Chapter 34: Dark History in the Photo Album
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 34: Dark History in the Photo Album
After the meal, just as he'd promised, Mr. Kishimoto showed me his studio.
There were anatomical reference materials, various collections of East Asian paintings, all sorts of manga, a drawing tablet, and more.
Seeing the kind of studio I’d only ever seen in pictures with my own eyes was a whole different experience.
"I usually just work on storyboards at home. When it comes to actually drawing the manga, I go to my art studio in the next town over. I'm the type who has a hard time concentrating at home, you see."
Mr. Kishimoto said with a laugh, his arms crossed.
But I was more than satisfied just getting to see the studio of my favorite manga artist, so I didn't ask for anything more.
"Oh, Sensei. Could I possibly ask for your autograph?"
"Of course, that's no problem at all."
Hearing that, I took out the complete collection of Golden Samurai that I’d brought in my bag.
The 28-volume series was quite worn from being read so many times.
Kishimoto-sensei signed each one on the inside cover page.
After he had signed all 28 volumes, and finally one on a separate autograph paper, I bowed my head, feeling an incredible sense of fulfillment.
"Thank you so much, Sensei! I'll treasure these for the rest of my life!"
Mr. Kishimoto just smiled graciously and waved his hand dismissively.
"Haha, an autograph from someone like me is nothing special. Just please continue to be a good friend to my daughter."
"Yes, sir!"
After the studio tour was over, Rika grabbed my hand and led me upstairs to the second floor.
"Ta-da! This is my room!"
It was a little surprising, I have to say.
Her room was decorated in mostly calm, muted tones.
There were a few cute trinkets here and there, but it had such a modern feel that it was hard to believe it was the room of a 17-year-old girl.
Is this Rika's mother's taste?
I stepped into the room with that thought, only to be stunned by the sight of an entire wall packed tightly with manga.
"Hehe, kind of shatters the image, huh? My other friends had the same reaction as you, Ryu-chan, the first time they came over."
I always thought Rika liked shonen manga a little.
But now I see it wasn't "a little," it was "a lot."
The sight of all the famous shonen manga you could name, organized by genre and lined up on the shelves, was truly a spectacle.
Anyone would mistake this for a library, not a bedroom.
"Here, have a seat and wait. I'll go get us some tea and snacks."
At her suggestion, I sat on a cushion placed before a low table.
It was my first time ever visiting a girl's room, but it felt surprisingly comfortable.
Was it because of all the shonen manga? It felt just like hanging out at a friend's house.
Rika, who was about to leave for the kitchen, seemed to remember something and glanced back over her shoulder.
"Don't touch anything while I'm gone, okay? If I catch you, I'll be really mad."
"Got it."
She must be at that age where privacy is a big deal, looking worried about leaving me alone in her room.
Only after I nodded to show I understood did she say she'd be right back and leave the room.
"Hmm..."
Being left alone in the room, reality started to sink in a little.
Visiting a friend of the opposite sex on a day off... This was the life of a popular kid I never could have imagined in the past.
I'd never dreamed of having those kinds of feelings for Rika, but being left alone in a girl's room felt... strange.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but I thought I could smell a sweet fragrance in the room.
My room, on the other hand, mostly smells like sweat.
To clear my head of stray thoughts, I decided to kill time with a game until Rika came back.
Just as I was thinking that and launched a game app...
"Hello~"
Rika's mother suddenly entered the room.
"Ah, ma'am?"
I was so flustered I started to awkwardly get up, but she told me to stay seated and gently closed the door.
"Calling me 'ma'am' makes me sound so old. Just call me Maria-san."
...Is it okay to call my friend's mom that?
I hesitated for a moment, but after her continued insistence, I had no choice but to call her Maria-san.
"Um, Maria-san, what brings you here all of a sudden?"
I naturally assumed she was downstairs.
Since Rika had gone down to the first floor to prepare snacks.
Hearing my question, Maria-san gave me a wicked grin and said playfully.
"Why, to show you my daughter's dark history, of course~"
"Her dark history?"
