He approached the monitor and enabled the speaker, “Asahiii, you there? It’s your old man at the dooor!” Kazuaki’s roaring voice erupted, causing Asahi to flinch and pull his ear away.
“Why are you guys here? I thought you were coming over at noon!” Asahi cried.
“I’m sorry, is that the first thing you say to your parents on New Year’s?” Toko scolded him.
“Happy New Year, Mom,” Asahi replied after a pause.
“Mhmm. Happy New Year.”
“Can you hear me, Asahiii? Happy new rear!” Kazuaki butted in with a joke unfitting for his age.
“For God’s... Dad, you’re not twelve. Where did you even hear that from?!”
“Did you get our message? We just texted you saying that we’re spending the night here,” Toko said.
“Yeah, I thought you were stopping by at noon, not in the middle of the night,” Asahi grumbled.
“I know we’re late, but we wanted to close up earlier so we could greet the New Year together,” Kazuaki explained.
“Too bad your dad took his sweet time composing a new menu.”
“Sorry about that—once the chef in me gets rolling, it’s hard to stop!”
Not gonna lie, it’s pretty annoying they felt the need to pop in on such short notice. They’re here to be with me, though, so I can’t exactly complain...
“Anyway, let us in. We’re freezing out here in the cold,” Toko said.
“Umm, about that...” Asahi floundered.
“Speak.”
“Sorry. I’m just, y’know... not finished cleaning up yet.”
“No need. We’re not strangers. Just open the door for us.”
“You don’t get it, Toko. A guy his age is bound to have a thing or two he doesn’t want his parents to see,” his father chimed in.
“Zip it, Kazuaki. That is not the case here. Something is off. Are you keeping something from us, Asahi?”
Kazauki’s shoulders drooped in dejection when his wife cut him off.
“Why would you put it like that? You don’t leave me any choice but to deny it,” Asahi argued, trying to play it cool so they wouldn’t suspect a thing.
“Good point,” Toko replied. While suspicion still marked her visage, Asahi’s nonchalant act won out in the end. “It is our fault for coming by so suddenly. We’ll wait for you out here. Call us when you’re done with whatever you’re doing.”
Asahi and Fuyuka both breathed a sigh of relief the moment Toko’s voice faded away.
Okay. We got through that hurdle, but we’re not outta the woods yet. I only managed to buy ourselves some more time.
Asahi was so busy wracking his brains that he didn’t notice Fuyuka poking his side, presumably with the desire to pitch an idea to him.
“Umm, why don’t I wait here for the time being?” she asked, mustering a smile to mask her nervousness.
“You sure you don’t wanna hide somewhere? They’ll swarm you. It’ll get rowdy.”
“I-It does sound tough, but I think I can manage. Besides, there’s nothing else we can do. I’m sure your parents will understand.”
“Hey, if you say so, then it’s fine by me. You sure pick weird times to act all bold,” he said with a sigh. He resigned himself to the reality of the situation, or—perhaps more accurately—seemed perplexed by it all.
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”
“Yeah. For example, have you ever looked at yourself holding a kitchen knife? You swing that thing like some fearless swordsman.”
Fuyuka didn’t reply.
“I’m joking, chill with the death glare,” he replied. I tried to be thoughtful and come up with something since I know she doesn’t like being around people, but she just said she’s fine with it. Guess I worried over nothing... Only problem is the barrage of questions they’ll have for us. Then again, it’s not like we did anything wrong. We don’t have anything to hide. I’m sure they’ll unwind once we tell them the truth. “All right, let me get the door.”
Fuyuka gave a slight nod, her face revealing her tenseness. That was when Asahi came up with a brilliant idea.
“Since they’re gonna find out either way, why not stay for New Year’s? We can have lunch and dinner together too,” he suggested. I was pretty worried about leaving her alone on New Year’s, but now that my parents are gonna know she’s here, why not have her join us?
“Are you sure your parents wouldn’t mind? I don’t want to intrude on the three of you while you’re enjoying your time as a family together.”
“Would they mind? If anything, they’d be delighted.”
He wouldn’t mind having her around, so he could easily imagine his parents’ reaction. As both chefs and parents, they’d be over the moon to have a female guest accompanying their son.
“Oh yeah, by the way—my parents are going to cook, so it’s gonna be pretty fancy. You don’t wanna miss it.”
Asahi wasn’t sure if his last line sealed the deal.
Fuyuka unpursed her lips, nodded, and said, “Well, if you insist. I’ll accept your invitation.”
Asahi left a faintly-smiling Fuyuka and made his way to the entrance of the apartment. He opened the door to welcome in his parents. It didn’t take his mother long to notice that something was out of order.
“Whose shoes are those?” she asked.
“My guest’s. I’ve got someone over, that’s why I didn’t let you guys in right away.”
“There’s only one pair, and they seem quite feminine. Were you celebrating the New Year’s with her?”
“That’s the gist of it, yeah.”
“I see,” she replied.
Toko had been able to deduce the specifics from the limited information she had access to. Kazuaki, on the other hand, had difficulty following along.
“A girl? You have a girl with you here right now?! Did we come at a bad time? Should we turn around and leave?!” Kazuaki yelled in a wild, over-exaggerated fashion.
“Dad, please, the neighbors!”
“U-Ugh, sorry.”
“Anyway, come in. She’s waiting for us inside,” Asahi beckoned them in.
They took off their shoes and proceeded to the living room which was at the end of the corridor.
“H-Hello there, Mr. and Mrs. Kagami. It’s been some time! I hope I won’t bother you by being here!” Fuyuka blurted out, adding an awkward bow.
Toko—rarely enough—wore a relieved expression. Kazuaki, on the other hand, was utterly shocked. He bellowed out his loudest scream of the day yet.