"Wait, Mom, what does this mean?!"
Soyo, being overly flustered, once again forgot her manners and etiquette.
This incredibly bold statement made it impossible for her to control her tone and volume.
"What do you mean, I belong to him?!"
"You'll know once you take a look."
Soyo's mother took the glass of water, her tone perfectly calm.
"Basically, everything is in this contract."
"Contract..."
Hearing that word, Soyo hurriedly began to look through the documents her mother had handed her...
....
Ten Minutes Later
"This... is what you talked to him about this afternoon?"
"That's right."
Soyo's mother nodded.
"How about it? Isn't it a deal you can't lose?"
"Although it looks like a contract between him and me, it's not binding on me at all."
Soyo tilted her head in confusion.
"Besides his various collaborations with the company, I can't see anything I'm required to do for him."
"That's right, this contract isn't binding on you..."
Soyo's mother said, gesturing for her to sit beside her. Then, with a mysterious look, she took the contract and pointed to one of the clauses.
"But it is for little Tetsuya. Look here. This clause means that all of our cooperation is based on your employment relationship with him. Once he fires you or you resign, this contract will immediately be considered breached by the other party. So as long as this is signed, he'll never be able to leave you."
"...Eh?"
Soyo was stunned for a moment, then her expression changed instantly.
"Wait, Mom, this is completely coercing him, isn't it?!"
"This isn't coercion. After all, the help I'm giving him far exceeds the payment he has to give us."
Soyo's mother gently shook her head.
"I know you're very grateful to little Tetsuya and value him a lot, Soyo. So you should also understand that with a serious personality like his, this kind of slightly restrictive help is easier for him to accept than our one-sided 'charity,' and besides..."
At this, she suddenly looked at Soyo with a playful expression.
"Don't you want to hold him firmly in your grasp, Soyo?"
"I..."
Soyo wanted to give a direct, negative answer. However, remembering the photo album and the way she had been secretly fawning over his picture just moments ago, she just couldn't bring herself to say no...
And that momentary hesitation, naturally, did not escape her mother's keen eyes.
"I knew it."
She put an arm around Soyo's shoulders and said with a grin.
"It's perfectly normal for a girl to feel possessive of someone she cares about. Don't be so shy in front of your mom."
"..."
Speechless, Soyo could only turn her head away with a stern face and mutter under her breath.
"Even so, I don't want to use this kind of method to forcibly control him..."
"Don't be so naive, Soyo."
Faced with her daughter's "childishness," Soyo's mother's expression turned serious.
"Although I can see that little Tetsuya takes good care of you, it can't be called special yet! And it's precisely because of your consistently dishonest words and actions that he has always thought you were only staying in touch with him for Sakiko's sake."
"Eh?"
Soyo was shocked.
"How could that be? That's not why I got close to him!"
"See? It's because you refuse to express anything to him that this kind of misunderstanding arises."
Soyo's mother said.
"Happiness will never find you if you just wait around. Even for your own sake, you have to take the initiative! And from today's party, you're not the only cute girl around him. If you don't make a move, he might get eaten up by someone else in a place you don't even know about!"
"..."
An image of Hoshino Ai immediately flashed through Soyo's mind.
That night, if everyone hadn't arrived in time, she might have really succeeded. Once things reached that point, the highly responsible Tetsuya would surely, as Ai had intended, give up everything to protect her. By then, no matter how much she regretted it, it would be too late...
"From your expression, it seems you understand the necessity of this contract now."
Seeing the uncertain look on her daughter's face, Soyo's mother smiled with the satisfaction of a teacher whose student was finally teachable.
"Although I've only known little Tetsuya for less than a day, I can clearly feel that he is definitely the type who is so used to being a 'guardian' that he has no guard up for himself. A person's growth curve gradually slows down. Perhaps right now, the girls around him are still too reserved and inexperienced to do anything drastic to him, but in a few years, when they've all become more mature, who can guarantee how things will develop."
"...I get it, I get it."
Hearing her mother's earnest advice, Soyo could only nod helplessly.
"I'll give him this contract. But, it's not like I'm really going to do nothing. I might not be able to help him with business matters, but there must be something else I can do... Ah, that's right!"
At this, she suddenly remembered something.
"His housekeeping skills are pretty terrible. When he has his own shop, maybe I can go and help him with some chores..."
The image of Tetsuya fumbling clumsily in front of the bookshelf that day was still fresh in her mind.
In her eyes, the only thing her still-immature self could do for him was this kind of simple task.
However, on the other side, upon hearing her daughter's words, Soyo's mother's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Hoh? You're sharper than I thought! Yes, that's a great idea!"
Under her daughter's bewildered gaze, she pinched her chin and muttered.
"Gradually infiltrating his daily life this way, closing the distance while also declaring sovereignty to any other girls who try to get close... Hmm, not bad, this 'secretary strategy' is a killer move against a guy like little Tetsuya! I support you, Soyo!"
Soyo's face instantly turned bright red.
"Wh-what do you mean, 'secretary'?! I wasn't thinking of anything so lewd!"
"Huh? What's lewd about the word 'secretary'?"
Soyo's mother was taken aback by her daughter's intense reaction.
"Just using the convenience of the position to get closer, that's perfectly normal anywhere... Ah, could it be, Soyo, you were thinking of 'that kind of secretary'? No, you can't! As your mother, I won't allow you to do something so bold right now!"
"What?! I never said I wanted to do 'that kind of thing' with Chihaya Tetsuya!"
"Then why did you think the strategy I mentioned was lewd?"
"Ugh..."
Soyo grumbled for a while, then shouted in a fit of desperation.
"Oh, I don't know!"
She shot up from her seat and trotted back to her room.
"I'm going to bed! I'll give him the contract tomorrow! Goodnight, Mom!"
With a deliberately loud slam of the door, Soyo forcibly ended the mother-daughter conversation that had taken a strange turn.
.....
"As I thought, this is how kids this age are supposed to be..."
A genuine smile appeared on her mother's face.
Having not seen her daughter act so childish in a long time, she felt an unprecedented sense of relief and satisfaction.
But besides that, a new worry had also been added to her heart—
"My daughter... might be more lecherous than I thought."
She had originally intended to use this as an excuse to help her daughter secure a promising future husband, but at this rate, she had a feeling her daughter might do something far beyond her expectations...
...
Oh well, the affairs of the young should be left to the young.
After all, besides pushing her daughter's love life along, she had other things to worry about.
"If little Tetsuya really wants to win against [nozAK!], then he absolutely cannot let this opportunity slip by."
She said, taking out her phone and opening the memo she had written during her meeting today—
[September, Tokyo Girls Collection] (T/N: Real event btw.)