Volume 2 Chapter 6 Taking a Walk
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
After seeing Mother off, Mio-san carried me into the Totsuka family living room.
”Su-cha~n, Ma-kun is here!” Mio-san said.
”Ma-kuu?” Su-chan asked.
Su-chan, the one being called, was playing on the jungle gym, her recent favorite. She gripped the bars firmly with both hands and feet on the top tier… what was she planning to do from there?
”Nn-…”
She noticed us, but a pathetic whimper escaped her as she realized she couldn’t get down. She was fine with climbing, but apparently descending was still scary. She sought help from Mitsuhisa-san, who grabbed her by the armpits and lowered her to the floor.
”Auu!”
”Da!”
Su-chan came running with a tottering waddle and reached out her hand. I reached out mine in return to greet her-a high-five. She seemed to like it, and it had already become a habit.
”Kaa-kaa?” Su-chan asked.
”Hmm? Kaa-ka is at work starting today. She’s all gone!” Mio-san replied.
”Nn-na?”
”Ma-kun is sad because Kaa-ka isn’t here either. He’s all ‘wah-wah,’ so should Su-chan give him lots of ‘there-there’ pats?” Mio-san asked.
”Nn-“
Su-chan looked around for Mother, who usually came along. She looked disappointed, but that was just how it was. I wanted her to settle for just me today.
”Let’s play a lot together today, too,” Mio-san said.
”Nn”
”Da”
Su-chan nodded her head deeply. I look forward to your favor today.
Mio-san set me down in the living room to prepare for the walk.
The Totsuka family living room was covered in joint mats. The sensation of the floor, which was completely ‘no-damage’ even while crawling, was interesting. We didn’t have them at our house… even if we bought some, I spent most of my time at the Totsuka house anyway, so the cost-performance¹ would be bad.
Having finished greeting me, Su-chan headed toward the jungle gym once again.
She looked at me as if to check if I was following, so I crawled after her. Since I couldn’t climb, I just ended up watching Su-chan’s heroic figure reaching the summit from below.
Su-chan climbed the jungle gym smoothly and looked down at me.
I understand.
To be able to climb to the third tier, the top level, at one year and four months old is amazing!
When I clapped my hands, she let out a snort of satisfaction.
However, since she was bad at getting down from there, she was at a standstill just as I expected.
Mitsuhisa-san, who had helped her earlier, was cheering her on while laughing. It seemed he wouldn’t help her so easily this time. She had no choice but to learn through experience that one must not let their guard down until the obstacle is overcome.
”Makoto should work hard so he can climb too,” Mitsuhisa-san said.
”Ada!”
Before that, I had to become able to stand, but… now was not the time.
I wanted to show the moment I first stood to Mother. Even if he tried to manipulate me like a marionette, I would resolutely refuse to stand!
While the two men were watching over Su-chan’s self-powered descent from the mountain like that, Mio-san appeared, having changed into clothes that were easy to move in.
She wore loose, ankle-length khaki pants and a similarly loose white shirt. It was lightly cinched with a string below the chest, and over that, she wore a thin, long-sleeved cardigan.
The quintessential “chic young wife” style. It wasn’t just that the clothes were fashionable; she wore them well, so she looked stylish.
Mother is also fashionable, but Mother’s coordination seems to be done by Mio-san. To be sure, Mother doesn’t seem to have much interest in fashion herself…
By the way, Mitsuhisa-san was in a very casual outfit consisting of a T-shirt and suteteco², but when you’re tall, you can pull that off. The world is unfair.
”Well then, shall we go?” Mio-san asked.
”Nn-…!”
Along with Su-chan, who was rescued again, I was carried by Mitsuhisa-san as we left the entrance. We went down the stairs of the two-story apartment.
In front of us was a parking space for six cars. There was no space for a warehouse or a bicycle rack.
Our home is one building of a two-story apartment complex. Two buildings, each with four rooms, are lined up. Looking from the front, the Totsuka family lives on the left side, second floor, left unit. Our house is on the right side.
The exterior is surprisingly clean and fashionable. It looks new, though I can’t be sure if it was just renovated.
When Mio-san caught up, Mitsuhisa-san handed the two of us over, went back to the room for a moment, and brought the stroller.
