Your life will one day become a hope for someone precious: Where is your place?

The story of Mayumi and her only daughter, Misaki
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Your life will one day become a hope for someone precious (Prologue) | Mikamo (Mica Moriya)

The morning of the entrance ceremony.
The persistent rain trapped the town in silence.

“I’ve always been a ‘sunny girl,’ though...”

Mayumi stopped making breakfast and looked out the window.

Memories from long ago came flooding back.
When Misaki was in kindergarten, there were spring sports days, autumn field trips, and winter marathons.

There were many events, but there was never a need for a teru-teru bozu (rain-prevention doll).
Even after she moved on to elementary and junior high school, that didn't change. The weather was always on our side.

However, getting through those events successfully was not easy for mother and daughter.

Even so, back then, Mayumi thought her parenting was going well.
At least, she wanted to believe so.

From a young age, Misaki was a child who showed interest in everything. Without being taught, she would read picture books by herself, delighting Mayumi.

She would ask “Why?” and want to know everything, eventually becoming unsatisfied with just picture books.

“Misaki is a gifted child.” Being able to think that satisfied the self-esteem of Mayumi, who was exhausted from the daily grind of child-rearing.

Even when playing house at the park, she would compare her daughter to other children in her heart and bask in a sense of superiority. Of course, the other children and parents were just focused on the play in front of them.

However, that modest confidence crumbled easily.

The kindergarten entrance ceremony.

Misaki, wearing her brand-new uniform, could not act like the other children. She gripped the hem of Mayumi’s skirt until her knuckles turned white and refused to sit in the children’s seating area.

Even the teacher’s gentle voice seemed to sound like a source of terror to Misaki.

She’ll get used to it eventually.
She’s an only child, so it can’t be helped for now.

By telling herself this, Mayumi put a lid on her own anxiety.
Around that time, she began to feel a growing distance from the other parents.

Even when she greeted parents in the same class, they would sometimes look away and not respond.
Even when she gathered the courage to volunteer for the PTA, she was gently turned down.

She couldn't think of anything she had done wrong.
Gradually, the time spent dropping off and picking up her child at the kindergarten became depressing.

Thinking back on it later, many people in this area were born and raised locally.
Perhaps Mayumi and Misaki, who had moved here later, were seen as “outsiders.”

Besides, Misaki was not good at group activities.
Perhaps the children who went home were saying,
“Misaki-chan is a bit strange.”
Maybe they were saying things like that.

It was an assumption she could never verify, but only an indescribable sense of discomfort remained in Mayumi’s heart.

When they returned home, a quiet time always flowed.
Misaki would quietly read picture books.

Seeing her like that, as if she were trying to reclaim herself after being released from kindergarten, made Mayumi’s heart ache.
Even so, she tried to believe that “Misaki will be fine.”

I must help Misaki develop her strengths.
Since she can already read and write, she must have wonderful talent.
Mayumi will do everything she can.
I must fulfill my role as a mother...
Driven by that thought, she began buying early childhood educational materials for Misaki one after another.

As if to look away from her loneliness, Mayumi was trying to create a place for herself by placing special meaning on Misaki’s talents.

The beginning of Misaki’s group life.
For Mayumi, it was also a beginning from which there was no turning back.