This is a story of the past, from before Sora was born.

“Mom…good morning.” Timidly, Sakura made her way into her mother’s room. It was really early in the morning, but the sun was already shining brightly through the window. But even then, the figure on the bed didn’t seem to have any intention of getting up. The young girl, having never expected a response, twisted her mouth into a defeated smile and entered the room.

The digital clock on the side of the bed marked the day: May 13th, the second Sunday of the month. In other words, it was Mother’s day in many places of the world. Sakura was, of course, aware of this fact, and had held her hopes that maybe, just maybe, a miracle would occur, and her mother would be able to get up from bed, even if it was just for the day.

It had been just a bit over a year since Sakura’s mother got confined to her bed due to a disease in her kidneys. The doctors’ prognosis wasn’t good; it was predicted her kidneys would continue losing function over the months, and would eventually completely fail, resulting in her death. That being said, her physical condition wasn’t what kept her bedridden.

True, her body wasn’t in the best condition. However, it wasn’t to the point that she couldn’t even walk; if she wanted to, she could take strolls and walk around the house relatively normally, as long as she didn’t overexert herself. The problem was her mental state.

Being told she was going to die, and that the only hope she had left came in the form of a kidney transplant she could never afford was more than enough to weaken her will to live. To make things worse, just a month before her diagnosis, Sakura’s sister, Satsuki, had run away from home. The doctors actually suspected that it was the stress generated from that event which prompted the quick development of her condition.

“Mom…it’s Mother’s Day.” Sakura spoke in a gentle tone as she placed a silver tray on a small table at the side of the room. Then, she lifted a small vase with flowers from the tray, and carefully placed them on the side of the bed. “...I brought you some flowers, Mom. Mrs. Green let me pick them from her garden… ”

“.........” There was no response coming from the bed. Sakura’s mother was lying on her side giving her back to her, so she couldn’t see her expression, but…that didn’t matter; if there was no response, then it didn’t matter at all.

A hint of sadness crossed Sakura’s expression as she slowly withdrew her arm. It looks like…not even Mother’s Day is good this year, either. She knew better than trying to forcefully get her mother up. Though she had hoped Mother’s Day could maybe liven her up, maybe get her talking at least a bit today…it seemed it was just wishful thinking.

“...I…left breakfast on the table. I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.” Feeling a tear forming on the corner of her eye, Sakura hurried out of the room. The moment she crossed the door, the room returned to its silent, dead atmosphere, where only sobs and wails could be heard.

ΔΔΔ

“Tch. That asshole. She was obviously awake, and you know it!” Rei clicked his tongue in annoyance as he raised his voice. The sound of his fist smashing against the living room table echoed through the room, making Sakura flinch on her seat.

“S-Shhh! Shhhh! S-She might hear you!”

“That’s the point! Somebody needs to put that selfish fuck in her place!” Sakura desperately tried to stop Rei in his tracks as he tried to stand up from his chair. She was happy that he worried about her, but that didn’t mean she could let him pick a fight with her mother. Sakura wasn’t strong enough to stop him, though.

“I-It’s fine! I’m already used to it! S-Sit back down! Y-You’re going to make me fall! It’s dangerous, you know it!” Raising her voice for that last sentence finally made Rei come back to his senses. He begrudgingly sat back down, clicking his tongue before raising his feet over another chair.

“...Tch, tch, tch. And you even went out of your way to prepare her that fancy ass breakfast. What were we working all morning for, huh?!” The reason why Rei was there was because Sakura had asked for his help to prepare a really nice breakfast to present her mom with. Rei’s parents were separated, with his mother living far away with her sister. This meant he had nothing special to do for Mother’s day, so he readily agreed.

Rei had spent the night there, so both of them got to work before sunrise to make sure everything was perfect, and yet…Sakura’s mother would probably not even take a glance at the food, let alone touch it. That made him mad, for many reasons.

“I-It’s fine. I already knew it would probably end this way…”

“That doesn’t…” …mean you don’t get hurt, idiot. Rei held his words and clicked his tongue. He knew she was hurt; he didn’t need to point it out. There was nothing he could do if she didn’t want to talk about it.

You are weak hearted…but you aren’t a crybaby. You should be crying, telling me you’re sad…but no, you just gotta bottle it all up, right? Tch, this is all that bitch’s fault, you weren’t always like this.

“...Rei?”

“Tch, just forget it. We can eat on our own, fuck her. Let her drown in her own self-pity.” Rei crossed his arms in annoyance. He really hated Sakura’s mother with all his being. In his eyes, she was a heartless, narcissistic, selfish woman who had only brought harm to his best friend’s life. She was never an attentive mother to Sakura even before getting sick, and now that she’d given up on life, she just handed off all her responsibilities to her daughter.

He would’ve liked to go upstairs and yell all that to her face, but…Sakura would never forgive him if he did that. Even after everything, Sakura still loved her mother.

Because unfortunately…her heart doesn’t know hate.

“Sit down, I’ll set the table.”

