Chapter 336: Dearly Missed Mother (2)

After that, Ruvian and Morvayne quietly followed Haruna through the ninth floor and into her office, staying close behind as she walked toward her desk.

She placed the patient files and tablet onto one side before setting her half-finished coffee beside them. Her phone followed soon after, tossed carelessly onto the desk.

Then, she finally dropped into her chair.

"Haaah..."

Haruna leaned back and closed her eyes for a few seconds, finally allowing herself to rest.

One hand loosened the collar of her scrubs slightly while the other rubbed the side of her neck.

A few moments later, her eyes slowly opened and wandered toward the small digital clock sitting at the corner of her desk.

[10:02 PM]

"Ah... it’s already 10 PM."

She slumped a little further into her chair, looking increasingly defeated.

"I haven’t even packed my things for tomorrow yet..."

Ruvian stood a few steps away from the desk, silently watching her sink deeper into the chair.

A complicated feeling slowly settled across his face.

Deep down, there was a part of him that desperately wanted to walk over and tell her not to go tomorrow. To forget about Yokohama, forget about work, and just stay home.

Even though he already knew how pointless that wish was.

This was only a memory, after all.

Morvayne stood quietly beside him.

For once, she had no questions about the strange objects around the room, nor did she try to speak to him.

She could tell. Whatever was happening inside her contractee right now, it was something she should not disturb.

So she remained unusually silent and simply stayed beside him.

Meanwhile, Haruna finally pushed herself away from the back of the chair.

"Alright..."

She planted both hands against the desk and started getting up.

"Better pack everything before I forget again."

But just as she rose halfway from her seat...

Ding!

Her phone suddenly lit up on the desk.

"Hm?"

Haruna dropped back into her chair and reached for it, expecting another message from the hospital staff.

However, the moment she saw the name displayed across the screen, the tired look on her face softened almost immediately.

[Yuzuki ♡ My Precious Son]

"Oh?"

She wore a soft smile.

"What did my little troublemaker send me this late?"

Haruna tapped the notification. It was not a normal text message as a small audio file appeared beneath Yuzuki’s name.

"A voice message?"

Her brows rose slightly in curiosity. She just had a short call with him half an hour ago. So what was this about now?

Haruna adjusted herself in the chair, suddenly looking far more interested than she had been a moment ago.

"What is it, Yuzuki?" she murmured fondly, her thumb hovering over the play button. "Did you miss Mommy already?"

Then, still wearing that tired but gentle smile, she pressed play. A soft crackle came from the phone before Yuzuki’s young voice filled the quiet office.

"Hello, hello... Mom?"

Haruna’s smile widened almost immediately.

"Can’t you just... not go tomorrow?" Yuzuki asked from the recording, his voice sounding a little hesitant. "I saved some pizza for you, so let’s eat together when you come home."

The recording ended.

Haruna blinked.

Then another notification appeared beneath it.

A photo.

She tapped it and found several slices of pizza sitting inside an open box, carefully pushed toward one side as though someone had deliberately made sure nobody touched them.

For a moment, Haruna simply stared at the screen.

Then her entire expression melted.

"Awww..."

She brought the phone closer to her face, her tired eyes suddenly brightening.

"My baby saved pizza for me?"

Her lips curled into the widest smile she had worn all night.

"How can you be this cute?"

Haruna leaned forward against the desk, resting her cheek against one palm while staring shamelessly at the picture.

Her previous exhaustion that had been weighing on her moments earlier seemed to disappear beneath the sheer force of motherly affection.

"He even arranged them properly, haha."

She zoomed in on the picture.

"And look at that. He picked the ones with the most cheese."

Her free hand pressed dramatically against her chest.

"Oh, no. Mommy’s heart can’t handle this."

Ruvian stared at her from a few steps away.

For some reason, seeing his mother acting like this felt painfully familiar, dragging up a warmth he had missed so deeply that it almost hurt to remember.

After admiring the photo for several more seconds than necessary, she finally tapped the microphone icon and began recording a reply.

"Hmm~ Is that so?" Haruna said teasingly. "So my Yuzuki suddenly knows how to save food for Mommy now? Who are you, and what did you do with my greedy little pizza thief?"

A quiet laugh escaped her.

