Volume 3 - CH 33

Spring vacation.

Yuzuru had returned to his parents’ house.

As Yuzuru was walking along the porch, dressed in a kimono instead of sleepwear…

“Are you having Tsukimi Sake, Dad.?” (TN: Tsukimi:  “moon-viewing” is a Japanese festival honoring the autumn moon, offering sweets and alcohol to the moon.)

“Well yes, because the moon is so beautiful tonight.”

It was Yuzuru’s father, Kazuya Takasegawa, who answered as he held up a glass.

The glass contained clear ice and golden liquor.

The sight of him, a quarter foreigner, dressed in a Japanese kimono, sitting on the porch drinking sake…

It was a strange sight.

“If it’s Tsukimi sake, why not use actual sake?” (TN: Tsukimi sake is the alcohol offered in tsukimi and the sake here refers to Japanese alcohol)

Yuzuru said as he sat down next to Kazuya.

Then Kazuya replied in a slightly sulky tone.

“Isn’t it fine? I like it better this way.”

Then he poured the liquor into the other glass he had prepared.

Then he handed it to Yuzuru.

“You like it this way too, don’t you? … I’m pretty sure you prefer it straight, right?”

“To encourage your son, who’s going to be a sophomore in high school in a month, to drink… you’re such a bad father.”

Yuzuru said jokingly…

And he grabbed the glass and sipped the alcohol.

Then he picked up a pair of chopsticks and picked at the simmered food in front of him.

He chewed the potato, swallowed it, and then chuckled.

“To eat stewed food to accompany whiskey…”

“I was told that if I wanted to drink, I should just use leftovers…”

“Ha, ha…”

The image of his mother forcing leftovers on his father came to mind.

It’s not that Kazuya is unable to go against his wife, Sayori, but rather that Sayori stands up to Kazuya…

It seems that he can’t assert himself strongly in these situations.

“It seems that you gave an engagement ring to Arisa-san. I heard from Amagi-san.”

Kazuya said and then smiled.

“I heard you gave her something reasonably good. Didn’t you have a hard time paying for it…?”

“No, well… I thought if I’m going to give her an engagement ring, I might as well get her something decent.”

“Hmm, well… it’s the feeling that counts, but the quality and effort of the gift is a good indicator of the feeling.”

Kazuya narrowed his eyes.

Then he asked Yuzuru.

“By the way, I’m asking you just to make sure…You know that you will be buying a formal engagement ring as the ‘Takasegawa family’, right?”

“That’s, well …of course. I’m sure Arisa would like to choose her own engagement ring. I gave that one as a …proposal ring.”

As Yuzuru replied, Kazuya nodded in satisfaction.

“If you understand, then fine… Because it is not advisable for the next heir to the Takasegawa family to have given his fiancée an off-the-shelf product, even if it is a well-known brand.”

The ring Yuzuru gave to Arisa was by no means a cheap one.

In fact, considering that it was purchased by a high school student with his part-time job money, it is far too expensive.

However, for the “Takasegawa family,” it was one of the cheaper ones.

“That kind of thing is, how do I put it…?”

“Any problems?”

“No, well, yes. I mean, it’s not like the higher the price, the better.”

When Yuzuru replied, Kazuya began to speak in an admonishing tone.

“It’s a very important engagement ring for the most important person in your life, your fiancé….”

“‘Would the kind of man who gives cheap engagement rings really be willing to support us with funds?　Will he really be prepared to invest in us? The next successor is incredibly stingy..’ To have people think all these would be inconvenient. Isn’t that what you’re saying? I understand.”

When Yuzuru said that as if to interrupt Kazuya’s words, Kazuya raised the corner of his mouth in delight.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. The end of money is the end of fate. No one will follow you or help you if you don’t bring them any benefit.”

“There are relationships in the world that money can’t buy, aren’t there?”

When Yuzuru said this half defiantly, half-jokingly…

Kazuya shrugged his shoulders in a goofy way.

“I’m surprised. Do you want to develop a deep love and friendship with politicians, investors, the media, and bureaucratic aunts and uncles?　Well, I’m not going to stop you.”

“N-no. …I think it’s better if it’s just about the money in those cases.”

As Yuzuru chuckled and said this, Kazuya patted Yuzuru on the back in a good mood.

“That’s fine. Friendship and love are precious because they cannot be broken by money and can be relied upon in times of need. Treasure them.”

“I don’t need to be told.”

Yuzuru replied shortly and sipped from his glass.

As he rolled the wine around on his tongue, he thought of Arisa.

“When it comes to the most important person, it is only Arisa.”

“What’s with the sudden declaration of love?”

“How much did you know about her dad?”

Yuzuru asked his father in a slightly lower tone than before.

Kazuya kept a smile on his face, but his eyes were calm as he looked back at Yuzuru.

“What do you mean by that?”

“About Arisa’s family background.”

Just a little.

Just a little …the atmosphere grew tense.

“It’s not a very good home environment for Arisa. She has been subjected to violence by her aunt.”

“…Hmm, is that true?”

“Please don’t feign ignorance​. If I can realize it, there is no way that you didn’t know about it.”

Yuzuru retorted in a calm voice.

“This is about the person who will be the partner of Takasegawa’s next successor. Naturally… you would have researched every nook and cranny about them beforehand, right? It would be easy if you use Ryozenji.”

The wife of Takasegawa’s next successor must not have any “problems”.

She should have been thoroughly investigated for her height, weight, size, medical conditions, education, personality, ideology, religion, past, and relationships.

They must have done a thorough investigation.

Even Yuzuru could easily guess what was going on, so there was no way Kazuya and his grandfather, Sogen, would not have noticed.

