Tokyo: Let the wicked women pay the price!

School health room.

Fujino pulled Jiro to sit in the outer room.

Kitano Megumi's sudden fainting brought the cultural performance to a close.

He and Saki immediately took Kitano Megumi to the school infirmary.

Fortunately, there was nothing too serious, just mild hyperventilation.

Because she needed to wipe Kitano Megumi's body to cool her down, Saki drew the curtains and stayed alone with Ms. Kitano.

Jiro sat next to Fujino, head down, fiddling with his fingers.

"Sir, are you my mother's new boyfriend?"

Fujino laughed dumbly.

This child is precocious for his age.

He ruffled Jiro's hair: "I'm your mother's friend. She went to great lengths to come see your performance."

Jiro's expression darkened, and his fingers paused noticeably for a moment.

"Mom...she must be in a lot of pain. Is it because of me?"

"No, Jiro-kun." Fujino paused for a moment. "A person who has someone to rely on in their heart will not easily feel hardship."

"Am I someone my mother can rely on?"

"How can it not count?"

Listening to Fujino chatting with the child outside the curtain, Kitano Megumi was already in tears.

Self-blame, regret, and helplessness.

She messed things up again.

She wrapped herself tightly in the blanket and let out barely audible sobs.

Fortunately, the blankets in the infirmary were thick enough that people outside couldn't hear the sound of tears.

Saki pursed her lips and sat next to Kitano Megumi, feeling uneasy.

She could understand why Fujino sometimes scratched his head when researching.

It is truly a painful thing to see patients suffer so much from these ridiculous illnesses.

The sobbing on the bed grew louder, and Jiro asked Fujino somewhat guiltily, "Is it really okay to make Mom cry like this, Fujino-san?"

"Stop talking nonsense, kid. Listen to the doctor." Fujino took out a Pocky stick and stuffed it into Jiro's mouth. "Miss Kitano is under too much pressure and needs to release it."

stab-

The bed curtains were pulled back.

Kitano Megumi walked shakily toward Jiro, her eyes stained with black makeup and tears.

She crouched down and hugged Jiro.

"I'm sorry, Jiro. Is Mom doing badly?"

"I still couldn't watch your performance, and I even let you see your mother looking like this."

Clearly, eight-year-old Jiro was not capable of answering such a serious question.

He could only nuzzle his mother with his little head and look up at Fujino with his big eyes.

This doctor must be a wise person.

At least in his view.

"Fujino-san, my mom is amazing, isn't she? You weren't lying to me, were you?"

Fujino bent down, patted Jiro's head, and gave an affirmative answer.

He turned back to look at Kitano Megumi: "Actually, I was in pretty good shape at first, but then my sympathetic nervous system became active again—"

Kitano Megumi interrupted her.

"Jiro, why don't you play by yourself for a bit? Mom has something to talk to Fujino-san about."

Just then, Saki finished making her bed and sat down opposite Kitano Megumi with Fujino.

Before she could speak, Kitano Megumi pulled out a yellowed photograph.

The picture above shows a couple holding a newborn baby. You can vaguely make out that the woman in her early twenties with a bright smile is Kitano Megumi.

It doesn't match her current short-haired, capable look at all.

"My husband and I are divorced. His new wife is 11 years younger than me."

Fujino quietly calculated that the woman was probably 18 years old.

Her ex-husband really hasn't changed his ways.

Kitano Megumi leaned against the bed frame, tilted her head, and talked to herself, tears streaming down her face.

"She's a gentle woman, and she's very kind to Jiro."

"Jiro started staying at her house for longer and longer periods of time. At first, it was just one day, then three days, five days, a week, half a month..."

She choked up a little.

He gripped the steel pipe of the guardrail tightly, his knuckles bulging with veins, his face contorted in a grimace.

"I'm so scared! I'm so scared I'm not doing enough! I want to be with Jiro, but I need to earn money! What if the new man he finds isn't good to Jiro? I'm so scared that Jiro will choose a new mom! Ahhhhh!!!"

After her hysterical outburst, she covered her face with her hands, lowered her head, and sobbed, unable to utter a single coherent word.

A hint of reluctance flashed across Saki's face as she took out a napkin and silently wiped the stained mascara off Kitano Megumi.

There was a hint of inquiry in her eyes as she looked at Fujino.

How can this be good?

Fujino handed him a Pocky stick.

Just as he expected, simple work pressure is unlikely to cause a panic attack like Kitano Megumi's.

