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"Okay, everyone! I know you're still excited from your games but lunchtime is over now so please calm down!" The young brunette teacher requested with a cheerful smile and friendly voice.
The children in the classroom still chattered happily, not paying much mind to their teacher. The woman softly clapped her hands together to get their attention.
"C'mon! It's only one more lesson before hometime! Besides, we're doing something special!" The blonde teaching assistant added in an attempt to help her colleague.
The word 'special' caught the children's attention.
"Special?"
"What is it? What is it?"
"Is there food?!"
"What are we doing, Sensei?"
"What's so special?"
The brunette woman simply waved her hands in a downward motion with a soft smile. The children understood and lowered their volume until the room was silent.
"Does anyone know what today is?"
Confused murmuring echoed throughout the classroom as no one had the answer.
Ren hummed curiously as he turned his attention away from the cat napping on the school gate to his cheery teacher.
"Anyone at all?"
The young students conceded defeat and shook their heads. A sweet giggle rumbled through the teacher's throat.
"It's Mother's Day!" She informed them. The students gasped, some in excitement, some in surprise, some in guilt for forgetting. "So, for today's last period…"
As the teacher spoke, her colleague picked up a stack of papers and began placing one sheet each on every student's desk.
"We're going to make some lovely cards for you to give to your mummies and show them just how much you love them!"
With that announcement, the teacher placed all of the crafting equipment she had hidden from view onto her desk.
Pens, glitter, pipe cleaners, glue, shiny paper, scissors, sequins… anything a child would think to use was on her desk. All the students cheered excitedly at the sight.
Ren remained silent. His lip tilted downward slightly.
"Now remember our crafting rules - No hoarding, make sure you share with your classmates and?" The teacher placed her hand to her ear.
"If you make a mess, clean it up!" The students finished her sentence.
The brunette gave them a satisfied nod.
"Now, we're going to ask you to come up to the front desk in rows so no one crowds around the supplies, okay?" The blonde assistant informed the children as she placed the left over paper back into its usual tray.
"'Kaaaaaay~" The children sang in response.
The classroom became abuzz as the students began discussing their ideas with their friends.
Ren remained silent, a discontented scowl on his face as he twiddled his thumbs in his lap. What was he-
"Sensei! What about Kaede-chan and Ren-kun? They don't have mums." The loud voice of Taisei ripped through the murmuring.
Everyone turned to look at the two classmates mentioned.
Both flinched as they felt all eyes on them.
"U-Um, Taisei-kun, I know you mean well but that's something that they can handle on their own, okay? Other people shouldn't bring up those sorts of things for them…" The teacher awkwardly replied, not wanting to upset the two motherless students or the well intentioned student.
"Yeah, but Kaede-chan's mum died and Ren-kun's mum just didn't want him." Scoffed Hiroto as he leaned his chair back on two legs.
Ren flinched at those harsh but true words, gripping tightly onto his shorts as he desperately tried to hold back the tears building up.
"Hiroto-kun! That was completely out of line!" The teacher scolded the six year old boy for his cruel words.
"Yeah, shut up, Hiroto-kun!"
"Mind your business!"
"Don't be a bully!"
Hiroto huffed as his classmates chided him. "I'm just telling the truth!"
"Hiroto-kun, can we have a little chat outside please?" The teacher requested, gently tapping the boy's shoulder to stand up.
The boy pouted in annoyance as the teacher glanced back at her colleague. "Would you be able to watch the rest of the class for a few minutes?"
"Sure thing!" The blonde teaching assistant replied with a grin.
As the teacher and sulking Hiroto left the classroom, the assistant wandered over to Kaede's desk and knelt down next to it.
"Are you okay, Kaede-chan?" She quietly asked.
"Mm, thanks, Mimura-sensei…" Kaede half-heartedly answered. Mimura flashed an understanding smile.
"You miss her, don't you?"
"Mm-hm…"
"Well, the way I see it, Kaede-chan… is that she's still watching over to you even though she's gone. So, do you think it would make her happy if you still made her a card?"
"...But I can't give it to her?"
"You can leave it as a present on her memorial, right? That way you can let her know that you still love her very much. Well? What do you think?"
A delighted shine appeared in Kaede's eyes. She hadn't thought of it like that… She liked it.
"Okay!"
"Good to hear! Now, you just think about what you want the card to look like and then get the supplies you need, okay? Let me know if you need any help."
"Okay! Thank you, Sensei!" The young girl giggled as she picked up her paper and carefully folded it in half.
Ren gritted his teeth as he heard Mimura's footsteps approaching him. He didn't want to talk about it.
The fact that his mother wasn't in the picture usually didn't bother him. He was really happy with his dad and he was always reminded that he was loved, but for some reason, he always felt… different on Mother's Day.
