I (30), Who Works for a Black Company and Died While Regretting My Gloomy Life, Started Over From High School! - Chapter 40
40. The Shock of Shijouin daddy
“Mom, I finished washing the dishes… What were you two talking about?”
Shijouin-san, who came back from the kitchen, tilted her head curiously.
“We talked about your cooking, Niihama-kun said it was very delicious.”
“I, I see! Fufu, being praised is always nice, no matter how many times you are!”
Shijouin-san smiles as she easily accepts Akiko-san’s words.
As usual, she’s so cute and honest.
“So, since both of you are here, I would like to ask you a question… How did the two of you meet?”
“Buho!?”
What kind of question is that out of the blue?
She seems to be having a lot of fun!
“Ah, we were both on the library committee! When we were working together, I asked him about light novels and that’s when we started talking to each other… But it wasn’t until a while after that that we became close like this.”
“So you’re a member of the library committee! Speaking of which, …the boy who sent Haruka home a while ago was also Niihama-kun, right?”
“Yes, that’s right! There was a little incident at that time…”
“Mmm-hmm. So, what happened exactly?”
“Well, after my work on the library committee with Niihama-kun――”
As Akiko-san prompts her, Shijouin-san happily recounts the details of what happened that day.
“Then a girl named Hanayama-san confronted me, and Nihama-kun appeared saying, ‘Didn’t you just try to grab Shijouin-san?’ He defended me, saying, ‘Stop it!’ “
Wait, stop! Shijouin-san, stop!
No matter how insistent your mom is about it, you can’t just tell her everything without being embarrassed…!
“Fufufu! Then? What happened afterward?”
Dammit, that Akiko-san is having a blast with her eyes twinkling!
“Hanayama-san and the others left, and then Niihama-kun sent me home after I started feeling sick…”
“Oh my! That sounds nice! It became a shoujo manga development without you even realizing it!”
Sorry… but…
Listening to that story alone, it sounds like I drove off Hanayama with some Ikemen lines like a protagonist in a shoujo manga, but the truth was that I just threatened to expose her compensated dating scam…
“And then! On the way home, Niihama-kun encouraged me the whole time and seriously assured me that I wasn’t the cause of the problem. That made me feel a whole lot better―”
No, wait! Stop praising me so much, or my face will burn off from embarrassment!
I mean, did you really think so favorably of those things I told you back then!
I’m so happy! I’m dying!
“Fuuuuu… my stomach is already full from your unexpectedly exciting story… It’s really nice to be young…”
She looked very satisfied, as if she had just eaten a full course meal.
“Even so, it’s a good thing that you’re a good boy. I would love to have you as my son.”
“Huh!?”
What is this person trying to say?
Or rather, what is that meaningful wink with the smug face?
“A good mother will casually assist you, right?” Is that what you’re trying to say?
“Eh, Niihama-kun as a member of Shijouin family? Then… In that case, should I call you… ‘Onii-sama’?”
“Gofu…!”
Huh, that was just too unpredictable a hit…!
The idea is going in a crazy direction, but suddenly calling me ‘Onii-sama’ is not good for my heart…!
“Mou, you’re really too innocent to go in that direction.”
“??”
Shijouin-san tilted her head towards Akiko-san, who was dumbfounded.
“Ah, Niihama-kun… my husband is also a son-in-law of the Shijouin family, and we do not care about bloodlines and the like.”
What are you trying to imply by saying that!?
But, This information will be very valuable in the future!
And so, while Akiko-san was asking us all of these questions―
Suddenly, we heard the sound of the front door opening loudly.
“Oh, he’s home now!”
A man’s voice came from the front door.
“Oh, these unfamiliar shoes belong to… Haruka’s friend… She’s still here! Good, good! I would love to thank her personally!”
The sound of approaching footsteps soon followed by a man in his fifties opening the door of the living room and walking in.
The man in a suit was very stout, with a mustache that gave him an overpowering air.
