A Meeting by Chance (completed)

Chapter 1 - A Meeting by Chance

My day started with me lighting mom's tobacco.

"As I thought. There's nothing better in the morning than a cigarette lighted by Mizuki's hand."
"Is there really any difference when I'm the one doing it?"
"Mizuki, it's still too much for a minor like you to understand. There's no point in anything lit by a woman over twenty. If you plan on smoking in the future, then make sure it's lit with an Oil Lighter by a minor. This is my order as your mother."
"Don't worry, I plan on living my life smoke-free."

My mother had always been kinda strange, and she often called for me, her son, to help her with menial things.
This time, she says that if her smokes aren't lit with an oil lighter, by my hand, there's absolutely no meaning.
When father tried lighting it, she got into a bad mood, and said, 'You just don't get it, do you.' But this is merely one of the fun scenes of my house.
My mother's work is, to put it in modern political correctness, a Flower Artist.
Other names for it are Ikebana Artist, The School of Thorns, of Flower Specialist. There are various names for it, but if you say any of them, she gets mad, so we just call her a flower arranger.
By the way, when I tried speaking about her to my best friend's mom, or anyone else who knows her, they're quite shocked.
Since mother is this sort of person... how should I put it, quite a few people imagine her being a secretary, or something of the sort.

"Mizuki, did that man leave?"
"You mean father? Yeah, he left quite early in the morning."
"That's good. If he was still in the house, I would have gotten out the divorce papers."
"Please don't say such dangerous things."
"Don't worry. I'll be the one taking custody."
"I didn't mean it like that..."

My father's job is Florist.
It seems from a young age he liked flowers, so the inside of our house is filled with ones he raises.
Every day, without fail, he goes to the market to stock up on fresh ones.
I'm not that knowledgeable about it, but sometimes he doesn't even come home at night. He must really like it.
And surprisingly, Mother was the one who initiated their relationship.

"That man isn't fit to run a flower shop. Just you watch, Mizuki. In ten years, he'll be running an entire flower cultivation farm. What's the problem? I'll buy all of his flowers. We won't be troubled with writing receipts."
"So you plan to keep all expenses and incomes within the family?"

Like this, Mother's fallen for the flowers Dad raises.
Father also gets along well with my flower arranging mother, so we're all a happy family... I think?

"I'll be off to school."
"Sure, you have to steal a scholarship from that prep school so I don't have to spend all my hard-earned cash."
(TL: A prep school is one centered on getting students into college)
"... If you put it like that, I'll be a little troubled."

It's our everyday exchange, so I won't say much. Mother is always like this.
I pass my cuffs through the sleeves of the school uniform coat I had hung against my chair, and did a final check on the contents of my bag. Next, I stuffed the bento I had made this morning, as well as two condensed coffee milks, and my own creation the Supplement Combo Shortbread into my bag. At that point, Mother popped her head in to see what I was doing.

"Mizuki. You plan on feeding that sugar pig again? Giving food to that one will only do much more harm than good."
"Mother, would you please stop referring to my best friend as a pig?"

While I am a bit worried about him developing diabetes, calling him a sugar pig is a bit much.
He just likes sweet food a bit more than the average person.
He just likes putting honey and maple syrup in his condensed coffee milk before drinking it.
What's more, he'll only eat chocolate flavored shortbread.
...

"You're quite strange yourself, for having a sugar pig as your best friend."

I'm frustrated that due to his sugar intake, I can't actually deny it.
By the way, he's not actually fat or anything.