Seiji sat on the edge of Chiaki"s bed, holding her hand and caressing her face while looking in concern at her."Did you have the same dream?" he asked while wiping away her tears.
"I think so… I can"t remember it…" Chiaki gripped her boyfriend"s hand tightly, wanting to feel his warmth.
"I heard you saying "mommy" in your sleep just now," Seiji told her.
Mommy?
Chiaki felt mysterious emotions stirring within herself when she heard this word.
As for her mommy… her mother, Chiaki knew nothing about her.
Chiaki didn"t even know what her mother looked like, what her mother"s name was, or whether her mother was still alive or not.
Chiaki"s father hadn"t told her anything at all about her mother. He had only shown Chiaki his paintings of his wife, but Chiaki"s mother"s face was completely unclear in all his paintings.
Chiaki had been highly dissatisfied with this, but she had never acted out because of it, because she knew that acting out was useless.
Could it be that what her father said was true all along? Chiaki suddenly thought about this.
If she had said "mommy" during her dream, that meant her dream was likely something about her mother. Yet, she was unable to recall it.
She felt sad, and she felt that the dream had been important. Yet, she was unable to remember it. Could it be that her father was the same way? He said that he couldn"t remember her mother"s face at all. Was he actually telling the truth, that he had forgotten rather than that he was a cold-hearted man? Was the incident surrounding her mother related to the mystical?
After thinking of all this, Chiaki told Seiji her thoughts.
"That sounds possible… I think that I"ll need to talk to your father." Something flashed in Seiji"s eyes.
Chiaki felt like she could hear her own heart pounding. However, she didn"t know if this was due to nervousness or some other reason.
If her own theory was real, then how should she face her father? Should she say "sorry" to him for the misunderstanding she had had all this time about him? Would her relations.h.i.+p with her father… change?
Chiaki"s feelings were so complex right now that even she didn"t understand them currently.
After a period of silence, Seiji asked, "Can you fall asleep again?"
"I can… if you accompany me."
"Sure, go to sleep then. I"ll be right here next to you."
"What I mean is that you should accompany me in my bed." Chiaki acted all spoiled.
Seiji: "…"
"What"s the matter?" Chiaki asked after seeing that her boyfriend didn"t react.
"I"m fighting a fierce war against myself in my heart right now," Seiji replied in a calm tone.
"I can"t tell at all."
"That"s because I"m doing my very best right now to withstand my desires."
"We"re simply sleeping together. That"s no problem at all, is it?"
"There"s a huge problem. I won"t be able to restrain myself."
Chiaki chuckled upon hearing this.
"Will it really create such a big problem for you?"
"Do you need to even ask! You"re quite attractive, incredibly attractive," Seiji told her sincerely. "Even I want to praise myself for holding myself back as much as I am right now."
Chiaki smiled sweetly as her eyes became watery.
"Then… why don"t I give you a b.l.o.w.j.o.b?" she spoke seductively while licking her lips.
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After the b.l.o.w.j.o.b, the girl hugged the boy and felt his warmth while being able to enter a peaceful sleep.
The next morning, the weather was beautiful and the sky was filled with white clouds.
Chiaki took out her cell phone and dialed the number for her father s.h.i.+ngo Wakaba.
Seiji and Mika were in the room, listening to the conversation which Chiaki placed on speakerphone.
The call connected.
"Good morning… Dad." Chiaki greeted her father.
Her tone sounded calm. However, Seiji and Mika could tell that she wasn"t calm at all.
"I"d like to ask about mom. Last night, I think I dreamt about her, but I can"t remember what I dreamed. I feel like it was something really important, but I can"t remember anything… And then, I thought of you, and what you"ve said about mom before… Dad… You didn"t actually forget about mom, you forgot all memories related to her, is that right?"
Although the phone conversation was on loudspeaker, s.h.i.+ngo Wakaba remained completely silent.
"Dad…" Chiaki clenched her hands. "You actually want to remember mom, but you can"t remember anything no matter how hard you try. Is that it?"
s.h.i.+ngo still remained silent.
