Nishina wanted to tell her that we’d split up, but can she really go ahead with it after hearing that?! Her mom’s already made the down payment for an apartment! This woman’s already counting how many grandchildren she wants!
“That’s good to hear,” my self-appointed mother-in-law said, showing us yet another terrifying smile.
She usually looks so kind, but she sure knows how to make a guy fear for his life...
“Your father agreed to your absurd request because of how in love you are with Ichigaya, so he wouldn’t be very pleased if things had changed. But anyway, it’s just a down payment. If you look at the apartment and you don’t like it, we can get it back and find a different place. I’ll help as much as I can so we can find a home that both of you like.”
Kokoro and I, feeling utterly defeated, could do nothing but voice the saddest, most broken laugh ever. Things have gone so, so wrong. So much for convincing Nishina’s parents!
“Oh, Ichigaya, I have a little favor to ask you. Would it be a problem if I were to sleep here for a couple of nights? I thought I’d asked Kokoro to ask you, but as it turns out, she never received my message, so...”
“E-Excuse me? Why would you need to stay here?” I asked.
“You may have heard from Kokoro, but we began renting out our home just before leaving for England. We thought we wouldn’t be back for three years, and Kokoro was staying with you, so...”
Heard... what? Did I ever hear that from Nishina?
“There’s still a family staying there,” she continued. “And until their contract is over, we’ll be living in an apartment. Unfortunately, the start date on our own contract is two days from now. And you see, after all that time I spent basically alone, I can’t stand the idea of spending another two days in a hotel by myself! There’s also the fact that I won’t be able to live with Kokoro anymore once she graduates from high school, so I want to stay close to her for as long as possible.”
Kokoro’s mom sounded very passionate about all of this, but the second problem could have been easily solved by not letting her daughter marry as soon as she graduated. Of course, I kept that thought to myself.
“I promise I won’t bother either of you, and I’ll cover the cost of my expenses. So, may I...?”
“Um, er, s-sure! Okay!” I replied. There was no way I could say no to the mother of my (fake) girlfriend after she’d said all those things.
“Really? Thank you so much!”
“O-Oh, don’t mention it...”
“Sheesh, Mom, you never think about other people’s circumstances.”
That’s an extra roomie we don’t need one bit... We’ll have to act like we’re dating the whole time she’s here!
Having agreed to let Kokoro’s mother stay in my house, we spent a little more time in the living room catching up after the few months apart. Or rather, Kokoro and her mom did that. I just sat there without a word.
They really get along well, these two. I’d never have guessed that Mrs. Nishina’s the type to prevent her daughter from enjoying her hobbies...
After chatting with us for a while, Kokoro’s mother told us that the long trip had left her in need of a bath. I was glad we’d been keeping the bathroom—and more or less the whole house, for that matter—in a presentable state.
“I’m so, totally sorry about all this!” Kokoro exclaimed as soon as her mother was out of the room.
“It’s okay, we’ll survive.”
“I just couldn’t tell her the truth with her going on about all that. She even put the money down for a freaking apartment. And now she’s gonna be staying here...”
Yeah, after all that, I can’t blame Nishina for not being able to break it to her.
“Oh well, that’s that. We just have to find the perfect moment to tell her during the two days she’s staying here.”
“Actually,” Kokoro began, “I’m afraid we won’t be able to do that for a while.”
“What?! How so?”
“She’s trying pretty hard to keep it together now she’s in front of you, but I can tell she’s super grumpy because of Dad.”
“I-Is she?”
I mean, she did give me chills for a second, but she looked pretty calm in general.
“You really don’t want to see my mom when she snaps,” Kokoro muttered grimly. “At least, we should wait until she makes up with my dad.”
“Really now?”
“She changes like night and day depending on how things are going between them. If we wait for things to get better, it’s a bit more likely she’ll just forgive us.”
She must really love her husband, huh? But, wait... “a bit more likely”? That’s all?!
