waiting for treatment.

There's nothing wrong with that.

But she still couldn't help feeling confused.

"Is that so...?"

Kazama Kiriori herself didn't know why she understood these rather obscure words.

She couldn't help but pat Haihara's head:

Thank you for telling me all this.