While Arisa repeatedly asked, Hijiri let out an exclamation of surprise.
Chiharu, on the other hand, seems to be in a good mood at Arisaâs reaction.
âBy f, father⊠which father?â
â My father. Our Uenishi will bear the child of the father and pass the blood to the daughter.â
And then Arisa noticed something strange and asked Chiharu.
â⊠Are you making fun of me?ăItâs ridiculous, you know. Because⊠that would mean that Chiharu-sanâs father is two thousand years old.â
Uenishi will give birth to a daughter of their father.
This means that Chiharuâs âfatherâ will be her motherâs âfatherâ and her grandmotherâs âfatherâ at the same time.`
There is only one father⊠and if the history of Uenishi is 2,000 years old as the legend says, then Chiharuâs âfatherâ is over 2,000 years old.
âThough Iâm making fun of you, Iâm not lying, okay?â
Chiharu smirked.
By listening to her words, Hirjiri let out an âAh~â.
He seemed to have guessed the point.
âSince he is a god, it wouldnât be strange for him to live for more than two thousand years, would it?â
So Chiharu finally cleared up the matter.
Thatâs right, Chiharu Uenishi is a demigod, a human deity.
For generations, Uenishi has spun history by conceiving the children of the gods to whom they have dedicated themselves.
â Eh? ..Really, with a God?â
âNo, of course not. Itâs just a matter of faith.â
Chiharu said in a deadpan tone.
She was the daughter of a shrine and supposed to be a living deity.., but she has very little faith.
âWell, in other words⊠youâre practically getting the seed from somewhere else. There are no boys in the Uenishi family tree. Thatâs to protect matrilineal inheritance.â
You canât marry because you are going to have a child with a god.
This was a system created by Uenishi to prevent a son-in-law from taking over the family.
Of course, if they donât have sexual intercourse, they canât have children, so some people become de facto husbands.
However, they are not recorded in the family tree and are not treated as family members.
And thatâs how it is.
âOur clan, the Uenishi, is made up entirely of women. Isnât that interesting?â
âI see⊠So thatâs how it is. That is interesting.â
Arisaâs eyes shone a little.
In response to Arisaâs expression, Chiharu proudly stuck out her large chest.
It was a little poisonous to the eyes.
âHm?ăIsnât that strange?ăA son could be born, too. Itâs not like youâre an Amazonian.â
And then Hijiri interrupted her.
Biologically, Chiharu was a respectable homo sapiens, not some mythical mysterious race or species, so of course, she could have a boy.
âAh⊠They do get born these days. But we put them up for adoption⊠strictly speaking, we put them in the de facto husbandâs registry.â
ââŠThese days?â
âIt is said that they werenât born in the past.â
To Chiharuâs words, Hijiri had an expression of âwhat is she talking aboutâ.
Then he immediately let out the words âohâŠâ and shut up.
âHe~e, There are some mysterious things huhâŠâ
Arisa, on the other hand, didnât seem to notice.
She seems to think that there really were no boys born in the past.
Yuzuru said, agreeing with ArisaâŠ, and covered up the situation.
There is no need to notice what you donât need to notice.
The pure Arisa was cute as she was.
âI was just thinking, Chiharu-chanâs mother would be, in other words, Chiharu-chanâs older sister, right?â
Ayaka remarked as if she had an epiphany.
If they all had a common father, then all the women in Uenishi would be sisters.
âWell, I suppose youâre right. That means Iâm going to be giving birth to a sister.â
âItâs a world of myth right⊠It really is like a myth.â
Tenka wondered to herself.
âIn other words, according to the âsetting,â the Uenishi family line is forever multiplying itself within the family⊠Genetically speaking, you and your father are ninety-nine percent the same person, right?â
âWell, thatâs true. As the time passes, the first generationâs blood gets thinner and the fatherâs blood gets thicker.â
When Hijiri and Yuzuru said this, Chiharu puffed out her large chest.
âYou can call me God Chiharu, okay?â
â⊠In effect, itâs like youâre having a baby with yourself.â
Soichiro muttered.
Then Ayaka let out a slightly over-excited, raised voice.
âThatâs practically mast⊠what is it? Soichiro-kun?â
âWeâre eating.â
Soichiro stopped Ayaka from ranting.
But then Chiharu said in a cheerful voice.
âEssentially itâs masturbating!â
âYou said that yourself huhâŠâ
Yuzuru couldnât help but let out a bewildered voice.
Arisa, on the other hand, giggled.
âWel⊠It might be Kojiki, but itâs a pretty amazing story.â ( TN: Kojiki â Record of ancient matters. More like legends)
There was no unpleasantness in Arisaâs expression or tone of voice.
Rather, she seemed to be enjoying it a little.
âŠsurprisingly she seems to be comfortable with the crude stuff.
However, in retrospect, itâs not that Arisa is a prude, itâs just that sheâs not used to men.
If itâs a joke, itâs probably within the acceptable range.
But if it was an obscene conversation, it might be a different story.
(⊠I tried not to make jokes like that because I didnât want her to dislike me. But surprisingly, itâs okay to do it?)
Next time there is an opportunity, perhaps I should try to find out what Arisaâs tolerance level is.
Thatâs what Yuzuru thought.
That evening.
âThank you for today.â
Arisa thanked the person on the other end of the phone.
The other party was⊠Ayaka Tachibana.
