Apparently, Akina Izumi still didn't know about the situation between Kotomi Izumi and Tomoka Yuigahama. She only knew that Kotomi and Yui had a somewhat ambiguous relationship, and so she had been wanting to find a chance to talk with Yui's mother—not to discuss keeping the two apart during school, or forbidding them from early romance.
Although Akina knew that Kotomi liked girls, she didn't disapprove of the idea that her daughter might be in an early relationship. Nor did she oppose the idea of Kotomi bringing home a girlfriend. Falling in love was fine—as long as it didn't affect her studies.
Now that she had met Yui's mother, Akina was surprised to learn that they were actually friends back in middle school. That made her think, if Kotomi really ends up marrying Yui one day… maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing!
After all, Tomoka's personality was gentle and easy to get along with. If Kotomi and Yui married and Kotomi joined the Yuigahama family, the relationship between mother- and daughter-in-law would surely be harmonious.
Still, Akina couldn't bear the thought of Kotomi marrying out. So she decided from today on to start hinting to Kotomi—to encourage her to be a bit more assertive, a bit more confident when dating her girlfriend. In simpler terms: to be the "top" one!
She hoped that when the day of marriage came, it would be Kotomi who brought her girlfriend home, not the other way around.
But then she remembered—weren't there several girls with ambiguous relationships with Kotomi, not just Yui?
Akina suddenly felt troubled. She didn't know what Kotomi was thinking. Was she planning to cast a wide net to choose the best one? Or… did she want them all?
"By the way, Tomoka, are you still managing the Dango Cake Shop all by yourself these days?"
"Mm, pretty much. Aside from when Yui comes by to help me sometimes, I handle almost everything alone. Most of the time I'm in the kitchen, making sweets and bread."
"Doesn't that get too tiring?" Akina asked in surprise. She knew how exhausting the food industry could be. Buying ingredients and preparing everything already took so much energy. Normally, such a shop needed at least two people—one in the kitchen, and one to serve customers. Even then, closing time always came with fatigue.
Running an entire cake shop alone… even without seeing it, just hearing about it sounded exhausting.
"At first, it was a little rough since I wasn't used to it. But I didn't tell Yui. Knowing her, if she found out I was tired from running the shop alone, she'd probably want to quit school to help me. I can't let that happen—I want her to go to university, to have better job opportunities in the future.
"I can't have her graduate high school only to come back and help me run the cake shop, right?
"After a while, I got used to everything. Now I can handle the shop easily, and even have some free time to think about trying new dessert recipes. Hiring a server would make things easier, but that's just not realistic. After paying for rent, utilities, and ingredients, I'm lucky if I can keep a small profit. There's no extra money to hire anyone."
"If you ever need any help, just tell me, okay? Aren't we friends? Besides, back in middle school, I copied your homework so many times. Every time I did, I'd say, 'Tomoka, thank you for lending me your homework—I'll repay this favor someday!'"
"Haha, speaking of that—you always copied my answers exactly! You never even changed a single one!"
"That's because I got nervous every time I copied someone's homework! I couldn't focus enough to change the answers~"
"What kind of excuse is that?" Tomoka Yuigahama said helplessly.
Then, the two couldn't help laughing. The last time they met had been at their middle school graduation ceremony—and now, so many years later, both their daughters were already in high school. Who would've thought that after all this time, they could still laugh together like old friends?
"Oh, right, Akina," Tomoka suddenly said, "I've actually been working as a part-time illustrator for a while now—doing artwork for novels, games, and magazines. It helps me earn a little extra money."
"These days, it's getting harder and harder to run a small business. If I rely solely on the cake shop as my only source of income, it just won't work anymore."
"At first, I only took illustration commissions occasionally—just to earn a bit of extra money, buy my daughters some new clothes, and treat them to a few nice meals. But recently, my illustrator account's popularity has grown, and the price per commission has increased quite a bit. So lately, I've been thinking… maybe I should close the cake shop for a while and focus on illustration full-time."
