Chapter 42: The Angel’s Admiration (1/2)

“Here.”

Even though they were his parents, they were still guests, and it was imperative to serve them. Mahiru however insisted on serving tea, so Amane left it to her.

He never expected that the tea set and black tea Mahiru brought for him would be used in this situation.

His parents were seated on the sofa they normally sat together on, beaming away.

“Why, thank you Mahiru-chan. You’re completely used to this.”

“Y-yes.”

“Normally, Amane should be the one doing this, right?”

If Amane was to brew the tea, it was likely only the bitterness would be extracted, so Mahiru took charge. However, Shihoko looked a little dumbfounded.

“No, I want to do this…”

“Well, if Amane’s to do this, the tea might not be of appropriate temperature. That’s to be expected.”

While she was right, he was peeved to be criticized.

He could not refute this, and could only shut up. Shihoko looked towards him with glee.

“Speaking of which Amane, you have been addressing Mahiru-chan with her name now.”

Once she suddenly pointed this out, Amane and Mahiru froze in unison.

He had forgotten about this as he had been addressing her naturally. When his mother last met them, Amane did not call Mahiru by name, and Mahiru was fidgeting when she addressed him back.

At this point, both of them addressed each other so naturally, and Shihoko naturally would let her thoughts run wild.

“…That’s fine, right?”

“That’s nice, I think. Good to be intimate.”

She deliberately chose not to press the matter further, merely looking towards Amane with a clear smile, the latter sensing his cheeks shaking.

Perhaps it was better for her to tease him instead. Whenever Shihoko was in such a state, her mind would be imagining all kinds of oh me oh my happy situations.

“Shihoko-san, stop teasing Amane.”

But Shuuto slammed the brakes.

“This is a bad habit of yours, Shihoko-san. Don’t tease him too much.”

“Yes, too bad, but I have to stop.”

Shihoko would only listen to Shuuto’s words, and Amane the tormented son was really grateful for that.

“But it is great seeing our son get along with such a cute girl.”

“I was worried that your bad habit will run wild, Shihoko-san.”

“Oh, are you stopping me now, Shuuto-san?”

“I think it is good for you to change when you have some self-awareness, but I can’t help you when this is another thing I like about you.”

“Why…Shuuto-san.”

While he did stop her, the parents started veering into their own world, for some strange reason, and Amane blatantly sighed.

Shuuto was usually one of common sense, but he would instinctively dote on his wife, resulting in an unapproachable vibe around him from time to time.

Luckily, he would only do so in front of family, and would not be so brazen outdoors. Perhaps he was sufficiently relaxed, for they were in Amane’s house.

The son was fine with his parents being lovey-dovey after so many years, but he wished for them to at least be aware of where they were at, to be considerate to others who were watching.

Amane did not want to interfere the moment he saw them end up that one, so he just slumped into the chair he took from the dining room, and sighed hard again.

Mahiru too prepared a chair next to him, and quietly watched him.

“…Your parents really are on good terms.”

“I guess. They aren’t like this outside, but that’s how it feels at home.”

“I see.”

He answered with a wry smile, and Mahiru narrowed her eyes at Shihoko and Shuuto.

She was not looking displeased; rather, it appeared she was looking at something dazzling.

Her eyes were full of admiration and jealousy, as though she was looking at something precious.

As she watched them with a faint smile that could only be described as fleeting, he reached his hand towards her without thinking—

“Oh Amane, what’s the matter?”

Shihoko seemed to have returned to reality, and Amane retracted his hand upon hearing her voice.

“What do you mean what? It’s because you two are in your own world that we’re really restless, mom.”

“Oh, you jealous?”

“Not, jealous, at, all. Just, do that sort of thing at home.”

It seemed they never noticed Amane nearly holding Mahiru by the hand, and neither did the latter, so she could only give a wry smile at his words.

He did not know why he reached the hand out.

But it seemed that…he did not want that Mahiru to feel alone.

He was relieved to see Mahiru revert back to normal, and maintained a usual scowl so as not to be noticed.

“So, are you two happy to see your own son now?”

“Rather than you, Amane, we’re happy to see Mahiru-chan …”

“Oy.”

“Just half joking. We are not done with our objective here.”

“Objective?”

He thought Shihiko’s objective was just to make a New Year visit, and to say hello to Mahiru, but it appeared Shihoko had some other plan in mind.

“Amane, you two haven’t done Hatsumōde, right?”