Chapter 89:
My Telekinetic Office Lady Girlfriend Is Way Too Powerful!
May, clear skies.
The crisp air carried the gentle rustle of fresh green leaves along the roadside trees.
“Sh-Shota-kun… Today we’re really meeting the father and mother…?”
That morning at Setagaya Station, Ryoko Takahashi was nothing like her usual cool, capable office-lady self.
Her white blouse was a little too perfectly ironed, her bag contained three double-wrapped gifts (apparently she couldn’t decide), and in her hands was a practice memo labeled “Father-in-law / Mother-in-law,” complete with pronunciation notes above each kanji.
“F-Fa…th-er-in… la…”
“No, Ryoko, calm down! ‘Father-in-law’—you’ve got this! I can do this. I’m capable!”
She was so nervous that her telekinesis had gone haywire while getting ready:
She almost brushed her hair with Shota instead of a hairbrush. Shota, who was trying to tie his tie, was suddenly lifted into the air and had his face rubbed against Ryoko's hair. Shota: "Hmm, it smells nice, but I'm not a brush!" The spoon she was stirring corn soup with trembled, then twisted into a butterfly knot. Shota: “Yikes! It doesn’t even resemble a spoon anymore!”Shota had seen this “overdrive mode” before, but seeing the unshakable woman who could chat casually with royalty become a flustered mess was… adorable.
“Ryoko-senpai, we’re early—let’s take it slow, okay?”
“Y-Yeah… Shota-kun, don’t you dare leave my side!”
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【On the Odakyu Line to Hon-Atsugi station】
On the train, Ryoko sat unnaturally straight, like royalty. She kept checking her handkerchief and blushing at a wedding fair ad before murmuring, “Do you think we should go to something like that…?”
Normally, she is an iron-willed queen whom no one in the company dares to defy, but today, she is completely immersed in the vivid reality of being an older girlfriend visiting her boyfriend's house.
(“Too cute… I can’t even laugh,” Shota thought.)
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【Bus to Nanasawa】
“Write the kanji character for ‘person’ on your palm and swallow it… it’s an old Japanese charm for calming your nerves… it’ll be fine…”
She muttered this charm repeatedly, swallowing the kanji from her palm. Even stepping off the bus, she smoothed her skirt and bowed politely.
“Shota-kun, um, just checking… these socks aren’t a color your father dislikes, right?”
“I’m pretty sure he doesn’t care about sock color, Senpai.”
“Ugh... But if he does... I would be forever known as ‘the dark history of the Sasaki family’...”
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【At the Gate】Seeing the tiled roof of the Sasaki home, Ryoko went pale.
“Shota-kun, can I practice one more time…?”
She rattled off her memorized greeting word-for-word.
Shota: (She memorized it…)
The nameplate read: Sasaki.
Ryoko closed her eyes briefly, smiled faintly. “…Alright. Charge♡”
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【First “I’m Home” at the Sasaki House】The gate’s dark wood and shining tiles framed a garden of seasonal flowers.
“So this is your origin, Shota-kun.”
Ryoko stood in front of the gate with her shoes lined up neatly and took a deep breath. Thinking that this one step would officially transform her from Shota's girlfriend to his wife, she felt a slight warmth in the pit of her stomach.
“Relax your shoulders,” Shota coaxed.
She nodded and stepped inside. The faint scent of wood and dashi…a family of stocks used in Japanese cuisine…greeted her.
Soft early-summer light streamed in through the veranda’s glass doors.
“I really love houses like this…” she murmured.
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From down the hall came light footsteps.
Ren “Sho-ta! And…”
Sliding the door open was Yumi, Shota’s sister, carrying Ren in her arms.
Yumi “Welcome~♡ Oh wow, Ryoko, you’re in full-on nervous mode! That’s hilarious!”
Ryoko “Yumi…! Ah, um, Sister-in-law, you’re here. I, um… came to greet your parents… about marriage…”
Yumi “Yeah yeah, I know you’re bad at formal talk. Don’t worry, I’ll be the bridge.”
Yumi winked, set Ren down, and smiled.
Yumi “But somehow... when you came to my house in Kofu two weeks ago, your expression was different, wasn't it? Back then, you were riding a bicycle you won in a lottery and saying, ‘I came all the way to Kofu.’”
Ryoko “Ugh... That was... That was because of my momentum and P-chan🎃's crazy modifications...”
Yumi “Hehe, Shota was desperate back then too, wasn't he? He said, ‘I'll never cross a mountain pass again,’ but he still went through with the marriage mountain pass (greetings). How admirable! ♡”
Shota “...It's a great honor to be praised by my sister, who brought 3-year-old Ren to my father's 60th birthday party and surprised him with the news of her marriage and Ren's birth...”
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Ren tugged Ryoko’s skirt. “Auntie...Ryoko?...Ryoko-chan?”
Ryoko “Just Ryoko is fine♡ Nice to meet you, Ren-kun.”
Crouching down to REN's eye level, YUMI crosses her arms and nods contentedly.
Yumi “Hehe, it's perfect. It's rare to find someone who REN takes to so quickly. ...Probably because of blood ties, right?”
Ryoko “What do you mean, blood ties!? Wait, YUMI, that's already a foregone conclusion...”
Ryoko blushes bright red, wondering what she's imagining.
Shota (It's been a while since I've seen Senpai blush like that naturally, not acting...)
Yumi “Okay, okay, just come to the living room quickly. Mom is waiting with tea. Dad is a little quiet today, but... I think he's actually happy.”
Amidst such exchanges, the tension gradually eased from Ryoko's shoulders. Yumi was her best friend, Shota's sister, and the person who would become part of her “future family.”
The kindness and smile she had shown that day on the mountain in Kofu were present in this old house, reminding her that she was the greatest “ally” she had today.
To be continued
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