Two flirtatious-looking office workers interrupted Minami-san's conversation with me from the side.
　One had blonde hair and the other had brown hair.
　From the fact that they called Ms. Minami their senior, they must be juniors in the company she worked for.
　However, their blatant attitude showed no respect for her.

　To those girls, Minami-san gave them her usual cold, indifferent look.

Mr. Yamaki, Mr. Tsunemori, he was just an acquaintance. He's just an acquaintance and we just happened to meet each other. Please don't bother him with such mischievous words as 'meeting up with me'.
"Pfft. Why are you being so serious?　It's a joke, of course~
Besides, you and Mr. South don't really fit together.

　Hey, I've got a heart that will get hurt if you say it out loud, no matter how true it is.
　

　But he's got such a bad character that it's hard to believe he's Minami-san's junior.
　Do they have a grudge against him?

'Excuse me. These girls are junior colleagues at work, but they don't seem to like me for some reason...
'I know that when I see it, but why are you coming at me like this?'

　I inwardly ask Minami-san, who is whispering in my ear next to me with a heartbeat.
　I'm told to read the air, but it smells so good........
　No, no, no, calm down........Minami-san is Amana-chan's mother, don't be aware of it, I.......!

　I listen to the story while dispelling the evil thoughts that suddenly fell and boiled over.

''I'm often invited to dinner by a man who is a colleague at work, but as you know, I can't devote that kind of time to Tenna. So I always decline them, but........
Oh, I see. It's just a little playfulness on the part of the women to say that they're on the hook for turning down the advances of someone they were interested in.
Yes....

　
　I've heard that Sakai was caught in the middle of such a mishap, and it seems to be the same regardless of the type of job.

''And I still get a lot of invitations from that person... why is she so obsessed with having a child like me?
What?

　Don't you realize what you look like, Mr. Minami?
　If you pass her on the street, ten out of ten people will turn to you, even though she's so beautiful!

　Maybe it's that kind of unconsciousness that's making him even more unhappy....　
　It seems that the reason why people disliked him is because he was unaware of it.

''If you're aiming for Minami-san, you'd better not do that~?
Because he's married with children and divorced.
What...?

　I couldn't believe my ears when she laughed and told me her words were so joking that I couldn't believe my ears.
　I've been told about Minami-san's situation, but there is no element of ridicule in it.
　In fact, even though she's younger than me, she's doing better than me as a person.

　And most importantly, their words seem to deny the existence of Amana-chan, and it's not something that can be overlooked.

　I'd like to try my hand at it right now, but I'm afraid there's no point in me speaking out when the keynote speaker is silently enduring the situation, so I stop myself and stand my ground.

　The two juniors still have a cold look on their faces.

He is free to decide what Hayakawa-san thinks of me. You don't have the right to tell him what to do about it.
(Ugh...) But it's true, isn't it?
'Yes. I love my late husband, and I have no intention of spending any time in a new relationship for my daughter's sake.

　The two juniors are still acting like fools, but Mr. Minami is as calm as a gentle breeze.
　She's been involved in this kind of confrontation so many times in the past that it even makes you feel a kind of familiarity with her.

　Is the reason why she has no room to spare for Amana's sake is also to avoid unpleasant interference from others?
　It's a thankless meddling nuisance, or perhaps, from Minami's point of view, she can't even imagine how many enemies she has in the world.

　As I was marveling at her hardship at such a glimpse, I heard her say in my ear.


''I don't understand how she could raise a child born out of a marriage and...''
I don't expect him to understand.
I'm not surprised.
What, Hayakawa-san...?

　I found myself interrupting Minami-san's words to argue with her.
　The two juniors, of course, and Ms. Minami seemed surprised by the suddenness of the situation.
　But I can't afford to be concerned about that right now.

''How can you strangers understand what this person decided to have a child, what kind of feelings she had, how she's enduring the pain of not having a husband and doing her best for her daughter, something only she can understand?
I...

　I don't know if there is any chance of a man...and I'm not even sure if I'd have a chance to be a bachelor, but Ms. Minami has never given up on her husband even after he passed away and continues to work hard at raising her children.
　In that sense, I would say that she is a straightforward human being.

　At the very least, she's better than someone who looks down on others in front of her and basks in a shallow sense of superiority.

''Huh!　You're trying to act cool in front of Mr. Minami?　Isn't that kind of lame?
No?　I simply don't like you guys.
Gross. I don't care what you think about it.
I don't give a shit what they think of me.

　I brush aside the words of the two people who come at me in opposition to what I have to say.
　It doesn't matter what they say about me here and now.

　I'm just pissed off at their words, and I'm not thinking of breaking them down or anything.

　But there's no way I wouldn't think anything of it, no matter how familiar South-san is with it.
　I've dated the man I love, married him, and nurtured his life.
　It can't be hard to be exposed to the insensitivity of someone who uses your insensitivity as an outlet for his or her frustrations, without considering the amount of pain you went through during that time.

　And the person you're dealing with is a junior colleague at work.
　You can't make the relationship even worse than it already is by lobbing out the frustrations that have piled up in your mind.

　So I'm going to take my frustrations out on him.　

"You don't have time to be jealous of other people's happiness, go find your own happiness.
Oh, for crying out loud!　That's enough!
Enemies of women!

　When I gave them the best of my ability a ridiculous look and said it, the two of them uttered some defeated words before slinking away.

''Huh ... it felt good to say what I wanted to say!
....
Mr. South?
'　What is it, sir?

　To be honest, it's a lot less stressful.
　It's not so bad to complain once in a while.

　Thinking that, I called out to Minami-san and she seemed dumbfounded, shaking her shoulders and replying with a bit of dismay.

''No, I was just going to say that I'm going to go deliver soon...''
''Oh, well I'm sorry for getting you involved in my affairs.
''Haha, she doesn't care about that. If I denied Minami-san's efforts, it just sounded like I was denying Amana-chan, so I just got into it on my own.
You're not... no, you're not anything.
Okay. Bye.

　She wanted to say something, but I was seriously pressed for time, so I left Minami and got into the delivery truck.
　I ate the onigiri I bought on the way, but then again, she was right, I should probably pay a little more attention to nutrition.