Story of a Rhythm Game Couple

Chapter 9: Meet the mother

Sana, who had just gotten out of the warm bath, and Asahi's mother, who was on the video call with him, had their eyes met.

After the bath, Sana usually let her moist brown hair down and put a small towel around her neck. She was just wearing a pair of lightweight trousers and a delicate blue shirt, which was layered up with a thin coat since the weather was getting colder. This seemed to be one of her casual and laid-back sets of clothes for hanging out.

Sana wasn't aware that Asahi was on the phone, so she thought she might tell him to jump into the warm bath as soon as possible. When Sana learned that he was on a video call with his mother and that she was even making eye contact with her through his phone, she was at a loss for words. If anything, she felt perplexed and quite ashamed.

"..."

Asahi himself was not much less fortunate. He was trying to keep his mom under the impression that he would never get a girlfriend in the near future. But now that his mom had already caught sight of a girl in his house telling him to take a bath, it was inevitable that she would make the worst possible interpretation. To explain the whole situation to his mom would be of great trouble for both of them.

"Oh, who might that little girl be, Asahi?"

It was Asahi's mom who broke the awkward silence over the phone speaker. She had quite an inquisitive look in her eyes, which made Asahi really irritated.

"That's my friend. Is it that unusual to you that I brought a friend home...?"

Although unconfident, he attempted to answer his mom with as much composure as he could muster. He was hoping that his mom would just accept it and move on, but then...

"That's true, but bringing a girl home like this would be the first time, no?"

This was a girl. Asahi might have brought friends to his house on multiple occasions, but they were all boys. He had never tried to talk to a girl before, let alone bring one home. Upon hearing his mother's response, Asahi completely turned dumbfounded.

"You seem like you were hiding something from me earlier; was it about this girl? She must be so important to you that you would take her home with you like this."

"She's only here to stay out of the rain. And I'm telling you, she's not my girlfriend..."

"Hey, may I talk to the girlfriend, please? Hey, do you mind sparing some time to talk to me, miss girlfriend?"

Asahi knew for a fact that when topics like this were brought up to his mom, there was nothing in the world that could dampen her enthusiasm. Knowing that she wouldn't buy what he was trying to say anymore, he simply gave up. Naturally, Asahi's refutation of the relationship status didn't change his mom's grin on the screen.

It appeared that she was no longer interested in Asahi, so she directed the conversation to the puzzled Sana, who was still standing behind him. After she gave out a nod of approval, Asahi handed her the phone and motioned for her to take a seat on the sofa.

"So, um... Good afternoon, Mrs. Noguchi-san..."

Sana spoke with a rather reserved tone, in stark contrast to that of Asahi's mother, who was naturally an extremely vivacious woman. Asahi kept pondering the mystery of why he didn't even have a fraction of his mom's boundless energy.

"You can call me by my name, Mia. You know, if you call me Mrs. Noguchi, Asahi might get the wrong idea."

A beaming smile from Asahi's mom pierced through Sana's cautious words.

"Listen here; I am not addressed by such a pronoun. And for the last time, she's not my girlfriend."

Asahi talked back to his mom with a rather irritated expression. He seemed to be reminded of a nasty memory from his past.