Me and my mother have finished our celebratory lunch at the steak restaurant. We are currently walking on the sidewalk once again, in Tokyo.

  “Aaahhh!! That was good! Did you like it, Qu-kun?”

  “I do. Just like any other food that I’ve ever eaten.”

  “EEEHH? Can’t you show what you like and what you don’t like for once?”

  “As I’ve said time and time again, I don’t really have a particular interest in any kinda food. I’m content with anything I eat.”

  “Hmmm, Qu-kun, you sometimes act like a robot! Please have more personality!”

  “I can’t change how I am, nor do I ever want to.”

  “Muuuuuu!!” said my mother as she pouted her mouth.

  Honestly, she’s in her forties, and she acts like a teenager most of the time. Though I guess it’s a way to attract a man somehow. If my mom ever wants to remarry, nowadays would be the perfect chance. I am not exactly opposed to having a new father, but since I’m gonna have a job soon, I’ll just move out of the house and rent an apartment somewhere nearby. I’ll let my mother enjoy married life all over again. But that is a big if, only if my mother wishes so.

  “Say, Qu-kun! When are you gonna start your shift again?”

  “Exactly tomorrow morning.”

  “EEHH? Then we should hurry up and go home so you can prepare yourself!”

  “Calm down! It’s just a cashier job; there’s no need to be overly cautious for this! I can handle it just fine. I have already visualized what I have to do tomorrow since the moment I was accepted.”

  “EEEHHH?? YOU SURE, QU-KUN! But I am so worried and anxious about how you’re gonna mess up!”

  “What do you mean?’

  “Well, you’re kinda an unfriendly guy. You don’t have a single friend at 20 years old, so I don’t think you can handle customers with many different behaviours and characters. You might even fight one of them on day one!” said my mother with a panicked expression.

  “Are you worried about me, or are you insulting me?”

  “EEEHHH? THERE’S NO WAY I’M INSULTING MY ONE AND ONLY LOVELY SON!! I AM MAD WORRIED ABOUT YOU!!” said my mother with teary eyes.

  “Please have a little faith in this one and only son of yours! I promise to be professional, no matter how annoying the customers will be.”

  “Can you really do that, Qu-kun?”

  “Yes, I can. I promise.”

  My mother suddenly turns around and raises her right hand to me.

  “Then can you make a pinky promise to me?”

  Pinky promise? How old is this mother of mine once again?

  Sigh. . .

  “Alright, alright.”

  We made a pinky promise that I wouldn’t get mad at any customers tomorrow for whatever reason.

  .

  .

  .

  And so tomorrow came.

  We both live in a one-story house 4x7m in size. It is not too big but spacious enough for the two of us. We’ve lived in this same house for the past 20 years since I was born. We have one kitchen, one living room, one bathroom, a small storage room, one small dining room, and two bedrooms. My bedroom is located next to the living room, while my mother’s bedroom is on the other side.

  My shift starts at seven, and it takes about 15 minutes to walk there from my house. It is currently six in the morning, and I woke up in my bed. I am not in any hurry since the workplace is so close to home. I walked to the door in my bedroom soon after I collected myself.

  *THUD THUD THUD*

  *KABLAM*

  “QU-KUN! WAKE UP!! IT’S YOUR FIRST DAY AT THE JOB!!”

  My mother ran to my room in panic. She slams the door open, and it almost hits me, though I dodged it narrowly.

  “I’m up and awake. It’s alright. I’m not gonna be late.”

  “Oh, thank God! Now, please take a bath and go get changed quickly! I’ll prepare your breakfast right away!”

  “My uniform is in the store, so I’ll just change into my casual clothing.”

  “Alright then! Be quick!”

  *Thud thud thud thud*

  And then she darts off towards the kitchen in a hurry.

  Geez, she’s such a worrywart.

  I head to the bathroom and take a quick bath. Five minutes later, I am out of the bath with clean casual clothes of mine, wearing a red short-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of pale blue jeans. I head towards the dining room, and my mother already prepared breakfast.

  “Sorry, Qu-kun! I woke up a bit late, so this is the only thing I can prepare on time.”

  There is a plate of two slices of sandwich on the dining table.

  “This is plenty. Thanks.”

  “You need to buy some food from the grocery store for yourself later, Qu-kun! I’ll give you some money!”

  “There’s no need. I get free lunch and dinner. My manager is a kind-hearted man. I am in good hands.”

  “Eh? Is that so? Whooo! Thank God! I also didn’t have enough time to make bento for you! That solves it! Also, if you leave something behind or need something from home, feel free to call me, okay? I’ll teleport to your workplace as fast as possible!”

