Big. He was so big.
This might be rude, but he lived up to his name. That was my first impression of Daichi-san. (T/N: Daichi (大地), 大 is the kanji for ‘big’, for reference, 地 is the kanji for ‘earth’ as in the ground)
I was aware that he was big and tall from the family photos that Umi had shown me before, but seeing him directly like this gave me a different impression than those photos.
“…Maehara-kun… First of all, let me express my thanks for visiting us during this time of the year… Also, thank you for getting along well with my daughter…”
“N-No… Um… Umi… N-No I shouldn’t–”
“You can call her the same way you normally call her. My daughter is in high school already, so it's not surprising that she would get along with a member of the opposite gender.”
Umi told me about his serious personality, but he went beyond serious, his face didn’t even move a muscle.
And since he kept his eyes on me, I felt some kind of pressure emanating from him.
I felt like a frog being stared at by a snake.
“Jeez, darling! If you keep your serious face like that, of course Maki-kun will be scared! C’mon, show him your smile!”“W-What are you doing in front of our guest?…”
“Mom’s right though. Maki and I are gonna be friends for a while, so you should try to get along with him, Dad. You won’t see him often too, so you should take this chance to get closer!”
“You make a good point, but we should take it slow–”
“Umi~ Can you help me persuade this stone-faced old man~?”
“Yes~”
“Mrgh… S-Stop it, you two!”
Sora-san and Umi immediately began massaging… or rather, squishing Daichi-san’s face.
Daichi-san tried to shake them off, but he was pretty much at the mercy of the two women of the Asanagi family.
I guess this was why they got along well.
Our physiques might be different, but I saw myself in Daichi-san.
“Maehara-kun, pardon me, these two–”
“Darling, it isn’t Maehara-kun. It’s Maki-kun, okay?”
“…M-Maki-kun…”
Watching this, I instantly recognized the power balance inside the Asanagi Family.
I got the wrong idea since she had been treating me well since the first time we met…
[Sora-san >>>>>>> Umi >> Daichi-san >> Riku-san]. That was the power balance in this family.
“Um… Sora-san… Umi… Daichi-san seems to be troubled… I think it’s okay to stop now, I’ll do my best to talk more casually with him…”
“You can stop now, Umi.”
“Okay~”
Umi moved away from Daichi-san.
“Cough… I’m sorry that you have to see my embarrassing side, Maki-kun. Well, our house is normally like this…”
“Hehe… It’s interesting, isn’t it?”
“R-Right…”
I’m glad that Sora-san is on my side.
Maybe because I properly showed my sincerity back when we first met, she took a liking to me.
“Mom, let’s stop messing around, I’m hungry.”
“Right, now that the introduction is done, we should eat. Darling, can you call our son over? That child said that he’s going to the toilet, but in reality he’s just running away isn’t he?”
“M-Mm…”
Ah, right, it had been around ten minutes since Riku-san went to the toilet. Well, I guess he felt uncomfortable seeing me, a stranger inside his house.
Daichi-san then called him over the phone from the living room.
“Riku, come down.”
{…Yes…}
Riku-san immediately obeyed him.
As expected, Daichi-san is scary.
* * *
After adding another chair to the table, the dinner began.
I was worried whether I would be able to finish my meal or not due to my nervousness, but the aroma rising from the pot assured me that my hunger was stronger than my nervousness.
Also, I ended up eating on Umi and Sora-san’s side. This was because there was no space left on the other side. Daichi-san and Riku-san were big after all.
“…Mom?”
“What is it, Umi?”
“Why is Maki sitting here, again?”
I thought I was going to sit in the corner, but Sora-san made me sit between her and Umi.
“Hm? Well, we haven’t received any guests in a while, right? Since it’s a special occasion, we should treat him well~”
“T-Then, I’ll–”
“You’ll what, Umi? Are you thinking of monopolizing Maki-kun?”
“As expected, that’s what you’re aiming for, huh, Mom?!”
“Of course~ It’s been a while since I last took care of a boy his age after all~ Riku’s rebellious phase started early and ended late, so I couldn’t spoil him as much as I wanted. Now if I try to feed him, it feels like I’m feeding an old man. On the other hand, Maki-kun is cute, he’s polite too. I just want to spoil him rotten~”
When I thought about it, I could see why Umi liked me so much. I guess she shared the same taste as her mom.
“Mom, Umi.”
“Hehe, your Dad is getting impatient, so let’s leave it at this. Don’t worry, Umi, I’ll let you feed Maki-kun as much as you want~”
“I-I wouldn’t do that! What are you saying, mom?!”
Umi bit into the meat in front of her. Her face was red like a tomato. She seemed to be focusing on her meal, but she would give me some of the better part of the food from time to time. She knew that I’ll act reserved in situations like this, so I’m thankful for her thoughtfulness.
“Ah, right! Maki, do you wanna play a game after dinner? I bought the new expansion of the game we’ve always played.”
“Huh, really? Sure, why not. The new expansion is too expensive for me… I’ve been wanting to play it…”
“Alright, we’ll borrow my brother's room after dinner, okay?”
“Why are you saying that you’ll intrude into my room casually? I need some space to hang out with my friends, you know?”
“In the meantime, you should visit Hello Work.” (T/N: Hello Work is an employment service center. If you’ve played Yakuza 7, it’s the place where you can change your job)
“Even if I go there, will there be work available at this hour?”
“You should try to check it out online first, right, Dad?”
When Umi called out to Daichi-san, Riku-san’s body froze.
“Riku, next Monday, go there.”
“G-Got it…”
The atmosphere between the four seemed relaxing even though the content of the conversation was not. It was probably because the four of them got along well with each other. Daichi-san who looked strict but was actually quite gentle, Sora-san who always had a smile on her face, Riku-san who was surprisingly earnest and Umi, who kept the balance between the four of them.
All of them seemed to be enjoying themselves on the dinner table.
Seeing them like this, I felt warmth inside my chest.
“Jeez. Sorry, Maki, you came all the way here and had to listen to all this nonsense–”
When their conversation came to a close, Umi turned her head toward me and after seeing me, her expression froze.
“Umi? What’s wrong? Is there something on my face?”
“No, but… Maki, are you alright?”
“Eh?”
A moment later, a drop of water dropped on the table.
My tears…
Seeing them made me remember my childhood, back when everything was fine… Back when my family was still together…
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