“You knew, and you did nothing, and you didn’t tell me anything.”

Yuzuru said in a reproachful tone.

And Kazuya…

“I figured you’d understand without me having to tell you.”

He readily admitted that he had known and had kept it to himself.

Then he smiled bitterly.

“I didn’t need to look it up in the first place, I could tell by her expression and demeanor. I could tell at a glance that she didn’t want to get married and that she was scared of her adoptive parents. …It would be weird not to know.”

Even Yuzuru, with his limited life experience, could see this.　

There was no way Kazuya, who had far more life experience than Yuzuru, could not understand.

“You’ve always told me to be thorough with my communications, haven’t you?”

“Well, yes …I thought it would hurt your feelings. After having brought a girl as you wanted, or more like someone close as possible to the kind of girl you wanted, and then to have that girl to not want to marry you was…”

Yuzuru didn’t want to get engaged in the first place, so it wouldn’t have hurt him in any way.

But, as a parent, it was natural for him to be concerned about his son to some extent…

But still, shouldn’t they have told him that his fiancé’s home environment was potentially abusive, as a matter of importance?

When Yuzuru tried to ask this…

“Besides, I didn’t think it was that important.”

Kazuya said simply, without any malice.

“The important thing is that she’s Amagi’s daughter… No, there was no reason for us to be concerned about Amagi’s daughter in the first place. It’s not as if not getting you two married will necessarily hinder your business dealings.”

Kazuya liked Arisa Yukishiro personally, as a person, and as the fiancée of his son.

But…

The only value he saw in Arisa was that she was related to Naoki Amagi and…

She was very close to, if not completely in line with, his son’s unreasonably selfish demands.

“It’s not important, is it?”

“Of course, if Amagi-san doesn’t like Arisa-san and doesn’t care about her, that would have been a problem. …I thought I was being disrespected when, during the initial negotiations, I was asked if I wanted one of the two daughters who was close in age to my son to be the bride. I thought they were trying to force the ‘unwanted’ child on us.”

From Kazuya’s point of view, it was more convenient for him to have Mei Amagi, Naoki’s own daughter, who was related to him by blood, rather than Arisa, who was not directly related to Naoki Amagi as Yuzuru’s bride.

That’s why he initially sought out Mei Amagi.

However, Yuzuru demanded a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, fair-skinned, big-breasted beautiful girl named Arisa, so the option suddenly became Arisa.

“But to my dismay, …he seemed to be equally affectionate towards both. Well, what can I say? He is a clumsy guy, isn’t he? It’s also convenient for us. If it is a unilateral “one-sided affection” from Amagi-san to Arisa-san… it is to our advantage.”

Arisa is the bridge that connects Takasegawa and Amagi, but also the chain.

Normally, in such a political marriage, you have to be prepared to be bound to some extent as well as to bind the other party…

It is very convenient for Takasegawa if Naoki Amagi unilaterally cares for Arisa, while Arisa does not have good feelings toward Naoki Amagi or the Amagi family.

This was because Arisa would be less likely to favor Amagi.

“And I’ve come clean honestly. With this… are you mad at me?”

In response to Kazuya’s question…

Yuzuru quietly shook his head.

“Who wouldn’t be angry …with someone who treated their beloved as a tool? Even if it’s their own father.”

“….That’s right, it’s exactly as you said. I was totally at fault. Of course, I know exactly how you feel. I was angry too when my dad treated Sayori like a tool.”

It was an apology, but at the same time, it seemed to say:

You are just like me.

Yuzuru sighed quietly.

“I think it’s not the apology for the past that matters, but the future. Let’s have a constructive discussion, Dad.”

“Hmm, what do you mean by constructive discussion?”

“For me, Arisa is most important.”

Yuzuru declared clearly.

“The word ‘important’ has two meanings. I never want to let go of Arisa, and at the same time, I want to make her happy. Of course, through my own means.”

“Hmm… And?”

“The Takasegawa is my second priority, or rather it is a means to that goal.”

Yuzuru then looked at his father’s face.

In the past, he was looking up, but now Yuzuru was looking down slightly.

“So if you try to take Arisa away from me or make her unhappy, I will do my best to rebel against you.”

“Rebel huh? …How do you define that?”

“I will break apart the house.”

The smile faded from Kazuya’s face.

The two of them gazed, no, stared at each other.

“That would be troubling. …It would be really troubling. If you cause a family uprising involving a branch family, it will be a big problem.”

“Ah, that’s exactly right, Dad. There is nothing more foolish and unproductive than fighting among family members.”

Kazuya nodded in agreement with Yuzuru’s words.

He touched his chin and raised the corner of his mouth slightly.

“Hmm, but… in other words, as long as Arisa-san is around, you can’t defy me, can you?”

“That’s right. And if you don’t want to make an enemy of me, you have to take care of Arisa and treat her as family.”

A moment of silence fell over the place.

The air, which had been tense…,

“…Fu fu, ha hahaha!!”

“Ku, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!!”

loosened up by the sound of their laughter.

Kazuya said with a joyful laugh.

“Yuzuru, I’ll tell you something. I’m not a person without blood and tears either. I want the happiness of my son …and I want him to be with someone he loves, and I’m willing to support that love. And of course, I will respect the fiancée of my precious son.”

Yuzuru, on the other hand, tried to bite back a laugh as he answered.

“Of course I know that… I admire you, Dad. More than anyone else in the world.”

Then they raised their glasses.

“To the prosperity of Takasegawa and….”

“To the eternal bond between father and son.”

The glasses clinked against each other.

” “Cheers.” “