God, I wish I was one of those bumbling, thick-skulled light novel protags right now, Naoya lamented to himself. If he were, he wouldn’t be bound by knots of fear, and he could actually enjoy his cake. Unfortunately, he was still very much Naoya, and thus he needed to figure out a course of action.
Naoya was good at reading people—not just their general emotions, but also how they felt toward him. Sometimes he liked to assign a number on a scale based on how much favor he held with someone—an affection meter, if you will. Koyuki, even though she herself would never admit it, was at around a full 100. Yui and Tatsumi would be at about 70, and those with no interest in him would be pretty much zero. So where did that place the man? Naoya stared directly into his eyes to ascertain his affection level.
“Um, is there something on my face?” the man asked in a perplexed voice.
“No, no. I was just thinking... You’re a foreigner, aren’t you? That’s so cool.”
“Haha, you’re simply flattering this old man,” the man replied with a wide grin. “But what truly defines a ‘cool’ man is their ability to help those in need. Someone like you, my boy, is the purest definition of ‘cool.’”
“Oh no, please. Anyone would’ve done what I did,” Naoya faltered.
“Modesty is a virtue, my boy, but you should also know when to accept praise,” the man advised him with a warm smile. Naoya smiled awkwardly back.
This man was probably at around 70 on the meter—very high for a first meeting.
Oh god! I’m buttering up her dad, and he doesn’t even know who I am! Naoya resolved to come clean and tell the man who he really was. He attempted to steel his resolve, but a question suddenly popped in his head—one that took the forefront over confessing the truth. “Um, what were you planning to do to your daughter’s boyfriend if you found him?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” the man’s eyes narrowed harshly. Paired with his handsome face and sharp features, it gave him the look of a seasoned military man. Was he planning on giving him a stern warning to leave his daughter alone? To drive him away before their relationship progressed any further? Naoya couldn’t help but see this man as the very picture of a stubborn, overprotective parent.
However, the man replied by sighing and hiding his face behind his hands. “I likely would have just ran away,” he mumbled feebly.
“Ran away?! Why?!”
“‘Why?!’ Because I have no idea how to greet my daughter’s boyfriend, of course!” the man cried out, on the verge of tears.
Naoya hadn't been expecting the man’s strange reaction, but it also wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. He really is Shirogane’s father, after all, he mused. “I’m honestly surprised. I expected you to want to drive him away or something.”
“Well, that was certainly one option! I don’t want just anyone dating my wonderful daughter! But it was also the one thing I simply couldn’t do,” the man quickly deflated as he spoke. “She’s looking forward to him coming so much. She woke up early this morning, you see, and she’s been cleaning the house and baking cookies with her sister all day.”
“Oh...” Naoya replied. He had to stifle a dumb, sappy smile that was dangerously close to plastering his features. As they had left school yesterday, Koyuki had said, “Don’t expect some big welcome, okay? You can eat your cookies and go.” Naoya knew she hadn’t been entirely upfront back then, but still—he hadn’t expected anything like this.
Sadly, Naoya’s lifted spirits were soon to be crushed by her father’s next words.
“On top of that, it’s been ages since she’s invited anyone to our house, and I couldn’t possibly deny her that. She had friends in elementary school, but at some point, she seems to have lost them. She used to spend all day inside, alone, reading by herself. Recently, however, something has changed—she’s brightened up, she’s excited to go to school, and she’s always out on the weekends. It has to be because of her boyfriend,” the man explained as his gaze fell to the table. His voice was quiet, and it had mixed shades of relief, happiness, and regret. He sipped his coffee before continuing, “My daughter is brilliant. For her to accept this boy must mean that he's truly an amazing person...”
“So you don’t have the courage to meet him,” Naoya observed.
“Yes,” he replied quietly after a brief pause.
“That’s very honest of you to admit,” Naoya commended. He thought to himself, If I was to tell him who I am, would he reverse his thinking? He knew that he would be seeing a lot of this man for the foreseeable future, so he couldn’t afford to leave a bad impression. Although he decided to hold his tongue for now, he knew he would still have to tell him sooner or later. His back was soaked with sweat as he sat there with his thoughts swirling around in his head. It’s just a matter of timing...