[âNo, donât worry about it. Itâs just meddling on my part.â]
Just as Yuzuru was troubled about his âloveâ with Arisa,
Arisa was also worried about her âloveâ with Yuzuru.
And if they were to become lovers, it was only natural that Arisa would be concerned about her reputation among the people around her.
Unlike Yuzuru, she was the one who was concerned about it, so she was deeply worried about it.
[âWell, if you need anything, just let me know. Iâll help you, and Iâm sure Chiharu-chan and Tenka-chan will too.â]
â⊠Yes. I understand.â
When Ayaka said in a cheerful voice, Arisa bowed her head and said so.
To put it bluntly, Arisa felt uncomfortable with the âgroupâ she was a part of.
In fact, she was sick and tired âŠof the company she belonged to, where she would just bob and weave to uninteresting conversations and reply to unproductive emails.
Of course, she didnât like it that much before âŠbut as her relationship with Ayaka and the others deepened, she realized that the âgroupâ she belonged to was not so âfunâ.
Especially when it comes to the âKeeping-in-checkâ of lovers and relationships within their own âgroupâ, she felt a kind of disgust.
When she didnât particularly like someone, it didnât bother her that much, but⊠now itâs just an obstacle.
This is why Arisa wanted to keep her distance.
⊠But, she was afraid of bullying.
Even if it doesnât develop into bullying, being bad-mouthed and isolated is no less frightening for the feeble-minded Arisa.
It was Ayaka and the others who offered their cooperation to Arisa.
If Ayaka and the others are willing to become her allies in case of emergency, Arisa could rest assured.
[âAs for me, itâs in my interest to ingratiate myself with the next Mrs. Takasegawa, Arisa-chan. You should give payment at the time of childbirth.â]
âHahaâŠItâs too soon to tell.â
Arisa couldnât help but chuckle.
Sometimes she suddenly feels it.
Ayaka and her friends are more mature than herself.
Or perhaps it could be called insightful.
They donât want to get used to each other or have a casual relationship with each other like the âgroupâ to which Arisa belongs, but they want a clear âprofit and lossâ.
At first, this confused her, but once she got used to it, she felt comfortable.
It was easier to draw a line when it was clearly stated, because it was easier to understand, and it made things easier.
ââŠI donât even know how much Yuzuru-san likes me.â
[ââŠâŠâ]
When Arisa said that, there was a moment of silence.
Then Ayaka replied.
[âA Family of Schemers.â]
ââŠâŠ Yes?â
[âThatâs the evaluation of the Takasegawa family. That household is very good at behind-the-scenes maneuvering and that sort of thing. Their methods are rather nasty in many waysâŠâ]
Judging by the words alone, it was just bad-mouthing.
But the tone of her voice was anything but bad-mouthing.
[âI donât know if theyâre dexterous or clumsy, but theyâre able to hold back their emotions at the moment. Thatâs why they look heartless. Takasegawa is calm, cool-headed, and cold-blooded⊠They put reason and planning ahead of temporary emotions. So, it may be frustrating, but wait for him.â]
â⊠Yes, I know.â
Ayakaâs words showed her deep understanding and trust in âYuzuru Takasegawaâ.
Arisa was a little bit jealous of thatâŠ
Of course, she already knows that she is not in love with him and he certainly is not in love with her.
âDoesnât Ayaka-sanâŠâ
[âYeah?â]
âDonât you think marriage is⊠too early or something?â
Arisa suddenly asked a question that she had been wondering about.
She was already thinking that she could marry Yuzuru, or even that she wanted to.
However, itâs not common for high school students to be thinking that much.
But Ayaka doesnât seem to have any doubts about Yuzuru and Arisa getting married.
[âBy early, you mean in high school?ăThatâs too early.â]
âNo, of course not⊠Iâm not thinking of getting registered while Iâm still in school or anything like that⊠Iâm thinking that after high school graduation is the earliest. But I think itâs too early to be thinking about such things while youâre still in high schoolâŠâ
At least the high school sweethearts around them are not thinking that far into the future.
âŠOf course, there can be a pattern of excessive lack of thought also.
[âI donât know about in generalâŠâ]
Ayaka replied to Arisaâs question.
[âI and Yuzurun must have a child someday to keep our family and blood together.â]
ââŠâŠâ
[âIâve been thinking about it ever since I can remember.â]
Arisa was convinced that this was true when she was told.
At the same time, she felt a culture shock.
From the beginning, they had different attitudes toward the idea of marriage.
âAyaka-sanâŠ..â
[âYeah?â]
âWith, um, Satake-san?â
When Arisa asked, and after a moment of silence, she heard Ayakaâs voice.
[âI wonderâŠ.. Soichiro-kun is Satakeâs eldest son.â]
âI see⊠Iâm sorrâŠ.â
[âBut Soichiro-kun is a passionate man despite his appearance. He told me that he was willing to give up his right to inherit the family name for my sake.â]
That was a little unexpected for Arisa.
For Arisa, Soichiro Satake is a person who⊠to put it bluntly, she doesnât really know what heâs thinking.
[âWell, you see⊠Iâm the only daughter of the Tachibana family. I can only hope that Soichiro-kun will throw away a lot of things for me nowâŠâ]
Arisa felt that her words contained a hint of optimism, resignation, and envy.
And Ayaka, without waiting for Arisaâs words, said.
[âYuzurun is also in a similar position to me. Arisa-chan also⊠should prepare yourself, for many reasons.â]