He didn't know how to describe it. He was always told that he shouldn't hate his mother because raising children is a very big decision to make; and he didn't hate her. It was just… on Mother's Day, seeing all of his friends and classmates celebrating it with their mothers…
He felt lonely.
It made him wish that his mother wanted to raise him.
It made him wonder why she didn't want him.
"Are you okay, Ren-kun?" Came the question he was dreading.
"Yes." He answered quickly.
"Are you sure?" Mimura whispered as she knelt down next to him.
"Yes." Ren insisted. Mimura wasn't convinced by the redness of Ren's eyes.
"It's okay to be upset, Ren-kun." She reassured him, softly patting his hand.
"Mm."
"You know… I know how you feel." The blonde lady stated with an understanding smile.
"Hm?"
"When I grew up, I only lived with my mum; my dad wasn't around at all. So, how you feel now is how I felt on Father's Day." She explained.
Ren's eyes widened.
He hadn't expected that at all. All of his classmates had two parents, the only other person with one was Kaede-chan but that wasn't the case until a year ago.
"And do you know what my mum said to me one year when I was really sad?"
Ren shook his head innocently.
"She told me that Father's Day didn't have to be a day where you just celebrated with your dad, it could be a day where you celebrate with any man that was important to you. So I made a card for my grandad, my uncle, my neighbour, anyone who was important to me."
An amazed sparkle flashed through Ren's eyes. He hadn't thought of that… It was honestly kinda nice talking to someone who actually understood how he felt.
"Is there anyone important to you that you could make a card for?" Asked Mimura.
Ren thought about it.
There was his grandmother… But she was on holiday… If he had to wait until she got back to give her a card, he'd definitely end up losing it…
Maybe the old lady from across the road? Hmm… No, she was nice but her dog was scary, he didn't wanna go near her house.
Was there anyone like a mother to him…?
Someone came to mind but… it was embarrassing… How would she feel if he gave her a card?
Had they known each other long enough for him to call her 'mum'?
"Is there someone?" Mimura asked again, noting the slight change in Ren's expression.
"Y-Yeah…" He quietly admitted.
"Great! Think of what you want the card to look like and let me know if you need any help, okay?"
"Okay… Thank you, Sensei."
"No problem, Ren-kun."
The small raven haired boy thought about it for a little while, ignoring the glare he got from Hiroto as he and the teacher returned to the classroom.
He knew one thing for sure: he didn't want it to be too flashy. He figured that one out after watching one of his classmates drown their card in glitter… it didn't look good.
Tapping his pencil, he tried to force himself to come up with ideas. The teachers kept glancing over at him and he didn't particularly want another 'are you okay?' discussion. Just because he was quiet didn't mean something was wrong…
What kind of thing would she like? How would he let her know how much he appreciated her? What should he say to get his feelings across? Those sorts of questions kept floating around his head. That's when something she said before suddenly came to mind.
"You think too much, Takuto! Don't over do it, just keep things simple and easy and it'll work out fine! Get to the point!"
Yeah… Simple. He wouldn't do anything crazy, just a drawing. A drawing was fine. As long as the colouring was nice, it was just right. But… what to draw? What was simple…? Why not just… his family?
A small smile spread across his face as he got to work. He tried his hardest to make it look neat, sticking his tongue out as he focused intensely on his task. Colouring was pretty easy too, he only needed a handful of different colours.
The difficulty was trying to think of what to say inside the card…
Ren had never really been good at speaking his mind… and luckily for him, his father could tell what he was thinking just by watching the way he acted so he usually didn't need to say anything. But then she came along and taught him that sometimes, when it's really important, you need to speak your mind instead of waiting for someone to notice.
He knew he had to actually tell her how he felt but… it was hard… Words were hard… How could he figure out which ones were best for expressing himself?
Wait… Yeah, just like she said. Get to the point. If he thought of it that way, it was only three little sentences. Embarrassing sentences, but still.
It was done.
It looked nice but now he just had one last thing to figure out: how to be brave enough to give it to her.
"Hey, Ren-Ren, have a good day at school?" Called out the soft voice of Ren's father as he stood by the doorway of the classroom, leaving enough room for children and parents to walk past.
"Mm-hm." Was Ren's vague reply as he slipped his outside shoes onto his feet.
"Did you have fun?"
"It was normal. That cat came by at lunch again."
"Oh? You're always excited to see that cat, did it let you pet it again?"
"It stole one of my sausages and ran off with it."
Takuto held in his laughter as he picked up his son's school bag. "It must have been hungry then!"
"Probably, I would've shared it if it asked, though…" Ren replied as he slipped his school shoes into his cubby.
Hmm… He was a lot quieter than usual… Something was bothering him.
"Bye bye, Sensei. Thank you for your help." Ren called out to the two women, waving politely as he stepped through the doorway.