"An illustrator, huh?" Akina chuckled. "Looks like my prediction back in middle school was right after all. When I saw you secretly drawing during class, I knew you'd grow up to be an artist. I don't know much about illustration myself, but if you're considering going full-time, as long as you can keep your current rate—or even raise it gradually—and maintain a steady flow of commissions each month, then it's not a bad idea to give it a try.
"After all, the cake shop is yours. You can open it again whenever you want, so you don't have to worry too much about what happens if the full-time work doesn't go well.
"That said, since the shop space is rented, there's still some risk involved. But changing careers always comes with some degree of risk, doesn't it? It's all about what you're willing to trade off.
"Honestly, if your illustration income is stable enough to cover your family's living expenses and both daughters' school fees, I'd actually recommend you go full-time as an illustrator. Let me guess—you're juggling both the bakery and illustration right now, aren't you?"
Akina Izumi wasn't surprised at all that Tomoka Yuigahama worked as an illustrator. Back in middle school, Tomoka had already been better at drawing than any of their classmates.
Even then, Akina had said to her, "Tomoka, you'll definitely make it as an illustrator someday!"
"That's right," Tomoka said with a laugh. "I've been doing both. But now that my illustration income has increased and become more stable, I'm planning to go full-time for a few years. As for the cake shop, I won't completely abandon it, but I won't be running it every day like before—it's just too exhausting. From now on, maybe I'll open the shop only four or five days a year, just to give myself a mental break from drawing."
Tomoka smiled as she said this and jingled the keys in her hand. "I'm planning to close Dango Cake Shop starting tomorrow. If you want any sweets, today's your last chance to buy them."
"Hah, so that's what this was about! Alright, fine. My two precious girls have been craving desserts lately anyway. Let's stop by your shop and buy some sweets before heading home," Akina laughed.
After her talk with Kotomi the other day, Tomoka had made up her mind. She knew that even though she still looked young, her body was already in its thirties. If she kept running between baking and illustration, she would eventually wear herself out.
She didn't want Yui or Yuka to one day force a brave smile beside her sickbed, only to cry in secret afterward.
As a parent, staying healthy was the greatest gift she could give her daughters.
Between making sweets and illustrating, Tomoka Yuigahama chose to become a full-time illustrator—devoting herself entirely to drawing for Kotomi Izumi!
And the bank card Kotomi had given her—that was what gave her the courage to make that choice.
The amount on that card was enormous. When Tomoka first saw the balance, she didn't even dare to look straight at it.
She couldn't understand why Kotomi trusted her enough to hand over such a card. Even if Kotomi intended to commission illustrations for a lifetime, there was no reason to pay that much in advance!
When she first received it, Tomoka had tried several times to return the card. But Kotomi had been firm and unyielding.
Kotomi had said, "From now on, you'll be the art director for Type-Moon Realm. This is your salary in advance." That was the reason she gave to convince Tomoka to keep the card.
And in that moment, a thought became deeply rooted in Tomoka Yuigahama's heart:
Kotomi… even if you want me to be your game company's lead artist, you don't have to give me this much money. You're using that as an excuse to help my family, to let me live without worry, and to make my life easier.
For that kindness you've shown to me and my daughters, I'll spend my whole life repaying you.
...
Dango Cake Shop.
Because the shop would close tomorrow, every dessert today was sold at a particularly cheap price. It was, in a sense, a way to close the business with no regrets—lowering prices just enough to clear out everything without taking a loss.
Although the official closure would start tomorrow, Tomoka Yuigahama hadn't announced it publicly. She hadn't even put up a simple "Clearance Sale" sign on the window. If you didn't ask, you'd have no idea the shop would be closing tomorrow.
The decision to close had come suddenly—made the moment Tomoka woke up that morning.
That's often how decisions work. You can spend days or weeks hesitating, weighing every possibility—but when the time finally comes to decide, it happens in an instant.
She made the decision so quickly that she hadn't even had time to tell her two daughters yet.
Perhaps it would've been better to wait a little longer, but Tomoka Yuigahama now just wanted to focus completely on illustration. Not long ago, she had heard from Haruno Yukinoshita that Kotomi Izumi's Sword Art Online manuscripts had already reached Volume 11—and that the illustration request documents had been written up through Volume 9.
