Life In The Reverse World

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“Lift your head. As the heir of the Shihou family, what kind of decorum is that, looking so dejected?”

“…I… I understand…”

She had already obediently followed along. So why did it still have to be like this…?

Chouko lightly bit her lower lip, forcing herself to raise a head that felt as heavy as a thousand kilos, and looked up at the woman standing before her, lecturing her.

Long, straight black hair cascaded smoothly over her shoulders. In her deep brown eyes flickered a faint glimmer of light. Beside the slightly downturned corners of her eyes, faint crow’s-feet could be seen—

From her facial contours and brows, Chouko couldn’t help feeling as if she were looking into a mirror, as though the woman standing before her was exactly what she herself would become when she grew up.

No… she absolutely didn’t want to turn into such a boring, hateful adult!

She stubbornly met her mother’s gaze, lips pressed tight and pale pink as she held on for a few seconds. In the end, though, she still lost, turning her eyes away in dejection.

Bzz.

A sudden vibration came from the backpack Chouko was holding in her arms.

She reflexively took out her phone and unlocked the screen, about to tap Line to check the new message. But she suddenly realized her mother was right beside her. Her thumb hovered over the green app icon, unable to press down no matter how hard she tried.

She wanted to turn her body and check the message with her back to her mother, but just as she made the slightest move, her mother spoke again.

“Just open it. What’s there that you’re afraid of me seeing?”

“I… I need privacy too…”

“I already gave you one chance.”

The woman took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, holding her expression taut as she deliberately lowered her voice.

“Chouko, you’re my daughter. There’s no need for us to hide anything from each other.”

“……”

Left with nothing to say, Chouko silently opened Line. She told herself it wouldn’t be anything strange anyway. After all, she had already logged out of Twitter, and on Line there were only two people who would message her now—

The last message from Harutaki was just a question mark, timestamped at 9:15 in the morning.

Looking at the blood-red notification dot and the notice of twenty-three unread messages, she didn’t dare tap into the chat no matter what.

She had already tried her hardest to suppress her reliance on Harutaki. She didn’t want to drag him into this situation anymore… She knew very well how resolute her mother’s attitude was this time. Even Harutaki wouldn’t be able to stop it.

I’m sorry…

She could only apologize to him over and over again in her heart.

His anxiety, his concern, even his anger, she could feel all of it just from the tiny preview snippets in the chat list.

As long as she didn’t open the conversation, the message bubbles inside would remain “unread” forever.

“There are unread messages. Why aren’t you opening them? Giving a timely and appropriate reply is the most basic courtesy, isn’t it?”

Her mother’s voice came from right beside her, so close she could even smell the faint, elegant perfume on her.

Once upon a time, how she had loved and longed to sink into her mother’s embrace. But now, all she wanted was for time to stay forever at the moment she was held by Harutaki.

Warm.

Reliable.

And carrying that faint, reassuring, heart-fluttering scent of him.

She wanted to go back to the night when Harutaki personally put the white butterfly hairpin on her and held her close.

She wanted to go back to the night when she hugged him from behind, sharing quietness and tenderness together.

Yet from the very beginning, she had stepped onto the wrong path. She no longer had the fortune or destiny to continue basking in Harutaki’s gentleness.

Even so, Chouko would never regret it.

If she hadn’t resolutely come to Tokyo, she would never have met Harutaki.

If she hadn’t been foolishly self-righteous and too quick to trust, she would never have truly understood him, nor shown him her true heart.

If only… But there were no “if onlys” in this world. Just as she couldn’t untangle the mess of thoughts in her own mind, she also couldn’t convey her feelings clearly to Harutaki—if only she had been more decisive, more honest.

So this… was already enough.

“Th-this person just keeps harassing me, trying to pursue me, but I… I… don’t li—don’t want to accept it…”

Her face burning red, Chouko stammered out an explanation to her mother, doing her best to avoid sparking her interest in Harutaki, or prompting questions about him.

She had wanted to say “I don’t like him,” but when she recalled Harutaki’s words—“I like you, Chouko”—the phrase “don’t like” refused to come out. In the end, she swallowed it back down and replaced it with something closer to her true feelings: “don’t want to accept it.”

After all, ever since she was little, plenty of boys had liked and pursued her because of the “Shihou Chouko” she played. Her mother knew this too, so she probably wouldn’t suspect anything.

She then shifted her attention to the second chat—the one that had just sent a new message—

[Onii: I’m almost at the bakery.] — Read.

Yes… she gave a quiet, self-mocking snort in her heart. She had only told one person about leaving Tokyo today to return to Kyoto.

Her so-called “Onii,” Sato Kaoru.

It wasn’t because she harbored any feelings toward him. She simply hoped he would focus on studying properly.

Wasn’t he yearning to make something of himself?

Didn’t he hope to succeed, to surpass those people who looked down on him, treated him like a background character, mocked and bullied him?

Then study hard, she thought. For him, the only path—and the best path—was to work hard and get into the University of Tokyo.

Still, perhaps somewhere deep down, she retained the tiniest shred of expectation and longing for him—

Back when they were kids, the Onii who ran around causing trouble with her, pulling pranks, and getting scolded by adults together… At a time like this, could he still support her like he used to?

She didn’t need him to take any action. She understood this was a predicament even Harutaki couldn’t resolve, let alone him. What she wanted to see was simply his attitude.

Just his attitude…

…

Sitting upright with impeccable manners out of sheer habit, Shihou Shouko had all her attention on the beautiful girl seated beside her.

That was her daughter. Her only child.

She looked at Chouko, holding her phone and staring blankly, and felt that her daughter was still exactly the same as she had been three years ago.

Of course, that wasn’t to say her appearance hadn’t changed—

Her looks had blossomed into something even more beautiful than her own, and her figure had already surpassed that of her adult mother back when she was still in middle school…

But Chouko was still just as childish and immature as ever. Whether it was her inability to stay calm when facing problems, or her mix of inferiority and self-righteousness, none of it had improved.

The only thing that surprised her was that brief moment of courage and rational compliance when she went to pick her up.

Shouko had thought her daughter would grow ever more willful and reckless through her time with that “Onii.” Yet when they talked, Chouko had argued with her in an unusually calm state. Even when she ultimately had to comply and pack up to leave the apartment, Chouko didn’t throw a tantrum like last time, nor did she threaten her with her own safety.

Before knocking on the apartment door, Shouko had already steeled herself to be a cold, heartless mother. Chouko’s reaction, however, completely exceeded her expectations.

This unexpected change left her unsure whether she should feel happy… or uneasy.

Happy that Chouko had finally grown a little.

Uneasy that Chouko had been influenced by something outside of what she and the family head had anticipated.

“Haa…”

What a self-important, foolish child.

She let out a soft sigh, couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly, and the corner of her lips lifted into a barely perceptible curve—

If that chat contact labeled “Harutaki” really was just a boy who kept harassing and pursuing Chouko, someone Chouko didn’t want to accept… then why was his chat pinned to the very top?

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