In Mori's café (2)

Naturally or not, Ayame noticed people looking at her. She gave a wave, and skipped over. On her way, she passed by Mori, who nodded, probably haven taken her order. Then, she stopped next to me and Suzune, standing next to the table, where she introduced herself.
“Good day, I am Fujiwara Ayame, a classmate and friend of your son Minoru. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” After delivering her lines cheery and peppy, she gave a curt bow.
“Oh my, what a cute girl.” It looked like she won mom over. Though I couldn’t shake the feeling that something looked off about her.
Perhaps picking up on it, Ayame decided to double down on her performance. “Thank you for the compliment, mother dearest.”
‘Okay, that was enough.’ But before I could do anything, Suzune got up. She pulled Ayame away by her ear, a few tables away. While walking, she told me “Minoru, pick up my drink and follow us.”
Glad to have a way out of the situation, I followed suit. Glancing back over my should, I could mom laughing, before starting to talk with dad. ‘Those two should be fine on their own.’
Looking around, it looked as if either no one had noticed our commotion, or they didn’t care about it.
Once I arrived at our new table, I could understand why. Suzune’s ears and tails were clearly visible. ‘Guess I ought to thank her for it.’ But there wasn’t much of a nice mood around her. She wasn’t angry, but visibly annoyed. Ayame sat in the seat opposite to her.
I put down the drink I had been carrying, which earned me a brief “Thanks.”, before taking a seat next to her with my own beverage. Much to a certain someone’s dismay.

“So, mind telling me what that was about?” Gone was the prim and proper appearance from before. Suzune was leaning her elbow on the table, face cupped in a hand, starring at her quarry.
‘Either she is comfortable enough around me to show her true form, or I am insignificant enough for her to simply ignore me.’ Firmly hoping it was the former, I too waited for the response.
“Well, I wanted to make a good first impression.”
“You call that good?” I didn’t know where the annoyance came from. For a short moment, I had the thought that maybe Ayame had tried to use some kind of magic, but quickly discarded it. Despite her — at least for me — at times illogical and erratic behavior, I don’t think she was the kind of person to do that. Otherwise I would already be under a spell. …A different one.
“You are right. I screwed up.” And she looked really dejected. Was some magical thing going on, or something I didn’t get as a guy?
“Anyway, why push it so hard. You know you should take your time.”
“…” She had no reply.
But now that there was a window, I took it to ask my question. “It was not a coincidence that you came here today, at this time, right?”
“…No.”
“Thought so.” I leaned back in my seat. ‘What am I supposed to do about this now?’ Many thoughts muddled my mind. But, one more time, a person arrived on cue. And as for her, I believed she deliberately chose to do so.

“Here you are.” Mori sat down a strawberry parfait in front of Ayame. Then, mentioning for me to follow her, we stood a few meters aside, and spoke quietly. “Please, forgive her for this. She is just excited.”
“…” I took a moment. “Alright.” Mori’s apologetic expression turned into her usual business smile. “However, there is one thing I want to ask you.”
“Ask away. But I might not be able to provide you with the answers you seek.”
“Just how much do you know?”
This left her silent for a few moments. Then, she gave me a reply. “From all the people involved here, probably the most. I am not sure about Suzune, but I might know more about everything than even her.”
“She is a shrine maiden whose work is to oversee everything around here. If you know more than her, what would your position be?”
I was curious about that one, but didn’t get the answer I had hoped for. “Just the owner of a small café, in a small town.”
‘Right…’ Well, there wasn’t much I could do right now, so I let it stay like this. Thinking about what I knew about the woman named Mori, I quickly recalled our first meeting. Thinking back on it, I got a conclusion that left me satisfied. “In that case, I guess I can count on you for giving me advice when I need it.”
She giggled. “Sure. I give advice freely, and you are free to follow it. Just don’t expect the drinks to be free.”
“Alright. Then, I freely choose to follow your advice with Ayame.” Parting with these words, I returned to the table.