The man hung his head low and confessed, “I brought you here to thank you, but in truth, I also wanted someone to talk to. Thank you. I’m sorry for bothering you with this.”
“No, no—I’m happy to listen to anything you have to say!” Naoya quickly assured him.
“You are a kind boy,” the man said with a soft smile. Naoya could sense the man’s affection score soar from 70 to 80. If this were a video game, he knew he would’ve just gotten a message saying, “He will remember your words.”
On the outside, Naoya was calm, but his mind was a mess of jumbled thoughts and crossed wires. His hands trembled lightly while he sipped on his coffee.
The man looked at him, then frowned. “Forgive me—are your plans not being interrupted? I did drag you here without much discussion...”
“No, I still have time,” Naoya replied as he checked his watch to confirm. He had about an hour before Koyuki was supposed to come and meet him at the station. Naoya wasn’t really worried about waiting; he was just uncertain whether or not his heart could take much more of this.
Suddenly, it occurred to him that the topic of conversation had shifted, which provided him the perfect opportunity to come clean. Naoya placed all of his hope into the man understanding the meaning of his next statement. “I’m actually visiting the house of a girl I like after this.”
“Oh, really? What a coincidence,” the man replied with a raised eyebrow. He took a neat bite from his cheesecake, completely oblivious to Naoya’s implication. Naoya felt his heart sink. The man asked him in a hushed, embarrassed voice, “So you must be quite nervous too, correct?”
“Oh yeah. I’m very nervous right now. Very, very nervous.” This was not a lie in the slightest. “But if I run away now, I’ll never get anywhere. I’ll approach her parents honestly and openly.”
“But her parents, especially her father, might not be so welcoming,” the man warned.
“That’s true, but I’ll just have to deal with that if it happens. I’ll meet and speak with them as many times as it takes for them to accept me.”
“You have guts,” the man admired. He took a pause to down the rest of his coffee, then sighed with downcast eyes. “But what you’re saying does make sense. I need to prepare myself. I will meet my daughter’s boyfriend openly and honestly, as well. You’ve helped me today, so I can’t exactly run from my fears in front of you, can I?”
“Please...” Naoya smiled awkwardly, to which the man replied with a playful wink. He straightened up in his seat. The conversation was entering its final stages now—he had to say something now, or he’d miss his chance. “There’s something I have to tell you, actually...”
“What is it? Would you like a second serving of cake?”
“No, it’s something serious,” Naoya replied. He took a deep breath, readied himself, and blurted out, “I’m actually—”
“There you are!” a voice called out from the entrance.
“Huh?!” Naoya gasped. The shock had made him bite his tongue. In the end, he never managed to confess. His head whipped around, and he spotted a familiar figure—it was, of course, Koyuki.
For the special occasion, she had changed into a black dress that was neatly adorned with flower designs. Several dainty flower ornaments also crowned her head, completing the look. It was, for all intents and purposes, a prim and proper spring look. Wow, her outfit’s totally different from before, but still really cute, Naoya marveled, awestruck by her beauty.
The man may have been even more dumbfounded than Naoya. “Koyuki! What are you doing here?!”
“Mom told me to come get you. ‘Go bring that scaredy cat back’—her words exactly. I figured you’d be here, and it looks like I was right.”
“I should’ve known. Could you give me a minute though, dear? I’m having an important conversation with this young man,” her father answered.
“Wha?” Koyuki blurted out.
“I’ll spare you the details, but he helped me in my hour of need. He is a good man. Your so-called ‘boyfriend’ could learn a thing or two from him, I’m sure.”
“Daddy, what are you talking about?” Koyuki tilted her head in confusion. “That’s my boyfriend there. That’s Naoya.”
“He’s what?” the man replied, whipping his head back to the boy in question.
“Nice to meet you,” Naoya replied feebly, placing his head on the table in a makeshift bow.