I couldn't quite imagine it and blinked a few times. Maria-san just snickered and revealed what she had been hiding behind her back.
"Ta-da! This is a photo album with Rika's entire life story. As her friend, aren't you curious, Yoo-Sung?"
The "looking at a photo album at a friend's house" event... It was an incredible cliché, but as an avid reader of Jump, it was a situation I'd always wanted to experience at least once.
In the end, I gave in to temptation and shyly nodded. Maria-san sat down across from me and opened her prized photo album.
The album documenting Rika's growth started, as you'd expect, from her infancy.
"This is Rika at one, this is her at two, and this is her at three. This picture was taken when we went to England together."
As if reminiscing about faded memories, Maria-san pointed to each photo one by one, sharing an anecdote for each.
"Oh, this is Rika during the school play. She drew lots and got the part of a tree. She came home pouting and complaining about it, and she was just so cute."
She chuckled at the memory and slowly turned the page.
"Ah, this brings back memories. This is from the first time Rika and I went to Comiket together."
Huh?
I heard something so unexpected that my head tilted involuntarily.
In the photo, a blonde mother and daughter with twin tails were posing in black cosplay outfits, holding modern-looking staves.
They were dressed as the rival character from a magical girl series that was popular about ten years ago.
I had never seen it myself, but the information existed in Kim Yoo-Sung's memories.
When I looked at Maria-san with a bewildered expression, she smiled proudly and said.
"I was actually a first-generation cosplayer. It was always my dream to cosplay with my daughter if I ever had one."
Having revealed her past profession so casually, Maria-san continued explaining the next photos.
"Oh, this one was taken at C73. And this one was taken by my husband at C78."
In the photos, Maria-san took full advantage of being a blonde foreigner, cosplaying as all sorts of foreign characters.
And as a bonus, her daughter Rika was always right there with her.
"Hehe, isn't my daughter adorable? She takes after me, so she was a natural at cosplaying."
Honestly, hearing that she gave her daughter an early education in cosplay, of all things, was a culture shock in more ways than one.
So is this the 'dark history' she was talking about?
Just as I was somehow managing to accept this and nodding along...
"Ah, I finally found it. My daughter's real dark history."
"Huh? There's more?"
I was shocked that an even more embarrassing part of her past existed.
At this point, I was genuinely curious about what kind of photo it could be.
Maria-san, seemingly pleased with my reaction, nodded and showed me the photo in the album.
In the photo, a middle-school-aged Rika with an eyepatch over her right eye, wearing a black Gothic Lolita outfit and red contact lenses, was striking what she must have thought was a cool pose...
"Mama!"
Hearing the sharp voice from behind me, I hastily shut the album.
"Oh my, are you back already?"
Maria-san greeted Rika with a perfectly calm expression.
Rika, her face bright red, stomped over, slammed the tray she was holding onto the table with a thud!, and demanded of her mother.
"You didn't show him, did you?"
Maria-san just smiled benevolently and nodded.
"Yup."
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Rika exploded with shame.
This wasn't her usual bright and playful self; she was genuinely mortified.
Well, it's understandable. A classmate had just seen a photo of her from her chunibyo phase.
If I were in the same situation, the first thing I'd do is look for a hole to crawl into.
As I hesitated, unsure of what to say to comfort her, Rika spoke, her face on the verge of tears.
"I don't do stuff like cosplay anymore, okay?! I swear! That was just... a mistake from my turbulent teenage years!"
"Uh, yeah. I believe you."
For some reason, my nod of agreement only seemed to make her suffer even more.
So this is the cry of someone whose dark history has been exposed.
Maria-san, who had been cheerfully watching her daughter's torment, tucked the album under her arm, gave a little wave, and said.
"Well then, Mama will be going now. You two have fun~"
At that, Rika shot up from the bed and yelled at her mother's back as she was leaving the room.
"Don't ever come in my room again!"
But Maria-san left without a word, gently closing the door behind her.
Still fuming, Rika huffed to herself for a moment before turning to me with teary eyes.
"You'll keep this a secret, right?"
I gave a wry smile and nodded.
"I don't have anyone to tell anyway."