Mom. [Arc 6 end]

Twisting the doorknob to her house with one hand, she was welcomed by the dark and lonely entrance with no one there.

But she felt somewhat at ease. As if that dark and lonely place were trying to comfort her, trying to hug her.

It might be because of that, or something else, but she decided to pay heed to their consolation, hugging the floor in return and fainting on the ground, with an immensely high fever and heavy breathing.

“It’s been a long time since I returned home this early. But, I didn’t expect Ayane to bunk her classes. Did something happen? Well, I have to give her an earful, thats my duty as a mother after all.”

A woman in her mid-forties was walking towards Ayane’s house with some baggage in her hands. Her name is Ayase, Ayane’s mother.

She recently got a call from Ayane’s homeroom teacher about Ayane bunking classes. She was mad, shocked, and surprised at the same time.

“But still, Ayane isn’t the kind of girl to do this kind of stuff. I think it is better if I hear her side of the story before lecturing her. Maybe something happened? Yep, thats what I am going to do!”, she said to herself, cheered up.

“Eh?! I was thinking so hard that I didn’t I walked past our home!!”

Somehow, Ayane’s mom was a little dull-headed.

Retaking her steps, she approached her house and opened the door, and she saw something very unexpected.

“Ayane!?!”

The bags that she was carrying fell on the ground, as she rushed over to Ayane, picking her up on her lap.

“Ayane?! Ayane!? Wake up!!”, she screamed, fearing the worst.

Her eyes laid on Ayane’s bandaged arm, which was soaked in blood. The fall when Yuki pushed her had reopened her wounds, soaking her bandage in a vibrant red color.

She noticed her flushed-out face.

“You have a pretty bad fever…”, she said, checking her temperature.

Amid all this chaos, Ayane opened her eyes.

“M-mom…”, she uttered just one word, before closing her eyes again.

“Ayane!!”

She wasted no time. She picked Ayane up on her back and rushed to the nearby hospital. Ayane was heavy, but the adrenaline helped Ayase push her limits. It's her child after all.

Ayane was soon admitted to the hospital. She got her arm checked too. She got one of her bones cracked up because of Masato’s push.

Ayase was waiting anxiously for her daughter to wake up. She held her hands and stroked her head until she opened her eyes.

“Ayane! What happened to you!”, she cried out, as soon as Ayane opened her eyes.

“Mom…”, she looked at her mother. Tears started rolling down her eyes. She couldn’t hold it anymore. She reached out to her mom’s arm and started crying.

Soon enough later, she confessed everything to her. About how she got bullied, how she lost her friend, and how she injured her arm, all because she rejected the confession of an egoistic boy. Her mother was sad and depressed. Firstly she was abused by her dad, and now she was the victim of bullying. She was enraged.

She has to do something about this, she decided.