When Tomoka learned that Haruno was sitting on such a massive pile of manuscripts and illustration notes, she was shocked. She knew Kotomi wrote fast and likely had plenty of drafts saved up, and as Kotomi's editor, Haruno naturally had a few volumes waiting. But she had expected maybe four or five volumes—not eleven! And when Kotomi emailed the Volume 11 manuscript, she had also attached the outlines for Volumes 12 and 13.
After learning that, Tomoka realized she couldn't delay any longer. She had to close the cake shop and dedicate herself fully to illustration—determined to push her progress to at least Volume 5 before Sword Art Online Volumes 2 and 3 were released.
When Tomoka asked Haruno why she hadn't told her sooner about the backlog of Kotomi's manuscripts and requests, Haruno had looked helpless.
"It's not like I didn't want to tell you," Haruno explained. "Normally, after I review the manuscripts and the illustration requirements and find no issues, I'd contact you right away to start drawing. But Kotomi told me that you've been busy lately and said I shouldn't rush you—that she'd let you know herself when the time came."
After hearing that, Tomoka's emotions became complicated. How could she not see what Kotomi's true intention was? Kotomi wanted to keep her from feeling pressured—to let her work slowly and comfortably, at her own pace.
But after learning this, Tomoka made up her mind even more firmly. She couldn't take advantage of Kotomi's kindness by actually taking it easy!
If Kotomi wanted her to be her sole illustrator, then she had to live up to that trust—she absolutely couldn't drag Kotomi down!
"Phew, that should be enough. Ever since I had your Baumkuchen the last time, I've been craving it again. Now that you're closing, I don't know where I'll ever find Baumkuchen this delicious again."
Akina Izumi, who had come with Tomoka Yuigahama to the Dango Cake Shop—perhaps to support her friend's business, or maybe just because she wanted some sweets—bought a whole pile of them. Especially the maple croissants; she bought every single one left on the shelf.
But… there was no worry about waste. One of Kotomi Izumi's favorite breads was exactly that—croissants brushed with maple syrup.
If those croissants were left for Kotomi alone, she'd probably finish them in less than a day—snacking on them one after another while watching anime.
Besides croissants, Akina also bought a lot of other desserts, including butter toast bread. Toasted in a bread maker and paired with ham, vegetables, and salad dressing, it made for an easy, delicious sandwich. Thanks to the added butter and cheese, the bread was so soft and fragrant that even eating it plain, without jam, was a simple delight of gentle sweetness and fluffiness.
"Are you sure it's okay to buy this much? It'll be a waste if you can't finish it."
Tomoka Yuigahama couldn't help but remind her. Although she ran the cake shop and naturally wanted to sell as many sweets as possible, whenever someone bought too much, she would habitually caution them—after all, wasting food was never a good thing.
"It's fine, it's fine. You've seen my Kotomi's appetite before, haven't you?" Akina Izumi replied casually, waving her hand as if it were nothing.
Tomoka thought back to Kotomi's eating habits, then looked again at the mountain of desserts Akina had just bought. Her thoughts quickly shifted from "That's way too much, will they even finish it?" to "Hmm, maybe that's actually not enough for Kotomi to finish on her own…"
"Achoo!"
Meanwhile, Kotomi Izumi—having just woken up and rewarded herself a little after moving from day 1 to day -5—was currently in what could only be described as "sage mode." As she pondered the philosophical notion that if humanity's most primal impulse was merely hormonal, then what was the meaning of our existence? And when facing the vastness of the universe, where would we ultimately go?
Just as she reached that train of thought, her nose itched, and she sneezed.
Rubbing her nose, she didn't think much of it and continued musing about the great questions of humanity, the cosmos, and life itself.
Truly fitting for that famous line Aristotle once said.
Noon.
When Akina Izumi returned home, she went straight for Kotomi's room. The sound of her footsteps startled Kotomi, who was sitting at her computer. She immediately thanked her lucky stars she wasn't wearing headphones—if she had been, she definitely wouldn't have heard her mother coming. She hurriedly moved her mouse to close the open window on her screen.
