A youth story of a passerby at the end of the world

"Did you do it with her?"

Upon hearing Mai's mother's unexpected words, Uesugi Genshin instinctively raised a question mark; this was a rather tricky question.

"Yes," he answered truthfully, and it was the two of them together.

It was the most unforgettable moment in his memory; it was the first time for all three of them.

Of course, this wasn't the only unforgettable thing.

Mai's mother did not react to this, and it is unclear whether she was simply uninterested in the matter or simply did not pursue it further.

"May I call you Lord Xuanxin?"

"It's okay." Do as you please.

"What's your relationship with the girl you were just talking to?"

Not knowing which one he was referring to, he said, "Subordinates and comrades, that's the general relationship."

"What about that girl with black hair?"

Mai's mother was obviously not asking about Yukinoshita, because Yukinoshita Haruno must have told Mai's mother that Yukinoshita Yukino was her younger sister.

"She is Kasumigaoka Utaha. I met her at one of her autograph sessions. She's a novelist like me, but she writes romance novels..."

As he was talking, he saw the dojo in front of him, reached out and opened the door, and sure enough, he saw Mai's figure inside.

At this moment, she was facing the door, wearing a blue shirt with a blue ribbon and blue casual pants.

It was quite an achievement for her to find such a pair of pants in her closet, because Uesugi Genshin knew that her closet was mostly filled with skirts and... stockings.

Without Uesugi Genshin in the executive department, there was no sparring session, so protective gear was not worn.

"Xuan..." Seeing that it was her lover who opened the door, Mai Sakurajima was about to call out her name when she discovered something even more surprising.

"Mom!" This "Oh, Kasan!" was filled with her surprise.

Of course, seeing her lover was a pleasant surprise, but knowing that this person would never die out there and that her mother was safe and sound in front of her made it even more of a surprise.

The hand holding the bamboo knife fell limply to the floor, the fingers loosened, and the bamboo knife slipped to the ground.

She took two steps forward barefoot, then stopped, somewhat incredulous, hesitating there with wide eyes.

“Mai…” Seeing that her daughter was safe and sound, Sakurajima’s mother also stood still.

"You are safe and sound."

Hearing Mai's voice, which sounded like she was about to cry, Uesugi Genshin trembled.

He knew Mai was strong; she dared to fight her way back to her apartment from her workplace all by herself. He also knew her vulnerabilities very well.

But this was the first time I'd ever heard her voice sound like it was wet with tears.

Just as he predicted, tears welled up in her eyes, as if the emotions in her heart were about to burst forth at any moment.

Mai's tears finally streamed down her face. Unable to contain her emotions any longer, she quickly stepped forward.

Meanwhile, Sakurajima's mother covered her mouth, and large tears fell from her eyes as she suddenly raised her head.

The two drew closer to each other, gradually accelerating.

In the center of the dojo, they embraced tightly.

"Mai..."

"mom!"

Mai was sniffling as she rubbed her face against her mother's shoulder.

Uesugi Genshin leaned against the door frame, quietly watching this reunion.

In the end, they are still mother and daughter.

Even if there were conflicts before, and they are now completely estranged, they are still mother and daughter.

Just as the snot was about to drip from her nose, Uesugi Genshin was glared at by her serious expression. He guessed that she probably didn't have a handkerchief, so he raised his hands as if in surrender.

The eyes and nasal cavity are connected by a structure called the nasolacrimal duct. When a person cries, a large amount of tears may flow into the nasal cavity through the nasolacrimal duct, resulting in a lot of nasal mucus.

He took out a tissue from his pocket, pulled out one, and handed it to Mai, and of course, to Mai's mother.

After a brief silence, Mai left her mother's side.

Her tears had stopped. Only faint tear tracks remained on her face.

“Let’s go back to the apartment first,” Mai said first, then reached out and took Uesugi Genshin’s hand, pulling him out. Mai’s mother followed behind the two of them.

Mai didn't seem to have any intention of letting go of her hand along the way. Even though her mother was beside her, she held her hand tightly as she walked beside her.

"You'll be staying here, right?" Once they arrived at the apartment, Sakurajima's mother looked around.

Of course, there was no one in the apartment. Uesugi Genshin knew that Utaha was still working in the publicity department and had just dropped what she was doing to greet him. Toyohama was rehearsing with the team members in the AV building. The performance on Sunday was coming up soon, and this time it was a super-extended performance of more than an hour. Kato was preparing lunch in the cooking department. Preparing lunch takes a lot of time, especially for hundreds of people.

Yes, with three other people.

The apartment wasn't small, but it felt quite crowded with four people living there at the same time.

However, none of them are sloppy girls. Even Shiyu only forgets to do housework when she is engrossed in creating, and now that it's the apocalypse, there are no editors urging her to submit her work.

The tidy living room made Sakurajima's mother nod in satisfaction. She sat on the sofa and asked, "Would you like to come with me?"

Getting straight to the point, Mai easily responded with a resolute answer: "No."

"Aren't you going to ask me where I'm going?"

I don't want to ask.

As if the touching reunion just now was an illusion, Uesugi Genshin saw the mother and daughter begin a confrontational conversation.

"The Self-Defense Forces have set up an evacuation point at Haneda, and I'm thinking about whether I should go there."

"The government is not trustworthy, let alone the Self-Defense Forces who are paid to work." She had actually been to the Kisarazu Garrison to see for herself.

"You want to stay here?"

“Yes.” Mai nodded without the slightest hesitation.

