Volume 1 - CH 24

After having a lot of fun, the five of us changed into our casual clothes and left the leisure facility.

Then, although a little early, they finished their dinner at a nearby restaurant.

“I’m going to call a cab. …… How many do we need?　Yuzuru and Soichiro are ‘train people’, aren’t they?”

(TN: Train people and taxi people refers  to their preferred mode of travel)

In short, they were asking whether they should take the train or a cab to their house.

Yuzuru said as he reclined on the seat.

“I’m a ‘train person’, but …… I’m really tired today. Please call me a ride as well.”

He had been having too much fun and was feeling fatigued all over.

The swimming competition in the pool that we had in the middle of the day was particularly impactful.

“Same goes for me…… I don’t have the energy to take the  train home.”

Soichiro replied with his elbows on the table, slumped over as if he was already on the verge of going down.

Chiharu is playing around with Soichiro’s hair.

“Um, I will be taking the train……”

“I’ll take Yukishiro home while I’m at it, so just take one set of cabs. I’ll pay for it, so don’t worry about it.”

Yuzuru spoke up as if to interrupt Arisa’s words.

“No, I’m totally fine with going by train”

“I don’t know what they’ll say later if I send you home by train alone.”

“…… Well, if that’s the case.”

After hearing Yuzuru and Airisa’s exchange, Ayaka and Chiharu voiced their admiration.

Then they both shook Soichiro, who was about to fall asleep.

“I want a ride home, too.”

“Please give me a ride too.”

“You guys live in the opposite direction. …… I mean, I just want to go home. Please let me go home. I’m sleepy. …… I’d rather you guys give me a ride.”

Soichiro looked sleepy when he said that.

Yuzuru thought it was a nice gesture, but the kind-hearted Arisa seemed to feel sorry for him.

So She offered a helping hand.

“That’s right, Ayaka-san, Chiharu-san ……. Would you like to exchange contact information?”

“Sure!”

“Oh, by the way, we haven’t done that yet.”

The three of them exchanged their contact information.

From the looks of it, they’ve gotten along quite well in the pool today.

Yuzuru felt a little bit happy about that.

–On the way home later that day.

Yuzuru and Arisa were sitting side by side in a cab.

“It was fun today.”

said Arisa, looking somewhat sorrowful.

The normally cool girl seemed to have been carried away by Ayaka’s and Chiharu’s excitement and seemed to have enjoyed the day.

From Yuzuru’s point of view, it was satisfying to see something so rare.

“Ayaka-chan and Chiharu-chan seem to have gotten along quite well with you.”

“Yes… Will it be okay if I say that we’ve become friends?”

“I’m sure the girls think so whether you like it or not.”

From the way it looked to him, they seemed to like Arisa quite a bit.

Secretly, he was given strict orders: “If you make Arisa-chan cry, you will be executed,” and “If you are a man, be responsible for making her happy.”.

……..Though it was explained that she was a fake fiancée.

“Speaking of which, Takasegawa-san…”

“What’s up?”

“The three of them….. are from very wealthy families, aren’t they?”

“Hmm?　Well, I guess they are one of the wealthy ones.”

However, there are differences between the “wealthy” ones.

“Where do they all live? Do they usually use cabs?”

Ayaka had summoned a cab so casually that she must have been curious about how they usually got around.

Yuzuru pulled from his memory the current residence and commuting status of the three of them.

“Ayaka-chan lived within an hour’s drive. I think. I believe she had a full-time driver to take her to and from school.”

“Is that so?　I’ve never seen that before.”

“She seems to have gotten off about a three-minute walk away from the school…Well, it’s usually embarrassing to be dropped off right in front of the gate, isn’t it?”

Yuzuru’s high school is a private school, and there are many children from wealthy families.

But if you look at the overall number, it goes without saying that the majority of children come from ordinary families.

She is also a girl of that age, so she has an appropriate amount of shame about such things.

“What about Satake-san?”

“He’s …… I don’t remember the exact distance, but he usually commuted from home. He’s a ‘train guy’, though. …… He has a lot of brothers.”

“A lot of brothers?　How many?　Four, maybe?”

The birth rate is declining these days.

Even if there are only four of the children, it can be said that the couple has fully contributed to the population problem of Japan.

But the Satake family is on a different level.

“I remember that there were enough of them to make a baseball team.” (TN: baseball team needs 9 )

“That’s …… quite a lot.”

This surprised Arisa, who widened her eyes.

Yuzuru nodded.

“Soichiro, as you can tell from his name, is the eldest son……. I don’t remember how many kindergarteners, elementary, and junior high school students there are, but to drive more than nine people to and from school every morning, you’ll need a reasonable number of drivers.”

Of course, it might not be impossible to hire one for each.

At least the family thinks it’s unnecessary.

It seems that all boys of a certain age walk to school.

The girls are taken to school by car.

“They also said things like, ‘You should walk for your health’. And well, he never said it out loud, but I guess he’s embarrassed to be being sent in the car. He’s a man after all.”

“What about Chiharu-san?”

“Her parents live in the Kansai region. Since she cannot commute, she is living alone.”

In other words, she’s the same as Yuzuru.

Although, there is a big difference in the necessity from Yuzuru, who is willing to spend an hour or so commuting to school.

“It’s not safe for a girl to live alone, is it? She’s from a good family, isn’t she?”

“Oh, yes. So it looks like there are SPs or servants, I don’t know, living on both sides of the apartment, but they are related……. What a way to live alone.”

He wondered if he could call it living alone.

It was a reasonable decision, though.

Some evil people in the world pretend to be couriers and break into your room.

…… Chiharu is a martial artist. Even though she may look normal, she can fight off any lousy man.

“So does that mean the two neighbors of Takasegawa-san is same as well?”

“No, both my neighbors are normal people, and I’ve never checked for such exaggerated security……. I can’t say for sure that they’re not there, though.”

However, Yuzuru did not intend to actively search for it.

He wasn’t WALL-E, so he didn’t have to look for anything.

If you do not know, it’s okay not to know.

“…… By the way, Yukishiro. What about the Amagi household?”

“My foster father has hired a driver. But well …, basically everyone is on the train…… Our family is saving money at the moment.”

“That’s it again.”

As the rumor has it, Amagi’s financial situation is not good.

The reason for this situation was that the previous head of Amagi, Arisa’s adoptive father’s father, failed in business. And the current generation is scrambling to rebuild.

When you think about it, the fact that they want to get support money by marrying off Arisa…… does not make one sympathetic to their feelings, but, understandably, they are desperate.

As they talked about this, they arrived near Arisa’s house.

Yuzuru got down first and then extended his hand to Airisa.

For a moment, Arisa looked puzzled, but …… then she quickly took Yuzuru’s hand.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

He helped Arisa out of the car.

“See you later, Yukishiro. Maybe we’ll meet again during the summer vacation.”

“That’s right. I’ll invite you from my side at that time…”

That’s when it happened.

“Arisa!”

The voice of a young man could be heard.

A young man in his twenties, holding a carry-on bag, walked towards them.

He was a good-looking guy with a well-developed face.

“Who is that?”

Yuzuru asked in a whisper, and Arisa replied in a whisper as well.

“That is Haruto Amagi, my cousin and step-brother.”

At first glance, Arisa’s face seemed gentle. But in reality, she had a masked smile on her face that did not show any emotion.

On the other hand, Haruto looked happy. But when he noticed Yuzuru next to Arisa……, his expression clouded.

This is going to be another troublesome situation, Yuzuru sighed inwardly.