Chapter 12

Home visit~Act I~ 2006/01/06 15:57 Right off the bat in the new year, I was invited over by Y-ko’s mom for a traditional holiday feast. Since it was my first visit to her parents’ home, I decided to wear my suit. … Something tells me I’m doing this wrong, but I’m going to go with it. Dressing casually probably isn’t the way to succeed here. I ran through some quick mental dress rehearsals as I sat on the gently swaying train. I have plenty of possible situations and scenarios accounted for. The midboss, Y-ko’s mother, seemed friendly enough. No problem there. The real issue is the final boss, her father… I don’t have any intelligence on him, so I just have to go in light on my feet. Since the entire family will be there, I can probably rule out any screaming or beatings. At any rate, Y-ko will be picking me up from the station in the car, so we can come up with a game plan on the way there. Know your enemy and know yourself and you can survive any battle, or so the saying goes. The final result will come down to how much information I can gather on the final boss during the car ride. Hang in there, me. There is no strategy guide for this fight. All you can rely on are your own instincts and Y-ko’s backup. It’s time for a battle of the generations— …? It was an unfamiliar man who called out to me. What’s the deal? I’ve got bigger things to deal with. I need to start coming up with a plan before Y-ko arrives to pick me up! This is really important! I have to leave a good impression on the final boss, her exalted father! … Nice to meet you? If he’s never met me before, how does he know my name? … Uh-oh. I’m getting an extremely bad feeling about this. Why is the final boss himself coming to greet me?! This is moving too fast! The final boss is supposed to come at the end!! I introduced myself, already having a minor anxiety attack on the inside. Wait. Chill out. Settle down. This is an accident, but an accident that can be conquered easily with a cool head. He must have simply been the driver on the way here. When we reach the car, Y-ko will be sitting in the passenger seat, monitoring the situation. She’ll be laughing at me, all freaked out about running into her father so suddenly. … Which means we need to get to the car so I can rendezvous with Y-ko as soon as possible!! Why are you opening the passenger side door, sir? All that we’re going to see is a maniacally laughing Y-ko… … Y-ko… …… who is not in the seat… Nor, for that matter, is she in the backseat… But why? But…? When your boyfriend is making his first visit to see your parents, that’s about the last thing you would ever say. I mean, it was only just aired last night. There’s absolutely no need to watch it at this particular moment. Yikes!! But in that case… In that case… Make damn sure that you come and pick me up yourself like you planned! Thanks to this, I got to have a long conversation with her father.