CH 36

After a while, Mom returned from shopping. She opened the door to the living room and entered with a large plastic bag in each hand.

Kaede noticed this and immediately got up from the sofa and took one of the bags she was carrying.

“Ah, thank you so much.”

“No, this much is …”

“I wish our children could learn from you~.”

Hey? and looked at Me and Hina alternately, but I feigned ignorance and turned away.

But Hina, as if betraying me, got up from the sofa and strode to the kitchen.

“I’ll help you cook~!”

And so on. You might say, “Why don’t you just go there then?” But I would be useless, I wouldn’t be able to do anything, and the kitchen would be too small with four people in it.

For some reason, I felt left out, so I went to my room.

Opening the door, I found myself in a nostalgic room.

(I knew it would be relaxing after all.)

Strangely, for some reason, I became calm. I fell straight onto the bed.

I felt sleepy, and before I knew it, my eyelids closed on their own.

Then I felt something poking me on the cheek and I woke up.

There was Kaede poking my cheek with her finger.

“Ah! I’m sorry, I just ,,,”

“You want to poke me with your fingers?”

“Yes, it’s surprisingly soft, you know?”

“I’m a man, you know?”

“And? What about it?”

I thought to myself, “No, you don’t understand,” and wondered why it would feel good to touch a man’s cheek, but she seemed happy for some reason, so I decided it was okay.

“So? Did you need something?”

“Oh, yes, I did!”

She clasped her hands together and smiled.

“Dinner is ready, you know?”

“Eh? Isn’t it too early for that….”

It was already past 18:00. This meant that I had been asleep for more than four hours.

Holding my head in my hands, I replied to Kaede, “All right,” and then raised myself up from the bed and went downstairs.

Then I saw my father there.

“Huh? Dad, you’re home.”

“I’m home, Ren.”

“Welcome home….”

“Well, I’ll listen to the story later, but for now, let’s eat together.”

“I’m so hungry,” said Hina, wiping drool off her face. Yes, I woke up from sleep, but I was hungry, so I sat down on a chair and sat around the table with my family plus Kaede.

It’s kind of an unfamiliar feeling, but if I ever get used to this, ….. I thought, and hid my red face well so that people wouldn’t find out.

“Come to think of it, Kaede-chan, you are a very good cook!”

“The food Kaede-Onee-san made is really delicious, isn’t it?!”

“Thank you very much.”

Her cheeks were flushed red with embarrassment. Mom and Hina were saying, “How cute~” in unison. It was indeed very cute.

“Your food is delicious, too, Reiko-san?”

“Ara. Thank you.”

“Right? Ren-kun.”

“Eh,…., ah, yes.”

“Oh, no, Ren is already eating Kaede-chan food, so he won’t be satisfied with my cooking.”

Certainly, Kaede’s food was delicious, but I was quietly enjoying the nostalgic taste of it from my mom….

“It’s not that, I am just eating it because I missed it, it’s not like your cooking isn’t good”

“Then whose food tastes better, Mom’s or Kaede-chan’s?”

“Kaede.”

I quickly responded without even a moment to think about it. Mom then looked a little sulky upon hearing this.

“There, there, Reiko-san’s cooking is delicious too, Ren? Can you think about your mother too?”

“Ara, Yusuke-san.”

When Dad followed up, Mom, replacing her sulky look from earlier, started smiling a lot.

“Ah, Kaede, speaking of which, this is my father.”

“It’s Yusuke Hayaska, right?”

“What? You know?”

“Because I heard it from the man himself just now.”

Ah, I remembered that I was asleep, and wondered why Hina was grinning while looking at me.

(But… it looks like it will be fun)

With that thought, I brought the hot food to my mouth with chopsticks.