I had been so absorbed in my own conversation, that I hadn’t noticed what had happened here. I was greeted with a slightly less annoyed looking Suzune, and a crestfallen Ayame letting her head hang. She hadn't touched her food. In this awkward atmosphere, I returned to my seat. Suzune responded to my presence. “Don’t worry about similar things happening in the future. I berated her, and she showed signs of accepting it.”
“Actually,” Both head snapped up at me. It might not have been wise to continue from there, but I didn’t really have much of a different choice as I had already started the sentence. “I don’t mind it that much. Sure, it can be annoying, and embarrassing in the moment. But, it is not like it will harm me. And I am sure you did not have any bad intentions while doing it, Ayame. So… I forgive you?” Towards the end, I lost confidence into my choice of words.
“Did Mori put this into your head?” Suzune regarded me.
“No. Or, not really. I had decided upon this before she took me away, on my own. This is how I truly feel, uninfluenced by others. She just shared the same point, reaffirming my choice.”
Once I had finished, Suzune heaved a sigh, turning away from me, and looking at Ayame once more. I followed the line of sight, and looked at the young girl too.
Ayame’s head turned down during me talking, so I couldn’t see her face’s expression. But I could see that her body was trembling all over. Was she happy? Crying? Or even angry? Before I could ask her to ascertain her state, Suzune started talking. “Aren’t your happy that he is so nice to you?” From there, her voice turned from playful to serious. “Remember what he just said, and what I have told you. From there on out, you should know what would be right to do.”
After saying this, she rose from her seat. As I was between her and the hallway, she pushed me up too so she could leave. Then, she grabbed my arm, and started pulling me away with strength that defied her body, making resisting a non-viable option. ‘Ah, that is taking me back.’
Don’t mind that! Not only that, this time she wasn’t angry at me. Still, I should at least say something. “Is it really okay to leave her like that?”
“Yes. She needs some time to think. Trust me.” As Suzune knew Ayame longer than me, there wasn’t much I could muster against her.
“Got it.” After this short reply, I was released, and we walked back to the original table.

Mom and Dad were laughing, as they probably had been joking around before our return. “Oh, you are back?” Mom remarked.
“Yes. Please excuse the delay.”
“I don’t mind. I am sure you had plenty to discuss. Now,” Mom rose from her seat. “I guess it is time that I let the two of you talk business. Suzune, thank you for bringing my husband here. Even if it was a coincidence and it was only shortly, I am happy I got to meet him here today.”
“You are welcome…” Looked she didn’t expect that.
“Now then. Minoru, I still need to go shopping. As you wanted to assist me with housework today, I am sure you are going to accompany me, no?”
“Yes, I don’t mind. But do you really want to leave this early?”
“Well, we can come visit anytime, so it should be fine.” With this, mom started walking away. I quickly bowed to Suzune, and followed her. Dad was in a dazed state just like me.
On our way out, we passed Mori to pay. “Already leaving?”
“Yes. Ah, but don’t worry. It is nothing with this café, I simply still have errands to run. I will definitely come again, and maybe then I can stay for a while.”
“We will be glad to have you back.”
“Yes. Now, I am going to pay for my son and myself.”
“Ah.”
“Is something wrong? Oh, do you not want your mother to pay for you?”
“No, that is not it.” I glanced at Mori. “Just… I really should pay for myself this time.”
“It should be fine if she pays.” Mori told me.
“You heard the lady.” Mom took her purse out of her hand bag.
The fairy maid from before arrived out of thin air, and started the payment process. During it, Mori whispered to me “Don’t worry about her getting lost trying to move here. I can select who can pass through and who not, down to a single person instead of just magical and normal.”
“…Then why do I need the amulet?”
“You do not only need it for me, but for other things as well. Plus, it makes things easier on my side.”
After our exchange, mom was done paying. Turning to me, I bid Mori farewell, and we left the café.

