THE LADY BY THE SEASIDE

𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘰: "𝘠𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘒𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘪"

𝘏i there, my name is Yamamoto Kairi, and I am 18 years old. I come from a small town called Omura, but I am currently studying at Senior University in Tokyo. I am an aspiring chef, and my dream is to open my own restaurant one day. I come here to the market every week to buy ingredients for my family's restaurant, but I also like having a chance to interact with the locals.

    One of the reasons I like coming here is because I get to meet new people and make new friends. I am quite a shy person, so it can be challenging to meet others sometimes, but I enjoy the chance to step out of my comfort zone at the market. I also enjoy cooking for others and learning more about different cuisines. But especially when I feel bored, I like to go to the nearby seaside. I enjoy the sound of the waves crashing against the shore, the smell of crisp ocean air, and the beauty of the sunset over the ocean. I feel at peace when I am at the coastline, and it always seems to lift my spirits. Sometimes, I even take my sketchbook and draw the beautiful landscape to capture the moment in pictures. In addition to drawing the beautiful scenery at the seaside, I have also taken some pictures of the sea when I don't have time to draw. These photos often come in handy when I want to look back on the memories later and recreate them in my artistic depictions. I also like to save these photos in my photo album, so that I can browse them whenever I feel the need to escape from reality and relax a little.

    My mom left my dad not long ago and she wanted me to go with her, but my dad was insistent that I stay to help him work in our family restaurant. My family life had been perfect before, but I guess my dad's habit of hanging out with other women drove my mom away. I felt torn between my two parents at the time, but eventually, I decided to stay with my dad to help him with the family business.

    My father's new wife was named Akuma, and she was always very pretty and friendly when my dad was around. However, her true colors emerged when my father was not present, as she always ordered me around and had me do all the work in the house. Although I suspected that she seduced my dad for his wealth, I didn't bother her business with him and kept a respectful distance. I also thought it was best to keep good relations with her in order to make sure things run smoothly at home. However, there was an incident one day when I was doing the dishes and she suddenly barged into the kitchen. I greeted her politely and tried to continue with my work, but she quickly snapped at me and said, "What do you think you're doing?!" I was surprised by her aggressive tone and tried to remain calm while explaining to her that I was just washing the dishes. She then turned her attention towards the dishes and grabbed a few of them off the table and scolded me for not washing them properly. I apologized and tried to explain to her that I was doing my best, but she wasn't having it and continued to berate me for my incompetence. Suddenly, I heard the sound of my phone ringing in my pocket, and I realized that it was my mom calling me. I told Akuma that I needed to answer a call from my mom and tried to leave the kitchen to answer it. But as I passed her, she suddenly grabbed my arm and said, "Where do you think you're going?" I explained to her that it was an important call, but she wouldn't let go of me and asked me who the call was from.

    As I tried to free my arm from her grip, she looked at me sternly and asked, "Who are you calling?" I told her that it was a private call and wasn't her concern, but she refused to let go of my arm and insisted on knowing who the call was from. I didn't want to lie to her, so I reluctantly told her that it was my mom calling me. Upon hearing that it was my mom, she frowned and asked, "Why are you speaking to your mother at this hour? Shouldn't you be doing the dishes?" I explained to her that it was an emergency call, but she didn't seem to believe me and continued to hold my arm tightly. I struggled to break free from her grip, but she was surprisingly strong and refused to let go. As I tried to break free from my stepmother's grip, my phone rang again, this time with my mom calling out for me. Without thinking, I accepted the call and put it on speaker phone. My mom yelled from the phone, "What do you think you're doing my daughter?" Hearing my mom's voice, my stepmother quickly let go of my arm and tried to grab the phone, but I moved it out of her reach and held it tightly to my chest.