Eh, this person might possibly be…
“Oh, welcome back dad!”
“Oh, Haruka, Akiko, I’m back! My errands took longer than I expected!”
(So this man is Shijouin-san’s father… the famous Shijouin Tokimune who built the nationwide “Senshuuraku Bookstore” in a single generation…)
I know his name since he has appeared in newspapers and magazines numerous times.
I was nervous at the thought of meeting the father of the girl I like at her house, but Shijouin-san said that both her parents had already approved my visit today.
If that’s the case, then I’m presuming that my presence has already been allowed and that there won’t be any trouble.
He seems to be a mild-mannered person who gets along well with his family despite his position.
“Now, I need to quickly thank the friend who helped Haruka raise her grades….?”
For some reason, Tokimune stiffened as he stared at me.
…Eh? What happened? What’s wrong?
“Who…”
Who?
“Who the hell are you? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah“
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!
No, eh! Didn’t you already approve of my visit!
You even said earlier that you have to greet your daugher’s friend!
“Eh? Eh? What are you talking about, dad? I already told you that I’m inviting my friend who helped me with my studies today to our house!”
“What are you talking about? No matter how you look at that… friend, he’s a man!”
“Yes, it’s a male friend… What’s wrong with that?”
“Wha-Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?”
This situation is…
“I’m sorry, Niihama-kun. We need to have a little family talk, so I’ll leave you alone for a bit.”
“Eh, ah, yes.”
Akiko-san stood up from her seat and pushed the upset Tokimune with the confused Shijouin-san into another room while saying, “Look, let’s have a mini family meeting over there.”
I was left alone in the living room, but perhaps Akiko-san deliberately chose such a room, so that the voices of the Shijoin family could be heard clearly even from another room.
“What’s going on here Haruka? Inviting a man to our house… that’s no good!”
“Eh? Why can’t it be a boy?”
“My daughter is too naive…!”
“Well, she never said that her friend was a girl. It’s you who misunderstood, Tokimune.”
“Oh, Akiko! You knew about this?”
“It’s not that Haruka said it directly, but I realized it was a boy from her story, rather, it was your fault,Tokimune, for assuming that her friend was a girl. She’s already in high school, so it’s only natural, right?”
“High school students are still children! There is no way a man other than her father can get close to her!”
“Well, You’re being brilliantly creepy when it comes to your daughter, Tokimune. By the way, the person who is here today is called Nihama-kun, and he is the same person who sent Haruka home a while ago.”
“What, a while ago..! Aaaaaahhh! The devil himself came into this house…!”
The family meeting was completely audible as the Shijoin family couldn’t hold their voices down.
However, I thought he was a father with a generous heart when he agreed to let his daughter bring a boy to their house… but he was expecting a girl to come!
And from that conversation, he’s a typical father who dotes on his daughter too much…!
I don’t think he likes me at all!
“Haruka! All men are sh*t with ulterior motives! What do you think will happen if you get that close to them, let alone bring them to your house…!”
“It’s very persuasive to hear someone who approached me with lots of ulterior motives say that”
“Ugh! I’m not talking about that right now…! Anyway, the luncheon is over, isn’t it? Then get that boy to leave quickly!”
“I hate that! I’ve invited him here, and I want to talk to him about a lot of things! Why is dad so unhappy about it in the first place?”
Is this the situation called “sitting in a straw mat with needles”?
[TLN: ‘針のムシロは’ or “straw mat with needles” means a place, situation, or circumstance that is so painful that you cannot be at peace.]
Or rather, it seems that because of me, it’s going to develop into a parent-child quarrel, which is twice the trouble…!
“Ugh… fine, If you insist that much, then I’ll make sure you get a better look…!
Yes?
“Let me borrow him for a moment! This Tokimune Shijouin will see if he’s a man you should be close enough to invite to our house!”
What? Eeeeeeeeeeeh!?