"..." Sakurajima's mother frowned, then quickly relaxed her brow and said, "Whatever you want. I hope it's really safe here."

As she spoke, Sakurajima's mother looked at him standing next to Mai and said, "I thought that pink-haired girl looked familiar. You're the boy from the TV show, right?"

“That’s right.” Uesugi Genshin admitted that he had changed his appearance, as if he had entered the second stage, but Yui had not changed at all. Moreover, the other people were wearing Soubu High School uniforms, which made it clear that they were the protagonists of the helicopter malicious filming incident that happened more than half a month ago.

"That's quite a change," Sakurajima's mother remarked. "If it were before, I probably would have asked you if you wanted to debut."

“I’ve already debuted.” Uesugi Genshin smiled.

“Ah, yes, you’re also a novelist.” After a brief glance ahead, Sakurajima’s mother turned her gaze back to Mai.

"Mai." Her tone was stern and icy as she asked, "Are you really sure you want to spend the rest of your life with this man?"

Chapter 217: Standing Up for My Sister

"I was already prepared for this."

Mai's answer was without the slightest hesitation, which greatly moved Uesugi Genshin.

On the way out of the apartment building, he asked, "Mai, do you hate your mother now too?"

He told her he was going to pick up his sister from school, and the two of them ran away temporarily.

"Ugh." A lightning-fast reply.

There was neither consideration nor hesitation.

She didn't deliberately try to be quick-witted, making Uesugi Genshin feel that she was simply stating her inner thoughts as they were.

Perhaps it was because of this that he even felt that Mai's clear-cut love and hate was so exhilarating.

"That photobook from middle school... I clearly said I didn't want to take swimsuit photos, but that person still agreed without my consent." Judging from her expression, she doesn't seem to care now, but...

"The disgust I felt back then hasn't disappeared yet."

“Ah.” Uesugi Genshin understood, because hating his mother and his mother as a person were separate things. “Hating her is no longer important.”

“Yes. And…” Mai took her hand, “hasn’t a lot happened in the past month?”

Mai glanced at him sideways, her gaze filled with tenderness.

So Uesugi Genshin probably knew what she wanted to say.

Although he knew it, he still hoped to hear Mai speak in her own words, in her own voice.

"what?"

Mai smiled helplessly at the sight. She stretched out her index finger and counted, "I suddenly encountered zombies, met Kaori, and learned of your existence because of Kaori. There were also the two days we lived in the apartment together, traveled together, and what happened after we came to Soubu High School. Many of the battles were life-or-death, but it was thanks to these experiences that I was able to know what is truly important."

The last part of the sound became very faint, but Uesugi Genshin could hear it clearly.

Moreover, all that is needed in the world for him to hear what follows is something else entirely.

"My disgust for that person hasn't lessened, but now I have many other important things in my heart. Although the feeling of disgust still exists, it is mixed with those important things, which makes me feel indifferent and that I don't need to care."

Mai, who had been continuously expressing her inner monologue, finally showed a relieved expression.

Faced with her explanation, Uesugi Genshin smiled and lowered his head, which also drew his attention to something.

Humans are complex; they don't have simple positive and negative sides, nor are they black and white. Instead, they are a mixture of murky and clear shades of gray, because no emotion exists independently.

If something good happens to you one day, because of this good fortune, you will stop caring about the little things that you used to care about.

No matter how much you dislike something, you can sometimes find peace of mind because of something that brings you good fortune.

Uesugi Genshin heard it clearly: Mai said, "There are many other important things."

In other words, her own words have already admitted that her dislike for her mother is also "important".

This linen clothing gave Uesugi Genshin a vivid, human feeling, allowing him to sense human warmth.

They are not some perfect superman or a masked imposter, but real people full of their own complex thoughts.

"I think I like you more now."

"What are you saying? Suddenly." Just as Mai said this, she felt a warm and gentle touch on her cheek.

It was accompanied by a familiar and comforting scent, followed by the movement of the wind, and the sensation on my face immediately disappeared.

Mai quickly looked to the side, her fingers gripping his arm tightly.

His tilted head and happy expression suggested he was pleased with the success of his prank.

"Pfft..." Then, Uesugi Genshin took Mai's phone out of her pocket with his free hand, held it in front of her face, and shook it.

"?" Mai stared at her own reflection on the black screen, a bewildered expression on her face after being kissed on the cheek.

That's incredibly stupid!

The ensuing anger made her want to retaliate.

She tiptoed, intending to bring her face closer, but the other person had already anticipated it.

Instead of turning his profile towards her, he leaned closer as well.

They felt the softness of each other's lips until Mai couldn't breathe, her heart pounding as if she were suffocating, before they finally separated.

Then, forehead to forehead, he closed his eyes and savored the feeling he had just experienced.

Seeing his smiling expression, Mai knew she had let him get away with it.

However, I don't care.

On the contrary, Uesugi Genshin couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he looked at Mai's slightly shy profile, finding it too adorable.

The tall Mai's face was right next to him, so close that he could count her long eyelashes one by one.

He remembered that Mai was 165cm tall, which was considered very tall for a Japanese girl, and even when she wore very high heels, she was only slightly shorter than him.

Thinking about it this way, I really want to see her in high heels. In fact, I've never seen her like that before. It would be even better if she wore them with BunnyGirl's clothes.

"Um... is it appropriate for you two to kiss like this at the front door?"

Suddenly, Iroha Isshiki, who had been standing to the side, spoke up to remind them, "She watched the whole thing standing up!"

"What? You're here?" Uesugi Genshin looked at Isshiki.