Chapter 215
I forgot about that tragic present for now .
After returning to the living room I ate the tasty milk pudding that Kanta-kun made while Wakaba-chan and I spoke about the school trip .
She seemed to be quite excited for it, having bought a location guide book and everything .
“I’m so excited . This is my first time going overseas, you know? Hey, Kisshouin-san, did you ever see the changing of the guards?”
“I did . I watched with my own eyes as guards with these huuuuge hats marched down the street . ”
“I’m so jealous! I wanna see it too!”
Her siblings joined in and we happily chatted together about good tourist spots as they looked through the guide .
When it was about time that we began preparing dinner, Wakaba-chan’s mother came back .
“Welcome, Coro-chan!” she greeted me .
“Thank you for having me here today,” I said .
Wakaba-chan handed my present over .
“Mum, look at what Kisshouin-san got us . ”
“My, thank you! Gosh, what good meat!”
Wakaba-chan got up to help her mother in the kitchen while Kanta-kun and I set up the table and brought out the hot plates .
We were using two of them since her family was quite large .
I liked being able to help like this .
It felt like I wasn’t just some guest that they still had reservations against .
Maybe I counted as one of them~? Ehehe .
“Hey, Cornet . At Suiran you greet each other with ‘gokigen’yoh’, right? How come you don’t say ‘gokigen’yoh’ then?” he wondered .
“TPO,” I answered .
If I came here and said that, I’d look pretentious .
Life is all about adapting yourself .
But then the twins wanted to hear me act like an ojousama instead .
“Coro-chan, say ‘gokigen’yoh’ for us~?”
“Do an ‘ohoho’ . ”
So they really did think of me as an ‘ohoho’…
The Ohoho Cornet Girl…
I had better pay attention to the way I laughed while I was with them .
By the time Wakaba-chan’s father had come back from work, the cooking was about to begin .
Wakaba-chan, Kanta-kun, and I were using one hot plate together .
“Holy shit!” he exclaimed . “There’s a lot of meat today . ”
“Coro-chan brought it over,” explained his mum . “The meat on this plate is the good stuff, so try some later . ”
“You did good, Cornet!” he laughed .
Their family seemed to be enjoying the meat I brought .
Thanks to that, I was able to eat with fewer reservations .
Mmmmm, food was somehow better when eaten with lots of people like this .
Aaah~ This ponzu sauce was great!
It was a bit nostalgic .
In my old life too, we used a hotplate like this to have yakiniku .
Seeing the normal family in front of me, I couldn’t help but relax and accidentally said “Wakaba-chan” a few times, before hurriedly correcting myself .
Sometimes I just slipped up .
Wakaba-chan didn’t seem to mind though .
I wondered if that meant I could call her that at school too, then…
After having my fill I had to go home .
The Takamichi house was accepting and comfortable so I would have liked to stay, but I had my own curfew and had to hurry .
When I left they gave me some cake to bring back home .
“Sorry that it’s only leftovers . ”
Then Wakaba-chan’s father drove me to the train station .
There was nothing more I could want from them .
When I got off the car, Wakaba-chan and her dad waved goodbye and saw me off .
“See you tomorrow!”
I waved back .
Aah, that was fun .
I wanted to visit again already .
While I sat on the train I wrote Wakaba-chan a thank you message .
*
*
*
Since Otousama and Okaasama were out at a party tonight, nobody asked me where I had gone .
I had just made it in time for my curfew, and only Oniisama was there .
“Welcome back, Reika . ”
“I am home, Oniisama . ”
Oniisama gave a sniff .
“You smell like cooked meat,” he said .
Oh gosh!
To the bath it is!
After washing my hair carefully with some fragrant shampoo, I changed into some home clothing and brought the cake out into the living room .
“Oniisama, I have some cake . Have some with me?”
“Thanks, I will . ”
After making some tea, I took a seat next to Oniisama and began eating the strawberry shortcake .
“Say, Oniisama? What kind of friends do you mostly have?”
“Friends? Hmm, I guess the majority of them are ones I made as a student . After joining the workforce most of my relationships became tied to my job, so it’s hard to call them true friends, I guess . ”
“I see . Then by student days, you mean from Suiran?”
“You could say that . Hmm, besides them, also some people I knew from other schools, or people I hit it off with while travelling . Different sorts . ”
“I see… Oniisama? Are any of your friends from normal households?”
“By normal households, you mean people from the normal working class?”
“Well, yes…”
Oniisama looked at me for a while, before he eventually replied .
“…I do . After I became a high schooler, I made some External friends, and I have a lot of friends like that from university as well . ”
“I see…” I muttered to myself .
Having finished eating, I put down my fork and sank into thought .
Oniisama seemed to realise something and patted my head .
“Reika . Don’t worry about how our parents think . Don’t worry about where they come from . If you think they’re worth it, then be with them,” he told me .
“Yeah…”
I hoped that one day I could introduce Oniisama to Wakaba-chan .
*
*
*
I was a bit worried about meeting Fuyuko-sama the next Monday, but she didn’t really say anything different to me .
Phew, thank goodness…
Hopefully nobody would find out about the things the tanuki spirit had made me do during the weekend .
Still, the person I was even more awkward about meeting was Kaburagi .
At first I had just considered his romance somebody else’s problem, but having seen what happened to the fruits of his efforts with my own eyes, I just couldn’t help but sympathise with him now .
Thanks to that, it was hard to treat his issues as flippantly as I used to .
God, seeing that necklace was sorrow itself .
If I left that guy alone, he was just going to produce tragedy after tragedy for himself, mark my words .
And the one who’d end up watching every step would be me .
Which was bad, because eventually I’d cry .
Like, seriously bawl .
I mean that necklace was bad enough .
Just how long did he spend making that?
I’d never done anything like that myself, so I didn’t know how tough it was, but it had to be like when a girl knit a scarf for her crush .
Well, leaving aside how much heavier the jewellery was, at least…
For my own ease of heart, I was going to have to be a bit kinder to him during our discussions .
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