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Chapter 80 – Excuse Me
The change in Arina’s expression only lasted for a moment, she was back to her normal expression now but I was completely sure that it happened. That was how impactful it was to me.
I gave up the seat on the train to the three girls. Sitting beside them made me feel embarrassed, so I decided to stand while holding on to the strap.
It only took five minutes to walk from the station to our house. It was great that our house was close to the station but, at the moment, this short distance just gave me anxiety. I didn’t have enough time to prepare myself for what was to come.
It wasn’t like I was averse to the idea of welcoming strangers to my house, Ugin often brought her friends over after all but, this time, it wasn’t Ugin who brought her friends over, but me. Moreover, I was bringing two girls over.
I sincerely prayed that my parents would be away from home when we got there.
“I’m home~”
Ugin entered the house.
“Welcome back. You’ve done your hatsumode already?
 Oh my?
”
My mother’s existence confirmed my death. (T/N: My mother is in English)
I wanted to go back in time. I wished I took a longer time to do my offering back then.
“They’re Bro’s classmates! This one is Arina-san and this is Tsuru-san! The stores are crowded, so we invited them here!”
“You’re both so cute! Meanwhile our Sui over here
”
Mom, stop! At least finish your sentence properly! That one girl was glaring at me!
“Sorry to be a bother, my name is Niwatari Tsuru! I’m Sui-kun’s classmate. Sorry for coming over so suddenly.”
Said Tsuru as she bowed. Seeing this, mommy hurriedly returned her bow. She was probably surprised that the friends her son made had a graceful manner like this.
“M-My name is Hiwa Arina! Um
 I-I’m Sakaki-kun’s
 Um
”
Why were you nervous?! What happened to your usual character? Wouldn’t you normally say something like, ‘He is my slave and I’m his master’ in this situation? Also, ‘Sakaki-kun’?? Where did my usual nicknames go? ‘You’, ‘garbage’, ‘worm’, ‘waste’, ‘pig fodder’, ‘stalker’, ‘cicada shells’ and the likes, where did they go? Why were you using my real name at times like this?? You made my heart beat faster for a second there! That was unfair!!
“We’re both part of the same committee.”
I couldn’t stand seeing her like this, so I gave her a lifeline. Of course, that was a lie, but it was a good stopgap measure.
“Is that so? Thank you for always taking care of Sui. He’s such a troublesome boy, isn’t he? I hope you can stay as a good friend for him despite this
”
“Y-Yes! I understand!”
Ugin, please say something!
“I’m tired of standing, so let’s go to the living room! Can we, mom?”
“Yes, go ahead. I’ll prepare some tea and snacks.”
No good.
*   *   *
Ugin led those two to the living room but I didn’t follow them there. Instead, I went to my dad’s room.
“I’m coming in.”
“Yes.”
My dad was a quiet man and he often stayed inside his room by himself, so I came here to warn him.
“Dad, the living room is dangerous right now.”
“Why?”
“The living room became something that is out of our world
 In any case, just don’t go there, please.”
“
I don’t understand what you are trying to tell me.”
“I can’t give you the details, it’s just the living room is very dangerous right now and you shouldn’t go there.”
“
Understood. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Alright, I’ve warned him. Even my dad would freeze if he were to see Arina and Tsuru. I didn’t dare to imagine his reaction if he were to find out that they were my friends and not Ugin’s.
I went back to my room, took off my coat and wore my casual clothes. Before I left the room, I took a quick look around to check if there was anything I didn’t want them to look at if they were to force their way here. I found nothing, so I was good to go.
The living room had turned into something out of this world. Mom, Ugin, Arina and Tsuru were chatting around the kotatsu. Entering the living room made me feel like I accidentally stepped into the women’s bath in a public bathhouse, I could feel my blood run cold. Not like I’ve ever gone into the women’s bath though.
In any case, I didn’t want to go there. I turned around and pretended not to see them.
“Ah, finally you’re here, Bro!”
“Don’t mind me ladies, just take your time!”
“Don’t run away!”
“There are times when a man has to run away and this is one of them.
“Mom, let’s stop buying him tomato juice.”
