A Father’s Feelings
I look up at the starry sky while feeling Yae’s weight on my right shoulder. I wonder if my being rattled is conveyed to Yae.
To begin with, I am here by myself in order to think about Yae. It has already been 1 month since I was told by Renya. Like it is covered with a fog, I still do not know my feelings. I know that, like Kinuta-san said, I can just think about it slowly, but the fact that I am getting a bit impatient is also the truth.
The person herself actually showed up as I was in the very middle of thinking about something like that. Furthermore, since I didn’t turn on the lights in order to look at the stars, the only light source is the moonlight. Perhaps because she just got out of the bath, the shampoo’s fragrance wafts from Yae’s hair, and there is some kind of soft sensation on my right arm. Do you not think that it is more impossible to tell me not to be rattled by such a situation.
“Ahー, the two of you?”
“”……!!?””
We were spoken to from behind when I was making an excuse to somebody inside my head by myself. Thinking about it calmly, unlike the usual apartment where we are by ourselves, we are currently at Yae’s parents’ home. Yae’s parents are naturally around, but I, who completely forgot about their existence……no, we, jumped out of our skin. An apologetic-looking Mina-san is over there when we turn around in a panic.
“I’m sorry for disturbing you, but I have some business with Yae-chan. I’m going to borrow Yae-chan for a bit, alrightー”
“Okaa-san……”
“I-, it is something important. Here, le-, let’s go”
Yae, who turns her back to me and walks to where Mina-san is, is being extremely pushy. I think she is hiding her embarrassment because she is probably embarrassed from having what just happened seen……I ended up forgetting to breathe until the two of them left the room.
“Ah, in the first place, Yae isn’t mine though……”
I mutter a retort that is too little, too late to myself, but there is naturally no response. I considered what to do hereafter, and because I was thirsty, I decided to return to the living room for the time being.
In the living room is Shigeo-san who is drinking alcohol while watching television. The alcohol should be quite strong, but looking at how he is drinking it without any change in his complexion, I can tell very well that he is a good drinker.
“Want to eat some?”
“Ah, I will have some”
Shigeo-san shared his snacks with me when I poured barley tea into a cup and sat on the seat. This is smoked peanuts huh. The smokey scent went around my mouth and out my nose.
“Is there something on your mind”
“Eh? Well, yes”
“……it’s about Yae huh”
“Ue!?”
I, who had the nail struck on the head, ended up making a weird voice. In response to that, Shigeo-san takes his time drinking his alcohol with a lack of expression that I cannot tell what is on his mind.
“H-, how did you know?”
“How many years do you think we lived together”
“Tr-, true enough huh……”
Was he watching me, who is not even his biological child, that much. Of course, including Mina-san, I do know how much love they poured into me, but it looks like I still underestimated it.
“You understand kinship love, but you don’t understand romantic love huh”
“……yes”
“I see”
It’s a way of laughing in which he raises the corner of his lips ever so slightly. Looking at Shigeo-san, who laughs in the same way as Yae, it drives the point home that both of them are parent and child.
Rather, isn’t this situation pretty bad. A man who claims he is unclear whether he likes your daughter as the opposite sex is someone who you would want to smack from the father’s perspective. Shigeo-san has times when he is an obstinate father, so it would not be strange even if he reprimands me huh.
“Like it or not, you will get it one day”
Like he is saying my worry is off the mark, he roughly, but gently pats my head. My head is shaken by his large hand that was calloused from farmwork, and my thoughts ends up coming to a halt.
“I want Yae to be happy”
“Yes”
“But I want Kazunari to be as happy as well”
“……yes”
“So don’t rush it”
“……thank you”
“I’m acting in place of your father. Don’t worry about it”
Perhaps the can he was drinking became empty, Shigeo-san stands from his seat. His magnanimity feels unsurmountable. I wonder if I can become an adult who is this broad-minded as well one day.
“I will think about it slowly”
“That’ll do”
