Chapter 496: Chapter 488: I Can, You Can’t!
Tsukimi Sakurazawa breathed a sigh of relief and playfully chided, "Shirakawa, what are you saying? Whether it’s okay or not depends on what you say. I thought you were going to elope with Orikin on Christmas."
Despite the joking tone, there was an inexplicable sense of foreboding when placed on Shirakawa Sawahei’s shoulders. He shook his head with a wry smile and waved, "Then I’ll leave first. Be careful going home by yourself."
"I know, I’m not a child anymore."
"That’s exactly why it worries me when you say things like that."
"Alright ~ If anything comes up, I’ll contact you ~ Is that okay?"
"See you tomorrow ~"
The two waved at each other, turned around, and went their separate ways. After taking a few steps, Shirakawa Sawahei suddenly stopped, turned back and called out.
"Tsukimi."
"What’s up?"
The festive atmosphere of the street and the lively music drifted over, like some peculiar background music. The girl suddenly felt an illusion, as if the person standing only a few steps away from her was becoming increasingly blurry.
Like a dream.
"Will we continue to meet like this in the future?"
Tsukimi Sakurazawa was stunned for a moment, not responding immediately. They quietly looked at each other for a while, as if the surrounding scene had lost its focus, leaving only their two figures facing each other.
Here it is again... that uneasy feeling...
The girl gently pressed her hand against her chest, her expression a bit complicated. She wanted to say, as she always did, "Of course, we’re friends, aren’t we?" But somehow, she couldn’t bring herself to say it.
And the other words that were even harder to say seemed to want to jump out by themselves at that moment.
Shirakawa Sawahei remained silent for a while; when Tsukimi Sakurazawa didn’t speak, he thought for a moment, then smiled self-deprecatingly and said, "Sorry, forget what I just said."
"We will definitely meet like this in the future."
"..."
After saying this, Shirakawa Sawahei didn’t look back, hailed a taxi, and headed toward his destination. Tsukimi Sakurazawa stood dazed in place for a while, then pressed her hand against her chest again.
"Shirakawa..."
...
By the time he arrived at the Hayakawa family again, it was already eight o’clock at night. Regarding Shirakawa Sawahei’s sudden visit, Asano Fūsei, with a toothpick in his mouth, slowly uttered a question mark.
This kid... is he here to mooch a meal? Didn’t Natsu go to find him? And he still ran over here? Could it be they had a fight?
Good fight! Young man, as expected, I didn’t misjudge you!
"You haven’t eaten yet, have you? Want to have some?"
"No need." Shirakawa Sawahei calmly said, "I’m here mainly to have a few words with you... Asano isn’t here, right?"
"Natsu? Natsu is at her grandpa’s place... Should I call her over?"
"No need!"
Asano Fūsei sized up Shirakawa Sawahei, not knowing what he was thinking, when suddenly Hayakawa Sawaba’s voice came from the kitchen.
"Who’s here?"
"Ahem... a classmate of Natsu..."
"Oh, it’s Mr. Shirakawa, then let him in." This was Hayakawa Sawayā’s voice. It seemed the two sisters had just been busy tidying up in the kitchen.
"A Ye, you go entertain him, I’ll come out after I finish washing these."
"It’s such a hassle, why don’t we just not wash them?" Hayakawa Sawaba frowned and said, "Let Asano come do the work."
"No, Kaze-kun is already working very hard... Come on, I said I’ll do it myself, and you insisted on coming over to help."
"He’s not working hard today."
"Then just let him have a break for once."
Asano Fūsei stood at the door, listening to his two wives not far away gossip about him. Not only was his heart unmoved, but he even felt a bit like laughing.
"Alright, did you come over to chat with me? Then don’t just stand sillily at the door." Asano Fūsei spat out the toothpick in his mouth and patted Shirakawa Sawahei’s shoulder vigorously: "I said before, I’ve always wanted the chance to have a heart-to-heart with young people... What questions do you have?"
Shirakawa Sawahei looked inside a bit awkwardly, thinking that he came to you to analyze your thoughts. If during the conversation, he accidentally made things chaotic, you might just come at me with a knife, right?
"Um... with Aunties here... isn’t it inconvenient?"
"No worries, they are my wings. There’s nothing inconvenient."
Shirakawa Sawahei: "???"
You’re speaking so loudly, aren’t you afraid of a knife? The little Shura’s knife might be inherited from her own mother, you’re really brave.
So strong... I just want to learn this... even if I don’t sleep, I want to learn!
"If you really feel it’s inconvenient, we can talk outside." Asano Fūsei said naturally, "Of course, the premise is you won’t tell me you’re already with Natsu."
"No."
"Hmm? Haven’t you seen Natsu? It’s Christmas Eve today, have you finished shopping for things?"
Shirakawa Sawahei froze for a moment, bewildered and repeated, "Today’s Christmas Eve?"
"Did you travel through time?" Asano Fūsei was quite shocked, thinking to himself that his youngest daughter had already started planning various backstabbing setups for her sister from early on. Now you, this scumbag, are pretending to forget the time, is this really okay?
Do you think you live up to Natsu’s efforts!
Shirakawa Sawahei took a deep breath. Since escaping reality and playing games with cute little Ise Yu, he had gradually lost track of the passage of time. Even when talking with Tsukimi just now, he didn’t notice anything wrong in the conversation.
Today, Christmas Eve... which means Christmas is tomorrow?
The appointment with Little Arrogant is also today.
This is bad, even if he’s not in the mood to go shopping with Little Arrogant because of Ise Yu Yuzhijin’s confession, he should have canceled the date ahead of time rather than not show up without a word.
Shirakawa Sawahei snapped back to reality, seeing Asano Fūsei smiling, "Young man, you couldn’t have blown off my Natsu, could you?"
"..."
"You... you really blew her off, didn’t you?"
"It seems like that’s the case..." Shirakawa Sawahei said awkwardly, "I’ve been going through a lot lately..."
Asano Fūsei took a sharp breath, patted his shoulder in pity, "You... take care. When Natsu really gets angry, she’s quite hard to appease..."
"I..."
"Do you still want to deny it?" Asano Fūsei’s face changed, "You won’t still be aiming for Natsuoka, will you?"
Damn... where’s my knife? Where’s the knife Hayakawa Shinsuke used to hack me last time?!
"I just want to ask you a question."
"Are the two aunties inside both your loves?"
Asano Fūsei glanced at the window, snorted coldly, "So what if they are? You don’t think you can imitate me, do you? Don’t dream! Natsu will never agree, and I won’t ever agree either."
"They’re sisters, right?" Shirakawa Sawahei ignored Asano Fūsei’s rambling and continued to ask seriously, "Do they both know about this?"
"You kid... What are you trying to ask..."
"Please, you must answer my question." Shirakawa Sawahei bowed deeply, "I’m begging you."
The posture held for quite a while, Asano Fūsei was stunned for a moment, then he said a bit depressed, "You’re asking me this out of nowhere... isn’t it difficult for me to answer too... No matter how you look at it, I’m still an elder. Wouldn’t answering you like this be quite embarrassing?"
"I’m begging you."
Asano Fūsei was silent for a long, long time, finally he sighed and said, "Actually, this isn’t much of a secret... There’s nothing wrong with telling you... But don’t think that just because I can, you can too! If you dare to have any funny ideas about my two daughters, I’ll be the first to come at you with a knife!"