“For now, the best we can do is just act like we’re dating. Like, I don’t even wanna think how she’d react if she found out the truth. Will you help me out for just a bit longer? I’ll tell Dad to apologize to her, and once I move out, I’ll find the timing to tell her everything. I promise I won’t make it a pain for you.”
“O-Okay then...”
To be honest, I’d rather not be there when she reveals the truth to her mom, so that actually works a lot better for me. But we’re still going to pretend we’re dating...
Mrs. Nishina left the bathroom some time later. Now that she was with us once more, we had to go back to being careful not to reveal our secret.
“Whew! I feel much better now,” she said. “By the way, Kokoro, you’re done cleaning your room now, right? I’d love to see it!”
“Wh-What? Well, um, okay...” Kokoro replied nervously.
Good thing she already hid all the compromising stuff.
The room that Kokoro was staying in used to belong to my little sister, Kisaki, as did pretty much all of the things that were still in it at this point. Kokoro had already packed up almost everything she’d brought with her, hiding away some of the boxes on shelves and others in my room.
“It’s so clean...” Mrs. Nishina commented when she entered. “Perhaps even too clean. It’s like nobody’s been using it.”
Kokoro twitched in fear. Her mom certainly had a point—the room was so empty it didn’t look like Kokoro had actually been living in it. Of course, that was only because she’d recently tidied it all up.
“Th-This is Ichigaya’s sister’s room, so I’m only borrowing it, basically. I can’t fill it with my stuff; that’d be rude,” Kokoro said, failing to mention that was exactly what she’d been doing up to a few days prior.
“Hmm, I guess you’re right. Wait... Do you sleep in this bed?”
“Y-Yeah? I brought my own pillow and sheets though, since I thought his sister wouldn’t like a stranger using hers.”
“I see... So you’re following our rules and staying away from... untoward conduct,” Kokoro’s mom said, glancing at me.
Oh. I, uh... yeah. I think I know what she means by that.
“Huh?! What are you talking about?! We’re not doing anything like that!”
“Don’t get me wrong,” her mother replied. “I’m happy that you’re doing as we told you, but... the two of you don’t really act like a young couple at all.”
“What...?” That comment was enough to terrify both of us.
“You don’t even call each other by your first names.”
“Th-That’s just because, you know, we’re so used to using last names! Old h-habits die hard!” Kokoro stuttered.
“And to be honest, from how you interact, I don’t feel many loving vibes. Don’t tell me that you’ve already grown bored of one another. Are you even going on dates? Where did you go this summer?”
“D-Dates? We went to, uh... to the pool with a friend!”
Apart from the otaku-related events, which she obviously couldn’t talk about, Kokoro and I had only really gone to the pool together. Did she really have to mention Minami though? Won’t that make her mom more susp—
“With a friend? That doesn’t sound like a date at all.”
“W-We’re totally going on proper dates too! Just the two of us!”
“Such as...?”
“Um, well... You know, we go on dates like, every single day! So many dates we can’t even remember the details! Right, Ichigaya?!”
“Huh? O-Oh, yeah! H-Haha, indeeeed!”
“Really...?”
Now she’s even more suspicious!
“So,” Mrs. Nishina continued, “could it be that you were planning to go on a date today too? If that’s the case, I’m sorry I showed up like this...”
“T-Today? Um, yes, actually” Kokoro dutifully replied. “We were planning a house date sort of deal. You know, like, staying at home, chilling...”
“I see. But hey, since I’m here, why don’t we all go somewhere? I want to see the two of you having a date!”
By the way she said that, I couldn’t help but think she was trying to test us.
“What?!” Kokoro cried.
“Don’t worry, I won’t bother you at all! You can go wherever you want, and I’ll pay for it!”
“But...” Kokoro mumbled before turning her gaze to meet my own.
“I-I think we should accept your mom’s kind offer, Nishina,” I said, trying not to elicit any suspicion.
“F-Fine then.”
“I really want to see what kind of date you two usually go on!”
“I-In that case, um...”