There were no further developments.

A week has passed since then.

The first part of the summer vacation was hectic, but things are now calm and quiet as planned.

The issue with Shiraishi is not a question that can be resolved quickly.

There is nothing I can do for her now but to wait and see what kind of choice she will make after she is satisfied with her decision.

Will she follow through with her original goal of becoming student body president, or will she choose to be a member of the executive committee, or will she choose a third option?

One needs time to think.

At first I wondered if I should just wait and see, but Shiraishi said she would get in touch with me, so it’s not a bad idea for me my life for now.

The holiday that had arrived after a long time, a day off to relax and not worry about anything, did not last very long.

Late in the afternoon, I was reading alongside my sister on the sofa in the living room. 

Kaede was writing the family budget next to me, knitting in her spare time, and peeking at the paperback I was reading, so it was supposed to be a normal day.

While I was thinking about what to have for dinner tonight, the phone in the living room rang with the sound of an incoming call.

“I’ll get it.”

“Nnn… okay.”

Kaede stood up next to me and rushed to the phone, placing the receiver to her ear and picking up the phone.

After looking around with a sideways glance, she returns her gaze to the text in front of her.

I have read and re-read this book several times, so I sat up and decided it was time to get a different book, and Kaede raised her voice in an unusually surprised manner.

“O-Otou-san! What’s the matter, you suddenly called…”

“Oyaji…..?”

When I realized that the caller was my father, I sat back down again from my half-standing position.

It is rare for that man to make a phone call.

He never calls unless he really has something to do, which is why I immediately guessed it was something urgent.

“Yes, though…”

Kaede’s eyes took a few glances at me several times and while I walked over to her side.

Then, I took the receiver silently, put it to my ear, and spoke.

“Long time no see, Oyaji.”

[Minato, it’s been a while.]

Just like that, the long-awaited father-son conversation occurred over a phone call.

“It’s rare to see you call.”

[Oh …originally I would have gone home to talk to you about it, but I have a few days left until summer vacation, so I thought I’d just leave a message first.”

As usual, I realized his tone which wasn’t too dominating indicated that we are father and son talking indeed.

I suppressed my disgust at the similarity between our speeches and waited for his next words.

I don’t need to use unnecessary words when talking with this person.

We are people who don’t like to talk to each other as parent and child, because that is the only thing we are alike in.

[The matchmaking arrangements have been done.]

“Wha-?”

[As soon as I get back to Japan, I’m going to ask you to meet them.]

—Just as I was about to protest at my father’s one-sided, nonchalant statement, I saw my sister take the phone away from me and yelled at him.

“I thought your Okaa-san said no to Nii-san’s talk! It is a story that neither Nii-san nor I had agreed to in the first place!”

Uh, yeah, I guess so.

I certainly wasn’t convinced, and I even almost forgot about it before he mentioned it.

“Anyways, I’m not convinced on this topic over the phone! Ao let’s talk about this topic when Otou-san gets home!”

With that, the receiver was put down with a loud thump, and Kaede, who hung up the phone, started breathing heavily…

Then she turned her eyes towards me while giggling and approached silently.

I didn’t do anything wrong, but when I involuntarily backed away, but Kaede unexpectedly walked next to me and picked up the phone from the table.

When I thought she was operating the screen like a demon, she immediately put it to her ear.

As I watched quietly to see who she was calling, Kaede opened her mouth and shouted loudly.

“Shizuku-san! It’s an emergency!”

“Aaa…..”

Kaede’s one sentence made it all clear.

My circumstances after this, my situation, and the fact that I could not escape.

I sat down on the sofa as if I had lost my strength, and within seconds the intercom rang, which made my whole body tense.

<TL> : And here we end the chapter with Oyaji dropping a bombshell. 

Actually, I was kinda expecting it tbh.