Okaasan No Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janain Dakara Ne -

And Haruki, for the first time in years, didn’t add his usual line.

“Okaasan no koto nanka zenzen suki janain dakara ne” — “It’s not like I like you or anything, Mom.” Every morning, thirteen-year-old Haruki muttered this under his breath before slamming the front door. His mother, Yuki, would just smile from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. “Have a good day, Haru!” okaasan no koto nanka zenzen suki janain dakara ne

“Mm?”

One winter afternoon, Haruki came home to find the house silent. No smell of miso soup. No laundry folding on the sofa. Just a note on the table: “Gone to the hospital. Grandma fell. Back late. Rice is in the warmer.” And Haruki, for the first time in years,