What she was really anxious about was being abandoned by her own son.

Going to work was just the trigger.

Work brings rewards, but in return, it inevitably means the loss of companionship.

This is the cruelest choice for single-parent families.

If it weren't for that second wife, perhaps she wouldn't have felt such a great sense of crisis.

But there are no "ifs".

Fujino couldn't see Kitano Megumi's face, but he knew it.

This problem cannot be solved.

The key to the problem lies with Jiro.

......

Looking at Kitano Megumi holding Jiro's hand in front of her, Saki gently nudged Fujino.

"Hey, why are you making them walk home?"

"Let them stay a little longer."

To Fujino, the sounds of Kitano Megumi and Jiro talking and laughing were like a healing progress bar.

It's slowly rising.

Turning the corner, a giant Ferris wheel comes into view.

"Mommy! Mommy! I want to sit on this!"

Upon hearing this, Kitano Megumi took a barely perceptible step back.

But soon, she regained her footing and glanced back at Fujino.

It's as if it's saying, "Will this thing even work?"

Fujino and Saki casually found a bench and sat down.

He leaned back in his chair with a relaxed expression: "Ms. Kitano, it's up to you to decide."

"I'm definitely not going to sit there, I'm afraid of heights!"

Kitano Megumi nodded slightly, her left hand clutching the foil-wrapped medicine blister pack, as if doing so would give her strength.

She took a few slow steps, then pulled her son along as they entered the Ferris wheel cabin.

As they stepped into this historic Ferris wheel, the gondolas noticeably sank a bit.

As the bearing turned, the mother and son, facing each other, fell silent.

As Jiro left the ground for the first time, he looked out the window in astonishment, poking at the crowd of people who had shrunk to the size of ants on the glass with his finger.

"Jiro, Mom couldn't hold on, but Mom hopes you won't hate Mom..."

Before Kitano Megumi could finish speaking, she was already regretting it.

Such a topic about gravity shouldn't be discussed with an 8-year-old child like Jiro.

These pressures should be resolved by her, as an adult.

However, her words made Kojiro turn his head, suck his fingers, tilt his head, and seriously think about it.

Looking at her son's bright, darting eyes, she suddenly felt there was no need to know the answer.

Her life was already intertwined with this guy's when he was still a glutton.

That's enough.

She reached out and gently stroked Jiro's hair.

"Hey, Mom." Kitano Megumi felt Jiro's head rub against her palm.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

Kitano Megumi was about to give the standard answer, "Mom has already found the answer," but Jiro's words made her eyes widen and she was dumbfounded.

"You are my mother. We will always be together and always think of each other. Just like the teacher said, understanding each other's feelings is what family is all about."

Kitano Megumi was pulled to the window by Jiro like a puppet.

Kojiro pointed to the sky, a broad smile on his face: "Just like the stars and the moon, although we might not see each other during the day, we can see that we've never really gone far away once it gets dark!"

Jiro grinned, giving a thumbs-up: "Of course, Mom is the best moon! I'm your star!"

"Jiro! Wuwuwu——Jiro!!"

Hearing Jiro's words, Kitano Megumi could no longer suppress the bitterness in her heart and hugged him tightly.

The Ferris wheel had just reached its highest point.

The light from the stars and the moon shone into that gondola.

She felt so happy that her legs went weak.

There was no discomfort whatsoever.

......

Behind Kitano Megumi, in countless pods.

Fujino sat upright, not daring to look out the window.

Saki was holding his arm, her head pressed tightly against his shoulder.

If this guy hadn't said he needed compensation for working overtime with him, he would never have stepped into the gondola.

How could anyone enjoy having both feet off the ground?!

"A beautiful woman is accompanying you on the Ferris wheel, why are you still reluctant?"

Saki tugged at Fujino's arm with a disgruntled expression and looked out the window.

Suddenly, she pointed at the glass.

"Hey! Isn't that Ms. Kitano?"

"She and Jiro were chatting and laughing, they seemed to be getting along very well."

Upon hearing this, Fujino slowly shifted his position and looked out the window.

He tried his best to ignore the other ants and focus only on Kitano Keijiro.

Yes, what a radiant smile!

He was so captivated by the sight that he almost forgot he was afraid of heights.

He sat up again, turned to a new page of his notebook, and wrote down solemnly.

"Riding the Ferris wheel with my son (10 points of fear): Absolutely no problem at all."