Mother Morishita

As soon as the bell rang for the end of first period the next morning, Morishita Ran pulled a rubber band from her pencil case.

Unlike yesterday's transparent one, this was a double strand twisted from two bands, dark blue in color.

Kiryu Yume was closing his class notes when the back of his neck was flicked with twice the force of yesterday.

With a snap, rubber dust bounced off the edge of his collar and fell into the back of his uniform collar.

He shrank his neck and reached in to fish it out, turning to see Morishita Ran leaning over her desk as she wound the double strand another loop around her index finger.

Her blue-violet downcast eyes looked up at him, and the corner of her lips curved into the same expression he had seen yesterday.

"Double strand."

She said those two words in exactly the same tone she had used for "cola flavor" yesterday.

Kiryu Yume shook the rubber dust from his collar, then leaned over the back of his chair, resting his chin on his arms as he faced her.

Less than a palm's width separated their noses. Several strands of her short dark-blue hair brushed the desktop and lay scattered near his hand.

"Double the elasticity. You're trying to flick the back of my neck red."

"Mm. If it turns red, I'll know where the force limit is. Then I can adjust it tomorrow." She spun the double strand around her finger without backing away despite how close they were.

Kiryu Yume pulled another rubber band from her pencil case and tested its tension between his fingers. Still leaning beside her desk, he looped the double strand around his index finger.

"Not fair. If I'm fighting back, it has to be even."

Morishita Ran took out another twisted double strand and set it beside his hand. She buried her chin another half inch into her arms, leaving only her blue-violet downcast eyes exposed.

"Three rounds, no sneak attacks. The loser calls the winner Mom. A mother-and-child match. I treated you to lollipops yesterday, so today we're trying something new."

Kiryu Yume's hand paused as he looped on the rubber band. Their faces were too close; he could clearly see his shrunken reflection in her blue-violet pupils.

"You came up with that stake way too smoothly."

"What else? Would you be happy if I made you call me Dad?" Morishita Ran barely lifted her eyelids. "Mom sounds more interesting."

"If you win, I'll call you too." She pulled the double strand taut and aimed at the pencil on his desk corner, though her eyes remained on him.

Kiryu Yume tightened the double strand and pulled it taut. "Fine."

Morishita Ran went first in the first round.

She drew the double strand tight, adjusting the angle between her index and middle fingers by less than a millimeter. The rubber dust struck the center of the pencil shaft, spinning the pencil a full turn and a half.

Kiryu Yume pulled his own double strand taut and flicked it. It was far stronger than a single band, and his distance judgment was off. It grazed the edge of the eraser, knocking off only a tiny chip.

Morishita Ran glanced at the eraser, then returned her gaze to his face. "One to zero."

The corner of her mouth lifted by the slightest amount. Then she reached out and lightly poked the back of his hand, which was still holding the double strand ready.

"Still aiming? Your finger is pulling back."

Kiryu Yume looked down and saw that his index finger had indeed unconsciously retreated by one position.

Kiryu Yume went first in the second round.

He went over the techniques she had taught him yesterday, keeping his wrist still and adjusting only the angle as he pulled the double strand as tight as it would go.

The rubber dust flew out and hit the target dead-on. The eraser slid two inches, stopping at the edge of the desk after wobbling twice.

"Hit it." He slipped the rubber band off his hand, unable to suppress the smile on his face.

Morishita Ran tilted her head and glanced at the faintly swaying eraser. Her blue-violet downcast eyes held a trace of surprise.

She looped the double strand back on, aimed at his pencil, and took another shot. It grazed the pencil shaft and went off target, making the pencil slide only half an inch.

Kiryu Yume looked down at the pencil. When he looked back up, she was removing the double strand from her finger, her downcast eyes fixed on it.

"My hand slipped," she said, holding her index finger out before him. The red mark left by the tight double strand was clearly visible on her knuckle.

Kiryu Yume reached out, pinched her fingertip, and drew it slightly closer. The pad of his thumb gently pressed the place where the band had left its mark.

"There's only one explanation for you aiming for three seconds and missing."

"What explanation?" Her lashes fluttered twice in quick succession.

"You didn't want me to lose two rounds in a row." Kiryu Yume released her hand, lightly patting the back of it with his fingertips before withdrawing.

Morishita Ran pulled her hand back and lowered her head to look at the red mark on it. "Only a one-to-one score makes someone willing to play a third round. Who would want to play a mother-and-child match with someone who lost all their fighting spirit in the first round?" She looped the double strand back on, her blue-violet downcast eyes watching him from behind it. "One to one."

Morishita Ran went first in the third round.

She looped the double strand around her index finger again. The motion of pulling it taut was slower than in either of the first two rounds, the dark-blue fibers stretched to their absolute limit between her fingers.

Her blue-violet downcast eyes watched him from behind the rubber band. The light in them was faint, but her focus was steady.

Kiryu Yume pulled his own double strand taut as well. Their arms were nearly parallel, their elbows separated by only a few centimeters.