I boarded the stroller. The sunshade was put over me, shielding me from the sunlight which was already strong even though it was still morning. By the way, Su-chan was wearing a pale pink tulip hat.
And then, rocking in the stroller, it was walk time. Su-chan was being carried by Mitsuhisa-san. She seemed to be at an age where she still liked being carried more than walking.
There are many detached houses around here. There are many old Japanese-style houses, and each house is spacious. There are houses with gardens where it looks like you could park more than ten cars, or houses with garages.
The possibility that many rich people live here… isn’t zero, but there’s nothing here to the extent that if you walk a little, you come out to fields with a good view.
Yes, it is the countryside.
The station is close at a three-minute walk, but that station is also something else, being unmanned and having no ticket gates. The parking lot right in front of the station is incredibly cheap at 4,000 yen a month, and as a bonus, there are more than ten free temporary parking spaces.
I can see the figures of elementary school students commuting to school in the distance, but when taking a walk, the only people we encounter are elderly ones.
In my previous life, I lived in the middle of crowds, so this kind of environment where time flows slowly is quite fresh.
”Nn!”
”Hmm? Are you curious about this?” Mitsuhisa-san asked.
When Su-chan saw something interesting, she pointed her finger, and Mitsuhisa-san approached it.
”It’s a leaf, isn’t it? Poke-poke,” Mitsuhisa-san said.
”Pappa. Poke-poke…. Hun!”
Su-chan enjoyed touching the grass on the roadside. She seemed to be at an age where she was interested in everything, so she touched everything and anything… and tried to put it in her mouth, so Mitsuhisa-san was on guard duty!
”Oh, you two are as close as ever today!”
”Ah, Saegusa-san, good morning,” Mitsuhisa-san replied.
”Good morning. Su-chan has grown up so much too,” Saegusa-san said.
After proceeding for a while, we encountered an old lady from the neighborhood who was out for a walk. I wonder if she was on her way back from working in the fields.
”Oh, is Akari-chan not here today?” Saegusa-san asked.
”Yes, she’s returning to work starting today,” Mitsuhisa-san replied.
”Oh my, it’s tough without a husband, isn’t it?” Saegusa-san said.
Mitsuhisa-san is popular with old ladies too, isn’t he. The absolute number of young people around here is small, and since Mitsuhisa-san doesn’t have a “countryside” feel to him, it makes sense.
”You’re a reliable one, so you should just take her in,” Saegusa-san said.
”That’s no good. Mi-kun is my husband alone,” Mio-san replied.
”Oh, Mio-chan. If you tie him down too much, men will run away. You have to look the other way once in a while,” Saegusa-san said.
”But Grandma, you’d get angry if Grandpa cheated, right?” Mio-san asked.
”Well, of course!” Saegusa-san replied.
Wait, you WOULD get angry?!
But more than that, there was a line that couldn’t be ignored…
I won’t give Mother away, okay? But if Mother says she absolutely wants to… ugh… what should I do…
”Akari is all about Ma-kun, so she’s all set in that department!” Mio-san said.
Mio-san… You’re supporting the relationship between me and Mother…
”Didn’t Ma-kun say he was going to marry Su-chan?” Saegusa-san asked.
”That’s true, but! Ma-kun is smart like Akari, so he’ll probably manage it well! I’ll raise him that way!” Mio-san replied.
That’s right, Mio-san, tell her!
”Ma-kun also loves Mama very much, doesn’t he?” Mio-san asked.
”Da!”
”He loves Su-chan very much too, right?” Mio-san asked.
”Da”
”See!” Mio-san said.
”It really is like he’s answering. He’s a smart child,” Saegusa-san said.
”Da”
After that, saying “It’s getting hot,” we broke away from the talkative old lady and returned home in about fifteen minutes.
”Phew, I’m tired,” Mio-san said.
”We got caught by Saegusa-san today, after all,” Mitsuhisa-san replied.
Stopping along the way was a usual thing, though. Today it was Mitsuhisa-san instead of Mother, so the old lady was probably acting a bit flirtatious.
”Phew, I guess I should head out soon too…” Mitsuhisa-san said.
After taking a breath, Mitsuhisa-san began changing into slacks and a short-sleeved shirt. Now it was Mitsuhisa-san’s turn to go to work. As the pillar of the Totsuka family, he had to go earn a living.