"Dad…"
"That"s not it," s.h.i.+ngo finally replied, denying this.
Chiaki"s expression immediately froze over.
"Stop thinking about such random things just because of a dream. You"re not a little kid anymore," s.h.i.+ngo told his daughter coldly. "If you"re that free, you might as well go read a book or go exercise instead of thinking about such boring things."
He immediately hung up the phone after that.
Chiaki"s expression immediately became depressed.
Seiji frowned upon seeing her like this. Mika felt bad for her best friend.
"He said "that"s not it"…" Chiaki spoke in a low voice. "I must have thought too much into things."
Seiji immediately took out his own cell phone and dialed s.h.i.+ngo Wakaba"s number that Chiaki had previously given to him.
n.o.body picked up.
Seiji dialed the number again.
n.o.body picked up.
Seiji dialed the number yet again.
This time, s.h.i.+ngo answered the call.
"Good morning, Wakabsan."
"Who are you?"
"I"m Chiaki"s boyfriend, Seigo Harano," Seiji told him. "Right now, I"m here together with Chiaki. I was watching her when you were talking to her just earlier."
s.h.i.+ngo remained silent.
"I apologize for not using a more pleasant tone with you. That"s because I"m really displeased with you right now." Seiji increased the volume of his voice.
"Seiji…" Chiaki wanted to say something, but Seiji stopped her with his expression.
"Please forgive me for being so direct, Wakabsan. You"re a failure as a father!" Seiji didn"t mince his words at all as he spoke bluntly. "To be quite honest, I really want to beat you up right now. I know that this impulse of mine is lacking in reason, because I don"t know your specific circ.u.mstances. I don"t know why that you treat Chiaki this way. Perhaps you have your own hards.h.i.+ps.
"But no matter what, you have responsibilities as a father! Please understand, because I also have responsibilities as her boyfriend. I apologize for saying such rude words, but I won"t retract them. I also hope that you won"t forget what I"ve said just now. Otherwise… there might come a day where I"ll really beat you up, no matter if you"re a famous artist or whatever else."
s.h.i.+ngo remained silent throughout Seiji"s tirade.
Chiaki and Mika were unable to say anything as they watched Seiji rant while giving off a powerful aura.
"Seigo Harano…" After a long period of silence, s.h.i.+ngo finally spoke up. "I know about you. You"re a high school student. It"s nice that you"re so spirited, but don"t be so arrogant."
"I shall self-reflect on myself, and I also hope that you"ll reflect on yourself, Wakabsan," Seiji responded in such a way. "I would like to ask for you to sincerely respond to Chiaki"s question to you just now, and properly talk to her about her mother. She has the right to know."
"You don"t have the right to interfere with our family affairs," s.h.i.+ngo stated coldly.
"I"m her boyfriend."
"I don"t agree to you being her boyfriend."
"I don"t need the agreement of a father who only sees his daughter a few times or even less per year," Seiji responded in a similarly cold tone.
"I told you to not be so arrogant, high schooler. A boyfriend/girlfriend relations.h.i.+p at such a young age is nothing more than a game."
"This is a game that I"d happily play for my entire life."
"A high schooler who"s probably being supported by his parents doesn"t have the right to say that."
"So a father who never cares for his daughter has the right to lecture me?"
Seiji and s.h.i.+ngo exchanged verbal barbs over the phone as if they were fighting.
Chiaki felt nervous and tense while listening to all this, along with some delight.
Her reliable boyfriend was taking her side, and her cold father finally met an opponent… She couldn"t help but feel somewhat happy about this.
She believed in Seiji and that he would know not to go overboard… And even if he caused a broken relations.h.i.+p with her father, he would take responsibility for her!
Thinking about how Seiji would take care of her for the rest of her life even if her father abandoned her, Chiaki felt quite rea.s.sured.
"Seiji is so handsome, talented, and rich. And, he truly loves me. This is the boyfriend that I"m so proud of!" Chiaki suddenly felt tempted to tell that right to her father.
She wondered what expression her cold father would have if he heard that from her?
Perhaps it would be the expression he had right now while talking to Seiji.