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  “. . .”

  I was taken quite aback by what my mother just said.

  Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention that my mother is a Believer since she was still in high school. She can teleport herself towards anything she sees within a limited radius of 30 meters, or can teleport anything that she sees into her hands, but with limited size, mass, and weight. Though she never intends to use her power to fight evil or anything. She simply uses her power for her daily necessities, which was a waste in my opinion, but I never told her.

  “Mother, it’s okay! I can take care of myself. You don’t have to be anxious about me. Time and time again, I have proven to you that I can properly help myself. I appreciate all your help all these years, but honestly, nowadays, you need to slow down a little bit. You’re already at the age where you need to calm down a lot, otherwise you might get some high blood pressure disease of some kind.”

  “I just wanna make sure my one and only son gets the best of the best in this house!”

  “And I am forever indebted to all your caring for me for as long as I live. I am grateful to you.”

  “Wow, Qu-kun! You have a sweet mouth, huh? Ever thought of using that against a woman of your age? You might get a girlfriend that way!!”

  I sit down at the dining table and start eating the sandwich.

  “I apologize, mother, but I have no intention of marriage in mind for now. It seems like a very distant future for me. I still want to do other things in life.”

  “EH? YOU DO? WHAT KINDA THINGS DO YOU WANT, QU-KUN? THIS IS SUCH A RARE OPPORTUNITY TO FIND OUT WHAT YOU’RE ASPIRING TO BECOME IN THE FUTURE!!”

  “Nah! It’s a secret that will always stay with me for the rest of my life.”

  “EEHHH? QU-KUN, YOU MEANIE!!”

  *puk puk puk puk puk*

  My mother continuously gently hits my right shoulder as I continue eating my sandwich, paying little to no attention to her weird antics despite her age.

  “Mother, have you ever considered being married again?”

  *!*

  As soon as I ask that question, my mother stops hitting my shoulder and goes silent.

  “Mother?”

  I look towards her in confusion.

  *!*

  I saw her expression, and it was very unpleasant. It reminds me of her expression the day she found out about my father’s affair.

  “I apologize, mother. I didn’t mean to impose anything upon you. Forgive me for stepping out of line. I was being rude to you, and I didn’t respect my boundaries. I apologize once again.”

  “N-No, it’s not that, Qu-kun! I just didn’t expect you to say that. I finally found something that you wish for! I’ll do my best to fulfil it!”

  *?!*

  “Forget anything I said! I don’t want to needlessly trouble you for it.”

  “No, I am fine, Qu-kun! I already moved on from that guy a long time in the past. My heart is currently only filled with you! I don’t mind having someone new right now, hehehe!”

  “. . .”

  “(That’s good. . .)”

  “Alright, Qu-kun! I’ll try to seduce some cool old man in his forties while you’re hard at work in your job! I’ll have to wear my seducing outfit to increase my success!”

  “On second thought, please hold yourself back a little! I don’t want people to see my own mother with a revealing outfit.”

  “EEEHH? It’s not that revealing! I have no intention to show off my body!”

  “Then that’s good! I am off to work!”

  I finish my sandwich and immediately walk away towards the front door.

  “Alright! Have fun at your new job, Qu-kun! Please remember our pinky promise from yesterday!” said mother as she waved her hand at me with a smile on her face.

  “Yes, yes. Don’t worry about me.”

  I step out of the front door and finally leave for work.

  .

  .

  .

  A week later. . .

  I have been accustomed to my convenience store job. I was lucky to have coworkers who are kind and helpful. Most of them always try to help with stuff I am not familiar with. Some of them also gave me personal secret advice that works for them.

  I have to learn to smile all day, and I don’t have to take anything rude the customer said to heart. A lion wouldn’t be bothered by a rabbit who mocked it. That saying helps me a lot in understanding and being accustomed to this line of work.

  On my first day, I already had to deal with an angry customer who called me a slowpoke my first day. It was a very bitter old lady who kept calling me names for how slow I was handling her groceries.

  At first, I was furious, of course, but I also held it inside. My poker face is perfect, so none of what I feel on the inside shows up in my face. I keep trying to be calm and collected, no matter what. I’ve made a pinky promise to my mother after all.

  Once the old lady left, my coworkers immediately tried to comfort me by tapping my shoulders multiple times. I appreciate their gestures. I feel kinda bad because when they first introduced themselves to me after my first shift, I couldn’t remember any of their names, even a week later.

