Rena's mother started out as a designer at a small clothing factory in Okinomiya, where she met Mr. Ryuuguu. After they married, the couple lived in a cramped apartment until she got pregnant with Rena, at which point they moved into his mother's house. They stayed there through Rena's early elementary school years.
When the factory began struggling financially, Rena's mother considered striking out on her own with some colleagues. Instead, a design office in Ibaraki made her an offer—they had big plans for her and wanted her talent on their team. The move meant Mr. Ryuuguu had to leave his job and become a stay-at-home dad.
The job paid off. Her mother's project turned into a major success, and soon she was working insane hours, often not coming home at all. She'd take Rena out without telling her father—barbecues with coworkers, restaurants where they'd eat parfaits (something Rena had always dreamed of). Around this time, she'd started an affair with a coworker named Mr. Akihito. A headhunter recruited her to an even bigger company, she got promoted, and the paychecks grew into six figures.
Then came the ask: leave your father, come live with me and Mr. Akihito. Rena refused outright. She said her mother could be with Mr. Akihito, but divorce was off the table. That's when her mother dropped the news that she was pregnant.
What followed was a mess. Lawyers kept showing up at the house while Rena's mother refused to speak to her husband directly—no meetings, no phone calls. Both Rena and Mr. Ryuuguu fell into a depression. They did see each other one last time. Mr. Ryuuguu gave Rena a letter to pass along, but her mother wouldn't read it. After that day, they never spoke again.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
