Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817139554722565664/episodes/16817139555426489347
“…… scary.”
Today, a little after summer vacation, Chifuyu and I are riding the train to my parents’ house.
Next to me, Chifuyu is shaking and holding my hand anxiously.
“You don’t like trains, do you?”
“No, that’s part of it, but I’m still nervous about meeting …… Toma kun’s parents.”
“If they’re the kind of parents who would be against us, then you don’t have to be good terms with them. I’m on Chifuyu’s side.”
“B-But…”
“Don’t worry. Chifuyu is a wonderful girl in everyone’s eyes.”
“……yeah”
I thought maybe she was scared of meeting other adults before meeting my parents.
I spoke words of encouragement to Chifuyu many times.
I told her it was okay, that she didn’t have to worry.
Each time I said these words, Chifuyu held my hand tightly.
After a while, Chifuyu fell asleep, perhaps exhausted from nervousness, and the train carried us further into the countryside.
After a while, when we reached the nearest station, I woke Chifuyu up and we got off the train together.
“Hnn, it’s not a very different place, is it?”
“The air is clean. It’s a nice place.”
“Is it? There is nothing here though.”
“That’s what I like about it. I want to be alone with Toma-kun in the middle of nowhere.”
“Hahaha. Then we’ll go on another trip to the countryside. That sounds fun.”
The station is a small place with no ticket gates and a station attendant who cuts your ticket for you.
The house is located about five minutes’ walk from the station.
It was an ordinary house in a residential area.
“Ah, I can see it now. That brown roof is our house.”
“Toma kun’s parents’ house……”
Chifuyu’s expression became tense again.
It’s not like I’m nervous about taking her home either.
In fact, it’s rather awkward, and I’m pretty embarrassed.
But today, I wanted to make sure that Chifuyu was in good company with my parents.
I wanted to talk to them properly.
“I’m home.”
I opened the sliding door, which was unlocked during the day, and heard footsteps coming from the back of the room.
“Ara, welcome back, Toma kun. Is that the Chifuyu you were talking about on the phone?”
“I’m home. Yes, she is”
I haven’t seen my parents’ house and mother in a few months since I started high school, but I don’t feel nostalgic at all.
The dimly lit entranceway, with a large shoebox in front of a sand wall and a row of figurines on top of it that I don’t understand, and my slightly lanky mother who greets me in her rough jerseys as usual.
“N-nice to meet you, I’m …… Kayamori Chifuyu. ……”
“Nice to meet you, I am Toma’s mother. What’s wrong, Toma? How did you catch such a beautiful girl?”
“W-well. What’s more, let me sit down quickly.”
“Ah yeah. Chifuyu san, please take your time.”
My mother hurriedly returned to the back of the house.
The smell of curry was wafting into the hallway, as if she was preparing dinner.
I led Chifuyu to the front parlor and sat down on the sofa in the back.
“Phew…”
Chifuyu exhales nervously.
After all, living in someone else’s parents’ home is uncomfortable.
I still get a little nervous when I go to Chifuyu’s parents’ house.
“Are you okay? Mom, she’s that kind of person, so don’t worry about it.”
“Yeah…but I can tell she’s a nice person. I want to get to know her better.”
“I don’t know if she’s a good person or not though.”
“No, because she’s Toma kun’s mother.. I’m sure she’s a good person.”
She’s smiling, but I can feel that there are some complicated emotions behind her face.
Chifuyu’s trauma. I wonder if she is remembering a bit about her father.
“…… Well, my mom will be happy if you get along with her.”
“Yeah. I guess I’ll help her with the cooking. Is that okay?”
“Well, I’ll go say it with you.”
“Yes.”
I went with her to my mother, who was preparing tea and snacks in the back of the house, and told her that Chifuyu wanted to help prepare dinner,
“I’m glad. I’ve always wanted to do something like that since I don’t have a daughter.”
She was so excited that she was not worthy of her age, and immediately led Chifuyu to the kitchen.
I was worried about Chifuyu, who looked a little uneasy when she was separated from me, but when I saw her smiling at me from the back of the kitchen, I thought she was okay.
I retreated to the guest room in the back of the house to watch TV and wait.
◇
“Toma kun, dinner is ready.”
About an hour later, Chifuyu came to call me.
“Thanks for your hard work. Are you okay?”
“Yes, Mom talked to me a lot. It was fun.”
“I see. I’m glad to hear that.”
“My mom worked all the time, so I didn’t get to see her like that. It’s fun.”
