Chapter 15 I'm Not My Mother!

I’m Not My Mother!

“Dad, look! I made a bun on my head today!”

It was an hour after I suggested we go shopping that she finished getting dressed.

I got ready right away, but my daughter is a girl after all. She took her time getting ready.

It’s just a little shopping trip with her dad… so she didn’t have to work too hard.

“Yeah, you’re cute today too. That’s my daddy’s girl.”

“Ehehe~ Cleopatra? I’m Satsuki, you know. Even though I’m as prettier as the three most beautiful women in the world, you can’t get it wrong, okay~”

“I didn’t say that.”

As usual, she still exaggerates a lot, but I’m used to it.

To me, she is definitely prettier than the three most beautiful women in the world. First of all, there is no need to compare them; the most beautiful girl in the world is definitely my daughter, so I would never confuse her with Cleopatra.

“Your clothes look good on you too; they’re so frilly and pretty.”

The ruffled pink skirt, the two light blue socks, and the hoodie with the cat ears all look good on her.

But she was dressed a bit childishly. She looked young for a high school student.

“Do you like that kind of fashion?”

“Yes, I do! Because my dad bought those clothes for me a long time ago…”

… Oh, now I know why she looks childish; it’s because she’s still wearing the clothes I bought her a long time ago.

Come to think of it, I think I bought those clothes for her when she was in middle school.

I bought it after getting a lot of advice from Sophia-san, and although it suited Satsuki well… She’s in high school now, and I thought she should look a little more mature.

“…Ah, right, why don’t we go look at some clothes?”

“Are you sure, dad? Yay!”

Satsuki laughed innocently.

Hmm. Even though I’m not rich, I consider myself a doting father, so I give her a lot of money.

I thought she would buy clothes or whatever she wanted.

“Don’t you go shopping yourself?”

I walked out the front door and locked it.

I stepped outside and squinted into the warm sunlight.

It has been quite warm lately.

It must be time to get some summer clothes instead of winter clothes.

“Yes! Because I like the clothes you like best, Dad.”

I’m glad you said that, but you’re not going to keep wearing the clothes I bought you, are you?

I realized once again that my daughter has not grown taller since junior high school. Come to think of it, her mother, Sasha, was short, too.

But she had a great attitude. She was mature at best and arrogant at worst. She was small but strong-willed, so I think she was a tough person.

Come to think of it, she liked frugal and relaxed fashion.

I remember she liked to wear long skirts and big cardigans.

“Maybe more mature clothes look good on you?”

I thought of Sasha and casually suggested it.

But Satsuki shook her head, smiling and laughing.

“No, I like cute and frilly clothes. I’ve fallen in love with the fashion my dad likes.”

It’s not that I don’t like it. I just tried my best to choose something that would suit Satsuki the best.

This girl seems to have made it into a fashion that I like.

“…I see. Yes, Satsuki’s favorite clothes are the best.”

I nodded and scolded myself.

This was not good.

(Unconsciously, I was trying to overlap her with Sasha…!)

I almost do what I’m most careful about.

Sasha and Satsuki are two different people. But if I’m not careful, I’ll end up overlapping Sasha’s image with Satsuki’s.

So I’m glad that Satsuki said no.

Somehow, I was able to get myself back.

(I’m not my mother!)

I felt like she was implicitly telling me that.

And I thought I understood it very well.

“… Satsuki, sorry.”

“eh~? Why are you apologizing? Ah! For yesterday’s cheating, right!? I knew you were guilty!”

“No, that’s not what I meant!”

When I apologized, she interpreted it in a strange way, and I got in trouble.

No, even apologizing is rude.

Satsuki is Satsuki.

She is not Sasha. She is my precious “daughter”.

I have to remember that.

“See? Dad, your little girl is angry, so you have to hold her hand! What if she gets lost?”

“She’s already in high school, so even if she gets lost, I’m sure she’ll find her way.”

With a wry smile, I took the hand that was offered to me.

The hand I held was as small as ever, but… it was very soft and warm.

Satsuki is a girl after all.

It was a sensation that really made me realize that——