Kotoe-san is a beautiful woman.
Her daughter Mikoto is also beautiful, probably because she has a lot of Kotoe’s blood in her.
She is tall and slender in her own way.
She didn’t have much of a chest, but her wildness was cool.
Even now, she was wearing a worn-out T-shirt and jeans.
She held the camera with her thin, burnt arms and looked at me with blazing eyes.
“What is it? Being provocative?”
“I need the money.”
“You’re being very hasty.”
After taking off her sandals, Kotoe-san walks into the living room.
“Eh? Are you going somewhere? Then I’ll go with you.”
Mikoto bounces and expresses her opinion.
I and Kotoe-san ignored Mikoto and proceeded with the conversation.
“Right…Then we’ll leave tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow!?”
“What? You said it, didn’t you? I’ve been thinking about it myself. It’s perfect.”
“I, I understand.”
“Okay. We’ll leave at 5am tomorrow morning. How about 100,000 for four days and three nights?”
“No complaints.”
I replied and went back down the corridor.
I had a lot of preparation to do.
“Hey, Koumei! Hey, you haven’t decided where you’re going, have you?”
Mikoto asked as she followed me down the hallway.
I answered as I put on my shoes at the entrance.
“I’m sure she’ll decide soon.”
“You’re always in such a hurry…Hey, can’t I come with you?”
“Ask Kotoe-san about that.”
“Okay…Mama!”
And then Mikoto walks back down the hallway.
I went back to my house.
Kotoe-san was a well-known photographer in her own right.
She specialized in photographing wild animals and nature.
She would suddenly go off on her own to the mountains, and forests to shoot, and at one point, she even went abroad.
And I had been Kotoe-san’s assistant several times.
At first, I was taken along with Mikoto for fun.
Gradually, the number of things I had to do increased, and with it came the money.
To take care of Kotoe-san’s personal surroundings so that she could concentrate on taking photos.
That was my job. I pitched tents in the fields and cooked for her.
I also did anything else that was necessary.
I did not dislike my job.
Being in the midst of nature’s magnificence purifies everything.
Although I work almost without a break, I am still grateful for the time when I can be absorbed in it.
Anxiety and frustration disappear with the chores, and all I have to do is just move my body.
When I return home, a pleasant sense of exhaustion awaits me.
And I want to go back again.
When I went home and told my mother that I was going out, we had a conversation that seemed like one for the first time in a long time.
My mother is very close with Mikoto’s.
“It was a no…”
“Well, I’m going to work.”
And so, Mikoto came to my room at night.
From the time I started to get paid, Mikoto often stayed at home.
“Damn it! I would have helped you!”
“Where did she say we’re going?”
“She said you’re going to go in Japan”
“I see.”
I was chatting with Mikoto as I prepared for my four-day, three-night stay.
I have to wake up early tomorrow. I wanted to finish preparations quickly, eat dinner, and go to bed.
“Hey…The only reason you don’t have money is because you’re dating us, right?”
“That’s right.”
“What is that!? You don’t have to be so upfront about it! I am your girlfriend too.”
Mikoto was adorable, her cheeks puffing out of frustration.
“That’s why. I want to do all kinds of fun things with Mikoto.”
“U, unn.”
Mikoto suddenly became quiet.
“You’re right…Sorry.”
“Besides, it doesn’t hurt to go along with Kotoe-san’s photography trips. It’s fun.”
“I see… If that’s the case, okay.”
Mikoto laughed as she took a deep breath through her nose.
“But…I still want to go with you.”
“If Kotoe-san said no, then no.”
“Uuu……”
Mikoto looked dissatisfied as she puffed out her cheeks.
Then my and Ando family decided to have dinner together.
We gathered at our house and sat around the dining table in a lively atmosphere as usual.
It was always like this the day before Kotoe-san and I left for a photography trip.
We ended the party early and went back to our respective homes.
“Ah, Koumei…”
It was when I was walking Mikoto back to the front of the street as she leaving.
Kotoe-san returned to her house first, and only Mikoto came back.
“What’s wrong?”
The sun was setting and it was dark ouside.
The light leaking from my family house was faint because the curtains were closed.
The only light was barely enough to see Mikoto’s face.
“I’ll kiss you.”
“Haa?”
“As I said, I will kiss you!”
“Isn’t that what you want?”
Mikoto’s face turns a little red at my comment.
She said in a mumbled whisper.
“Th, that’s right……I want to do it.”
“If that’s the case, just say so.”
“No.”
She shakes her head and Mikoto looks up at me.
Then, she pouts a little.
“I do it because Koumei wants to.”
“I don’t get it, but…Okay.”
I moved my face closer to the short Mikoto, who had no intention of standing on her tiptoes.
I have to bend foward a little.
Chyuu.
I briefly kissed her and I parted my lips.
I guess she had her eyes closed, because when I returned to my position, Mikoto slowly opened her eyes.
“Ehehehe.”
With a shy smily, my little childhood friend turned her back on me.
“Now, Koumei will be able to come home safely.”
“Your kiss doesn’t have that kind of power!”
“Shut up!”
With these words, Mikoto quickly disappeared to her house.
The next day, the car left for the airport at 5am.
After driving for a while, Kotoe let out a sigh.
“Mikoto…”
“Eh?”
As if in response to Kotoe-san’s words, Mikoto peeked out from under the luggage packed in the back seat.
Her face was bright red and sweat was all over her face.
“Isn’t it okay!? I want to go too!”
It seems that she followed us.
I don’t know if Kotoe-san was aware of this and left, or if she realized after we left.
But if she came this far, she has no choice but to go with us.
“It can’t be helped….Let’s go together for the first time in a while!”
Kotoe-san stepped hard on the accelerator pedal.