    As my stepmom tried to grab the phone, we began to struggle over it, and in the midst of our tug of war, she tripped over the dish rack and fell to the floor. She lay sprawled on the floor, dazed, and I felt a mix of shock and guilt as I heard her moaning in pain. Seeing her fall made me realize that I had taken things too far, and I tried to help her up quickly. Just then, my dad entered the kitchen and saw my stepmom on the floor, looking up at me with tears in her eyes. "What happened?" he asked, turning to me with a stern look on his face. As my stepmother accused me of hurting her, I tried to explain my side of the story, but my dad refused to listen and punished me for hurting her. I stood there feeling powerless as my stepmother played the victim, and my dad sided with her.

    Despite my protestations of innocence, my dad didn't believe me and punished me for hurting my stepmother. My stepmother continued to lie to my dad, claiming that I had been rude and disrespectful to her from the start, and that I had even attacked her first. My dad was convinced of her story, and I was sent to my room without dinner, feeling angry and hurt by the injustice of it all.

    I thought this would be a one-time occurrence, but unfortunately, my stepmother continued to lie to my dad. Each time I tried to tell my dad the truth about what happened, my stepmother would tell a different story that made me look like the villain. I knew that my stepmother wanted me to leave, and she was willing to manipulate my dad to get what she wants. But I also knew that my dad would never abandon me, especially since I was still helping him at the restaurant. I felt a sense of comfort knowing that, despite everything, I would always have a home with my father. However, my stepmother made sure to remind me on a daily basis of how unwanted I was around the house, constantly picking on me for the smallest things and complaining to my dad. My life at home slowly became a living nightmare, and I felt like a prisoner in my own house. I was constantly afraid of what new lie my stepmother would invent to get me punished.

This Christmas, I decided to take a trip to the local marketplace to buy some decorations for my dad's restaurant. I wanted to surprise him with a festive display for his customers to enjoy. I hoped that he would be pleased with my efforts and that he wouldn't be as cruel to me since it was the holiday season.

As I arrived at the market, I immediately spotted the decorations I needed for the restaurant. Right as I was about to reach out to get one, Ma'am Hana (aka Mizuki's mom) approached me and greeted me warmly. We had bumped into each other several times at the market, so we often struck up conversations whenever we saw each other. This time, however, she brought her daughter with her, and I immediately noticed her beautiful sparkling eyes. Mizuki was tall and very pretty, and we also studied at the same school. Perhaps she really was smart, because she always got straight A's in her classes. I couldn't help but feel a little jealous of her because she and her mom seemed to get along so well, whereas my own mother and stepmother didn't. But I knew that my mother always had my back and that she loved me, so I tried not to compare too much.

As I was lost in thought, I didn't notice that Mizuki and her mom had approached me. When I finally looked up, I saw her beautiful sparkling eyes staring at me, and I felt like I was lost in a dream. We locked eyes for a moment, and then she smiled at me, which made me forget all my worries in an instant. She then introduced herself and said, "My name is Mizuki, it's nice to meet you." In that moment, I was completely enchanted by her beauty and charm, and I couldn't help but be drawn towards her. I quickly introduced myself and started to chat with her, and it quickly became clear that we had a lot in common. Not only did we study at the same school, but we also shared similar interests, and we clicked instantly. As we continued to talk, I was struck by how intelligent and articulate she was.

After chatting with Mizuki for a while, her mom told me that they would be eating at our restaurant tonight. Mizuki quickly spoke up and said that she couldn't wait to taste my cooking skills, which was very humbling for me to hear. It was heartwarming to know that someone was so excited to try my food, and it made me more motivated than ever to make sure that the meal would be delicious. After my chat with Mizuki and her mom, I waved goodbye to them and headed back to our restaurant.

I was filled with a sense of purpose as I quickly decorated the restaurant to make it look as perfect as possible. I didn't want to disappoint Mizuki or her mom, so I made sure to do my best work during the decorating process. As I decorated the restaurant, I also took the time to prepare some ingredients to make their dinner tonight special. I tried to select dishes that I thought both Mizuki and her mom would enjoy, and I put a lot of thought into the meal. As the dinner service began, I was filled with excitement and anticipation, wondering what Mizuki and her mom would think of my cooking.