Days passed, and it was as if nothing had ever happened. Or at least, that's what Mama Fiona tried to show.
If there was one thing Mama Fiona excelled at, it was hiding her emotions. She didn't pull away from me, didn't act awkward, and made sure nothing changed—just enough to avoid questions.
If there was something to be grateful for, it was the fact that a few weeks later, Mama Enna and Mama Fiona finally started talking again.
They seemed to have found a way to understand each other, though they weren't nearly as close as before.
And after that… No more kisses. No more touches. No more embraces from Mama Fiona.
I shouldn't have been thinking anything weird. I mean, before this, we'd never even had physical contact—aside from during combat training.
But ever since that day, since touching her, since feeling her… I—
in a way that might have been a little distorted—I wanted her again.
"...and that is how you deal with a sleazy creep. No yelling, no hitting. Just a little public humiliation online does the trick."
While driving, Mama Val flashed me a smug grin. "Well? Don't hold back. Go ahead and praise your awesome mama."
"Hm…"
"Just 'hm'? That's all I get?"
"I…" I remembered how Mama Fiona had made sure no one else knew what happened that day—or the day before. "I'm just not in the mood to talk right now."
"Oho. What's this? Are we grumpy? Heartbroken, maybe?" Mama Val nudged me playfully.
"Heartbroken?"
"Well, aren't you at the age where you're supposed to start dating?"
"I don't have a girlfriend."
"Haha. Of course you do—wait." She glanced at me. "You… don't?"
"Never had one."
"Never?"
I nodded briefly, and her face twisted into something close to horror.
"You have experienced it, right? I mean, um… you know, the first time you realized you hit puberty and—?"
"You mean a wet dream?"
Mama Val slapped her forehead and looked slightly embarrassed. "You didn't have to say it that bluntly, but yes."
"I have, I guess." Though, honestly, I wasn't sure.
First of all, it wasn't like the stories my friends always told.
And second… Was it really a wet dream when the person in it wasn't someone you liked, but someone who was supposed to be your mother?
"And you've never had feelings for any girl?"
If any one of you counted, I'd be nodding. But I didn't want to burden Mama Fiona with something unnecessary.
So I shook my head.
And that seemed to give Mama Val room for wild assumptions. "Or maybe… you're more into boys?"
"…Huh?"
"Hey, don't be shy! I mean, we're all open to that kind of thing. Right now it's just me, but I'm sure Mama Fiona and Mama Enna would totally accept—"
"How did you even get to that conclusion?"
"So… it's not that?"
I sighed and shrugged. "I'm… just focused on studying right now."
Mama Val gave me a look full of suspicion and a knowing smile. But instead of launching into another wild theory, she simply nodded. "Gotcha, gotcha."
She didn't get anything.
"But you know, if you ever need any love advice—"
"Don't need it."
"—maybe help decoding the signals from someone special—"
"I don't have one."
Still, Mama Val patted her chest proudly. "Just talk to your favorite love expert right here. With all the experience I've got, I swear, you'll become the best boyfriend anyone could ever have."
I turned my gaze out the window and tuned her out.
In my head, I was thinking.
A boyfriend, huh… Is that something I could really become?
Could I really picture myself standing beside Fiona?
Not as the little boy she raised. Not as the clueless kid who admired her and was a little scared of her.
But as a man. As her partner. As… her boyfriend.
#
Right after the recess bell rang, my desk was immediately swarmed by two uninvited creatures.
"... I mean, Giant Rovers should've finished that match so easily. They're the championship favorites this season—favorites! And they lost to a team whose name hasn't even been heard for the last two seasons!" While Fletcher continued to ramble enthusiastically, I watched him lazily.
"What are you doing here?"
Fletcher stared at me in disbelief. "Huh? What else? Obviously, chatting with you guys."
Though I had no idea who he meant by 'you guys'. Personally, I neither knew nor cared what he was talking about.
Meanwhile, our other friend, Theo, was far too glued to his phone screen to notice anything happening around him.
"You know I'm not really into football, right?"
"Huh? Cain, no way!"
"Yes way. I told you that the moment you started talking to me." Back then, without warning, Fletcher had asked me which team I supported, and I answered plainly: a team that doesn't exist in this world.
I thought he was smart enough to take that as sarcasm.
"I thought you were just trying to be funny."
Fletcher looked genuinely betrayed. Almost pitiful, really.
Or maybe not.
It looked more pathetic, annoying, and nauseating. But before I could say anything meaner, Theo spoke up first. "Black Death honestly looks really hot."
