Volume 1 - CH 28

“Here you go.”

Himekawa serves tea to Imai-san and my father.

She served the same tea to me.

For snacks, I already prepared some monaka.

“Don’t mind if I do.”

Imai-san said with a reserved smile, and my father immediately put his hand in the middle of the cake.

Himekawa sat next to me, my father in front of me, and Imai-san next to my father.

For some reason, I was getting nervous too. My father’s eyes, which have been staring at me since a while ago, scare me.

No, I’m not glaring at him. This is a normal glare.

I know that, but I’m scared.

“Oh, It’s a pretty good cake. The tea is good, too.”

Dad’s smile is almost the devil’s smile. It was just like a villain in a TV drama.

Now that I think back on it, I’ve never asked my mother how she got married to such a scary guy…

“Now, this may be quick, but could you take a look at these papers?”

Imai-san took out a piece of paper from her bag and put it between me and Himekawa so that I could see it.

There are two sheets of paper in front of me with the words “Agreement” and “Contract” written on them.

“What’s this?”

Himekawa asked Imai-san.

“This is a letter of consent from a parent or guardian that allows Anri-san to move out of her home and live on her own. And this is a contract for her to live in this boarding house. Tendo-san has confirmed this agreement and signed it jointly with Yuzo Himekawa’s signature.”

Indeed, Himekawa’s father’s name and my father’s name are written at the bottom.

When did he prepare this document?

Imai-san told us as much as he could about this case.

He told us that after he left us, he prepared the document, met Himekawa’s father, and had him sign it.

Mr. Imai said that it was because he thought it would be safer for Himekawa to stay with someone at the boarding house than to stay at home alone.

“The boarding house is in Tendo-san’s name, so I talked to Tendo-san and got him to agree.”

It is true that I live here, but the house is not in my name.

There was an inheritance when my grandma passed away, but I didn’t hear the details.

All I remember is that my parents were doing a lot of paperwork.　

I’m sure they did a lot more complicated things than I thought.

“So, does this mean I have no problem living here?”

“Yes, it does. However, you need to make sure you pay the rent as stipulated in the contract. Also, my contract is until the end of the school year when you graduate from high school, so you can stay here until then.”

Himekawa looks relieved. Now she has a place to live.

We talked about the rent the other day, and I’ll have a part-time job, so I should be able to make it work.

Can I rest assured for the time being?

“Also, let’s talk a bit about Yuzo Himekawa’s situation.”

Imai-san took a sip of his tea, gathered up the documents he had shown us, and put them back in front of himself.

My father is eating a piece of monaka and sipping his tea without saying a word.

Well, I’d like him to join the conversation since he’s a related party.

According to Imai-san, Himekawa’s father has already returned home.

The news reports said he was caught, but in fact, he was only asked to go with them voluntarily.

It seems that the news media just reported it in a dramatic way.

And the reason for the voluntary visit was that the company contacted a public agency with suspicion of embezzlement.

Incidentally, do you recall that at the same time Yuzo-san was in the news, a certain congressman’s corruption was also in the news?”

Himekawa and I look at each other. I think I saw it, but I’m not sure.

I was more impressed by the news about Himekawa Industries.

“I don’t remember.”

“I’m not sure either.”

“Actually, it’s been running for a short time. I can’t go into any more detail, but I’m sure you’ll understand a little when you grow up.”

So I’m still a kid. There are many things in the world that I don’t need to know yet.

Is this incident one of them?

“Also, the man who was in Anri’s home and the housekeeper will probably be sentenced to prison.”

The guy from HR who was at her home and the housekeeper who went to Himekawa’s home, whom I never met.

Those two people are going to jail? That man had something to do with this case after all. But the housekeeper is also sentenced to prison?

I thought to myself and continued to listen to Imai-san’s story.