"My precious girl, are you here? Come, let Mom pinch those cheeks! You've made me so proud!" Akina's voice rang out as she entered—and before Kotomi could react, her soft cheeks were already caught in Akina's hands.
Kotomi froze, completely confused.
What's going on?
Did Hiratsuka-sensei betray me at the parent meeting? Did she tell Mom that I play on my phone and nap during class? Did she make Mom so mad she's acting nice out of spite?!
She hadn't yet noticed the certificate in Akina's hand, and her heart was racing. She frantically tried to recall her recent interactions with Shizuka Hiratsuka. Had she done anything that might've upset her?
Nothing came to mind—and even if she had, there was no way Hiratsuka-sensei would actually tattle on her at a parent meeting. The two of them were practically partners in crime now. Well, maybe "partners in crime" wasn't quite right—but at least, they were allies sharing the same boat. If one sank, they both would.
"Mom, mom, stop pinching my cheeks already! What's going on? You go to one parent meeting and come back this excited?" Kotomi decided to cut to the chase.
If Hiratsuka really had ratted her out, then fine—she could take a spanking. But if that were true, Hiratsuka would have a much bigger problem on her hands. Kotomi was already thinking about going to school that afternoon and storming into the teacher's office to give Hiratsuka a piece of her mind.
If that woman thought she could talk behind her back and still expect her to show up for next month's dinner with her parents, she was dead wrong. No matter how much flattery or bribery Hiratsuka tried, Kotomi wouldn't go.
The ship of friendship between her and Hiratsuka-sensei would sink right then and there!
Let her experience firsthand what it meant to "enjoy tormenting your wife for a moment, then burn in the fires of chasing her back later!"
Well… technically, she wasn't Hiratsuka's wife yet. But close enough!
"Tada! Guess what this is? A certificate! You took first place twice in a row—first in your grade, first in all of Tokyo! Hiratsuka-sensei even prepared a special certificate for you. You were the very first student she praised at the meeting! You have no idea how proud I felt!"
Akina excitedly held up the certificate in front of Kotomi's face.
Kotomi finally relaxed once she realized what it was. So Hiratsuka hadn't complained—she'd praised her! And the reason her mom was so worked up was because she'd received an award.
"Oh, so it was a certificate! Mom, are your emotions delayed or something? I told you right after the midterm results came out that I'd taken first place again, both in school and in all of Tokyo! Why didn't you get this excited back then? Also—Mom, let go already! What, are you kneading my cheeks like dough or something?"
"I already knew your scores, of course—but what made me so emotional was hearing you praised at the parent meeting and seeing you finally get a brand-new certificate! Let's see… the last time you got one was back in kindergarten, wasn't it? You wrote ten characters correctly on a little test, and your teachers—and even the principal—were so excited they almost cried! They made you a certificate on the spot."
Having her childhood story brought up made Kotomi Izumi feel embarrassed, as expected. But when she saw the look on her mother's face, a wave of guilt welled up in her chest. Even though her parents had always said grades didn't matter, what parent wouldn't secretly hope to hear their child praised during a parent-teacher meeting?
Thinking back, every time her parents had attended a meeting before, the teachers' comments had been full of helpless sighs or criticism. Yet when her parents came home, they never scolded her. They always comforted her instead.
Remembering that, Kotomi felt her nose sting. She let her mother continue gently kneading her cheeks and said quietly but firmly:
"Mom, next time you and Dad go to a parent meeting, I'll make sure you hear the teachers praising me again."
Akina Izumi paused, then softly brushed her hand through Kotomi's hair. Her voice was warm and tender as she said:
"There's no need to pressure yourself. As long as you try your best and live and study at a pace that makes you happy, your father and I will always be proud of you. How about hamburger steak for lunch today?"
"…And mashed potatoes, too."
"Haha, sure thing. Huh? Why are you tearing up, sweetheart?"
"I just… feel bad. I used to embarrass you and Dad so much. Every time you went to a parent meeting, all you heard were complaints about me…"
"How could you ever embarrass us?" Akina said with a soft smile. "Whether praise or criticism, no matter what others say about you, you and Aimi will always be the most precious little angels in Mom and Dad's hearts. That will never change—past, present, or future."
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