Finally free from the confines of the hospital bed, I made my long-awaited return home… only to find Dad already there.
「Hey, Dad. Welcome back. When did you get in?」
「Yo! Just got here, actually. More importantly, sounds like something pretty big happened while I was gone!」
I’d already told Mom about the whole marriage thing with Hikari, but I hadn’t had the chance to talk to Dad yet. Guess now’s the time.
「Dad, about that… there’s something I need to tell you—」
「Ah, I already got the gist from your mom. Anyway, let’s head over to the Mizushiro place.」
And just like that, he grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and hauled me straight out the door to the house right across from ours—Hikari’s place.
He rang the doorbell, and we stepped inside.
「Seigo! You home? It’s me.」
「Shinji? What’s going on?」
「I’ve come to make things right.」
Still dangling by the collar like some misbehaving cat, I caught Seigo-san’s eyes as he looked me over.
「First off, how about putting the boy down, Shinji?」
「Ah—right. Forgot. Sorry, Yuuki.」
Yeah, yeah. I’m still short, okay? Tch. (…I’ve grown to 164cm now, for the record.)
「Honey, could you go call for Hikari?」
「Alright!」Elina-san shouted back before heading upstairs.
Soon enough, Hikari came down and sat next to me. Everyone settled into their seats around the table.
「So, Hikari-chan… Are you really sure you’re okay with our boy?」
「Yes! He’s the most precious person in the world to me!」
Her cheeks flushed red, but her words rang out with conviction.
「I see. Well then, Seigo, what do you think?」
「Hmm… As her father, I want to say,『Defeat me first if you want my daughter’s hand!』But from what Hikari’s told me, I doubt I’d win. So instead, I’ll give you one condition.」
I swallowed nervously, hanging onto his every word.
「You plan on becoming an Explorer, right? Then here’s the deal—bring Hikari back to us safe and sound. And of course, you come back in one piece too. If you can promise me that, I’ll give you my blessing.」
「Of course—」
「Whoa, whoa! What’re you even saying, Seigo! He’s my kid, you know? He’s not the type to kick the bucket so easily, and if someone he loves is in danger, he’ll crawl back from the gates of hell to save them!」
…Dad, please. Don’t steal my lines.
「Shinji, I wasn’t asking you. And I’m not asking Hikari either, even though she knows his strength. I want to hear it from Yuuki himself. So be quiet for a moment, will you?」
Seigo-san calmly shut down my dad’s outburst, and surprisingly, Dad backed off with barely a grumble.
Turning back to me, Seigo-san looked me in the eye and spoke again.
「Now then—Yuuki-kun. Let me hear it from you.」
「Thank you very much. As for Seigo-san’s question just now—my answer is both YES and NO.」
「And why’s that?」
「Because I’ll make sure Hikari, myself, and all of our friends and comrades return safely to those waiting for us.」
I said it clearly while meeting Hikari’s gaze.
At that, Seigo-san closed his eyes and fell into thought.
「That’s a good answer. But… what if a moment comes when you’re forced to sacrifice someone? What then?」
A harsh question. But a real one. Something that could actually happen.
「Well… I’ll do everything I can to make sure it never comes to that. But if it does… I honestly don’t know.」
「I see… Just what I’d expect from Shinji’s son. Don’t push yourself too hard, and… I’m counting on you to protect Hikari.」
With those words, both Seigo-san and Elina-san bowed their heads deeply.
「Please—don’t bow to me, Seigo-san, Elina-san. If anyone should be bowing, it’s me. I’ll take good care of Hikari.」
I bowed my head, and Hikari bowed with me.
While we were caught in that oddly formal standoff of mutual bows, Dad, apparently unable to take the tension anymore, finally spoke up.
「Alright! We done here?! Let’s go grab some food! We gotta celebrate!」
He stood up, all cheerful and ready to party, but I had to stop him.
「Sorry, Dad… I still have more partners.」
「「「…Hah?」」」
Both families froze in place. Hikari, meanwhile, couldn’t hold back her giggle.
「Uhh, Hikari… You knew about this?」
「Yup! I was the one who gave the green light, actually.」
Seigo-san looked like he’d just blue-screened.
「Yuuki…」「Yeah, Dad?」「Can I punch you?」「You can try, but I don’t think you’ll win.」「…Fair.」
Grumbling and scratching his head like he was trying to dig his way out, Dad muttered:
「Well, guess we’re gonna have to go apologize to the other family too…」
「Shinji, I’ll come with you. Let’s apologize together. Elina, let’s call Yuuka-san and all go out for dinner after.」
「OKAY! Then let’s all meet up in thirty minutes!」
At Elina-san’s booming agreement, we all returned to our homes to get ready.
-0-
Afterword
Today’s a little peek into some background lore that doesn’t directly tie into the main story.
↓↓↓
A quick tidbit:
The Mizushiro family speaks a mix of Japanese, English, and Ukrainian at home. Every member is effectively trilingual.
As for the Kaminagi family, everyone speaks Japanese, with a bit of conversational English on the side.
Yuuki, however, can understand English just fine but can’t write it to save his life—so his English grades are slightly above average.
Hikari, on the other hand, is top of her class.
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