“Okay okay okay! I won’t run away!”
She could drop such cruel remarks carelessly, I really had to put my guard up when handling her. I was lucky that I listened to what she was saying properly, who knows what would happen if I didn’t. I still couldn’t believe that she would make life-threatening threats like that. Banning me from drinking tomato juice was like banning me from inhaling oxygen.
Since I couldn’t get into the kotatsu, I sat on the couch instead. Rather, the couch was the only place I could sit on.
“Bro, you’re too relaxed!”
“This is my house, why can’t I?”
“It’s embarrassing!”
“Don’t worry, they know what kind of person I am.”
“I’m not talking about you, but mom and I! I’m sorry Tsuru-san, Arina-san, please don’t mind him
”
“Haha, it’s fine~ I understand~”, said Tsuru while laughing.
No one was on my side
 I felt so lonely

“How’s my son doing at school? He didn’t do anything strange, did he?”
What did you mean by that, mom? Trust your son a little!
“Sui-kun, hm
 Do you have anything to say, Arina?”
Tsuru passed the question to Arina with a strange glint in her eyes.
“Eh? Um
 Sakaki-kun
 He stands out at school
 I think
”
“Stands out?”
“H-He often talks about interesting things
”
“I see. Is that true, Bro?”
“No, I’m a low-profile kind of guy.”
“Shut up.”
She suddenly became the usual Arina. Scary.
“Arina-chan, will you become an actress in the future? You’re popular with the boys, aren’t you?”
Mom, please, you are in your forties, stop gossiping like a high school girl. You know what, you could do it, just don’t do it in front of me! Is this your new way of torturing me? A new type of psychological attack?
“N-No! I’m not popular at all!”
“No way! You don’t need to be reserved around me.”
So embarrassing!
Mom, please, your youth ended thirty years ago, please, just stop bullying the youngsters. This battle you were fighting on was meaningless, mom. No matter how long you tried to incite the people, making them worship you, wheat wouldn’t grow on the ground by themselves. People didn’t care about victory, they just wanted to fill their stomachs.
Wealthy corrupt politicians were so intoxicated with metaphysical concepts that they stopped looking down at the ground. They felt responsible for their positions and started chasing their own illusions. Those in power could afford to chase their empty ideals while forgetting their original purpose to serve us, their people. They felt justified in doing something that no one asked them to do. They did everything for their selfishness, they threw all their energy for mere self-satisfaction. Please, stop. We only wanted to live peacefully, we didn’t want anything more.
“Why are you lying, Arina?~”
“What are you talking about?”
“Aren’t you an idol, Arina?~ There wasn’t a single week when you didn’t get a confession~”
“What are you talking about?! NO!”
“Eh? Really?~”
“Y-Yes!”
Nowadays, only poor or developed countries were willing to go to war.
The word ‘globalization’ had taken hold of the world, intertwined it like spider threads, connecting every country down to their cores. It made war less valuable than it used to be—
“Bro, you’re making a scary face
”
“Sorry.”
I couldn’t keep up with the girl’s talk. The strawberry-flavored conversation was so out of the world for me.
“Then, then, has my son ever confessed to you?
”
Whispered mom to Arina’s ear.
Yeah, I’m f**ked.
“I’ll leave that to your imagination
”, answered Arina while giving an ambiguous smile.
“Eh? Have you rejected him already, Arina-san? Bro, did you get rejected?!”
“I never confessed to her in the first place! Also, mom, calm down! The caffeine is getting to your head!”
“My, is it really?”
Stop playing dumb, mom!
“Bro, are you an idiot?! You think you can go out with Arina-san? Die a million times, you selfish pervert! Idiot! Gross! Tomato addict! Daidarabotchi!” (T/N: Daidarabotchi is a giant yokai, known as the largest yokai and it has enough power to move mountains around.)
Ugin, please, my life point was already zero.
“I think you two suit each other though, right, Arina?”
“What are you talking about? M-Me and this guy?”
“If you were to become my son’s wife, that will solve all my worries.”
“Uu
 I-Is that so?