  Today is Sunday, and I had a day off. My mother asked me to go out to eat lunch. She says she wants to celebrate one week since I got a job. This is such a random thing to celebrate, but I honestly don’t mind her gesture. We both wear our going-out clothes and dress appropriately.

  My mother is wearing a blue gown that goes all the way past her knees. Her dress is entirely full of glitter, making it reflect light beautifully in the middle of the day. She also wears pink blush on her cheeks and pink lip balm on her lips. I bet she purposefully dresses this way to attract someone’s attention. I can’t really blame her, though, at least it isn’t a revealing outfit like I feared she would wear at first.

  Meanwhile, I am simply wearing a long-sleeved blue t-shirt layered by a short-sleeved red shirt that I left unbuttoned, with a black belt on my waist, a pair of black long jeans, a pair of gray socks, and a pair of black shiny shoes.

  We are both walking down the sidewalk of the city.

  “Qu-kun! What do you wanna eat today?”

  “Let’s go to an expensive restaurant for once. I want you to enjoy life sometimes.”

  “Uhuhuhuhuhuhu!! I agree, Qu-kun! Let’s go!”

  My mother immediately takes my hand and guides me to the nearest and most expensive Wagyu restaurant in Tokyo.

  Along the way, there are many men in their 50s to 60s to look at her way. Their eyes were locked on her because of how beautiful my mother looked currently. She really was pretty, but I guess her ‘childish’ antics and demeanour are what make my mother look a lot younger than she actually is. We even look like siblings instead of a mother and son to everyone else.

  We entered the Wagyu restaurant and were treated with high respect. This is my first time inside this fancy restaurant. It really is different than the lower-end kind. There are also very few people inside; I can count about seven other people here.

  We took a seat, and a personal professional chef was assigned to care for us until we were done. The chef introduces himself, and my mother claps in joy. I couldn’t really care, but seeing her this happy makes me subconsciously smile as well.

  The chef started cooking right away, right in front of us. Seeing him prepare our food so masterfully increases our expectations for the food that he’s preparing. We both subconsciously gulped our own spit. Once the food is ready, he serves it himself and plates the food so beautifully for us.

  We take a bite of simply grilled wagyu beef.

  *!!!*

  Both of us were taken aback by how good a simple bite of beef can be. It seems I have underestimated the power of wagyu beef. This is no doubt the best food I’ve ever tasted in the whole world. My mother and I quickly gulped down the rest of the beef from the plate and licked the plate clean. And then the chef immediately prepares yet another wagyu dish for us, and we can hardly wait.

  We are not worried about the price. We have been living so modestly for the past 20 years, we have a lot of money saved up for emergencies, and we both wouldn’t mind using it on today’s occasion.

  About an hour later, we had finished the entire available course.

  “WOOOOOOOO!!! THAT WAS SO GOOD, QU-KUN!!”

  “Yeah. To think food can get that good. But moreover, I am glad that you enjoyed it so much.”

  “I could say the same to you, Qu-kun! You should’ve seen your faces when you eat! Now I regret not taking pictures of them.”

  “Please don’t. I don’t like cameras.”

  “Oh, Qu-kun! This is why your photo book collections only have pictures of you until first middle school, and none afterwards.”

  “And I’d like to keep it that way. How many times do I have to tell you that some people genuinely dislike being on camera?”

  “*Sigh* Alright, alright, Qu-kun! You’re so cold. . .”

  “Not compared to other people. . .”

  *!!!*

  “Ah! Qu-kun! Look! A spa! Can I go there, Qu-kun? Or rather, can we go there together?”

  My mother sees a spa about 10 meters ahead on the sidewalk.

  “A spa, huh? I’ve never been interested in these kinda stuff, but for today, I’ll make you happy.”

  “YAAAY!! THANKS, QU-KUN!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!! MMMMMHHH!!”

  My mother wanted to kiss me on the cheek, but I held her face in place with my right hand.

  “Please don’t treat me like I’m still six years old or something.”

  “EEEHHH? QU-KUN YOU MEANIE!! I AM YOUR MOTHER!! I AM ALLOWED TO KISS YOU!!”

  “It’s embarrassing do this in public in broad daylight, mother. Please don’t.”

  “Aww, alright, then!! Let’s just go to the spa!!”

  “Alright, alright, but please behave properly inside.”

  “Sometimes I wonder who’s the parent and who’s the child. . .” said my mother with a pouting face.

  “My thoughts exactly. . .”

  “Qu-kun. . .”

  “Let’s just enter the spa, mother.”

  “Yay!! Okay, okay!”

  And so we entered the spa together.

  However, none of us knew that today would be the last time that we would be together in this world.