"Bye bye, Ren-kun! See you tomorrow!"
"Happy to help! Have a good afternoon, okay?"
"Hm? What did you need help with?" Asked Takuto, taking Ren's small hand into his as they began their walk home.
"Mm, nothing much. Someone just said something that upset me a little. That's all." Ren murmured, looking down at his feet.
"I see… Are you feeling better now?" Takuto asked with a creased brow. Hearing that another child upset yours was never a nice thing to do.
Ren nodded. "Mm-hm. Mimura-sensei spoke to me and gave me some advice."
He said that but… something was still clearly bugging him.
His frown told Takuto that he was thinking hard about something. This was the difficult tell to deal with because even Ren himself hadn't figured out what to do.
"That's good to hear." The father replied quietly, deciding simply to wait until Ren had thought things through a little while longer.
As he looked around, he noticed a lot of children were handing pieces of paper to their parents. Was there a newsletter Ren had forgotten about? Wait… Why was it only the mothers receiving them? Was- Oh.
That was today, huh?
Takuto glanced down at Ren with a sad smile. So that's why he was upset, huh? Mother's Day did always affect him like that, after all.
Takuto didn't take it personally at all. When you're surrounded by people who have something you don't, it was only natural to feel a little jealous.
Giving Ren's hand a comforting squeeze, Takuto decided to start chatting again to take Ren's mind off it.
"Oh, by the way, Rumi was given a shorter shift at work today so she's already home."
"Okay."
Takuto noted a strange expression on Ren's face. It was a smile but it seemed a little… nervous? Why would he feel nervous about Rumi being home early?
"Oh, and I had a video call with Grandma earlier."
Ren looked up with curious eyes. "Is she enjoying her holiday in Spain?"
"Yep! Although, Grandpa managed to get a pretty bad sunburn because he didn't listen to Grandma again…"
"'Men don't wear sunscreen. The sun's supposed to hurt.'" Lowering his voice and plastering a mock serious expression, Ren quoted something he'd heard his grandfather say many times.
Takuto couldn't help but burst out laughing. That was something his father had said since he was young and then always complained when he got a sunburn afterwards. "Yep! That's exactly what he said!"
"Thought so."
"O-Oh, and, uh." The chestnut haired man cleared his throat and stopped his laughter before continuing. "Grandma said that she's got all of us some souvenirs."
A sparkle appeared in Ren's eyes. "What'd she get?"
Takuto shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. She said she wanted it to be a surprise."
"I hope it's something cool… or something tasty." Ren sighed hopefully.
"Oh? What food would you want it to be?"
"I wanna try that pie thing."
Takuto's eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
"The pie thing…?"
"Yeah, that Spanish pie dish Grandma talked about before."
"I-I don't think I know what you mean? Do you remember what it was called?"
"Yeah, Pie Ella."
Takuto struggled to hold back his laughter again. His son really was adorable.
"Ohhhh, a paella! That's not a pie, Ren!"
The small boy tilted his head with a baffled frown. "What is it, then?"
"Well, it's-" The father fell silent. Huh. He knew what a paella was but he wasn't quite sure how to describe it.
This was a frequent problem he had since becoming a father. It was surprising how difficult explaining simple everyday things was. "Tell you what, it's in one of my recipe books, I'll show you when we get home."
"Okay."
"Oh, and while we're talking about food, Rumi and I were talking about what to have for dinner tonight but couldn't decide; is there anything you fancy eating?"
Ren pouted thoughtfully as he considered it. "Hmm… I want burgers."
"Burgers, huh? Yeah, I think we have everything we need for those. Will you eat tomatoes if we put them in yours?" Takuto replied as he envisioned the contents of their freezer.
"Bleugh…" was the quiet, unimpressed sound that left Ren's mouth.
"... No tomatoes for you, then." Chuckled Takuto. Every other vegetable was fine, but tomatoes? He could never get Ren to eat them, no matter how hard he tried. "Alright, what do you want in your burger, then? Cheese? Lettuce?"
The two discussed the options as they wandered leisurely home underneath the sky dyed a beautiful orange by the setting sun.
"We're home!" Announced Takuto as he and Ren shuffled through the front door.
"We're home." Ren parroted, kneeling down and taking off his shoes.
Rumi lifted her gaze from the basket of laundry she was folding and carefully placing into piles on the dining table. "Welcome back! Did you have a good day?"
"Mm-hm." Ren hummed quietly in response.
Takuto frowned worriedly. Ren was still not talking about what was bothering him. Ruffling Ren's hair as the small boy rummaged around in his school bag, Takuto decided it was probably best to leave him be for a little while longer.
"Oh, by the way, Rumi, I asked Ren about dinner and he said that he wanted burgers." The father spoke as he entered the living room, glancing over at the sitcom playing on the TV.