”
“Mom, stop! If you keep this up, people will assume that the Sakaki family is filled with a bunch of idiots!”
“You’re the only idiot here, Bro.”
“Look in the mirror before you say that.”
After that, mom left the living room to make some mochi.
I was in a deep despair. Mom, the only sane person in this place was gone. There was nothing to hold those three, chaos would befall this room soon.
“I was surprised! Sui didn’t look like his mom at all. Ugin-chan looks like her though
”
“I guess! I look more like mom than dad!”
“I assumed that your mom had some screws loose like Sui
”
“Only Bro has them, the rest of us are normal.”
“I can see that.”
I closed my eyes and shut myself from the outside world. I let my consciousness blur. If I make a comment here, I would lose, so I had to say goodbye to my current life. I prayed that I would become a deep-sea fish in my next life so I could live a carefree life.
After a while, I began to fall asleep. Just right before I completely fell asleep, I opened my eyes. I felt a slight discomfort since the originally noisy room was dead quiet.
In front of me were Arina, Tsuru and Ugin, looking down at me.
“Whoa! You surprised me!”
“Hahaha, he really freaked out!”
“Your sleeping face looks like an amoeba.”
“Amoeba has a face?”
I sensed danger, so I decided to flee.
“Gotta pee.”
I stood up and walked to the toilet and met my dad in the hallway.
His body shook and went rigid for a few seconds. I knew this reaction, he was surprised.
“
Make yourselves comfortable.”
He mumbled before continuing on his way.
“Eh? Was that Sui’s father?”
“It seems so
”
Tsuru and Arena looked at each other.
“
So you really are a mutant.”
“I wish. Too bad, I can’t shoot any spider net or manifest claws from my knuckles.” (T/N: Do I need to mention that it’s a Spiderman and Wolverine reference?)
“I thought you’d look similar to your father
”
“Don’t ask me, I don’t know anything.”
“I-I-In any case, I should give him my greetings
”
“What’s wrong with you? Why do you keep stuttering? Is your mind finally bugged?”
“I-I-I-I-I’m not nervous! I’m going to kill you!”
“No one said anything about you being nervous.”
She was trying to act tough, but that pathetic appearance would never convince anyone.
“Arina-san, do you want to go to Bro’s room?”
“Huh? What are you saying all of a sudden?”
I immediately answered Ugin’s words by reflex. Those were the most surprising words coming out of her mouth in the past year. I could feel both my intestines coming out from inside my mouth.
“Eh? B-But
”
Don’t look at us like that.
Don’t ever say that you want to go there.
Don’t laugh, Tsuru-kun.
“I mean, you’re going to go back to your room, no?”
“I’m not! I won’t go to my room even if it kills me! Let’s just stay here and talk about the old days again, ladies!”
“Is there something you don’t want them to see?”
“None, I just don’t want anyone to enter my room without my permission!”
“Is that so?~”
She was taunting me! I had nothing to hide, after all, since I was a gentleman. She was trying to bait me for my reaction, but I would never fall for it!”
Suddenly, Tsuru grabbed me by the shoulders.
“Let’s go.”
“Who the hell are you?!”
She said that with a wink.
Arina, on the other hand, continued to act like a proper young lady. This was probably the first time she had ever been in a boy’s house, that was why her reaction was annoyingly innocent. She was so beautiful, I wanted to lick her feet
 Wait, no, I’m a gentleman. I’m a gentleman.
“Ah, Dad
”
I turned around at Ugin’s voice and saw dad walking with a bottle of wine and a glass in his hands. He was probably on his way back to his room.
“
Enjoy yourselves
”
He bowed down before leaving.
“I knew it, Sui is a mutant.”
“
My relatives said that to me too
”
The living room turned deadly quiet.
Arina was stuck muttering ‘G-Greetings
’ like a broken record. Tsuru was staring at me with a complicated face. Ugin was tugging at my sleeve, asking me to lead everyone to my room.
In this chaotic world, it seemed like I was the only sane person here.
“The mochi is done!”
Mom’s cheerful voice stole everyone’s attention and they immediately returned to the kotatsu.
Crisis averted.
Temporarily.