“E-Erm, it’s fine, I’ll hel—”

“Are you stupid? Sit back down. How much of an idiot do you take me for? Something like this is easy enough to do, I’m not as incompetent as to need the help of a pregnant girl.” Sakura hesitated for a moment, but eventually sat back down. His harsh words contrasting with his warm tone was such a Rei-like thing to do that it made Sakura chuckle.

“That face is better. Keep talking to me, Sakura.” Rei, noticing her chuckles, finally got rid of his expression of annoyance, and made his way into the kitchen as he spoke, trying to get her to forget about her mother. “How far along did you say you were?”

“E-Erm…t-this is the 21st week…I-I think.”

“That’s already more than halfway through, right? Isn’t that also when the baby starts kicking?”

“Y-Yes…b-but I haven’t felt anything yet…” Sakura placed a hand on her belly bump, and started caressing it lovingly, despite feeling a bit dispirited. She was really looking forward to the baby kicks, it would be the first interaction she’d have with her baby, so she was really excited about them.

“Don’t put on that sulky face, Sakura. Everything comes in due time. You’ll be feeling the kicks when it’s the right time, don’t get dispirited.” Rei returned from the kitchen as he said that, holding something in his hand. “Instead of being all sulky, get up and put this on.”

What Rei handed over to Sakura was a black apron with a red sewing pattern on the borders. On the chest section, there were some huge, red letters that said, ‘World’s Best Mom!’ with a heart right next to them. The apron belonged to Sakura’s mother, a gift from her sister, Satsuki, a few years back.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“W-Why?”

“Well, it’s Mother’s day, and this is the only thing at hand that says something like that. It’d be better if we had a shirt or something, but this’ll have to do for now.”

“E-Eh? B-But…Rei, I’m still not—”

“Shush it. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating you a bit ahead of time. Just shut up and let me pamper you for the day.” Sakura widened her eyes in surprise for a moment. Then, she let out a giggle before turning her mouth upward in an honest smile.

“...............’Kay.”

Sakura slowly slid the oversized apron on with a shy smile. Looking down at it, her cheeks turned bright red in embarrassment. It feels really weird, she thought.

“I-I look ridiculous…” Sakura stood up and tried to give a little spin, but the apron was getting dragged across the floor. It was too big for her, which made sense, as her mother was way taller than her.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Looking at her like that, with that ridiculous apron and that awkward baby bump, Rei suddenly felt as though he had been hit by a fragment of reality. It served as a reminder that this wasn’t a dream, as unlikely as it seemed.

Seeing him lost in thought, Sakura slightly tilted her head to the side.

“......Anyways, sit back down and eat well. We’ll be going out in a bit, so you’ll need the energy. Nothing good will come from spending the day in this hellhole.” With those words, Rei finished serving the breakfast plates and sat down next to her.

“.........Nn. Thanks, Rei.”

“Yeah, you better thank me. Now come on, eat up. I won’t carry you back here if you collapse on me later.“ Sakura giggled at the response that was just like him, and grabbed her fork from the table.

“...’Kay,” she said, and then the two of them went on to have a very special, meaningful, amicable, and delicious breakfast amidst their chatter and laughter.

ΔΔΔ

“Alright, here we are. Watch your step. I won’t pick you up if you fall.” The sun hit Rei on the face as he got out of the car. He looked around for a few seconds before turning around to hold the door, offering her hand for Sakura to take.

“I know, I know.” The contrast between Rei’s cold words and his concerned tone made Sakura giggle. She took his hand and slowly stood up from the seat. The noise of the bustling street disoriented her for a moment, making her stumble.

“Tch, I told you to be careful.” Even as he scolded her, Rei held her hand and helped her step onto the sidewalk.

“H-Ha…haha…sorry.” Sakura, feeling a bit embarrassed from her blunder, laughed dryly for a moment before letting go of his hand. Then, her eyes widened in amazement as she took in the scene laid before her.

“I-It’s huge…” she said, her eyes sparkling with a sense of both admiration and surprise.

Laying in front of her was the most impressive building she’d seen in her entire life. It was a huge tower that easily covered over two blocks wide, and was so, so tall that trying to look at it would make your neck hurt. There were beautiful balconies at the end of every other floor, decorated with colorful flowers and countless people. It was so beautiful and majestic that it had Sakura’s mouth hanging wide open.

“Heh. You look like a country-bumpkin. You’ll swallow a bug if you keep your mouth hanging like that.” Sakura pouted in response to Rei’s mocking laughter, and started hitting him on the chest. She hadn’t gone outside of her neighborhood in so long that she’d honestly forgotten these types of buildings existed, and it felt embarrassing to her.

“...Meanie.”

“Sure, sure, whatever, wait here for a second.” Sakura continued to pout as Rei moved toward the co-driver’s seat, peeking his head through the window. He was exchanging some words with the person who drove them there.

Rei’s family, being as affluent as it was, had many people under its employment. This time, Rei had called one of them to drive him and Sakura around for the day. They were only fourteen, so none of them could drive, and they also needed someone to watch over them as they walked around—for safety reasons.

