I said “oh” and raised my body to give up half of the sofa.
It had already been three days since Mei’s shocking declaration and I had already come to my parents. I don’t really remember how I came back after that but I can’t stop thinking about it.
「Oniichan, did something when you sent Hirose-san?」
「Ah, no, nothing.」
I could feel blood rising to my face but I tried to ignore it for the time being.
「Mother, he’s not telling anything.」
「Well, I guess it can’t be helped.」
I braced myself for what she would do but Yuna just walked out. Mother left too.
After a few minutes, they came back and Yuna’s even wearing one of mother’s old office suit.
「Thus, the family meeting with begin!」
「Eehhh…..」
I never expected a family meeting to suddenly begin since it’s not even time for me to decide my career.
「But why are you two in suits?」
「Because you must attend meetings in formal suits.」
Yuna said with a smug look on her face. Oh, I didn’t know that.
「But why are you wearing mother’s suit and not father’s?」
「Because I don’t want to smell like a stinky old man.」
Father, who had just woken up, heard that as soon as he opened the door. Father, who had been fatally wounded by a stray bullet the moment he left his room, went back inside. And I’m going to be the target starting now. Will I be a beehive later?
「Okay, Yuna, tell me what you know.」
「Alright, let’s start from the beginning. Hirose-san and oniichan started getting in touch with each other this spring. Last year, they were from different classes so they shouldn’t have been in contact with each other. However, given Hirose-san’s move, they should have contacted each other before that but oniichan doesn’t remember meeting her.」
Mother nods with interest while looking at me from time to time. Probably because of our seating arrangement but I feel like I’m undergoing a trial.
「And after mother and my help, they got closer after their date! Or at least they started talking like normal friends. After that, oniichan met Hirose-san’s sisters and brother. Then, according to Wakamiya-san, Hirose-san’s friend, oniichan praised her cooking skills in their cooking class and they started calling each other with their names after that.」
「Hou, Souta, who always nag when it comes to cooking, praises someone.」
Mother cooked our dinner yesterday. It seems like she’s holding a grudge when I said it’s bad. However, does she really need to say it here?
「That’s right, oniichan did. After that, along with two other friends, they had study meetings and celebrated Hirose-san’s birthday. Oniichan gifted her with hand cream and pen with name engraved.」
「I thought you had no taste but those gifts are not bad.」
As if saying her review, she looked at me and gave her approval. Though it looks like she already knew about it.
「Oniichan also came to visit Hirose-san when she caught a cold.」
「What!」
Mother’s eyes are shining. Don’t do that. Don’t look at me like that.
「And I think they did it!」
「Maa, maa!」
I’m uncomfortable. Now that I’ve seen it from a third person’s perspective, it is obvious that I’m being favored. I wish I could have just escaped after one blow like father. What kind of torture is this?
「So, what kind of girl is this Hirose-san? And what does Souta thinks of her?」
「Mother, here’s Hirose-san’s picture.」
Fina fiddled with her cell phone and showed the screen to mother. She said “What a pretty girl. She’s wasted on Souta. I like her.”.
I thought of taking that opportunity to hit the escape button in my mind but my body wouldn’t move. I can feel their gazes.
「I don’t hate her…」
I’m not used to being favored a lot so I don’t want to think of it since it might influence me. If it is malicious, I would probably just laugh at it and go to the felt-nothing state.
「What a vague answer」
「Scum」
「Maa, Souta is just sorting out his feelings. It’s okay as long as he doesn’t run away.」
She can see through everything. I don’t think I can fool mother.
「I’ll accept that as your answer, Souta. But only now. Once you have the answer, don’t you dare run away. His turn is over, let’s talk about Yuna.」
Mother’s interest is now directed at Yuna, who tried to run away but she grabbed her hand.
「Who is this Yugami-kun?」
I heard about him before. The reason Yuna managed to obtain Mei and Wakamiya-san’s contact information was because of Yugami-kun, the younger brother of the girl who grouped with me with Ashi-san during the cooking class.
「No, no, Yugami-kun is just a friend who told me the contact information of Hirose-san from his sister. We’ve been friends forever.」
That’s cruel. Poor thing. I thought of him and gently clasped my hand together and pressed F.
After that, mother told me that I’m interrupting their girl talk and kicked me out of the room too. What can I say, that’s a good way to get mentally drained. However, she’s right. I have to give an answer without running away.