It’s harder than you’d think to fluster Kagami.
I mean, that’s assuming we’re talking about the usual, everyday things that might fluster her.
Even if I throw in a cheeky joke, make some funny noises, or tease her—Kagami rarely bats an eye.
Oh, sure, she was shocked when I first did it. She was probably caught off-guard that I’d show her some friendliness.
But now, she’s totally fine with hugs, and even when I toss out light-hearted jokes, she just returns them smoothly.
It’s like a vibe of life… No, it’s more because she’s experienced so many weird things that she’s built up some resistance to the usual stuff.
In that sense, I was a bit surprised that Harumi managed to fluster Kagami.
“So, how is it going with my dad?”
“Excuse me?”
Well, to be honest, it was a question that could definitely catch someone off-guard.
“Don’t you see him anymore these days?”
“Umm… we didn’t really meet separately in the first place, you know.”
To Harumi’s question, Kagami surprisingly took her time to find her words.
Until now, it seemed like she never thought about building separate relationships with people, but now things seem different.
To Kagami, I’m family, and Harumi is my friend.
The thought of ruining my friendship never crossed Kagami’s mind at all.
“……?”
Mako, with wide eyes, shifted her gaze between Harumi and Kagami.
Ah, I get it. Mako probably knows about this too.
After all, we’ve already ended up at the police station after fighting with other people.
Mako probably remembers how Harumi’s dad showed interest in Kagami back then. Honestly, it’s not a situation you easily forget.
“Are you perhaps thinking about remarrying or something?”
“…Do you want me to marry your father?”
Listening to the strange conversation between Harumi and Kagami, Yuuki’s eyebrows began to furrow.
Now that I think about it, Yuuki is my cousin. If Harumi’s father marries Kagami, that means Yuuka would get an uncle by marriage.
And not just any uncle, but her best friend’s dad… um.
Depending on the person, that might be good or bad, but it seems like Yuuki thinks it’s a bad idea.
Friends are good because they’re friends. They’re there to share reasons that you can’t discuss with siblings or parents. Of course, Yuuki and I are more like friends than relatives, and I assume Harumi will always keep it that way—
But no matter how you look at it, the mere fact that we share blood ties and that it could lead to marriage later is a different story altogether. Yuuki has already had the bizarre experience of his friend becoming his mother.
Yuuka looked at me with an incredulous expression, and after seeing me quite seriously lost in thought, she seemed a bit flustered.
She poked me in the side.
“Hey?”
“Do you want a dad, by any chance?”
Yuuka asked me in a caring, albeit small voice, probably so that not many could hear over the air conditioner noise.
“Dad?”
The issue is, one of the ‘people who could hear’ was Koko.
As soon as Koko tilted her head and muttered the word, the kids stirred in unison.
Honestly, whether or not I have a dad doesn’t really faze me as long as he’s not my biological father, but Koko’s different.
For some reason, she seems to believe that parents should exist on both sides. Even though she’ll become an adult in just two more years, she still has an air of innocence that makes the idea of her needing a ‘dad’ feel a bit too convincing.
“Wuu?”
Seeing everyone’s gaze on her, Koko tilted her head.
“Koko.”
Kagami said, looking a bit serious.
“Do you think you need a dad?”
“Umm…”
And it was just like a joke when Harumi first brought it up, but now she was flustered.
Of course, it would make sense. I guess Kagami must feel a bit more relatable. It was probably intended to be a casual tease, but now that Kagami is this serious, Harumi must be taken aback too.
She always seems carefree like a gyaru character, but deep down, she’s close to the essence of a normal high school girl.
“Wuu?”
In response to Kagami’s words, Koko tilted her head.
“Should there be one?”
That was quite a philosophical question.
And giving the wrong answer to that simple question could lead to disaster. Without even trying, Koko is bound to grow up to be a great politician.
“If you think your current life is lacking…”
“Wuu?”
Koko tilted her head again.
“If you got a dad, would someone else come in?”
We exchanged glances.
Then we looked back at Koko.
“That’s probably how it would go, right?”
Kagami said, her expression a bit ambiguous.
“I like it just like this.”
After a moment of contemplation, Koko replied.
