CH 156

Dad responds to my question and let out a sigh, wondering what it was…

“I know it’s too old-fashioned in this day and age to have an arranged marriage decided by one’s parents. …But they asked me to make time for them, even if it’s just a meeting. They’re also someone I’ve been indebted to, so I couldn’t say no.”

Dad said this and closed his mouth, and sat deeper down on his chair.

Maybe he doesn’t understand the other party’s situation either.

It wasn’t a convincing enough explanation, but I knew I couldn’t get any more out of him.

Even if they were acquaintances, they would just know the surface of the other person’s family situation and motives.

Kaede, sitting across from me, still looked unconvinced and puffed out her cheeks, but I wouldn’t want to mess with her now.

But still, what’s going on?

I thought that I would straight up refuse the arranged marriage, so I had no intention of going to the meeting in the first place.

It would be easy enough to be decisive and just tell dad now, but the other solution would be to meet them just once, as we talked about, and be done with it for real, rather than throw everything to my future self.

That would be a smarter choice, as it would end the whole affair without leaving any lingering repercussions.　

I just don’t feel like it.

I disagree with the idea of an arranged marriage myself.

This kind of event would be the best suited for Yuuto, though.

As I was thinking this, he asked something,

“By the way, how is Shizuku-chan doing? I plan to visit Kanzaki household while I’m here, and I haven’t seen her in quite a while.”

“Oh …she’s doing well.”

I’ll just state the facts.

The fact that the relationship between me and Shizuku as childhood friends has undergone some changes is nothing of his business right now.

Shizuku’s father and my dad have been friends for a long time, so of course they are going to greet each other on this trip.

I hope he doesn’t say something unnecessary…

“I’d be relieved if Shizuku-chan would take care of Minato …well, that’s not going to happen. The boys around her won’t leave that pretty girl alone.”

He grinned and told me teasingly.

The look on his face makes me annoyed, and I involuntarily turned my head away.

In fact, many of the boys at the school are obsessed with Shizuku, so he’s not quite wrong.

“I just need you to get out of the situation of being taken care of by Kaede as soon as possible…”

Dad turned his gaze to Kaede and his expression turned serious.

It was easy to see that the words that would follow wouldn’t be something good.

“Kaede, won’t you take care of Papa!”

“Baka, isn’t mother enough for you.”

Have a little more respect for your wife who even moved overseas just to take care of you.

Kaede and I looked at him simultaneously with such meaning in our eyes.

As if to divert the conversation, he returned to his previous topic, as if he was being stabbed by our stares.

“So, Minato, find a girlfriend or a wife as soon as possible.”

I had heard that line somewhere not too long ago.

I think the old man at the fish shop said a similar line to me when I was with Kirasaka.

“Oi! …you didn’t agree to the arranged marriage because of such a reason, did you?”

When I asked him jokingly, I didn’t miss the slight reluctance in his expression.

“Of course not… I was just kidding.”

This is something that I definitely had going in my mind.

Apparently, his desire to have his doting daughter take care of him was mixed in with the other reasons for his decision.

Well, I was certainly relieved that it wasn’t for his business-related reasons or something like that.

As I was about to proceed with the conversation to get the information on dates, potential partners, or something more, I heard the intercom ring.

Probably Mom had returned.

Kaede rushed out of the living room at once and ran to the front door, and as imagined, I heard mom’s voice.

They exchanged words like that of a normal parent-child reunion at the entrance and came in.

Mom rushed inside the living room from behind Kaede, who was holding the shopping bag instead, and swiftly ignoring dad, rushed over next to me.

Then, hugging me in her bountiful bosom, she took in deep breaths as she grabbed my head firmly.

She doesn’t let go, as if she is holding something precious.

“Son charging!!”

“You’re the charger …I-“

Why is it that my family is nothing but crazy people?

Rather, how could a child like me be born from these parents?

But the living room, where the whole family was together for the first time in a while, felt a bit warmer than usual.

I had begun to get used to the routine of just me and Kaede, but having my parents in front of us like this made me feel safe.

Of course, it’s not a bad feeling to have the whole family together.

As I was thinking of something out of my character, mom let go of my head, as if she’d enjoyed it.

Then she sat down on the seat across from me and finally made eye contact with dad.

Her eyes were cold, a completely different look from the one she gives her children.

“How dare you arrange a marriage for my son?”

“Kotone …you promised not to talk about this in front of the children.”

A sharp look pierced my father’s eyes.

So, Mom herself has not yet agreed to the arranged marriage that Dad has set up.

When I learned this, I listened to their conversation carefully.

“I don’t remember making any agreements, and I told you that I wanted Minato to choose whomever he wanted, didn’t I?”

“I told you, it’s more like a face-to-face meeting than an actual marriage.”

The whole situation started unfolding in front of me.

It’s better that it’s not something about them cheating on each other or something like that, but just a disagreement between the parents over the children’s future.

Kaede, too, is uncomfortable in this situation, or maybe not, as after putting away the ingredients away, she’s still huddled by my side.

Yeah, she’s scary right?

It’s scary when mom gets angry, isn’t it?

It’s nothing compared to dad.

It’s even scarier when it’s mom, who never gets angry.

As their conversation chills the living room, Mom lets out a breath, as if she has given up.

Then, she pulls out two things from her bag.

She takes out two folded thick, white things and puts them on the desk.

“What are those?”

I asked mom on behalf of everyone else.

Then, with a big smile on her face, she told me.

“This one’s from your mother’s side!”

With a self-satisfied look on her face, Mom opened the folded-up object.

Inside was a photograph.

It took me a moment to realize that the folded thing with a woman on it was a matchmaking album.

The person in the photo was wearing a kimono, and it was a solid photo taken by professional photographers.

Let me say it again.

Two white, folded albums were placed on the desk in Mom’s bag.

“If your father is going to decide on Minato’s marriage partner on his own, then you wouldn’t mind me doing the same for Minato, would you?”

Mom said and opened two albums to show them.

In those pictures were pictures of…

“Oioi …Shizuku and Kirasaka!?”

indeed, in them were the pictures of Shizuku and Kirasaka.

What are they doing here?

I wondered if Shizuku, who dutifully left my house, saying she had some business to attend to, had got in contact with mom to do this kind of thing.

Before that, it was easy to imagine that she had conspired with Kirasaka to carry this out.

Kaede couldn’t help but smile when she saw the photograph, and dad, who was surprised by Mom’s bold counterattack.

And finally there was me, speechless and stunned, who occupied the living room of the Shinra household right now.