I was wondering what to say to Chifuyu, who was smiling slightly, when I heard my mother’s voice saying, “Come on, Toma, it’s going to get cold.”
When the two of us went to the kitchen room, there were four bowls of curry on the table.
“Dad will be home soon. He called earlier to tell me that he left early today.”
“I see. But why?”
“Well, his son is coming home with his girlfriend, and he can’t just leave without saying hello, can he?”
“Well, I guess that’s true.”
With that said, I took a seat alongside Chifuyu.
Mom sat down across from him and said, “Let’s eat first.”
It had been a long time since I had tasted my parents’ curry.
It was not as refined as Chifuyu’s cooking, but instead it had an indescribable nostalgia.
Or should I say, it was calming. I wonder why the taste of my parents’ home is so good.
“It’s delicious…… mother, it’s delicious.”
“Ara, really? Chifuyu san, you are so good at cutting vegetables, it’s almost too good for our Toma. ”
“Oh no,……, Toma kun is always so good to me.”
After taking a bite of curry, Chifuyu talking to mother and bowing to her, she was no longer clad in the heavy air she had been wearing earlier.
“Toma, Chifuyu told me that you want to live with together, right? If that’s the case, I’ll give you some money so you can move in.”
“Eh, you don’t mind?”
“Chifuyu san, she’s a nice person and I am worried about you living alone. I’m sure she’s cooking for you every day, right? You should never let this girl go.”
The front door rattled open just as my mother, smiling like that, took a bite of her curry.
“I’m home”
It seems my father has returned.
My mother immediately greets him.
“Welcome home, Dad. Toma’s girlfriend is here.”
“Oh, I see. I have to say hello first.”
I heard my father’s voice, and when I eventually saw him, he said, “Oh, Toma, welcome back. The girl next door, I see. Good evening.”
My father is a middle-aged, thin, slightly tired man who greets her with a smile, as if he were a salesman.
Chifuyu stood up and politely greeted my father, saying, “I’m Kayamori Chifuyu, always a pleasure to meet you.”
“I see. Please take good care of Toma. Toma, I’m sure Chifuyu-san will be very concerned about being here all the time, so please show her to her room or something.”
Then, perhaps reading the mood, my father went to the bathroom first.
But first, there was something I wanted to talk about in front of everyone.
“Excuse me, may I have a word?”
I stopped him and my father laughed, “What’s wrong, you look scared.”
My mother looked at me with a worried face as she took her seat.
Chifuyu too.
She looks frightened, wondering what in the world I’m going to tell.
I don’t want her to make that kind of face anymore.
I was told that she wanted to have a child, and as expected, I couldn’t do that.
I thought a lot about what I should give Chifuyu, who only looks at me that way, as a present.
Before waiting for tomorrow’s birthday.
I thought this would be good.
“Dad, Mom… I want to marry Chifuyu after I graduate …….”
I thought it would be meaningful to tell Chifuyu that from my own mouth.
It’s not just a dream to Chifuyu.
I wanted to reassure her by properly expressing my decision in front of my parents.
“Toma, you ……”
“If we’re going to go on to higher education, we’ll start by living together, but. I’m going to work and study properly.”
It’s not that I’m trying to beg for my parents’ approval.
If they object, I probably won’t listen to what they say.
However, I wanted Chifuyu to understand the strength of my feelings.
“That’s right. Then you need to study harder. You should go on to higher education, get a good job, and make Chifuyu san feel secure.”
“I’m happy for you, Toma. If you are okay with my son, Chifuyu san, please take good care of him.”
Well, my parents are like this.
There are times when I say something that I understand.
Hearing that, Chifuyu laughs a little.
Gently grab my hand from under the table.
“I got my present.”
After murmuring this, she bows to my parents.
I bowed with her.
After that, my father says, “Well, we’ll have to celebrate this time,” and heads for the bath.
My mother just said, “Good luck, Toma.”
I go straight to the kitchen to wash the dishes, and it’s quiet.
“Toma kun, I’m …… happy.”
“Chifuyu, I’ll never leave you. So don’t worry.”
“Yeah,……, I love you.”
After this, we go back to the room in my parents’ house.
The room was left as it was in junior high school, but it must have been cleaned properly and there was not a speck of dust in it.
I was a little nostalgic in that room, and today, there was Chifuyu.
A sweet scent wafts through the air in a man’s room filled with nothing but old books and video games.
We went to bed together.
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