Though we didn’t get very far, as soon after us, someone burst out the door. It was Ayame. Catching up to us quickly, she than stood still in front of my mother. Once she had gathered her breath, she bowed at a ninety degree angle. “I am sorry for my previous behavior! Please forgive me!”
“…” I couldn’t say anything. But, mom definitely showed a reaction.
“Raise your head.” Ayame did as she was asked. She got greeted by a hand petting her head, and a warm smile. “I forgive you.” I could see Ayame was so happy, she nearly started crying.
After holding this position for a minute, mom retreated her hand. “Perhaps you want to come over and visit one of these days? I am sure you have my son’s phone number, so just tell him, and I will be there for you.”
“Huh?” She froze up for several seconds before being able to respond. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Otherwise I wouldn’t have offered it.”
“Certainly! Thank you very much!” She literally started beaming.
“Good, then that is settled. Minoru, I am sure you might want to tell her something. I will be going ahead, I am sure you can catch up.”
And so, the two of us were left alone. Once mom was gone out of earshot, I moved closer to Ayame. “Are you alright?”
“Yes.” She sniffled. “Your mother is really kind.”
“Yes, that she is.”
“…Are you sure?”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“What you said in the café. Do you mean it?”
“Ah, that.” Thinking about it, it was a bit embarrassing, but, “I did mean it. That’s why I said it.”
“…Thank you. If that is the case, I won’t lie either, and be true to myself.” She whispered. Then, revived and full of energy, she seemed back to normal again. “I will head back to the café. I still need to apologize to Suzu, after all. I will write you later tonight.” With that, she waved me, and ran back. After she was gone inside the building, I turned around, and went to catch up with my mother.

From there, we went shopping. There was nothing special about it, just shopping. Not only that, she talked normally, as if nothing had happened before. Then, on the way back home, I couldn’t take it anymore, and started asking her myself. “Isn’t there anything you want to ask?”
“Oh, where does that come from?” She played dumb.
“You know what I mean.”
Mom giggled. “I thought you didn’t want me to talk about that.”
‘Ugh.’ She got a hit in. “That was only in the beginning. But now I want to.”
“Very well.” While still playful, she turned more serious. “So, what did you expect form me?”
“…I don’t really know. I think it might be something like an interrogation?”
“Is that so?” She smiled knowingly,. Then turning her gaze away from me, facing forward, she continued. “You see, in the beginning, I might have planned something like that. But not after meeting the person in question herself.
You see, I am not a mother for nothing. Even if you think you are hiding something from me, I can tell something is amiss. The same goes for Ayame. Even if she isn’t my child, it is painfully obvious to me that she is hiding some sort of secret. Still, I don’t think that she is a bad girl.” From here on she addressed me directly. “Even if you do not end up getting together with her, I hope you can look out for that child. Not that I need to worry about that.”
“Yes.” I replied seriously. “While I do not know the full picture, I intend to follow through until the end, no matter how things turn out.”
“Oh, I was not referring to that part. As you grew up I thought you to look out for others, so I never questioned it.” Her tone got lighter again.
“Then what did you mean?”
And humor was part of it once more. “The part of you two going out together. For me, it looks like it will happen 100% in the future.”
“Mom!”
“Just,” She turned serious again. “Do look out for her. I think she hides her true self from a lot of people. And once she decides to show it to you, accept her for who she is.”
“Yes, of course.” My will was reaffirmed again. “Thank you for the advice.”
“You are welcome. And it is natural, I am your mother after all.”

We arrived home, and set to prepare diner, which later also passed.
That night, I got a message on my phone, from Ayame.
‘I hope you are still awake.
I made up with Suzu. Or rather, we talked about a few things. Again, sorry for what had happened today.

…
I can’t say it properly yet, so let’s just leave it at this: I look forward to being around you.’

After sending a quick thumbs up as a reply, I let myself fall into my bed.
As I had given her essentially a free check before, I had to brace myself for anything to come, and accept it. Having made up my will, I could deal with most of it. Still, there were a few things I had not been ready for.