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CHAPTER 59 – RETURN FROM THE PAST (PART 2)
Why are you so proud of divulging it, Shinpachi. Upon hearing that, Yui froze. I expected her to ask questions before freezing though. Like, why is such an individual at some regular household? Or so.
「Explaining is such a bother.」
「Just think that it’s the usual fare and give up.」
It’s as Isami says, I’ve already halfway resigned. This is my destiny. And so the boisterous night continued on until the date changed and, as anticipated, the old man next door came complaining.
「Step-mom, wake up.」
The next day. I slept over not at Isami’s house but my, Souji’s, home. Naturally, I’m sleeping in the room where I used to occupy. Step-mom, completely drunk, asked me if I wanted to sleep with her but I politely refused. Considering my original age, it’s embarrassing.
「Five more minutes.」
「You say that but you’ve never woken up after just five more minutes. We can’t make master wait too much.」
Even if I try making breakfast, other than water there’s nothing in the fridge. And there’s no place where I can buy groceries this early nearby. That’s why we have no other choice but to burden the Kondou household for our breakfast.
「You’re going to get scolded too, you know?」
「Uuh~ That’ll be trouble.」
She’s finally getting up. I’ve missed having this exchange. It’s something that happens nearly every day, after all. Well, back then I would have been cooking breakfast, so step-mom would get up even later.
「Wash your face, quick.」
「Oka~y」
Geez, now it’s hard to tell who the guardian here is. Gojima and Mizuki are sleeping on futons laid down in the living room. Though as expected, they can’t sleep simultaneously due to the nature of their work, but they did still appreciate it.
「Good morning you two. Yesterday was quite rough, wasn’t it?」
「It was extremely lively. And it was interesting to see an unexpected side of you, Kotone.」
You were running wild yourself though, Mizuki. Her elegant way of enjoying coffee right now is pretty hard to connect it with yesterday’s disaster. And Gojima next to her seems awfully exhausted. He’s probably the one who suffered the most here. Misfortuned by his own earnest nature.
「Now then, we’ll be switching out now, but will Akira and Kyousuke be alright?」
「We haven’t informed them about the Chief, so I hope they have a grand time panicking.」
Don’t sell out your subordinates. At the very least, hand them the information. I understand wanting them to feel the same way you did, though. It’s part of the job, so don’t let your personal feelings get in the way. But it’s Mr. Kondou’s fault.
「Koto-chan, I’m done preparing.」
「You haven’t though!」
Don’t go out with such unkempt hair! Why do you always get so sloppy when at home? Yet you’re so sharp when at work. With the hair dryer and comb at hand, I tidy up step-mom’s hair.
「You sort of look like parent and child.」
「Their positions seems reversed too.」
We actually are. Not blood related though. To begin with, I don’t really think blood really matters much. That isn’t enough to make a parent and child relationship, after all.
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「Okay, this is good enough. Now, let’s go.」
「We’ll come along until the front door. We’ll switch out there.」
「Understood. Thank you for your hard work.」
It’s just the house next door though, so it won’t even take a minute to reach. I suppose that’s just professionalism. Well, something might happen as we go there, so I guess it’s normal to be on alert. In many incidents, it’s the moment when leaving the house that’s dangerous.
「Good morning. Is there something I can help with?」
「Morning. In that case, serve the finished food at the table.」
As usual, they have so much even from breakfast. The reason, as with yesterday’s, is Mr. Kondou. Though as you’d expect, breakfast doesn’t really break out into a scramble. That’s just a dinner only battle.
「Koto-chan, Mo~rning!」
「Kotone. Good morning.」
In the end, manager Yui spent the night at the Kondous’. After what happened, she drank alcohol and we can’t really have her stay over at the guys’ place. So with master’s permission, Isami had her stay over.
「Are you really returning today?」
「I can’t stay here forever, you know. And I also have my job.」
Not today, though. Still, I don’t think it’ll be good for me to stay here for too long. Because if I cling to the past too much, I might forget that I’m Kotone.
「It can’t be helped, huh. Then let’s have fun together some other time.」
「If time allows.」
「I’ll match with your free time, so don’t worry.」
「It’ll be troubling if you say such stuff arbitrarily, though.」
Yui is in charge of their schedule management, after all. Don’t worry, I understand. That you’re the one most troubled about the fools.
「Okay, sit down everyone. Now, thank you for the meal.」
「「「Thank you for the meal.」」」
Master’s words were absolute, so everyone took a seat and started eating breakfast. At first, we were eating silently but by the end of the meal, it’s gotten pretty boisterous again. Mr. Kondou, in particular, left his seat going somewhere and suddenly I heard screams from outside.
「Your father really loves doing that, huh? Isami.」
「He likes seeing people get surprised, you see.」
Even so, please don’t randomly erase your presence and stand behind people. When he does that while I’m cooking, it seriously messes my groove. In fact, one time he did it, he received a smack from master.
「Say, say, could you come here for New Years?」
「You’re pretty excited. There’s still half a year left.」
「I mean, if I don’t reserve it now, you might have your schedule filled.」
Something like this has happened before too. Just how easy do you think my schedule gets filled. I don’t have any year round plans though.
「Well, I guess that’s fine. There’s something I want to run away from during that particular time too.」
Mainly Kotone’s grandfather. I know that I’m going to get dragged along, but I want to have some bit of peace. Why do I have to get tossed into trouble as early as New Years.
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「Alright, you’re fine with that too right, mom?」
「I don’t mind. Since it’ll be more interesting that way.」
Step-mom and master already know, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Besides, if it’s these people, it would be fine to involve them with my grandparents’ problem. When all’s said and done, they are the type to enjoy these sorts of things, after all.
「Well then, it was a short while, but thank you for taking care of me.」
After tidying up the dining table and getting a short rest, I returned to my room for a moment, packed my things ready to leave, and went back to greet the Kondou family goodbye. On my return, I saw Akira and Kyousuke but they looked exhausted. What happened to you?
「Come back anytime. We’ll welcome you always.」
Master’s words made me feel happy, but I can’t come here too often. I’ll definitely cause them trouble eventually if I visit too much, so I have to practice restraint. Still, I’m not really reluctant about dragging them into my problem. It’s contradictory, I know.
「Later, Koto-chan.」
「Let’s have fun together next time around!」
「If anything happens, please offer me some advice.」
「I leave my subordinates with you.」
Why did everyone go out to see me off? Still, with this, I guess I have no more regrets left as Souji. I’ve confirmed the well-being of my family and I’ve got more people who understand me. Trouble’s increased too, though.
「Well then, I’ll be off now.」
「「「「Take care!」」」」
I guess I’ll leave all the thinking for later. For now, I am leaving my family as Souji. After all, once I get back to my apartment, life as Kotone will start again.