Volume 4 Chapter 30 A Child’s Potential
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The Sunday parent observation day¹ finally concluded as the last of the classes wrapped up. Shortly after we returned from the gymnasium, the Sheep Group finished their closing meeting ahead of everyone else. I met up with Mio, and we chatted idly while waiting for the Rabbit Group to finish their own meeting. Suu-chan was already standing by the door with Shiho-chan, waiting for the kids to come out. She really never wavers, does she? The way she kept glancing back into the classroom made it look like she was actually having a great time.
”Akari, are you lost in thought again?” Mio asked, peering into my face. We’ve been best friends for years, and her intuition is as sharp as ever.
”Yeah, well, a little bit,” I replied. “I was just wondering what we should do about Maa-kun’s education policy.”
”I see. That’s a tough one,” Mio said, her brow furrowing. She pulled a folding fan from her bag and spread it to hide her mouth-her signature signal for a conversation she didn’t want overheard. I spread my own fan in response and dropped my volume several notches.
”Maa-kun is a bit… ‘special’ in a lot of ways, after all,” she teased.
”I know what you’re trying to say, so I won’t deny it. But I’ve started to worry that I might be the one holding him back. That I’m crushing his potential.”
(I’ve been thinking about this ever since I spent time with him, but after hearing Sanae Imai-san’s story, I felt like I had to act fast.)
Our family creed-and the Totsuka family’s too, for that matter-is generally one of non-interference². We let the kids do what they want to do. (But is that really enough?) Even without a mother’s bias, Maa-kun’s growth is clearly on a different trajectory compared to other children. I worried that by trying to fit him into the “child” box, we were effectively forcing him to slam on the brakes.
The electronic dictionary I gave him for his birthday was a conclusion I reached after much agonizing. I’d worried it was too advanced for a four-year-old, that it lacked any sense of “play.” But I also suspected that if it were Maa-kun, he’d master it the moment I showed him the ropes. In reality, he started out using it in secret, but now he’s quite open about it. Honestly, I can already tell the specs are starting to limit him. For a boy who doesn’t have much material greed, maybe those are the things he actually craves.
There are things a child normally can’t have, and experiences they are normally barred from. Maa-kun seems to understand that instinctively, and that is why he never asks for anything. He doesn’t want to turn us into “eccentric” parents, and he doesn’t want to be a financial burden. (Maybe I’m overthinking it, but he’s smarter than we realize, and he’s always reading the room. It becomes painfully obvious whenever I see him with other children.)
(Should I be doing more for him? Should I send him to a cram school? Specialized lessons? Should he take entrance exams for private elementary school? Or maybe an international school?) If I asked, Maa-kun would probably do it. He’s never once refused a request from me-except for that one time I tried to put him in girls’ clothes. But those are things I would be making him do. Maa-kun knows his friends go to cram schools. He even tried some lessons last summer. The options are there in his mind. The fact that he hasn’t said “I want to do that too” means he probably isn’t interested.
I didn’t want to be stubborn about our policy, but if I kept second-guessing everything, we’d just end up with a half-baked mess. As my thoughts began to loop, Mio gave me a casual shrug.
”Why not just keep leaving it up to him like you have been?”
”Huh?”
”Look, Maa-kun is a shrewd kid,” Mio said. “He’ll find what he wants to do and just start doing it on his own. Isn’t he already busy doing things in secret?”
”Well… yeah.”
It was true. Whenever Maa-kun is alone at home, he stays busy while hiding from me. He keeps up with current events via news and newspapers. He sings, he dances, and he practices what look like martial arts forms. He’s even teaching himself to be ambidextrous with chopsticks and pencils, and he’s obsessed with magic tricks. He doesn’t have a single second of “boredom.” I try to give him his space, but…
”Then just watch over him,” Mio suggested. “And then, when he finally does come to us for help, we just give him everything we’ve got. Isn’t that enough?”
”You… think so?”
”Totally. If parents get too fired up, it just puts pressure on the kid. And Maa-kun is a total glass cannon when it comes to pressure.”
Mio’s words, though delivered casually, hit the nail on the head. She’s always the one to pull me back when I’m paralyzed by overthinking.
”Besides, it’s way too early to stress about his career,” she added. “What a kid becomes isn’t for the parents to decide anyway.”
”Yeah.” (Sanae Imai-san had said something similar.)
”Has Maa-kun mentioned what he wants to be?” Mio asked. “I mean, Suu-chan always says ‘I’ll be with Maa-kun’ with total confidence, but…”
(I’m actually a little jealous of Suu-chan’s unwavering nature. Who knows if she means the same job or just being with him, though knowing her, it’s probably both. Her vocal mimicry was also surprisingly accurate.)
”No, he says he doesn’t know yet,” I replied. I’d asked him before, but he just groaned and didn’t seem to have an answer.
”Well, with his brains, he’ll never have to worry about a paycheck, so isn’t worrying just a waste of time? The kid is already fluent in English. By the way… how many languages is he up to now?”
”Um… he’s only fluent in English and Japanese for daily stuff. His Chinese is still a bit shaky. Other than that, he’s dabbled in Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese, French, Russian, German, and Italian. There are others, but I think he’s starting to forget which is which himself.”
