103 Thank You for Liking Me (1/2)

After finishing their ice cream, Mika and Seiji walked back to the apartment building, carrying the groceries together.

An enigmatic light flashed through Mika’s eyes. ”Seiji, come over and eat dinner at our place tonight.”

”Eh? Why so suddenly…”

”I’m telling you to come, so come!”

”But the landlord…”

”My mom will agree… I’ll call her right now!” Mika decisively took out her cell phone.

Nozomi Uehara answered her call.

After the call had ended, Nozomi smiled faintly.

‘Nice job, this is how you have to be, Mika! With an opponent’s appearance, my daughter has become more decisive.’ The landlord approved of her daughter’s slight growth in maturity.

”My mom agreed, but you need to help out with the cooking as well. You don’t need to return to your room; just come over to my place!” Mika was rather spirited as she talked to Seiji after hanging up the call.

”Oh… oh.” Seiji reflexively agreed.

He was more than happy to help out with the cooking and have dinner together with the Ueharas. He just felt that something about this particular meal was…

‘Well, whatever. I should stop thinking too deeply into it.’

The boy and the girl walked back home together.

…

After Nozomi Uehara returned home, she found her daughter preparing food in the kitchen together with the tall boy, who was also her tenant.

Both youngsters wore aprons as they prepared the food, and they occasionally made idle conversation while cooking together. It was such a warm scene.

Nozomi truly felt that it was an excellent thing to behold.

Of course she was already used to her daughter being there, and as for the boy… it would make her feel reassured if there was a strong and reliable male in her family.

Her husband died early, so she had to raise her daughter as a single mother. There were various difficulties as she had to put up with life’s pressures.

Even though she’d considered remarrying, time passed by quickly, and before she knew it, her daughter had grown up. Only now did she remember her husband.

She had almost forgotten what it was like to have a man in the house, but in this instant she recalled it clearly.

The boy’s back seemed to overlap with her husband’s figure.

Nozomi was lost in her thoughts for a while before she recovered her senses and discovered her face was burning with embarrassment.

Honestly, what was she thinking!

He was only a boy, a student the same age as her daughter. Even though he was tall and strong, he was still only a child.

But it really did feel reassuring to have him around, honestly…

Nozomi stopped thinking along these lines as she reined back her slightly unstable emotions. She flashed the pair a small smile and walked over to greet them.

”Mom? Welcome home.”

Her cute daughter greeted her normally, and the gentle boy greeted her politely.

”Yep, I’m home… Welcome, Haruta-kun.”

Nozomi smiled in response as she started to help them with preparing the food in the kitchen.

They seemed just like a real family.

Cooking with Mika and the landlord, before eating dinner together with them was a process which didn’t disappoint Seiji’s expectations.

He thoroughly enjoyed their company..

Only… something had caught his attention. Mika… was more proactive than before.

She intentionally sat close beside him and gave him food to eat with her chopsticks. She kept looking directly at him and talked to him more than she typically did… Anyway, it was obvious that she was being more proactive. Even though her face was reddening, she still worked hard to… get closer to him.

As for why, this was easy to guess. Seiji could only sigh.

Kaede Juumonji…

Seiji suppressed the mixed emotions he felt when thinking about the blonde girl as he continued smiling in front of the Uehara family.

After dinner.

Seiji helped with washing the dishes and returned to his room afterwards.

But he wasn’t able to rest for more than a minute before he heard a knock on his door.

Seiji silently clutched at his head for several seconds before going to open the door.

As expected, it was the blonde young missus from the mafia family.

She must have been waiting for him to return home!

Kaede Juumonji was still smiling, but there was a dark shadow beneath her smile.

”Hello, Harano-kun, have you eaten dinner?”

”Hi… I just ate.”