“That was a joke.”
Apparently, that was a joke. A bad joke. I thought she was serious for a second and got really upset.
“It’s only natural that a member of Orihara-san’s family would be against it. After all, if something were to happen, the one who would get in big trouble would be the adult here, Orihara-san,” my sister said, completely shifting gears and speaking in a serious voice. “Well, whether or not you two got busted, since her twenty-seven-year-old little sister is dating a high schooler, it makes sense she’d try to stop it, not to mention you’re probably going to become her son.”
“...”
“I was just saying as much, but this situation is laughably complicated.”
“Well, for me this is no laughing matter...” The relationships by blood and relationships by marriage in this situation were complicated. If I had to make a relationship chart or a family tree, it would probably be a big pain in the butt.
“Actually, I take back what I said. It seems a lot more likely than ‘probably’ that you’ll be her son. Dad and Kisaki-san’s marriage seems pretty much like it’s guaranteed.” My sister sighed and said, “Did you know that Kisaki-san is having dad’s baby?”
“Yeah... I heard it from Kisaki-san at Orihara-san’s apartment earlier.”
“Is that right? Dad told me after you left the house. He had a bit of a smug face when he said, ‘You’re probably going to have a little brother or sister.’”
“...”
“I suppose it’s a happy and joyful occasion, but... it’s kind of awkward,” my sister said with an awkward expression. “I can’t believe my father is going to have a shotgun wedding.”
“I hear it’s more polite to call it an ‘unexpected opportunity’ these days.”
“No, no. I feel like ‘unexpected opportunity’ didn’t catch on as much as people thought it would, so in the end they just went back to saying ‘shotgun wedding.’ I get the feeling that people use ‘shotgun wedding’ as a neutral phrase these days.”
“Really? Yeah, well, I don’t really care.”
“Yeah, either way, it doesn’t change how awkward this is... Seriously, what are you doing, dad? You’re old enough to know better. Don’t let your sex drive get the better of you...”
As a daughter whose dad was in this situation, she’d probably gotten some ideas about what had happened, and she looked like she had some complicated feelings. Since I knew a lot of behind-the-scenes details—and as a fellow man—I probably should have done my best to defend my father and say, “No, you got it wrong. In fact, it was Kisaki-san who actively went no holds barred. Dad is more the victim here.” Or something like that. Yeah, I probably should have explained things for the sake of my father’s honor, but I didn’t have the energy to do it now. Yeah...things were a bit of a mess, so my hands were tied.
“It’s not like the kid makes it binding, but those two getting married is probably a done deal. Either way, if dad doesn’t marry her, I’ll never forgive him. He got someone pregnant, so he needs to take responsibility for his actions.” My sister sounded fed up but also somewhat determined. “With that in mind...Kaoru, I’m sorry, but I can’t take you and Orihara-san’s side.”
“...What?”
“Well, I’m not going to actively work against you, but I have no intention of making any moves to protect you guys either. What I’m going to prioritize the most here is dad and Kisaki-san’s relationship. More specifically, I’m going to prioritize our new family member that Kisaki-san is carrying.”
“...”
“If dad and Kisaki-san’s relationship doesn’t work out and our household doesn’t find some kind of stability, then I’ll feel sorry for the child that’s about to be born. That’s why I’m going to consider that child’s future and our family’s peace as my top priorities. I’m sorry, but...I can’t put you guys first.”
“I see.” I nodded at her words like I had made up my mind. “That makes sense... Yes, I understand. That’s what you should do, Nee-chan.”
My sister’s declaration was refreshing. Honestly, there was a part of me that had hoped that when she knew the situation, she would support us and take our side. However, that would have just been me being spoiled by her. What she said was correct.
If anything, I was proud of her. As her younger brother, I was proud of her for putting our household first and refusing to waver. Also, thanks to her being so clear about it, my eyes had been opened, and I’d steeled my resolve. This is a problem we need to face as a couple. However we resolve it, we’ll do it together.
“That’s my big sister for you. With a splendid eldest daughter like this, I’m sure our household will be fine.”
“Whatever. You do your best as the eldest son too, Kaoru.” We both laughed; the eldest daughter of the Momota family’s scolding had reached the eldest son of the Momota family loud and clear.
♡
It was Monday; a new week had once again begun. My worries were endless, but I still had to go to school on the weekdays since I was a student.
Still, even knowing that full well, simply getting over everything wasn’t so easy, so I spent the morning stressing about my family situation.
While we were having our lunch in the usual empty classroom during break, Kana asked me a question. “By the way, what is your class going to do, Momo?”
“What are you talking about?”
“What am I talking about? I mean what your class is going to do for the school festival, of course.”
“Oh, that.”
At our school, Seizan High School, we have a school festival in October. The festival was about a month away, so it was time for every class and club to start thinking about what kind of attraction they were going to put together.
During fourth period before lunch break today, all the grades had a homeroom meeting about the school festival. Each class decided who would be their representative, and from there they each discussed what they’d be doing for the festival along with each classmate’s role.
Our class had this meeting as well, but...I didn’t really say anything, and I just raised my hand for a safe choice that it seemed like everyone else would choose. Homeroom ended without me really standing out. I’d never really been the type to actively take part in classroom activities in the first place, but I was more concerned with other things at the moment beyond the festival.
“My class decided to do a yakisoba restaurant by majority vote,” I told Kana.
“Hmm, that’s a safe choice.”
“A lot of the people in my class are quiet types, so not a lot of them were really interested in something like a school festival. It took us a long time to decide who was going to be our representative.”
“Ha ha ha. Well, we’re still in our first year. Unlike the upperclassmen, we don’t know what we’re doing, so we can’t help being passive. In my class, everyone tried to push the representative role onto each other, and in the end...I ended up being the one chosen. It didn’t feel like a situation where I could refuse either.”
“That sounds rough.”
School representatives for the school festival are, just as the name suggests, representatives from each class. They communicate with the student council and the festival planning committee, attend various meetings, and work hard to make their class’s attraction a success. It’s the kind of position that leaves you fairly busy for the whole next month, it doesn’t look as good on your permanent record as being on the festival planning committee, and it doesn’t have anything going for it aside from being “fulfilling”: simply put, most people don’t want to do it.
If someone is going to do it though, they have to be a central figure in their class. So, in a sense, it was inevitable that Kana would be selected. He was a good-looking guy with good communication skills, he was an extrovert among extroverts, and what’s more, he doesn’t belong to any clubs, so of course everyone would want Kana to do it.