Mio stared at me, her expression shifting from impressed to flat-out exasperated. “…The kid isn’t even five yet. That’s not a ‘prodigy,’ that’s a comedy sketch. Is his Japanese even okay?”
”I think that’s fine. Sometimes the English words come out first and frustrate him, but when he’s with Suu-chan, he hardly ever happens, right?”
”Well, that’s true…”
”Anyway,” Mio said, “panicking won’t help. For now, just focus on what to do for his summer break lessons.”
”Right. I’ll do that. Thanks, Mio.”
”Don’t mention it. You can pay me back with a retirement plan funded by Maa-kun later.”
”Don’t start plotting to be a burden on my son already!”
And so, the parent observation day ended-leaving me with plenty to think about regarding what a parent should really be doing for their child.
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Summary:
As Sunday parent observation ends, Akari discusses her anxieties regarding her son Maa-kun’s education with her friend Mio. She fears her ‘hands-off’ parenting might be stifling his incredible intellectual potential. Mio reassures her that the boy’s own drive will lead the way.
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Trivia:
- Maa-kun hides his intensive studying from his mother to avoid being a burden.
- He has dabbled in at least 9 foreign languages before the age of five.
- He has a history of resisting wearing girls’ clothes, one of the few times he’s said ‘no’.
- Suu-chan’s attachment to Maa-kun is already intense and future-oriented
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Character Insight:
Akari feels a deep sense of responsibility and potential guilt that her desire for a ‘normal’ childhood for Maa-kun is actually a form of suppression. Maa-kun’s motive is shown to be self-sacrificial; he hides his genius to keep his parents’ lives simple.
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Lore And Worldbuilding Context:
The ‘privacy fan’ gesture is a common trope used to indicate secretive or high-class gossip in Japanese social settings.
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Glossary:
Notes:
• Shiho-chan – An early‑arriving student, this child is often seen waiting with Suu‑chan at school. As Suu‑chan’s close friend, he/she tries to act as a ‘stopper’ for her mischief, and is close enough to Yuma’s family to stay over at their home.
• Suu-chan – A refined young girl with soft skin who values etiquette and ‘lady’s grace.’ She holds Makoto to a high standard of grooming.
• Shiho – A four-year-old Rose-Class girl with a side-up ponytail, Hina’s younger sister and close friend of Makoto, Suu-chan, Yuma and Suzuka. She wears a kitten-themed hair clip and placemat, uses training chopsticks, loves picture books and Hiragana, swims, makes mud dumplings with Makoto’s tips, and quietly competes with Suu for Makoto’s attention, often following Suu-chan to meet Makoto.
• Mio – Akari’s longtime best friend and Shiho’s mother, she’s a pregnant Totsuka resident with baby-faced charm, G-cup curves, and a gray-clad, stylishly dressed “little devil” persona—playfully mischievous yet grounded and perceptive. A former athlete turned teacher, cook, and photographer, she’s tech-savvy, financially astute, and quietly guides Makoto, Suu-chan, Fuu-chan, and Kyo-chan as the family’s nurturing femme-fatale matriarch, driving them to parties, baking with them, and encouraging Shiho’s hobbies to keep her occupied—all while serving as Akari’s trusted sounding board for parenting anxieties.
• Suu – A female student in the Rose Class. Very close to Makoto (Maa-kun). Has mud on her cheeks and makes high-quality dorodango.
• Akari – 28‑year‑old single mother, long dark‑brown hair, subtle makeup, poised and observant. Lives beside best friend Mio, drives a black light‑compact car, raises newborn Maa‑kun and son Makoto. After childcare leave she works IT for balance, prefers quiet home, feels guilty missing the party. Strict yet loving, polite, estranged from her parents, mischievous, monitors Makoto’s health via a ‘status report’ network. Former bank employee using customer‑service skills to navigate high‑stakes parent circles.
• Maa-kun – A young boy in the Rabbit Group at Hinomori Kindergarten. He is highly intelligent, capable of second-grade math and multiplication. He is described as calm, stoic, and helpful, often acting as a ‘handler’ for more energetic children. Akari’s son, nearly five years old. An extreme polyglot and polymath who secretly studies news, martial arts, and multiple languages. Highly sensitive to his parents’ moods. Also referred to as Makoto-kun. Narrator’s son in the Rabbit Group. Popular with other girls but maintains distance. Previously protected Suu-chan during the ‘April Incident.’
• Sanae – Middle‑aged woman, mother of Jun and three older sons, experienced parent with a laissez‑faire style. Patient yet often exasperated, she skillfully reins in her son’s rowdy energy. Friend of the narrator and of Makoto’s mother, she values Makoto’s positive influence on her daughter.
• Totsuka – Totsuka Mio is the wife of Mitsuhisa Totsuka and mother of Suu-chan. She is a hardcore gamer, part of the neighbor family that supplies hand‑me‑down consoles to the protagonist’s household. Mio attends parent‑teacher conferences and worries about her daughter’s growing dependence on Makoto.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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