NOVEL NEXT 2-01: Don’t Look down on a Mother (1/4)
“UGU… it hurts, it hurts…”
“Eek! Don’t come!”
“No, no, no… Enough already…”
“I’m scared… It’s dark… *Sniff.”
A child was crying there.
A child fell and got hurt.
A child quivered before the approaching puppy.
A child strayed away from his parents and got lost.
A child was hit by a bully.
A child woke in the dead of the night.
Each child was a different age.
Each child was at a different place.
Each child had a different reason for crying.
But every one of them was a child.
—Mommy, save me!
“Oh. good morning.”
“Ah… Y-Yeah… Good morning.”
Rinko Nakumara was somewhat taken aback after being greeted normally like that.
This wasn’t her first time being greeted by him, but it was a bit different from what she was expecting.
“Sorry. Did I wake you?”
That’s why she ignored the boy, who was making that ‘oops!’ face, as she apologized.
She’d originally hoped to do something befitting a parent like peeking at her child’s sleeping face, and then pulling the blankets away from him to wake him up, but as soon as she opened the door to his room, he got off the bed and took the initiative from her.
“…No, I was thinking of getting up myself.”
The emotions on his face were gone in a moment, but judging from the way he was behaving, Rinko felt that probably wasn’t true.
He probably woke up as soon as she opened the door… For security’s sake.
He was extremely sensitive to his surroundings even while sleeping.
She could tell that much from the past ‘few days’ she’s been with him.
He could identify people even while they stood behind him… He could tell when someone was standing at the entrance hall… He was really sharp.
But when she thought of where he’d been – though the actual situation was actually different – she figured it couldn’t be helped.
She found that sad, but despite that, she didn’t let it show on her face and just kept on smiling.
“Breakfast is ready. Amaryllis-chan’s portion too, of course.
Take your laundry with you after changing, okay? Just put it in the basket.”
“Ah, sure. Thank you.”
“He he, don’t sweat it. We’re family, after all.”
Right? She said with a smile, which caused the boy to make a troubled face as he blushed and smiled back.
There was a discomfort and pain behind that smile, but she didn’t tell him now to forget it.
She was going to wait until the last moment, she tacitly reminded him of that as she went down to the dining room in the first floor.
There was no point in ‘rushing things’, after all, she thought. And just like, whatever sadness could be seen on her face vanished.
Meanwhile, the boy faintly sighed as he listened to her climb down the stairs.
“Kyui, kyui.”
As he did, a worrying cry could be heard by his legs.
“Don’t worry. There were no nightmares today, just embarrassing stuff.
…It was quite painful, though; for various reasons.”
The boy weakly laughed as he tried to pull the wool over her eyes, while she – unable to speak – just looked at him with hurting eyes.
A weak crybaby of a child who could do nothing but be spoiled by his mother.
The fact that happened was both embarrassing and – in one sense – painful.
On the morning of the sixth day since his return from Falandia, Shinichi Nakamura, started living with the new Nakamura family.
It was a happy period with nothing to speak of and a period so peaceful it was eerie.
The Nakamura family gathered and had their breakfast together.
The menu was toast and bacon and egg salad.
This new Nakamura family seemed to have developed a taste for western cuisine, as they often served this kind of food.
In truth this was nothing more than Rinko’s misunderstanding, but the day for that to be cleared was still some time away.
Meanwhile, the person-in-question was completely oblivious as he stood there by the sink and washed the dishes, while she – who was known here as amaryllis – was dozing off in the living room after eating her fill.
She also couldn’t sleep much in the evening because she had to guard her master, so coupling that with the sun’s warm light and the sense of satisfaction after a hearty meal, it was no wonder that she fell asleep.
While Shinichi was helping out cleaning, the moment he gave her permission to sleep with a glance, something bigger than her suddenly came and attacked her.
“Kyau!”
“Kyui!?”
That something took one of her three tails and pulled it. In response, she reflexively assumed an attacking posture, but when she found out ‘who’ it was attacking her, she was forced to stop.
“Aaa, ooo!”
“Kyu!!??”
As she was swung around by the tail, Rinko, who was cleaning up, and Nobuhiko, who was reading the newspaper, stiffened and paled.
This was an animal from the nature reserve. Normally, it’s not possible to keep one as a pet, but because she refuses to leave Shinichi’s side, she was permitted to stay here.
The law respected a living creature’s will, after all.
Normally, she’d be living deep in Garesto’s danger zone, where ferocious beasts roamed rampant.
When they checked her status, she was just as strong as the rumors said.
Name: Amaryllis Fox
Gender: Female
Overall Length: 47cm
Height: 32cm
Weight: 3.2kg
Strength: AA+
Stamina: AAA
Mind: A+
Resistance: AA
Agility: AAA+
Tl Note: Cutting here since I’m already over my time. It’s an awkward cut, but I think you’ll prefer that over a short chapter any day. Also, I don’t have my glossary, so just let me know if the first column for the status is different from the earlier chapters.