"Or maybe you’re only saying this because you want Mommy to come home and buy you something tomorrow?"

She smiled as she spoke.

But slowly...

That smile weakened.

Haruna’s eyes returned to the photograph.

Her expression softened.

"Yuzuki..."

Her voice became quieter.

"Mom really does want to come home and be with you right now. But tonight and tomorrow, Mommy’s going to be a little busy. You know Mommy’s work has a lot to do with saving people’s lives, right?

Haruna lowered her gaze.

"That’s part of my responsibility as an Awakened. Maybe you don’t understand that yet. But one day..."

Haruna stared at Yuzuki’s name on the screen.

"One day, you will. I know you will."

Her finger moved toward the send button.

Then stopped.

Something uncertain crossed her face.

Finally, she sighed.

"No..."

Her thumb moved across the screen.

The recording disappeared.

Ruvian’s eyes narrowed slightly as he watched her delete it.

Haruna remained silent for a moment before pressing the microphone button again.

This time, she forced a brighter tone into her voice.

"Don’t worry, Yuzuki. It’ll only be for tonight, okay?"

She smiled softly.

"And by tomorrow night, Mommy will be back home. So keep those pizza slices safe for me. Don’t you dare eat them while I’m gone~"

Her thumb lifted, and soon, the recording ended.

Haruna looked at it for only a second before pressing send.

Sent.

The message disappeared into the chat.

And Ruvian simply stood there, staring at the screen in her hand.

Then, slowly, Ruvian smiled.

It was a small smile, one that carried far too much pain behind it.

’I did keep the pizza... but you’re not coming back.’

There had been so many things Yuzuki once wanted to say to her.

He had wanted to beg her not to go, to complain, to cry, to cling to her clothes like the child he had been and somehow force her to stay home that night.

But those feelings had already been buried years ago.

He had lived with them long enough.

He had learned to accept that no matter how many times he wished otherwise, tomorrow would still come exactly as it had before.

So now...

There was only one thing he truly wanted to tell her.

Ruvian took one quiet step forward.

"Thank you, Mother..."

"...for loving me."

The words left him quietly, almost catching in his throat.

Haruna remained seated at her desk, unaware of him standing only a few steps away.

Ruvian swallowed and went on.

"Thank you for taking care of me. For feeding me, worrying about me, scolding me whenever I did something stupid, and staying beside me whenever I was scared."

"Thank you for working so hard even when you were tired...."

His vision slowly blurred.

"...For coming home late and still asking if I had eaten. For pretending you weren’t exhausted whenever I wanted to talk. For listening to all the stupid little things I used to tell you..."

A tear slipped down his cheek.

Ruvian did not wipe it away.

"And... I’m sorry."

His voice cracked slightly.

"I’m sorry for all the times I complained when you were busy. I’m sorry for every time I got angry because you came home late, and for all the things I was too young to understand back then."

Another tear followed the first.

"I understand now."

Behind him, Morvayne’s eyes widened slightly.

She had never seen her contractee like this before.

Yet she said nothing.

Ruvian drew in a shaking breath before lowering his head deeply toward the woman sitting only a few steps away.

"Finally, thank you.... for being my mother."

The tears would no longer stop. They fell freely from his eyes and struck the floor beneath him, one after another.

"If I could have just one more day with you... there are probably a thousand things I would want to tell you."

A weak laugh escaped him.

"But I think this is enough."

He slowly raised his head again; Haruna was still there, quietly sitting behind her desk with her phone in her hand.

"Just so you know..."

Ruvian smiled through his tears.

"I grew up just fine."

For a moment, Ruvian could say nothing else. He simply stood there and looked at her.

It was stupid.

Perhaps even foolish.

Saying all of that despite knowing those words could never reach her.

The woman before him was nothing more than a memory, a piece of the past preserved inside his soul that could neither hear him nor answer him.

But perhaps.... that was alright.

Even if she would never turn around and smile at him.

Even if tomorrow would still take her away.

At least this time...

Yuzuki had been able to stand before his mother one last time and tell her everything his younger self never could.

Of how much he loved her, missed her... and how grateful he was that, even for such a painfully short part of his life that...

She had been his mother.

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[Chapter 336: Dearly Missed Mother (2)]