762 You have to use protection! (1/2)

”Why are you apologizing?”

”Because… I forgot about mom…”

”She's never existed, so it doesn't count as you forgetting. You don't need to apologize for this,” Shingo said calmly.

'I'm the one who should be apologizing,' he thought to himself. However, he was unable to bring himself to say it out loud.

”No… I believe that mom really existed.” Chiaki looked directly at him. ”Dad, your memories are no hallucinations. They were real.”

The famous artist frowned upon hearing this.

”I told you, that was nothing but a dream. Don't treat it as reality,” he spoke in a cold tone.

Shingo didn't want to see his daughter also being confused by these ”memories”. It was more than enough that he was the only ”abnormal” one.

Yet, a tiny part within him was actually happy that his daughter said so. This caused him to feel self-loathing, which was why his tone was so icy.

”Dad…” Chiaki took a deep glance at her father, feeling like she could now understand better why her father acted the way he did.

He still remembered some vague memories of his wife, but nobody else even remembered her existence, nor was there any evidence that she had once existed. This was as if the entire world was denying her very existence!

And so, he could only deny his wife's existence as well.

Just how painful would it be to deny your own memories?

Just how much pressure would he be under to bear all of this by himself?

He didn't ask for recognition, because he didn't even believe in himself. What few memories he still had of his wife, he could only treat as hallucinations… that was truly so pitiful.

After thinking deeper on this, Chiaki felt her eyes heating up as if she wanted to cry.

But, she had to withstand the urge.

She couldn't allow herself to cry because of this, because she knew her father wouldn't want to see it.

She felt that someone like herself who had forgotten about her mother had no right to cry about it in front of her father who had been dealing with his memories all by himself.

”Right now, it's still unknown whether these memories are real or not,” Seiji spoke up. ”Wakaba-san, your memories regarding your wife might indeed be an illusion. However, it's also quite possible that such memories really reflect events that happened, just like what Chiaki says. The evidence for this is that Chiaki dreamed about her mother… Although she can't remember her dream anymore, I clearly heard her saying 'mommy' while she was dreaming. There's no mistaking what she said. I don't think that it's a coincidence for such a thing to happen while she's being targeted by something mystical—”

”Wait a moment.” A fierce glint suddenly appeared in Shingo's eyes as he stopped Seiji from continuing. ”You heard Chiaki talking in her sleep while she was dreaming… the two of you were sleeping together?”

Seiji's cheeks twitched as he suddenly felt a powerful aura coming from Chiaki's father.

”Um, we weren't… it was just that I had Chiaki sleep in the study of my apartment in order to better protect her… Uh, I just happened to hear her talking in her sleep while I was checking on her…”

Seiji did his best to explain things clearly when faced with this pressure from his girlfriend's father. Still, he felt a little lacking in confidence here.

That was because he knew he was a scumbag who had started a harem.

Shingo adjusted his eyeglasses and judged the youth before him with an even sharper gaze than earlier.

Although Shingo was a mature adult who was somewhat mentally prepared that his daughter would eventually enter a sexual relationship with a boyfriend one day, it was impossible for him to remain calm once he truly learned such a thing.

Seeing how fidgety and lacking in confidence Seigo was behaving right now, Shingo felt that something had definitely happened between his daughter and Seigo.

”I won't allow such a relationship while the both of you are still in high school. But if things are already at that level, you must remember to use protection.” Shingo looked directly at Chiaki while saying this.