I blinked. "What?"
Now I knew what he was watching. From the glimpse of his screen—set bright enough—I saw footage from a Raid broadcast a few days ago.
"Like, damn, yeah she's cool, especially the outfit. But honestly, the more I look at her closely, she's just... I don't know, really beautiful and sexy."
"Oh, yes, yes. Very sexy. Which part exactly?"
"W-wow, do I have to spell it out? First off, her smile. Sure, she usually does that when she kills monsters or finishes a Raid, but hey, seeing her smile with blood on her face... it stirred something in me I didn't even know existed."
"Oh, stirred, huh?"
"…"
Theo fell silent, staring at me as I smiled and blinked slowly.
"Dude, did I offend you or something without realizing—?"
"Oh no, not at all."
"You sure? Because there's this creepy dark aura coming out of you right now."
And at that very wrong moment, Fletcher piped up, "Theo, you heartless jerk! Don't you know that Black Death is—mmph!"
I muffled Fletcher's mouth with my hand before he could say anything more explosive than a leaked state secret.
That Black Death is someone I know very well. That Black Death is none other than Mama Fiona.
"Black Death is...?" Theo blinked, clearly still expecting an answer.
So I made sure to give him an accurate one. "A famous plague that occurred in the Middle Ages."
"Huh?" It took Theo a few more seconds to respond. "Wait, is this one of your class rep tricks to force us to study?"
"Studying is a personal responsibility. No one should have to force you to do it.. And also..." I reached out and snatched his phone. "Bringing a phone to a learning environment is against school rules."
"B-but it's break time!"
"And you're still in class. Still wearing your uniform." I crossed my arms. "Or, sure, you can use your phone—if you step out of the room and take off your clothes."
"Take off... what?"
"Your clothes. Your uniform. Make sure there's nothing on you that identifies you as a student here. After that, you're free to do as you please."
As my gaze swept the classroom, the other students—who had been chatting and giggling while occasionally playing with their phones—immediately paled and hid their devices as far away as possible.
"T-that's just cruel..." Theo looked genuinely hurt. Betrayed.
But with a satisfied smile—the kind Mama Val always taught me to show whenever I did something she considered praise-worthy—I said, "No, this is justice."
#
"Don't let it happen again tomorrow." I finally gave Theo back his phone after he begged me the rest of the day—throwing apology notes at me and making abandoned puppy eyes whenever I looked his way.
And since it made me look like a criminal bullying a baby, I gave in.
"Oh, you really are an angel," he said, trying to hug me affectionately.
Which I made sure did not happen.
"So, what can we learn today, kids?" Fletcher appeared—uninvited, again..
"Umm... don't use your phone in front of our dearest Cain?"
"Tsk, tsk. Wrong. The correct answer is: never ever talk about someone—"
STARING…
I made sure to cast death into my glare at Fletcher. Thankfully, he quickly got the message.
"—something. Yeah, something horrible like that so casually. Good grief, Theo." And Fletcher began smacking Theo on the head like it was a reflex. "Don't you ever think about how the victim's loved ones might feel, huh?"
"Ow. H-how was I supposed to know something like that? That happened over a thousand years ago. Like it's still relevant."
"And that is why you study history, geez. Theo, you're really heartless."
Ignoring the conversation, I opened my locker, retrieving a few things I had kept inside. What should've been a quick task was delayed when I found something foreign there.
A pink envelope. Sealed with a tiny butterfly ribbon.
"That's definitely a love letter."
And of course Fletcher showed up at the worst moment, as always.
"But, I mean, a physical letter? What is she, a boomer? You've got messaging apps, girl," Theo chimed in.
"Shush, hey, uncultured man. Don't you know the charm of old-school methods? A classic approach like this is clearly more suited to Cain. Whoever wrote it totally gets his—HEY! What are you doing?"
I stopped by the trash bin. "Getting rid of it, obviously."
Fletcher facepalmed. "Oh my God. You... how could you? That's just cruel!"
"It's probably just a prank."
"And what if it's sincere? I mean, come on, she probably spent the whole night thinking up those words. Wrote it from the heart. Probably waited all night for your respo—"
"Yeah, yeah." I opened it—just to shut them both up.As I broke the seal, a folded note appeared.
And... it was indeed written with care, I suppose.
"So?" Both Fletcher and Theo were watching me, more eager than usual.
"It's from Bianca. Bianca Dawson."
Both of their jaws dropped.