Mei's Mother

The **unnamed woman** (alternatively named as **Mei "Shinonome"** **Hongo's Mother** and possible "**Ms. Shinonome**") is Mei Hongo's mother and a nameless character that was briefly mentioned in the early moments of the first manga series, precisely the first chapter. Very little is known about her and the only information about her is she appears to live in the low, working class of society or even being unemployed and just being a housewife in the family's small house.

Along with her husband, Shutaro Shinonome, they both died in a tragic accident, leaving Mei all by herself at the age of 13 years old. Thankfully, a young butler arrives in Mei's life and change her future by telling her the truth of her family's origins.

## Biography

### Early Life

Her early life was never much explained, but she appears to be born from a pretty normal family. She's possibly a regular civilian of society and a complete average woman.

### Meeting Shutaro

At some point in her life, she met Shutaro and the two became in love together, with the possibility they married each others. Then they lived in a small house with a very simple life: Shutaro was a noodle chef who worked hard and she seems to be a housewife, though her job never was explained in the manga but it's possible she had a job with perhaps a regular salary. Their daughter, Mei Shinonome, was attending to the village's school along with her peers and with some frenemies.

### Death

Mei's mother and Shutaro both died in a tragic accident, when Mei was just in her middle school years. While her age was never pointed out, she appears to to look young and probably around her late 30's to early 40's. In later chapters, Mei mentioned little about her parents. The accident was never explained, though it is speculated she and Shutaro has perished in a car accident.

## Personality

Like Mei, she remains positive even during hard times, like how she remained her happiness despite herself and Shutaro are considered as a "poor family". According to Kento, she and Shutaro were very friendly and optimistic, despite they were a bit of a cheapskate sometimes.

## Appearances

Mei's mother has short hair stopping at the region of her chin, having a haircut similar to her daughter. Mei's face is about nearly the same as her mother's facial traits, in other words Mei's appearance takes from her mother. Her mother's height seems to be around 5'7", having a head tall less than her husband.

## Ability and Skills

While she is a simple human being with no particular abilities or skills, it is mentioned she's a hard worker and an optimist like her husband. According to Kento, she was also very friendly towards other people and she would make ramen to Kento as a treat. Kento also pointed out to Mei his grandfather likes the way how she brew the tea, stating it was delicious. This hints she was somewhat good skills at cooking.

## Relationships

### Family

* **Shutaro "Shinonome" Hongo**: Her husband and the person she loves the most, equally to her daughter. Both were made for each others, as they were friendly and optimistic parents who would welcome everyone they meet.
* **Mei "Shinonome" Hongo**: Her relationship with Mei is much of a mystery since little is known about between them, though Mei seems to love her mother quite a lot.

### Friends

* **Kento Shibata**: Kento seemed to appreciate the ramen she made for him and he would even call her "auntie" as a sign of respect toward her.
* **Rihito Shibata**: The butler was probably aware of the Hongo family's eldest son secretly marrying a normal woman in a small village but there's any evidences stating Rihito knew about the Shinonomes' lives.
* **Hideto Shibata**: He would come regularly to their house, for playing a game of chess with Shutaro while drinking the tea Mei's mother prepared and stating it was delicious. It seems he was very close friends with Mei's parents.

## Trivia

* A theory suggests the surname "Shinonome" is actually from the mother's birthname. This theory also points out where Shutaro would use the Shinonome surname to hide away from the Hongo Family for years.
	+ It might even also possible the "Shinonome" surname doesn't come from the mother and was rather created by Shutaro for his newfound identity.
	+ In the television drama adaptation, her first name is revealed as "**Yu**". It is unknown her name is canon to the manga, as her full name was never revealed.