CH 23

Chapter 23 – The Morning of the House Visit.

TL: Nakki

It was finally Saturday of that week.

Naoya got off at the train station which had a relaxing holiday mood. It was still afternoon, however the place was already packed, seemingly because it was near a residential area.

Going out from there, a long queue of people can be seen at the traffic circle, waiting for the bus.

“Uwah… I finally arrived…”

It was his first time getting off at this station, so Naoya was kind of unfamiliar with the place as he glanced about.

This station was the nearest to the Shirogane Residence, and once Naoya realized this fact once again, he instantly felt tense.

“Ugh… this is really nerve-wracking… I just hope that the present I brought with me is good enough..”

Naoya was carrying a thermal bag with a large tupperware inside. Its contents were brown side dishes such as chikuzenni1 and a boiled satoimo2 broth.

Koyuki told me that she wanted to try some of my homemade dishes, so I made them last night.

Although I don’t think it’s the type of dish a guy would bring when coming over to the house of the girl he likes, I just couldn’t ignore Koyuki’s wishes as she requested for me to make the finest dishes I could.

I wonder if she’ll be pleased with it? Thought Naoya as he looked up, letting out a sigh in the process.

“Still, Shirogane-san’s father, huh…? I hope we can get along with each other…” Muttered Naoya as he vacantly recollected what both sisters talked about the day he was invited to come over.

———

Both of them had a strange look on their faces as they started talking about their father.

“Papa’s so much of an over-doting parent that he’s just being an over-idiot now.”

“It’s like he’s excessively overprotective…”

“Ha… hah..”

Both of them were frowning, so Naoya couldn’t help but reflexively straighten up his sitting posture as he saw this sight.

And since both of them—especially the everloving siscon Sakuya said so—Naoya could only imagine how troublesome their father could be.

“Papa was a man who fell in love with mama at first sight while she was travelling overseas. He ferociously attempted to woo her several times to the point where he chased her all the way to Japan and even migrated here.”

“Eh? By any chance, is Shirogane-san’s father a foreigner?”

“Yes, but he’s a Japanese now. He became a naturalized citizen and was adopted into mama’s family after they got married.”

“Wow, I’ve always thought that those sort of things only happened in movies.”

“They’re still very much lovey-dovey with each other to the point where even we, their daughters, find their flirtatious mood unbearable.”

Whence, their father earned his reputation as an affectionate father and husband to his daughters and wife.

He had enough family albums to fill an entire shelf in his study and was known to curse his daughters’ future partners, whom he had yet to meet, on drunken nights.

However, he recently got flooded with work and was extremely busy, traveling here and there both within and outside of the country, so he was frequently away from home. Nonetheless, this apparently even resulted in him becoming more and more attached to his family.

“At this rate, even onee-chan’s boyfriend, for example, might have his whole body torn apart, limb from limb.”

“N-no..! H-he’s not my b-boyfriend…yet, but… Y-yeah, you’re right.. This could probably turn into something troublesome..”

Koyuki said, clearly flustered. After calming down for a bit, her shoulders slumped down, her apologetic eyes looking at Naoya.

“What will you do? Papa’s going on a business trip next week, so I think it’d be alright for you to come over by then.”

“…No,” Naoya stated while shaking his head.

Koyuki’s father would certainly not approve of a man who tried to lay a hand on a daughter he doted on very much while being terrified of meeting him. Still, no matter what Naoya chose to do, he would have to face her parents at some point in time, so he couldn’t possibly run away here.

“Since this is such a rare opportunity, I might as well go and greet them properly…”

“…Yeah.”

After Koyuki replied in a light tone, her facial expression loosened as if she was relieved.

“If you say so, then I might as well ask him to come. Fufu, if Papa had your ass beat, I could console you for a while, you know?”

“Eh, seriously!? Then I’m looking forward to it even more! Just asking, but how exactly would you console me?”

“Eh…? U-uhm.. Like… patting your head or something..?”

“Okay! Then, I’ll try my very hardest to get all beat up by your father!”

“O-ooh.. This is the best…! My favorite couple is flirting right in front of my eyes! W-wait, I have to report all of this to the other members too…”

Sakuya took her phone and, with a blank expression on her face, snapped a few photos and recorded a video of us in the camera app.

———

End of recollection.

“That being said, can I really do this well? …Oh?” Muttered Naoya in front of the crowded station, his shoulders slumped. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eyes, there was something that caught his attention.

“Well? Isn’t it fine, oji-sama? It’s just for a little while, you know~ ♡”

“Yeah, yeah~! ♡ Come have a tea with us~! ♡”

“S-stop it, you two! I have a beloved wife and children to look after!”

What Naoya saw was a well-dressed gentleman getting gyakunan’d3 by what appeared to be a duo of female college students.