Morishita Ran aimed for three seconds, her breathing so shallow that the rise and fall of her chest was nearly imperceptible.

Then she moved. The rubber dust flew in a straight line, striking Kiryu Yume's pencil and sending it rolling twice before it fell from the desk corner to the floor with a clatter.

He did not even get the chance to fire.

Morishita Ran removed the double strand and placed it beside her pencil case. Her blue-violet downcast eyes remained on him, that curve still at the corner of her lips.

Kiryu Yume bent down, picked up his pencil, and tapped it twice on the desk before leaning over the chair back again.

He lowered his voice until only she could hear, bringing his face another half inch closer. "A bet is a bet."

"Mom."

Morishita Ran's earlobes began to redden the moment he said the first word. By the second, the color had spread from her lobes to the edges of her ears.

She unwrapped a lollipop and put it in her mouth. It was cola-flavored, puffing out one small side of her cheek.

Then she lightly poked the back of his hand resting at the desk edge with the plastic tip of the lollipop stick. "Say it again. You said it too fast just now, I didn't hear clearly."

Kiryu Yume looked into her eyes. There was a faint smile in her blue-violet downcast gaze, while the curve of her lips was plainly impossible to suppress even as she tried to hold it steady.

"Mom." He spoke more softly and slowly than before, as if whispering a secret.

Morishita Ran blinked twice after hearing it.

Then she leaned closer, close enough for him to smell the sweetness of the cola lollipop in her mouth.

"Okay. I received the stake. You can back off now." After saying that, she backed away first, moving the lollipop from the left corner of her mouth to the right. The red on her ears had yet to fade.

Kiryu Yume did not back away. "You can't just say okay and be done with it. I called you twice, at least."

Morishita Ran tilted her head and thought about it. "There's another option. We can keep betting tomorrow. If you win, I'll let you call me back."

"Does calling it back mean I call you, or you call me?"

"Either is fine, but you might not win." She bit down on the lollipop with a crunch, then pulled a soda-flavored lollipop from her pocket, unwrapped it, and placed it on the back of his hand.

"A reward. Both times you called were acceptable, but giving you two would be a loss, so one is just right." She laughed first after saying that, a very soft, brief half-laugh, then immediately hid her mouth behind the lollipop stick.

A system notification popped up in the depths of his consciousness.

[New bond detected]

[Current mothers: Kamuro Masumi, Sakayanagi Arisu, Morishita Ran]

[New bond: Rubber-Band Flicking—Slightly increases the accuracy of throwing-type actions; triggered after a Rubber-Band Flicking match with Morishita Ran]

Kiryu Yume looked down at his fingers. The entire line of force from his index finger to his wrist seemed more responsive than before.

He looped the double strand around his left wrist, stood up, and picked up his schoolbag.

Morishita Ran stood as well. When she came to his side, she turned her head and glanced at the back of his neck.

She reached out and lightly touched the spot that had been flicked four times with her fingertips, then blew on it.

"It's not red. The double-strand force is just right. We can raise the stakes next time." She withdrew her hand and headed toward the classroom door.

That small patch of skin on the back of Kiryu Yume's neck still retained the cool touch of her breath.

When the two of them left the classroom, Yamamura Miki was standing against the hallway wall with a notebook in her arms.

Her long black hair was tied into a side ponytail that hung over her shoulder. When she saw them come out, her shoulders drew in slightly.

Kiryu Yume slowed his pace. "Yamamura, going to the cafeteria?"

Yamamura Miki nodded once, her voice so soft it was nearly drowned out by footsteps in the hallway. "Mm." Then she lowered her head and waited for them to go first.

Morishita Ran glanced at her while biting her lollipop, then reached out and pushed the notebook that was about to slip from Yamamura Miki's arms back into her hands.

Yamamura Miki froze for a moment, then hugged the notebook tightly and followed them, walking on the wall side.

The cafeteria was not too crowded. The three of them each ordered a set meal and found a table for four by the window.

Yamamura Miki sat by the window, while Morishita Ran sat beside Kiryu Yume, propping her chin on an elbow as she looked at the menu board. The lollipop stick swayed gently at the corner of her mouth.

Kiryu Yume had just snapped apart his chopsticks when Morishita Ran's chopsticks reached over and took a piece of fried chicken from his bowl, placing it in her own mouth.

After chewing twice and swallowing, she spoke without even lifting her eyelids. "The pieces in your bowl are bigger than mine. Next time, you deliberately pick the big ones, and I'll help balance things out."

Kiryu Yume looked down at the gap left by the missing piece of fried chicken, then at the pieces in her bowl that were obviously smaller than his. "You picked those yourself."

"Mm. So I eat yours." Morishita Ran took a piece of tamagoyaki from her bowl and placed it in his as an exchange, then lowered her head and continued eating.

After taking two bites of rice, Kiryu Yume suddenly noticed another piece of tamagoyaki in his bowl. He turned to look at Morishita Ran. She was drinking miso soup as if nothing had happened, but he now had two pieces of tamagoyaki in his bowl, while hers had none left.