“He’ll park it around the corner and follow after us, so let’s move ahead.” Rei came back and gave Sakura a pat on the back, encouraging her to move.

“...’Kay.” Sakura nodded as she followed along, placing her hands into her hoodie’s pockets.

The sun was really intense in the sky, and yet she was wearing a colorful pink hoodie, as if she didn’t feel the heat at all. Rei looked at her with a mix of amazement and concern. He was just wearing a simple t-shirt and was already starting to sweat, so he couldn’t understand how she could handle such thick clothing.

“Tch, let’s hurry up and get inside before you get a heat stroke.”

“...Ha-Haha…...” Sakura could only leave out a dry laugh as she hurried up behind him, albeit a bit slowly. Rei noticed she was lagging behind, and slowed down his pace.

A few seconds later, they finally found themselves inside of the fancy building.

“I-It looks even bigger than from the outside…” The place was huge, but it didn’t feel as if any space was going to waste. Rather, everything seemed to be so packed, either with stores or people, that Sakura felt a bit overwhelmed.

“That’s to be expected. This is supposed to be one of the biggest shopping malls in existence, after all.”

Today, to celebrate mother’s day, Rei decided that it would be a good idea to take Sakura shopping to the country’s biggest mall. This tower, inaugurated a few years ago, had more than five hundred different shops of many specialties, ranging from clothing and shoes to jewelry and cars. If there was anything you needed to get without fail, this was the place. This mall even had one of its floors entirely dedicated to restaurants and treat shops, in case you got hungry.

I’m not looking forward to that floor, though… Rei thought as he sent a glance at Sakura, who was still captivated by the impressive environment she had suddenly found herself in.

“It’s…amazing.” The decorations and bright colors had her eyes sparkling as she stared at the unfamiliar scene, and caused her to smile. Her excitement was so big that it felt nearly palpable; it was like watching a kid in a candy shop, that same type of pure, childish emotion. Rei’s mind went blank, and he found himself smiling warmly at her, albeit with a hint of sadness hidden in his eyes. He stood still, letting her gaze around with that smile on her face—a smile that reminded him of the past.

She…used to smile more like this in the past, especially before Satsuki left. Sakura loved her sister more than anything in the world. The feeling of being abandoned by her certainly left a big scar on her young heart, one that nobody seemed able to heal.

“...Of course it’s amazing. I chose it, after all. Who the hell do you think I am?” Rei finally opened his mouth, and decided to blow away the melancholy that had suddenly taken hold of his heart.

“...Anyways, is there anywhere you want to go?”

“E-Eh?! …Y-You’re the one who insisted we come here…I-I don’t know what…stores there are…! P-Plus, I-I don’t have anything I want to buy…a-and…” Sakura snapped back to reality, answering while flustered. She began nervously playing with her fingers, not knowing what to say next. Rei showed a conflicted expression as he sighed at her response.

“Just choose something. Ms. Green said she’d take care of your mother today, right? So that means we have all day long. We might not be able to get to every store, but we should still be able to visit quite a bit of them.”

“B-But, I…” …don’t want to buy anything. Sakura didn’t finish speaking her thoughts out loud. Her voice sounded dispirited, because even though she would’ve liked to do so, the truth was that she didn’t have the financial freedom to be able to buy things on a whim. And the arrival of the baby wouldn’t exactly help with that. If anything, she needed to be more careful with how she spent money now more than ever.

“I know, I know. You don't have to buy anything if you don’t want to, but at least take a look.” Rei, as expected, understood her thoughts all too well. He knew that money had her concerned around the clock. However, there was nothing he could do about it, even with his background.

Indeed, his resources as a rich heir were pretty vast. The problem was Sakura. She was a very individualistic person; of the type that doesn’t like to ask for help, and would rather drown on her own rather than relying on someone else. She didn’t like the feeling of being indebted to people, perhaps because she’d seen her mother live in debt while growing up. He could impose himself and help her out but…that would just put more pressure on her.

And she already has more than enough on her plate…

“A-Ah, n-no, erm…”

“Just shut up, we are taking a look. We’ve come all the way over here, it’d be a waste to just leave.”

Sakura tried to protest, but was quickly shot down by a very determined Rei. She pouted, knowing very well that she wouldn’t be able to convince him to back down. Somehow, she could sense a bit of sadness in his eyes, and knew who was the one who put it in there. This caused her expression to darken for a moment.

“............’Kay. …Let’s do as you say. A-Ah! B-But we’ll just be looking, ‘kay?! We won’t buy anything, ‘kay?! Promise it! I won’t move from here unless you promise it!” The silly girl with the pink hoodie crossed her arms as she pouted. She looked really ridiculous, but it made Rei’s mouth turn up in a light smile.

“Tch, tch, yeah, whatever. I promise you won’t have to buy anything, alright? Is that all? Can we get going now?”

“.........Nn.” Despite her reserved tone, the subtle smile plastered on her face didn’t let her hide her excitement. Even if she didn’t want to admit it, she was kind of looking forward to it.

“.........Hmph.” Rei, knowing that, smiled smugly as he followed behind her.