Title: I Want Your Mother to Be with Me! Vol. 2
Author: Yutaka Tazawa
Publisher: One Peace Books
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 208
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Romance
Publication Date: December 1, 2025
The Story
We pick up with Ryo quitting his job and moving back in with his parents; however, when he opens the door, he’s greeted by his niece Haruka, who mistakes him for her dad, aka Ryo’s brother Rokuro. That’s when he learns that his brother and his wife were transferred overseas for work for three months, so Haruka will be living with them. Something is off about her as she’s trying her best to be mature and a model child. Ryo gets worried, so he texts Yuzuki for help.
Then, out of the blue, Ryo’s mother tells him that she has a polyp and will be going into the hospital for a minor surgery. Because of this, she can’t go to the school to pick up Haruka, so Ryo goes in her place. There, he runs into Yuzuki, who is there pick up Asahi. Day after day, they meet and end up hanging out together. Whether it’s to go play in the park, participate in the school’s sports day, or go to the beach in the fall, they are finding themselves spending more and more time together.
While this is happening, Ryo is having to juggle studying for his upcoming exam, which begins to take a toll on him, but he continues to keep it up. He also learns that Yuzuki’s birthday is the day right before the exam, but his brother’s birthday is coming up as well. Ryo and Haruka go shopping together, and of course, they run into Yuzuki and Asahi. She was only there to pick up things for the restaurant, so she had to run, but it didn’t stop Ryo from going there at night to wait for her to wish her a happy birthday and to give her the present he bought.
Just when things are starting to warm up between them, Rokuro calls to apologize, but he can’t come home just yet as his project has hit a snag. He said it will be another one to two months before he can come home. Haruka looked devastated, and now Ryo needs to find a way to help her out on top of managing the stress of his test results and the growing feelings he has for Yuzuki!
Characters
First up, we have our new character, Haruka, who is Ryo’s niece. She’s only five years old, but with the way she speaks and conducts herself, you’d swear she was much older. At first, they painted a grim picture that Ryo’s brother was awfully controlling. With the way Haruka spoke, it seemed as if she had been disciplined into acting properly no matter what; however, that wasn’t the case. With her parents always away on business, she just became mature a bit too quickly, and that caused her to have a bit of an anxiety disorder where she was scared that if she didn’t prove that she could take care of herself, she would be letting everyone down. It’s a sad situation to see that in a child so young, but thanks to Ryo and Yuzuki, they help her find that relief she’s been needing, and help her realize that it’s okay to be a kid. It also helps that she made friends with Asahi, too!
Haruka is so dynamic for such a young character. I have to say she is very well-written! You experience a broad array of emotions with her, as her entire demeanor is wrapped around a child’s innocence. Because kids are so impressionable at that age, it’s easy to understand why she feels the way that she does. When her parents aren’t around, she needs to take care of herself, and when a child gets on that one-track path, they rarely ever deviate from it, and that’s what happened here with her. Just an all-around amazing character!
The other big focus was on the growing relationship between Yuzuki and Ryo. Despite this being a 4-volume series, the romance here is a pretty slow burn, which is something that I’m enjoying. Here, you can see them grow little by little, as if they are slowly discovering the feelings that they have with one another. The biggest turning point was when Yuzuki admitted that when her husband passed, she was convinced that all she had to do was be a mother to Asahi, but now, she’s not sure about that anymore. She didn’t elaborate on that, but if you read between the lines, what she’s saying is that she’s unsure if she is allowed to find love again, to let Ryo even deeper into her life, and if it’s okay to be a girlfriend/wife again rather than just a mother. Those are very valid concerns for a woman, especially one who has experienced loss as she has. The fact that she was able to openly admit that to Ryo really says something!
Final Thoughts
The second volume was just about as strong as the first! While I do miss the dynamic of them working together at the store, seeing things post-co-worker life has also been quite interesting. Even though it came from a worrying situation with Ryo’s mother going into the hospital for that minor surgery, it did afford Ryo an opportunity to see Yuzuki more and more. If it weren’t for that, then things would have progressed between them as much as they could.
The added dynamic of Haruka was a great move. Getting her involved, it allowed their relationship to deepen in a forceful, but natural way. By that, I don’t mean that they were forced to see one another, but it seems as if having to pick up Haruka from school in his mother’s stead has allowed Ryo to see her every day, thus creating a false, forced situation that happened naturally. The moments that they did spend together were really sweet, and even though I didn’t touch upon it in the characters section, Asahi also grew as a character, and it was all thanks to something that Ryo had told him. Again… kids can be impressionable, and this is another clear-cut example of that. Because Asahi looks up to Ryo, he took Ryo’s words to heart, and as any kid would do, he put that manta at the forefront of his persona, thus changing his attitude… albeit slightly… he can still be a little p.i.t.a. at times!
Another very strong volume that I highly enjoyed! The ending didn’t really give us any indication that there are multiple routes to be had here, but it didn’t need to. Having one clear-cut route to the end is nice because now we can enjoy the ride along with the characters without worrying about any “what ifs?” Can’t wait to check out volume 3!
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