Hey Maeda, what would you say your relationship with your mother is like? Do you love her?
//Maeda looks at you, with an expression that, somehow, is obviously saying "Why the actual fuck would you ask someone that? Whoa? ???". He doesn't seem... upset, though. So, win on your end.
Maeda - ...Uhhhhhhh?
//He swirls his latte slightly; looking for something sensory, so his mind isn't 100% on the question.
Maeda - ...
Maeda - Well.
Maeda - ...
Maeda - ...
Maeda - ...You know.
Maeda - ...
//He drinks from his cup.
Maeda - ...Yeah, you know. Uh-
Maeda - I love Miyono. My relationship with her, is like... great.
Maeda - She and I get along really well. And she, like... definitely did the most to raise me growing up.
Maeda - Hisao was sort of my... secondary caretaker. He helped with some stuff. But Miyono did the most- which didn't really look like being my mom, but...
Maeda - Like. The ways I help to try and take care of some of the littler kids at the house, she was doing all of that for me- and she was basically the only one.
Maeda - She made sure I had clothes to wear, made sure I had something set aside to eat... stuff like that.
Maeda - When I started up at school, then started to have a... weird time, she was the one who made an appointment, then took me to a doctor. She's only, eh... six, seven years older than me?
Maeda - So... she was definitely doing a lot- both generally, and at her age, and given her, like... life. She had her own stuff going on, you know?
Maeda - I try to sort of be there for the younger kids, now that I'm older... but it's hard, because there's a lot of them, and they-
Maeda - Like, everyone there has issues, and it's never a guarantee how long someone will stay.
Maeda - Miyono and I were a weird case, and so much of the way things worked out for us were because she was the original kid.
Maeda - ...Uh-
Maeda - That's not what you asked, though-
Maeda - Kind of a strange question, right? You know that?
Maeda - It's like... fine, though.
Maeda - I don't want to air too much of... my mom's shit, I guess. It sort of impacts a lot more people than just her- but, you know what I mean.
Maeda - ...We aren't close. We never have been, and-
Maeda - God. I guess you never know what'll happen, but I really don't think we ever will be.
Maeda - And that's fine. I don't care. She's, like...
Maeda - ...
Maeda - Honestly, I really only think of my mom when she's brought up- when people talk about their moms.
Maeda - She's such a... non-factor in my life.
//He thinks back to what you actually asked.
Maeda - As far as our relationship goes, we just don't have one. It's better for everyone like that, and I'm... farrr past having an issue with it.
Maeda - ...I wouldn't say I love her. But I definitely don't hate her. I literally just... don't have feelings on her.
Maeda - I don't know.
Maeda - God save Maeda Aiko's soul. I guess.
Maeda - ...Sorry, that makes me sound religious. I wasn't trying to invoke anything there. And she's, like... fine. Don't- worry about it too much.
//Maeda drinks from his cup again. A moment passes.
Maeda - ...
Maeda - Miyono's at university now. She's in her second year.
Maeda - I bring it up because I'm really happy for her. I don't think I'd feel okay with being at Hope's Peak if she wasn't-
Maeda - I'd feel... guilty, having an opportunity like this if she wasn't off chasing after her own goals.
Maeda - ...
//He feels bad, like he's circumventing your question.
Maeda - ...She goes to the same school our mom went to. Isn't that sort of funny?