CH 63

Mother’s homecoming (3)

Translator – Vodka

Here is the chapter of the last week.

“Is she Minato-kun’s second wife candidate?”

Mom’s careless question.

She must have asked it out of genuine curiosity.

Until today, I had never brought a girl before my mother. Shizuku and Kaede were the only girls around me.

Since this was the first time that I had brought a girl other than Shizuku or Kaede, along, I could understand her curiosity.

However, Shizuku, who had been all smiles until a while ago, turned to look at me. Her face was pale, and she had tears welling up in her eyes.

……What do you suggest I do?

She turned to look away from me, and before Kirasaka could even reply,

“Yo, you’re wrong! She is only a classmate!”

she had issued these words.

Shizuku freed herself from my mother’s embrace and fell back a little. She extended her hands horizontally to the side to try and cut off Kirasaka from mom’s field of vision.

She was like a kid who wanted to hide the puppy she had picked up, from her parents.

“Ara, you are emphasizing on the ‘classmate’ part quite a bit there, huh”

Kirasaka folded her arms. Since she was a tad bit taller than Shizuku, she was looking down on her. There was a sharp glint in her eyes.

She was like a lion who had set a target on its prey.

If Shizuku was her usual self, she would have glared back at Kirasaka, undaunted, or expressionlessly looked at her with an ice-cold gaze. However, today was different.

There wasn’t any room for counters. She was stretching out her hands in desperation, to try and hide Kirasaka from mom, to the best of her abilities.

“Eh, Is that so? I thought since she was a cutie like Shizuku-chan, it would be good to have her as a candidate though?”

Mom inquired Kirasaka.

Should I say she was a natural airhead? She had always been saying things out loud without reading the mood.

It would seem that Kaede had inherited this side of hers.

Kirasaka, who had been looking at Shizuku until now, turned to look at the person standing in front her and……

“We are meeting here for the first time. I am Kirasaka Ren, from the same class as Minato-san”

With practised movements, she made a bow.

Unconsciously, I ended up thinking about her personality and how she was on the inside. However, she still was a young lady with a distinguished background.

There wasn’t a doubt that she had gone to places we commoners never could, several times.

As expected, having seen this kind of demeanour, I had a thought.

Let’s have her teach me these mannerisms. It could come in handy during really important events.

“There is something unsettling about you adding a ‘san’ to my name”

Though I must say, it was uncomfortable to hear her calling me by my first name.

She always called me by my family name. So, when she suddenly called me by my first name, I had unconsciously put myself on guard. It felt like she was scheming something.

It went without saying that she was chuckling at my reaction. She seemed to be enjoying this.

“Ara, ara, that is very polite of you. I am Kotone, Minato’s mother. Thank you for taking care of him”

“Please do not mind it. I too am having a lot of fun at school because of Minato-san”

“You’re wrong about that……”

Since she was standing right next to me, I knew that she could hear me well. So, I let out a few words of complaint.

Because of me? Nope. I had no hand in her ‘fun’. She was just doing whatever she wanted.

She was putting on the proper lady act, a broad smile plastered on her face. That perfectly executed smiling face of hers was an aggravating sight to behold.

After they were done with first-time greetings, I inquired about a certain point in the conversation that had raised a doubt in my mind.

“Hold on, what was that again? Bride candidate? The person in question hasn’t heard about anything like that though?”

What kind of a rom-com was this?

I couldn’t recall anything that had to do with this ‘bride candidate’ thing. The memory of having made such a promise in the distant past, back when we used to play together as kids, didn’t exist……or so I thought I would say.

No, well, even if I couldn’t deny it, it was a story from when I was still a kid. Back then, I was still an innocent child who was ignorant in the ways of the world.

I thought that it was naturally invalid now.

“I am obviously talking about your bride candidates, Minato-chan. And of course, Shizuku-chan is the first candidate”

What should I say to my mother, who sounded like someone who had said something obvious?

Then there was Shizuku, standing next to her and nodding happily at her words. I wanted to say something to her.

“……”

I turned to look at Kirasaka for help, but it seemed like she was thinking about something.

Was she scheming something?

“For the time being, I am not a candidate. Well, you could say that I am undecided”

Kirasaka issued a short reply.

……She was thinking about mom’s question from before, wasn’t she?

“You too, don’t go about answering that question……”

“That won’t do. It’s a question from your mother, after all”

It would seem, that depending on who the other party was, she decided whether she would give them a reply or not.

Many students at school had tried to start a conversation with her, but they didn’t receive any reply. I guess they only amounted to that much in her eyes.

“Ara, is that so? As expected of my Minato-chan! You’re popular with the cuties”

Just because there were two girls who didn’t think badly of her son, she was filled with joy. I looked at this foolishly rejoicing doting parent of mine.

If things were to continue like this, it would require us a considerable amount of time to even depart from the station.

I ignored my mother, who was frolicking around and started walking towards the direction of my house by myself.

“Do you understand? You aren’t a candidate or anything, ok? It’s enough that I am here. We don’t need any other candidates”

“Ara, I think it will be better to have more candidates, though? He too will have more options”

“N, not allowed!……What happens if Minato-kun gets swayed!?”

You could put yourself at ease. For the time being, I wasn’t swaying or anything.

The three women followed me from behind.

The way back home was a bizarre sight to behold. Two girls could be seen quarrelling with each other while another woman was looking at their exchanges, with a smile on her face. Then there was this boy who was casually walking in front of them; his bearing seemed to imply nothing out of the ordinary happening around him.