Family Gathering

Yuri and Mao parked their bicycles in front of her house. She opened the door with her keys and went inside. Yuri waited there, nervous.

"What are you waiting for? Come in!" she said with a smile.

Wait...

"Are you scared of my mom? She's sweet!"

A boy... entering a girl's house...? Is this really okay?

Mao frowned, confused.

Not just any boy, but a boy my age! Shouldn't we wait until marriage? Wait, why am I thinking about marriage? We're just friends!

"Yuri..." she said menacingly, approaching him and staring at him with a skeptical look. He was startled, screamed, and recoiled. "I-I promise we're just friends, ma'am!"

"Ma'am? Who do you think you're talking to?"

"Oh, sorry, Mao."

"Jeez, sometimes you're such a coward, Yuri."

"A c-coward? How dare you! You are demonstrating not only disloyalty, but also insulting my courage!"

"I was just... ah, never mind." She rolled her eyes, disappointed.

Did I say something wrong?

"Are you coming in or not? I need to close the door."

She's definitely mad at me!

"O-Okay..." he said as he walked in, feeling ashamed.

Mao's house was similar to his and quite ordinary: two stories, with a staircase leading to the second. Yuri took off his shoes and climbed the step.

One thing, however, caught his attention: on the walls were several framed awards and nominations. He read them: all of them were related to sports.

"Mom, I'm home!" Mao shouted. Someone emerged from the kitchen with a warm smile. She was tall, red-haired, and had a toned body. She was wearing a sports uniform with the number 1 on the front.

She's massive!

"Hm? Did you bring a friend?" she asked cheerfully.

"This is Yuri," Mao said dryly, looking away from both of them.

"Is that so?" replied the mother, placing her hand on her own cheek, delighted. "You don't usually bring friends here, Mao. I'm quite surprised."

"I-Is there anything wrong with that?!" she stammered, embarassed.

"Not at all. I'm proud of you, Mao. Besides, your friend is really cute!"

C-Cute?! Who does she think she is?!

Both Mao and Yuri blushed. "D-Don't say things like that, Mom!" she shouted as she pulled her friend's hand upstairs. She locked herself in her bedroom with Yuri.

"Jeez, what is my mom thinking..." she muttered, pouting like a child.

"Your mom is a little too sweet..."

"Only at home... at work, she's a beast..."

"Seriously? I can't imagine her angry at all." Yuri thought of her imposing stature for a while. "Wait... I can sort of see it."

"She's aggressive, violent! She can knock anyone out with her own strength!"

"W-What does she work with...? Is she an assassin or something?"

"Yes, an assassin of hopes and dreams!" she said, raising her arms dramatically.

They both went silent for a moment. Yuri pondered what that could possibly mean.

"That doesn't seem to narrow it down by a lot..."

"Everyone who competes against her leaves the court with a grim expression! It's almost as if she harvests the souls of her opponents!"

"She's a competitor? Of what?"

"She's the great Road Roller!"

"You didn't answer my question..."

"She has that smug aura all the time... She thinks she's better than me... that I will never surpass her..."

"Mao...?"

"But one day that will change! I can't let her humiliate me no more!"

"Humiliate you? Mao, what are you talking about?"

Mao seemed absorbed and conflicted. Yuri shook her shoulders. "Mao, are you okay?"

"Of course I'm not okay... She thinks she's better than me..."

"Are you sure? I don't know anything about your family, but she doesn't seem like the type of mother who would humiliate you."

"But it's true! No matter what I do, she smiles with an air of superiority and says that I can't do better than her! She doesn't want me to get stronger!"

"Have you ever tried talking to her? About why she says that?"

"O-Of course not! I don't need words to understand the subtext!"

"Maybe she has a reason—"

"Of course she does! She wants to humiliate me!"

"If you're so sure about that, let's ask her."

"What? Do you want her to beat me?"

"Beat you? Has she ever done anything like that?"

"N-No..."

"Then why are you so worried? Come on, let's go." Yuri unlocked the door and went out, inviting her to follow him. 

"W-Wait!" she shouted, reaching out to him. "W-We don't need any confirmation... What if she gets mad?"

"You said she was sweet, didn't you? I'm sure she'll understand."

Yuri went downstairs to find Mao's mother. He went into the kitchen to confront her. He stopped behind her, hands on his torso, trying to appear imponent. Mao stopped a little further behind, watching the two of them. As soon as Yuri tried to call her mother, his voice failed him.

Eh? Why is my voice not coming out?

The mother turned around, noticing his presence.

S-She's really scary! I'm screwed!

"Yuri?" she said, confused. "Do you want something?"

B-But I can't back down now! I need to stand up for Mao!

"Um..." he stammered, trying to find the right words so as not to upset the looming figure. "M-Mao said you... that you..."

"...that you're better than me," Mao announced, stepping forward. She crossed her arms, trying to appear nonchalant.

Mao! Thanks for saving me!

"That I'm better than you...?" murmured the mother, placing her finger on her own cheek thoughtfully. "What do you mean? I'm not better than you."

"Don't feign ignorance!" retorted the daughter, feeling hurt. "You always tease me by saying you can do everything I try to do with your eyes closed!"

"Oh, that...? You don't like it when I tease you?"

"Of course not! Why would anyone like that?"

"But you always tried to impress me by working harder and... eventually you got good at it."

"What...? That's not how it works..."

"It used to work for you. I thought it still did."

"So you were not trying to humiliate me...?"

"Of course not. I used to provoke you as a challenge to make you stronger. Since you love challenges, you always tried to surpass me. And look at you: before you were weak, fragile; now you're getting stronger every day."

"But that's..."

"I never imagined my advice could hurt you. I'm sorry, my daughter." She hugged Mao affectionately. Yuri was happy to be able to be help, but now he felt a little uncomfortable, since he wasn't part of the family.

"Yuri..." the mother called. "...Mao has spoken about you several times. I'm sure it was you who encouraged her to start exercising; it wasn't my advice."

"N-No problem!" he assured her, waving his arms shyly. "I was just a little worried because she used to seem very weak..."

"T-That's not true, Mom!" Mao murmured, embarrassed. "If you hadn't challenged me to become a better athlete than you, I would still be a weakling..."

"Not necessarily. Genetics plays a major role, remember?" Yuri shuddered at those words, as if he were being personally attacked.

"Then I would just become a tall, wasted talent..."

"You do have a lot of talent, Mao. But you have never wasted it. Not a single moment have I not been proud of you."

"Mommy..." Mao stammered, her eyes brimming with tears like a baby's. Yuri also began to cry softly, overcome with emotion.

"Yuri, thank you for being my daughter's friend," the mother commented. "She used to be shy and awkward around people, but now she's much more open and sincere."

"D-Don't worry about it, ma'am! She's also a great friend of mine!"

"See, Mao?" asked the mother, "You were worried about whether he would accept you when he found out you were a girl, but it was all in vain. He's always accepted you."

"Y-Yuri accepts me...?" She glanced at him. He nodded with a nervous smile. She covered her face with her hands, ashamed.

"Mao, you don't need to hide your feelings from me," her mother assured her. "Whenever you feel uncomfortable, you can tell me. You too, Yuri."

"Y-Yes, ma'am!" he replied promptly.

"B-But what if I upset you, Mom?"

"You've never upset me, Mao. If anything, it annoys me when you don't say anything and expect me to guess."

"R-Really? Then you're angry at me?"

"I'll let it slide this time. But try to be more transparent from now on, okay? There's no need to rush, though. Take your time."

"Yes, Mommy..."