The Fire-Playing Rabbit Does Not Laugh 7

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As the bustle of the food court hummed like distant waves, Ayuka's lips curved into a mocking arc. Her fingers reflected in the cola glass, and the lighting sharply illuminated their contours.

Whether my words had rubbed her the wrong way, her eyes narrowed into a glare.

“Ruri-chan, you don't understand my feelings, and besides, what do you even know about me?”
The frivolous voice from moments ago vanished, replaced by a mature, low tone of someone in their thirties. The voice held a mix of aristocratic ease and a restrained, cold composure.
I gasped involuntarily.
Ayuka can make a voice like this too?

“I don't know anything. But isn't it obvious? A high school graduate NEET who ends up in the sex industry, gets pregnant, and settles down into a family life.”
My words were like a shield to hide my own irritation.

But deep down, I felt something unfathomable in Ayuka's voice, and a chill ran down my spine.

Ayuka stared at me with moist eyes and smiled slowly.
“Hehe, sorry, wrong answer. The correct one is, kindergarten graduate.
I've lived for thirty-three years, and I never needed to work. Because my life is something I've built myself.”

She laughed openly and nonchalantly.
Her smile exuded a certain calculated elegance and bottomless confidence.

(As I thought... this woman!)
While I, who have lived earnestly, am about to miss my chance to marry and am being tossed around by the unfairness of society, how can a woman like this be grabbing happiness!

“Right now, in Ruri-chan's brain, you're probably laughing at me, labeling me as a free-spirited, self-inflicted, worst kind of woman, right? Hehe, actually, even when I look at myself, there are moments I think that too. People like you, Ruri-chan, with high education and a successful career, probably think of women like me as the bottom of society, like trash.”

Ayuka straightened her slumped posture and elegantly swept back her bangs. Her gestures carried a sophisticated air like a stage actress, and her pink nails caught the light. Her words pierced my mouth like a knife.
Did she see me like this?

“Abraham Lincoln said, 'Where there is a will, there is a way.' I chose this life with my own will. Isn't it wonderful?”
Ayuka's voice overlapped with provocation and boasting, sounding as if she were testing me. With a kindergarten graduate's brain, she 'chose' this way of life?

The sound of my common sense crumbling echoed in my head. The second act rose in the food court, and only Ayuka's voice remained in my ears.

“I also like Peter Drucker's words. 'The important thing is not to find the right answer, but to find the right question.' There is nothing more useless than the right answer to the wrong question, right?”

Ayuka's lips laughed 'hehehe,' like a critic holding a solo performance. Was the kindergarten graduate thing a joke?

Counterattacked, my head spun with confusion, but I couldn't find the words to retort. I thought about just going home.

“As for Chibi-ta, my husband's parents won't let him go.
Both of them are elderly, living on pensions, so they are stingy with money for Chibi-ta. Yet, they only push financial demands onto me. It's ridiculous, isn't it?
Even though he's a child I gave birth to, it's like he's their property.”

Ayuka's voice held a faint mix of irony and resignation. She narrowed her eyes as if looking into the distance.
“That's because your in-laws can't safely entrust their grandchild to a daughter-in-law who goes to group dates, has affairs, and has miscarriages or abortions like you, Ayuka-san.”

Ayuka's eyes fixed on me, she glanced at me and said,
“Hey, are you going to lend me money? Or not?
The answer can be simple. Even if we argue here now, money won't just fall from the sky, right?”

The laughter of families in the food court seemed to mock me for being unable to argue back. Anger toward Ayuka, and for some reason, a flicker of empathy, sprouted.
However, I immediately shook it off.
Empathy? Don't joke. This woman is infuriating!

“Eat the fries while they're hot.
Ruri-chan, come on.
Or do you prefer them cold and soggy?”

Ayuka's words and actions further fueled my irritation, and I felt as if I were about to be swallowed by her perfect performance.