CH 15

The blurred festival was over and August began.

Ever since his father left him, he has not seen him once.

Yet, he still wonders if he will never see his father again.

He wanted to see him, but Daiki could not tell him because of the fact that he was not his real son.

As soon as August arrived, his mother told him that she had something to tell him.

To some extent, Daiki had an idea of what she wanted to talk about.

Pretending not to understand, Daiki asked her about it and found out that it was about his real father.

She wanted him to meet him once before he went on his Bon vacation.

It was not that he wanted to see him or talk to him.

To Daiki, he was no more than a person who had destroyed his normal life.

However, it is also his mother’s request.

He agreed to meet with him in order to protect his current normal.

His mother must have been relieved.

“Thank you, Daiki.”

And then she smiled.

Daiki thought that he had done the right thing in faking it this time, too.

And he told Wakaba about it.

From Wakaba she said,

“It’s okay to meet, but don’t force yourself or endure anything!”

She told him,

Just by having Wakaba worry about him, Daiki was happy.

The day to meet his real father was decided, and the day arrived.

He was told that his real father would be coming to the house, so he prepared himself and waited for him.

His mother was also anxious. As for Daiki, he had seen him several times, so he knew his face, but he had never talked to him before.

Not sure what kind of story he would tell.

He decided to go along with it anyway.

The intercom rang, and at last it was time to meet.

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m Tsukasa Togo.

Thank you very much for meeting me today.”

He bowed deeply.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Daiki Hamanaka.

My best regards.”

He bowed and greeted his father.

Although his father’s surname was Togo, Daiki’s surname was originally his mother’s, so it had not been changed.

After greeting him, he went to the living room and sat down at the table facing him.

“My name is Tsukasa Togo.

As you may have heard, I am your father.

I’m really sorry that we haven’t had a chance to meet until now.”

He bowed deeply.

“I don’t expect you to accept me as your father after all this time.

I don’t care if you don’t accept me.

But, can you give me a chance to spend time with you, Daiki?

…

Even if I can’t be your father, I can be your uncle who is closest to you.

…

I know this is a sudden request, but could you please listen to me?”

He asked with his head bowed.

His mother bowed with him.

For the moment, he decided to surrender to them.

“I have only one father, so I would appreciate it if uncle, who is closest to me, would be willing to listen to me.”

He responded.

He took both of them by the hand and was pleased.

For the time being, he thought it was the right thing to do.

After that, they talked about many things.

Togo-san’s family had a long-established family tradition, and it seems that he had a so-called “fiancee” and that free love was only allowed until he was a student.

It was unusual in this day and age, but apparently it does exist.

It seems that the woman he was dating when he was a student was his mother, and he was thinking of getting married to her.

However, Togo’s parents did not allow him to do so.

They tried to persuade him, but he was forced into a marriage with his wife.

They forced him to leave Daiki’s mother behind the scenes so that she could not contact him.

He was forced to go abroad for work and could not return to Japan.

He said he finally returned to Japan and went to his mother’s place of work to look for her.

There he was surprised to hear about Daiki for the first time and was very happy to hear about him.

However, he also said that he felt really sorry for both his husband and Daiki.

After that, he tried to find a way to be with his mother, and he finally found a way.

His current wife was not interested in Togo-san, and since it was a political marriage, they had no choice but to be together.

They worked together to find a way to separate amicably, and were able to get their parents to agree to divorce.

He also talked to Daiki’s father.

“It’s fine as long as Daiki doesn’t mind.”

He told him

“But I am Daiki’s father!”

He said,

These words made him the happiest.

The father, in his own way, was troubled by the fact that he thought of Daiki as his son, but when he found out the truth, he was afraid that he would not be chosen as a father, so he ran away to work only, and eventually he did not know how to interact with Daiki anymore.

He said

“I’m so glad.”

That was what was going through his mind.

He said he would not meet with Daiki until he met with Togo. Daiki can meet his father if he wants to.

He was happy just to think that he could meet his father.

He said that all the discussions with his father were done before he entered junior high school.

Then they talked about their future plans, and most of the things were decided.

First of all, he decided to stay with them every weekend.

It seems that this is to gradually deepen their friendship.

Next, he asked his mother to marry him next year.

She replied she would love it.

The last day to see his father was set.

During the Obon vacation, he was going to visit his mother’s parents and stay overnight at his father’s place.

He was looking forward to the Obon vacation.

After that, Togo told them the story of how he had built a successful company and convinced his parents, and how he and his wife wanted to have a free love life in order to get divorced.

In the end, he apologized and Togo and his ex-wife were free.

It was good to hear many stories.

It was getting late and Togo-san left.

The next time he would come to see them would be after the Bon festival.

The truth is, Daiki didn’t want to see him today, but he doesn’t mind seeing him next time.