“I’m happy with Kagami and Koto Ne!”
Seeing Koko throw up her arms and shout, Kagami looked a bit touched.
Not just Kagami, everyone in the room felt the same way. Well, the cat is over there sleeping in the corner, but still.
“Right? This is fine, isn’t it?”
Kagami shouted while pulling Koko into a big hug.
“Wooah!”
Koko shouted joyfully.
I could see Harumi breathe a sigh of relief.
“…….”
By the way.
Seeing her asking such things to her daughter, it seems like Kagami is really something else. For her, it should matter more what she wants than what her daughter needs.
If Koko had said she wanted a dad, would she really consider marriage?
It’s great having a devoted mother, but it would be nice if she could think a bit about her own life too.
Right now, her two sources of happiness are just us, but who knows, maybe over time, other joys might come along?
“Anyway, for now, that’s how it is. Sorry about that.”
“Ah… no, there’s no need to not do it.”
Harumi replied to Kagami with a look that was hard to describe.
In the end, with Kagami managing to fluster Harumi, it resulted in a reaction we’d never see usually, so it’s a draw.
Though the only one who thinks of this as a competition is probably just me.
“But sometimes… um, I was wondering if it wouldn’t be too much to at least let her see your face every once in a while.”
“Um.”
Kagami blinked at Harumi’s words.
“But Mr. Fukuda is not really the one to make first contact.”
More than that, Kagami probably lost confidence since she’s hardly ever the one to make contact first. No matter how confident a guy may be, if a girl leaves his messages on read, he won’t have the guts to send another.
“What if I do reach out first?”
“Well, it depends on the schedule, but we could meet.”
Of course, that would just mean “meet” in a literal sense, and not in the sense of starting a relationship or anything.
“Really…”
Harumi replied with a somewhat complicated expression.
“Actually, my dad has been a bit….”
Harumi hesitated, but we all more or less understood what she meant.
He was probably being nostalgic or something like that.
Kagami laughed bitterly.
“But is that really okay? Just meeting without developing anything?”
Harumi looked even more complicated.
She’s not dating anyone, and her love life is definitely not complicated at all, but when you think about it, there are things you can roughly imagine.
It’s not impossible to be friends of the opposite sex. But becoming friends while the other has romantic feelings toward you is a completely different story.
It disrupts the balance of how they see each other.
Mr. Fukuda doesn’t seem like someone who would do anything strange to Kagami, but, well.
If something awkward occurs, the relationship between Harumi and me would get really… complicated. In many senses.
It could perhaps be even more complicated than actually getting married.
“That’s… something I’ll have to talk about myself.”
Harumi said, sounding somewhat lamenting.
Even though she sometimes complains and toughens her words about her father, she’s definitely someone who feels a strong bond as family.
In the end, we couldn’t reach a proper conclusion.
But still, we could each feel a bit more at ease.
*
Originally, I thought it’d be a good idea to split into two, but lying here together turned out just fine.
Since the air conditioner is outside the room, there’s no way to shove guests out of the room, so we just settled in.
“If we stick together, it should be fine.”
No, I’ve already been buried beneath piles of kids’ legs during the last trip.
Compared to being smothered beneath the kids’ legs, it’s probably better to be held by Kagami.
“Alright, alright, make sure you stick close to mom~”
As she spoke, Kagami tightly pulled me and Koko into her arms.
Her body temperature felt a bit higher than usual. Her face seemed slightly flushed too.
…Was she drunk?
Did she get tipsy off just a single drink that was barely 10 percent?
Well, I guess what counts as being tipsy varies from person to person, but if drinking leads to changing one’s behavior, you can say they are indeed intoxicated.
A tipsy Kagami clung on to me with a bit more annoyance than usual.
Thanks to that, even with the air conditioner on, by the morning, my pajamas were soaked with sweat.
And so was Kagami’s side where she slept curled up next to me.
She must have held on tight without moving around during the night, as she kept pulling me into her embrace till morning.
…Alright. Next time, no alcohol for sure.
It’s possible that last night’s ‘Koko dad dilemma’ was also caused by the drinks.
As I watched every kid wake up while Kagami was still dazed and confused, I made that promise to myself.
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