"You gave me all your tamagoyaki."

"I don't like tamagoyaki. The first piece was a demonstration for you. The second was left over after the demonstration, and nobody else was going to eat it." She finished her miso soup and set down the bowl, her expression utterly unchanged.

Kiryu Yume looked down at the two pieces of tamagoyaki in his bowl, picked one up, and took a bite. "Then why didn't you tell me you didn't like it before putting it in my bowl?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't have had the same demonstration effect." She removed the lollipop from her mouth and set it beside her tray, picking up her chopsticks to continue eating.

After a few more bites, she tilted her head toward him and asked, "Is tamagoyaki sweet?"

"Sweet. The cafeteria's tamagoyaki has always been on the sweet side."

"Mm. Then it was right to give the sweet one to you." She picked up a piece of fried chicken from her bowl and took a bite. As she chewed, she suddenly turned to stare at his mouth. "When you chew with your left teeth, the right corner of your mouth twitches once."

Kiryu Yume stopped chewing. Her blue-violet downcast eyes were still fixed on the corner of his mouth, as though waiting for that twitch to appear again.

"You even notice that?"

"Other than the back of your head, there's only your profile to look at when I sit behind you." She shifted her gaze back to her bowl and continued eating, her tone as casual as when she had said "cola flavor."

Yamamura Miki sat quietly across from them, drinking her miso soup. She glanced at them through the gap in her bangs, then quickly lowered her head again.

She picked up the last piece of fried tofu from her bowl and placed it on the small plate beside Kiryu Yume's bowl. The moment she finished, she lowered her head and continued drinking her soup, the tips of her ears turning a little red.

Morishita Ran looked at the fried tofu, then at Yamamura Miki, but said nothing.

She merely picked up the remaining piece of fried chicken from her bowl and stacked it beside the fried tofu, then stood and picked up her tray.

"I'm full. Every time I eat beside you, half the dishes get traded away. Next time, we'll order the same thing and not trade." She moved the lollipop back to the left corner of her mouth and carried her tray toward the return counter.

Kiryu Yume ate both the fried tofu and fried chicken, then picked up his tray and followed her. "Then next time, you can just order the same thing as me."

"No. Your meals always have something I don't like in them. It's more cost-effective to order separately." Morishita Ran threw the lollipop stick into the trash can by the entrance, then took a fresh soda-flavored one from her pocket, unwrapped it, and put it in her mouth.

Then she pulled out another and handed it to him. "The corner of your mouth twitched just now. A reward."

Kiryu Yume accepted it. "What's the standard for a reward?"

"There isn't one. I give them when I feel like it." She turned and headed toward the school building, the ends of her short dark-blue hair swaying gently between her shoulder blades.

Yamamura Miki followed behind them for a while, then paused at a fork in the path and spoke quietly. "I'm going to the library to return some books. Thank you, Morishita, for helping me put my notebook back properly."

Morishita Ran did not turn around. She simply raised a hand and waved.

After returning to the dorm that night, Kiryu Yume sat by his bed and pulled the double strand taut before releasing it.

The fibers tightened and snapped back nearly twice as fast as the single strand yesterday. His fingertips could feel the minute differences as each fiber drew taut.

He tried again, aiming at the button on the alarm clock atop his bedside table. He made a slight adjustment with his index finger and let go.

The rubber band struck the center of the button. The alarm clock lit up for a moment, then went dark.

He placed the double strand on the bedside table. His phone screen lit up with a message from Morishita Ran: You called me twice today. Tomorrow's stake has been updated. If you win, you call me three times. If you lose, you still call me.

Kiryu Yume leaned back against the headboard and laughed, replying: So the only difference between winning and losing is how many times I call you.

Morishita Ran: Correct. Your aim is worse than mine, so this is a reasonable stake calculated from big data.

Kiryu Yume: Your big data sample is only two days.

Morishita Ran: Two days, two wins. One hundred percent win rate. Enough.

Kiryu Yume looked at the words "one hundred percent win rate" and could practically picture the curve at the corner of her lips as she lay on her bed typing that message.

She used statistical terminology to extort better stakes from you, but pretended nothing was wrong even when her ears turned red.

He replied: When you were observing the corner of my mouth twitch in the cafeteria, your chopsticks grabbed empty air three times.

Morishita Ran read the message, then only replied after several seconds: Hallucination. My chopsticks never grab empty air.

Kiryu Yume: The third time you missed, you looked down at your empty chopsticks yourself. Yamamura saw it too.

Morishita Ran: Yamamura won't say anything.

Several seconds later, she added: Tomorrow I'll make your chopsticks grab empty air three times too, so you can try that feeling. Good night.

Kiryu Yume leaned against the headboard and put the lollipop in his mouth, soda-flavored bubbles popping one by one on his tongue.

He turned off his phone and rolled over. The dark-blue double strand around his wrist rested quietly against his pulse in the darkness.