Luckily, her mother was not the type to seize on that point and refuse to let it go.
"There's something else I want to confirm," Ichinose's mother said.
"Honami, don't let your family leave you with no choice. If you lose the freedom to choose because of us, then we'd rather not become a burden to you."
In other words, Ichinose's mother hoped her daughter would not choose to graduate and marry Hachiman because of family matters, as a compromise.
As her mother, she still hoped her daughter could pursue her own happiness.
It was just that...
"How should I put this?" Since she was only facing her mother, Ichinose did not need to hide it. "At first, I only had a bit of a favorable impression of him, and I was grateful to him too. But now, I feel..."
"I want to see him every day. I've never felt this way before."
"Mom, I don't think this is a compromise. I just want to be with him."
Ichinose seemed to be seeking her mother's approval.
But...
At that moment, Ichinose's mother felt rather awkward.
After all, she had not come here to hear her daughter explain what love was.
Still, this meant her worries had merely been worries. Her daughter had not compromised.
However, that also raised another issue: Honami seemed to be completely smitten with Hachiman now.
If she wanted to see him all the time, and the university Hachiman attended in the future was different from Honami's, then her daughter might become overly clingy and cause Hachiman trouble.
And bringing her daughter into the wrong room had probably caused Hachiman trouble already.
So, being the understanding woman she was, Ichinose's mother immediately left Hachiman's room with her daughter.
It was just that...
"...?"
At that moment, a