"...Kun... Yukkun... Ryukkun!"
Higo blinked for a moment, just realizing that someone had just called him. The boy shook his head, finally realizing that he was already back at home. It was just two hours after his little escapade with Kumiko, and he had been dozing off for quite a while, enough to make everyone worried.
True enough, his mother looked at him with an uneasy gaze, probably wondering what was going on with him.
"Are you okay? Feeling sick? Do you need to go to the doctor? No, that would be too long. Shall we go to the hospital? Maybe, I need to call Fujita-san about your situation; what do you think?" She barraged so many questions in a heartbeat.
"No, Mom, I am okay!" Higo interrupted quickly before his mother went crazy. "Trust me, I don’t feel any discomfort physically."
"Physically? Then, does that mean something wrong with your head?" Minami narrowed her eyes dangerously. Her instinct sure was sharp, catching the hidden clue that Higo unconsciously gave. "Is this related to your little adventure with Kumiko-chan this morning? Did you have a fight? You two have been best friends for as long as I can remember; don’t throw away that friendship so easily! If you make a mistake, go apologize!"
Higo felt the corner of his lips twitching once again, looking at his mother wryly. "Why would you assume that it is my mistake in the first place?"
"Well, is it?"
This time, Higo was so speechless that no words escaped his mouth. Indeed, while he and Kumiko didn’t fight a lot in the past, whenever something happened, it was always because of him. Still, that didn’t mean he liked being pointed out like that,
"No, Mom, we don’t have a fight, thank you." Higo shook his head strongly. However, a little blush crept on his cheek as the boy remembered what happened on the school’s rooftop earlier. "It is just..."
"What?! Did something interesting happen?" Minami’s gossip radar flared, and this time, she looked at her boy suspiciously. "You didn’t do something outrageous like forcing a kiss on her, didn’t you?"
"W—What?! Of course, no!" Higo choked for a moment, not expecting his mother’s instinct to be that sharp. "It is not me who forced a kiss, you know?" He mumbled so lowly, praying that his mother didn’t catch it.
Unfortunately, the boy truly underestimated his mother’s hearing ability. Having two mischievous children, she could always pick up any faint mumbles from either her son or daughter, and it wasn’t different in this case. Hearing what her son said, the woman perked up immediately; her jaw dropped straight away.
"Say what?! You mean to tell me Kumiko-chan is the one initiating the kiss?!"
"Psst! Indoor voice, Mom! Their family will be able to hear it!" Higo flinched, sushing his mother as quickly as possible. "Also, why is it that if it was me, you said I forced it, and if it was Kumiko, you said she initiated it? The discrimination is real here!" The boy complained.
"Oh, pish-posh! Who cares about that trivial matter! Now, give me the details!" Her gaze sharpened as if she was meant for business, enough to make the boy gulp nervously. "So, what happened earlier?! Where did you kiss?! What made her initiate that?! Is it finally official?! Should I start thinking of a name for my future grandson?! What if it was future granddaughter?! Hey—"
"Whoa, Mom, stop! Take a deep breath first!" Higo raised both hands immediately, not expecting the barrage of questions would be worse than before. His face was so flushed red as well when he heard the last two questions. "Don’t go too far yet! It is just a peck, don’t think about anything else for now!" He even glared at her, trying to stop the woman from throwing another round of questions.
"Yeah, yeah, you are right. You haven’t gone that far." Kumiko took a deep breath as if trying to remind herself where the floor was. "Anyway, no deflecting or dodging questions anymore! Tell me what happened!" She glared at her son, enough to make him gulp.
Having no choice here, Higo finally started telling what was going on earlier. He didn’t miss anything, recounting from how the girl invited him last night to when she kissed him gently on the lips on the rooftop. Minami listened carefully as well, not blinking even for a second. Once the story arrived at its climax, though, she finally squealed, letting out her inner girl.
"Kyah! What you did was so romantic! Good job, Son!" She sent him a thumbs-up. "If only your father were as romantic as you, you would probably be older right now. Still, you did a good job, securing a daughter-in-law for me! This is something worth celebrating! Let me tell your sister about it!"
Higo sighed helplessly as his mother played with her phone again, probably retelling this story to Ayaka, who lived in Tokyo. While it was embarrassing to have the whole family know about his love live, Ayaka would know about it sooner or later, and it was always better to tell her himself or let her know from his mother rather than having her guess from the clues outside.
He just sat still on his chair, trying to play with everything, from the bowl to the chopsticks, while also getting rid of his embarrassment earlier. An awkward silence descended for a moment, with the only thing that could be heard here being the sound of his mother typing on her phone.
Soon enough, though, a ’Ping’ sound could be heard from that same phone, and after looking for a moment, Minami slid it to Higo’s hand, letting him read the message himself. Higo blinked for a moment, wondering why his mother would suddenly turn this serious.
After reading the message, though, the corner of his lips twitched once again, somehow finding this situation to be ridiculous.
Ayaka: Kumiko-chan is my little sister, so don’t you dare try to hurt her, get it?!
Higo groaned, thinking, ’I am your real brother!’