"Ooh, sounds good! I think we've still got quite a few potatoes leftover… What do you think? Slice a few up and fry them?" Suggested Rumi as she placed another folded shirt into the pile of Ren's clothes.
"Oh, good idea. Don't wanna waste them after all." The chestnut haired man agreed. "But what else can we put in the burgers?"
The red haired woman lifted a towel from the laundry basket. "Hmm… We've got onions and lettuce… Tomatoes, but Ren won't have those… Lots of cheese… I know we've got plenty of ketchup, I'm not sure about mustard though…"
"I guess we'll just make it up as we go along, then…" Remarked Takuto as he fetched himself a drink from the fridge.
"Yep! Sometimes that's the easiest thing to do! And for desert, I was think-"
"U-Um… Rumi?"
The soft voice of Ren distracted the short haired woman from her thoughts.
She looked down to find him bashfully staring down at his feet with his hands behind his back. His face was a bright pink as his eyes darted about the room, looking at anything but Rumi.
"Yes? Is there something you need, Ren-Ren?" She softly asked, hoping to help him with whatever was bothering him.
Ren's eyebrows knitted together and his embarrassed pout grew larger. "W-Well… I… That is- I…"
Rumi remained silent, patiently waiting for Ren to say what he needed to say. Takuto watched carefully from the kitchen as he slipped his drink. Did Rumi have something to do with what was bothering him?
A curious hum rumbled through Takuto's throat upon noticing that Ren was hiding something behind his back.
What was it? He couldn't quite see from this angle…
"I, um… I made… you this…" The raven haired boy eventually mumbled as he pulled out a card from behind his back and shyly presented it to Rumi.
The scarlet eyes of Rumi widened at the sudden gesture. That came out of nowhere… Was there some sort of special occasion?
"Oh! Thank you, Ren!" She sweetly replied as she took the card from his hands. It was at this point that Rumi was able to get a good look at the card.
It had a scruffy drawing - albeit one that was clearly drawn with a lot of care - of Ren stood in between Takuto and Rumi, holding their hands while the three of them smiled happily… and were surrounded by a lot of cutely scribbled cats.
Rumi couldn't help but chuckle at that. Although her laughter stopped when she noticed the writing at the top of the card.
'Happy Mother's Day'
Rumi fell silent at those words.
He was really giving her this? For today? She couldn't begin to describe how flattered she was. Although, those feelings increased tenfold when she opened the card and read the contents.
'To Rumi
Happy Mother's Day
Thank you for always helping me
I love you
From Ren xxx'
Rumi couldn't hold back her giddy grin as her heart melted. The sound of Takuto's loving chuckle entered her ears as he looked at the card over her shoulder.
Turning her attention back to Ren, she found the boy blushing a bright red and pulling on his shirt as he stared down at the carpeted floor. It must have taken all his courage to give that to her… especially considering how hard he found it to express his feelings.
Lowering herself from the chair she was sat on, Rumi gently tousled Ren's hair and gave him a small peck on the cheek before pulling him into a grateful hug.
"Thank you so much, Ren. It's lovely." She softly murmured as she gave Ren a loving squeeze.
She could hear Ren let out a sigh of relief; he must have been scared that she wouldn't like it… The small boy carefully wrapped his own arms around Rumi and gripped onto her clothing. From the corner of her eye, Rumi could see that Ren's ears were bright red.
As she pulled away, she ruffled his fluffy hair once again. "I love you too, Ren-Ren."
Ren shyly looked down again but there was no mistaking that expression on his face - He was happy. Really, really happy.
"I-I'm glad." He stuttered out bashfully. Rumi couldn't help but grin.
"Oh, by the way, Ren-Ren, I was going to say this earlier but for dessert, I was thinking of making some apple pie - Do you wanna help me?"
Ren's eyes glistened with excitement. "Can I?!"
"Of course! C'mon, let's make it now and let it cool while we make and eat dinner." Smiled Rumi.
"Okay!" Ren enthusiastically agreed, rushing after Rumi into the kitchen.
"Alright, you wash your hands while I get the ingredients- Oh, and Takuto, could you finish folding the laundry please?"
"Sure thing, sweetheart." Takuto agreed, picking up the card to get a closer look at it. A quiet, amused chuckle left his mouth.
So this is why Ren was so quiet on the way home? He was nervous about giving Rumi a Mother's Day card? That was so adorably like him.
The father placed the card on the coffee table, proudly on display for everyone to see.
As he made a start on the remainder of the laundry, he glanced over at Rumi and Ren in the kitchen. The scarlet haired lady slipping one of her headbands onto Ren to keep his unruly hair out of the way while they baked.
If this made him feel this much happiness, he could only imagine how happy Rumi was right now.
As he folded up one of Rumi's dresses, he made a mental note.
'I have to tell mum about this the next time she calls.'