Chapter 13

Home visit~Act II~ 2006/01/08 16:51 The car speeds along. Speeding toward Y-ko’s house. Y-ko’s father is behind the wheel. Sitting in the passenger seat, clad in a nice suit, is me. We are the only two souls in the car. I am alone with my girlfriend’s dad. This is a time of tribulation for a man. But I was keeping the conversation moving, saying things like, “Isn’t it cold?” Small talk, safe little pleasantries. Even though I felt on the verge of tears. Suddenly, he expressed an interest in the paper bags I was holding. I had two large paper bags cradled on my knees. He probably assumed that I had brought some kind of present or offering. … Actually, not quite. Well, I assumed it would be Y-ko who came to get me… Then I could have handed them directly over to her. After this bit of conversation, we had made it to the house. I thanked her father and got out of the car. As we walked in the front door, there was Y-ko— … Absolute injustice. It’s your fault for not telling me which station was actually closest. Her eyes swiveled to the bags I was carrying. Before I could finish my sentence, Y-ko had grabbed both bags away. What if they get freaked out by it? I mean, I’m already freaked out enough. It’s how I’d feel if I saw piles of shjo manga at my friend’s house. As we stood talking, her mother came down the hallway. I delivered the greeting that I had practiced numerous times on the train ride. I was guided to the living room, and Y-ko’s father returned from parking the car. Wow, they’re really nice. The food was brought out in a huge, fashionable pot. Yes, very colorful and cute. I can see that Y-ko’s mother picks her kitchenware carefully. And then she let slip a bombshell. … Pardon? Le Creuset? That sounds so familiar for some reason. As a matter of fact, the first thing that popped into my head was this man: *Rau Le Creuset, ZAFT commander from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. The lineage of Gundam characters wearing masks or sunglasses proceeds as follows: Char and Kycilia (Gundam) → Quattro (Zeta) → Haman (ZZ) → Carozzo (F91) → Chronicle (Victory) → Schwartz (G) → Zechs (Wing) → Jamil (X) → Harry (Turn A), and lastly, Le Creuset of Gundam SEED. As I stood in shock, she began to describe her Le Creuset to me. As she spoke, I could hear Le Creuset ranting within my head. I couldn’t contain my laughter, so I stifled it with a hasty cough. This is truly the work of a supervillain. He’s even got unsuspecting housewives on his side. And she grinned, for some reason. It seems that Y-ko and her Gundam otaku brother had the same reaction to the pot that I did…