A mother’s feelings

Tamashi opened his eyes to find Mika asleep beside him, holding his hand, her head resting on his shoulder. Kengo was still driving, tapping the steering wheel nervously from time to time.

Sweat was pouring from Tamashi’s forehead, his breath was shallow, and he barely suppressed the tormenting screams that desperately wanted to escape from his trembling lips.

A dream? Or an after effect of my soul being shattered and reduced back to a human's? Tamashi wondered, his minf on the verge of imploding.

When they finally arrived, Tamashi reluctantly woke Mika up, trying his hardest not to show how distressed he actually was.

“Tamashi! You’re finally here. What’s going on? What was that voice?”

Their mother was waiting for them outside. Her voice was full of panic, which was an unusual sight for Tamashi, since she had been under a spell that made her more easygoing before—but now that Tamashi’s magic and stats had been taken, the mind spell had automatically disappeared.

“Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll explain everything. For now, let’s go inside; we’ll talk in the living room.”

Despite how restless she was, Himawari—their mother—agreed, hugging Tamashi’s siblings before leading them inside.

***

“So, to sum it up: an unknown alien race called the Gyou has sent an ultra-advanced AI to Earth to give us the System, which grants us all sorts of powers. Now that every human has access to this System, it won’t be long before all hell breaks loose across the whole planet. One year ago today, the Guide came to me with an offer to become something akin to a beta tester. That is how I was able to make so much money, as well as how I knew exactly what was going to happen. And one last thing. Mom...”

Tamashi turned his gaze to his mother with a painful expression, terrified of what was about to come.

“You probably didn’t realize it, but the reason you agreed to leave the city and move here is because I put you under a mind-altering spell. It made you more easygoing and willing to agree to pretty much anything I asked. While the only thing I used it for was for you to agree to move here with me, it was still something I did against your will, no matter my intentions. For that, I want to apologize. I’m sorry, Mom. I’m really sorry.”

Tamashi bowed deeply and closed his eyes, his face tense.

He was scared of what his mom might think of him now. He was terrified that she would want to leave because of what he had done.

“Tamashi...”

His mother’s voice made his body jerk a little, and he lowered his head deeper.

“Tamashi...” his mother continued. “Thank you.”

Astonished, Tamashi raised his head and looked at his mother with a surprised and confused expression.

“What?”

“Thank you for telling me, Tamashi. I know it must have been really scary to tell me. I really appreciate that you did.”

Himawari’s voice was gentle, and her smile genuine.

“You... you’re not angry?” asked Tamashi with a trembling voice.

“Of course I’m angry,” said Himawari. “But I’m far happier that you trusted me enough to tell me anyway.”

Tamashi’s eyes started to water. Himawari stood up and walked over to him, hugging her son tightly.

“Oh, stop that. What kind of man cries over something like this.”

Despite her teasing words, she rubbed Tamashi’s hair with one hand and patted him on the back with the other.

“There, there... You’re still my son, and as your mother, it’s my duty to forgive whatever trouble you might cause. I’ll still love you, no matter what.”

Forcing his tears back, Tamashi hugged his mother tightly.

“I love you too, Mom,” whispered Tamashi softly, his voice shaking.

***

Some time had passed, and Tamashi was in his room with Kengo, the atmosphere tense.

“So, we agree that we should keep the explosion at Fuchū and that man’s escape a secret, then?”

“Yes,” responded Tamashi to Kengo’s question in a solemn voice.

Before Himawari gave birth to Mika, the doctors weren’t sure about who Mika's biological father was, so it was decided to proceed with the pregnancy. When it was discovered that Mika’s biological father was Enraku Sukeguro, Himawari fell into a deep depression, neglecting herself as well as her family for over a year before finally recovering somewhat thanks to therapy—that is also the reason why Mika prefers the company of her brothers, since they were with her much more while she was growing up.

If Himawari were to find out that that man was now free, roaming Tokyo’s streets and possibly hurting other women, she could revert to her depressed state—something the Ume brothers refused to risk.

“Oh, right,” spoke up Tamashi again. “I almost forgot about this.”

“What?” inquired Kengo, becoming curious.

“Over the past year, I’ve found and reported many bugs and issues the System had... but not all of them. Give me a second.”

Tamashi opened his System window and created a new account, with the exact same name and number as the non-existent account to which he had sent all his saved-up coins.

The moment the account was created, he got a notification:

“Unknown account has sent you coins!”

Checking his balance, his mood lifted a bit. Instead of seeing a big, fat zero, the numbers showed: 57,277,353 coins.

“Ahh, it feels good to be rich again.”

“Huh? What are you talking about, bro?”

“Oh, you know,” Tamashi smirked proudly. “Just about how I managed to send all my coins from my beta tester account into my new one, making me rich in an instant.”

“J-just how rich?” stuttered Kengo, his brown eyes sparkling with obvious greed.

“Not much—just something over fifty-seven million coins, which is about four hundred and thirteen million yen.”

Kengo’s jaw dropped, and with eyes wide, he asked, “Haha... my beloved brother, my ears are probably failing me, but... did you just say three hundred and sixty million yen?”

“Seems to me like your ears work perfectly fine, dear brother.”

Kengo stared at his brother as a man in a desert would at a mirage.

“Hahaha!” laughed Tamashi. “Don’t worry, I’m gonna share. Let’s go get Mom and Mika—we need to have a strategy meeting.

With the whole family once again in the living room at the ground floor, Tamashi spoke up.

“Alright, please pay close attention, as what I’m about to say is very important.”

Seeing the three of them nod, he continued.

“First of all, if you have any questions about the system, don’t use the Guide button, as the Guide has suggested—ask me instead. We don’t need it to know what we’re up to. Second, I have quite a bit of the System coins saved up, as I said before, thanks to a little loophole I found, so I’ll need you all to create coin accounts, so I can send some over. That’s necessary if you want to receive coins as rewards, and also because I need you to buy some magic spells I recommend—life without them will become impossible very soon.”