”Does it look like you’ll be okay?” Mitsuhisa-san asked.
”Yeah, it’s fine. Ma-kun is calm, and Su-chan’s ‘future wife’ heart is being stimulated so she’s taking good care of him,” Mio-san replied.
”Not as an older sister?” Mitsuhisa-san asked.
”A wife is much the same thing!” Mio-san replied.
Mitsuhisa-san was worried about Mio-san, who would be handling things on her own³ starting today.
I think he’s a good husband. At the very least, he has a sense of composure that I couldn’t manage in my previous life. On top of that, he’s tall and handsome with a good voice, and he’s kind to children; of course he would get such a beautiful wife like Mio-san…
I’m not jealous! I have Mother too!
Mitsuhisa-san put on his backpack and headed toward the door.
”Uuu-!”
”Yes, yes, Su-chan should say bye-bye too-” Mio-san said.
Wanting to see him off, Su-chan eventually got down from the jungle gym with Mio-san’s help. She followed after Mitsuhisa-san and went to be held. I followed behind her by crawling, and Mio-san followed behind me.
”Su, Papa is going to go work hard, okay?” Mitsuhisa-san said.
”Ai!”
When Mitsuhisa-san set Su-chan down, he gave me a high-five too. And finally, a hug with Mio-san.
”Well, I’m off. If anything happens, let me know immediately,” Mitsuhisa-san said.
”Yeah, I know. Have a good day,” Mio-san replied.
The two of them even shared a quick kiss. I wonder how many couples these days go that far. …It’s not like I’m envious.
Together with Su-chan and Mio-san, the three of us waved and saw him off.
When the door closed, as expected, the house felt a little lonely. Mio-san is always bright, but I don’t think she’s without her worries.
There might be nothing I can do yet, but I’ll try not to be a burden today. Mio-san is Mother’s best friend, and I’m indebted to her every day. Plus, she’s supporting my relationship with Mother.
With that in mind, I… it seems it’s about time for my nap…
—
Summary:
Makoto spends the morning with the Totsuka family as his mother starts her first day back at work. The group takes a morning walk through their quiet, rural neighborhood, encountering a talkative elderly neighbor. The chapter ends with Mitsuhisa leaving for work, leaving Mio to handle both toddlers alone.
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Trivia:
- The setting is a rural area with an unmanned train station and low parking fees.
- Makoto is intentionally refusing to stand because he wants his mother to be the first to see it.
- Mio is responsible for coordinating Akari’s outfits.
- Makoto notes that Su-chan is quite advanced for her age (16 months) by climbing a 3-tier jungle gym
—
Character Insight:
Makoto shows a high level of empathy for Mio, recognizing the stress of ‘one-ope’ (solo parenting) and vowing to be a well-behaved child to support her. His possessiveness over his mother is also highlighted during the neighbor’s jokes about Mitsuhisa ‘taking her in.’
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Behind the Scenes:
The author uses the ‘one-ope’ (one-person operation) term to reflect modern Japanese parenting struggles.
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TL Notes:
Notes:
• Mio – A 25-year-old fashionable and kind young mother, she is Akari’s (Makoto’s mother’s) best friend and Ma-kun’s godmother. Known for her playful and teasing personality, she enjoys babysitting Ma-kun and encourages a future marriage between her daughter, Su-chan, and him. She’s skilled in cooking and photography, admired for her beauty—even in casual, unpolished moments—and is married to Mitsuhisa.
• Mitsuhisa – A tall, handsome man with a deep voice who works as the breadwinner for the Totsuka family. He is Su-chan’s father. Su-chan’s father. An IT professional over thirty years old. Described as a doting husband who is hardworking and somewhat reserved toward Akari.
• Makoto – The protagonist. He is the son of Akari and currently stays with the Totsuka family while his mother works.
• Saegusa – An elderly neighbor woman who enjoys gossiping and meddling in the romantic lives of the younger generation.
• Akari – Ma-kun’s mother. A single parent and banker returning to work after childcare leave. Described as a natural beauty who values efficiency. She has a warm smile and is described by her son as beautiful. She is currently caring for her newborn son, Ma-kun.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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