CH ss - 11

It was dusk, and the outside was already a glossy red.

Lisa and I were walking toward home amidst this.

Lisa, walking side by side with me, looked at me with a worried expression.

“Oh my~! It’s getting even redder.”

“It’s okay. This is a reminder to me.”

“But that’s why you don’t slap yourself until it swells up, right~?”

I rubbed my own cheek and it was still tingling.

I slapped it a few times with vigor, but I think I slapped it too hard.

But this is fine.

In fact, it has to be this way.

“If I didn’t do this, I’d let my emotions get the better of me. I wanted …… my daughter to change, but when it came time for her to make a change, I had to do it. …… I really felt how difficult it is to separate emotions from life.”

“Haru-chan was worried too~. She said she was going to hit you herself to get you back into the swing of things.”

“I don’t think I’d call that worrying. Besides, with Haruka, I’m afraid of overdoing it.”

Lisa and I, and the Fuji’s, have been friends for a long time.

Haruka is direct but straight-forward and crisp.

I couldn’t help but laugh at her oratorical skills, which are as good as ever for someone who is so emotionally driven on so many occasions.

-Power to power.

-Talk for talk.

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, that’s her policy.

But she is still a good friend who stops me and Lisa when we make mistakes.

This time, she saved me again.

Lisa is also usually the one who sees things the most clearly, even though she usually seems to be calm and relaxed.

…… I’m no match for Lisa or Haruka at all, I’m afraid.

I looked up to the sky and exhaled with a huff.

“Hey Lisa. Did I act like a respectable father earlier?”

“Yes, you did.”

She was not in her usual mood, but was snuggled up to me.

Rin saw with her own eyes and made her own decision about who she wanted to be with, and we shouldn’t just dismiss it over her head.

Although I let my emotions get the better of me at first,…… ah, this is something I really need to reflect on.

It is not what a father does to impose on his own daughter without believing in her.

I will protect her when something goes wrong.

That’s the way it should be…….

I chuckle and look at Lisa.

“I see. I’m glad to hear that. Maybe I’ll feel this way again when it’s time for her to leave.”

“Hmmm, yes.”

“Oh, totally. I’m trying to control ……, but I can’t stop sweating.”

“Oh my goodness~, that’s terrible. If you’re sweating that much now, it’s going to be even harder in the future, isn’t it?”

“Haha, I guess you’re right. No matter how much I disciplined myself, it seems I was just another ordinary father.”

“But Rin is lucky to have you think so much about her.”

Don’t let your emotions get the better of you.

Even if I think so, there are some things that people cannot compromise on.

I am a human being, a man, and a father.

Even though I know it in my head and have to be content with it… the animal that is emotions will try to run rampant.

But I still need to be firm.

I must continue to be a good father in front of Rin.

That is my role as her parent.

“Oh, but at least once. I’d like to say that line, ‘I won’t give you my daughter’.”

“Hmmm. But you’ve already missed that opportunity, haven’t you?”

“Well, yes, I have.”

“But Pon-chan might be willing to go along with the joke. He is a sweet kid.”

“Oh, yes, he is. I know that.”

If I had not met him then, many things would have been different.

It was all a coincidence, and it just happened to coincide together.

If I had learned about him in a different order, I would have evilly thought, ‘He is a guy trying to seduce my daughter’ or ‘He has hidden motives’.

But because we met without knowing each other, I got to know his personality.

What I told her was just a start.

It was my daughter herself who decided how to judge him, and then decided to actually meet him.

The feeling of love, once it has started to flow out, does not disappear easily…….

Like water in a river flowing from upstream to downstream, it just flows and gradually grows.

No one can stop it.

Even if you try to stop it with something, it will slip through the cracks from the side.

So, all I can do is trust Rin, watch over them, and support them. …… I will not stop them.

“Lisa, what am I supposed to say next as a father?”

“You know what you should say.”

“Please make my daughter happy.”

We look at each other and giggle.

It’s been a while since we got married, but we still seem to think the same way.

That both pleases and tickles me.

“Well, they are still freshmen in high school, so maybe it’s a little early to be telling them this.”

“Oh, really? Kids grow up so fast. By the time you realize it, the time may have come.”

“Ha-ha, that’s true. I felt that firsthand this time. Then you’ll have to practice saying it with more dignity for the next time.”

“How about sitting in my study, elbow to elbow, waiting commander-style?”

“That sounds great. Let’s give it a try sometime.”

What should we talk about when he comes over to our house?

Maybe there are things we can say to each other that we can’t say to Rin, as men.

We can arm wrestle and be a little mean …… No, I don’t want to do this because Lisa and Rin will blame me.

Anyway, all I have to do is be conscious and I’m good to go.

I stopped right there and put my hands on my hips.

Then I took a deep breath.

“Hey, Lisa. If I’m about to get emotional again, will you stop me?”

“Yes, of course. Because I’m your wife.”

“Thank you.”

A handkerchief is handed to me by my wife who smiles gently.

A soft silk handkerchief was handed to me.

I wiped my sweat off, which had not stopped earlier…. It didn’t stop for a long time.