Dad!

“So you slept with Ayane-chan, right?” Aya finally asked me.

“MOM!”

Ayane, having yelled that, jumped out of her chair, red to the core while she stood on her tip-toes to gain a vantage point in the dispute. Despite this response seeming out of character for how quiet she was, I confirm that as someone equally quiet, I would’ve responded in the same way, and had been equally pissed when I heard Aya’s response.

“Ayane-chan, it’s not your turn to talk.”

Ayane grabbed the table, attempting to flip it over, although she was too weak for it to be an actual threat. That didn’t stop her from arguing, though.

“What!? You can’t just throw around something as embarrassing as that and expect me not to care!”

While Ayane continued her meltdown, Aya crossed her arms and put her finger on her chin, just like a detective.

“Really? You think it’s embarrassing?”

That provoked her to an extent where she could actually flip the table in half.

“Of course I do! Yuuki does too! Have you seen his face!?”

I didn’t have time to react to that though as Aka grabbed her away from the table. Granted, I had to think of a response once Aya put her eyes on me again.

“Ayane’s sure a perceptive one. You do look flustered, Yuuki-kun.”

With those words coming out of Aya’s mouth, I had to question them.

“I do?”

Apparently, my face turned red as a cherry, but I guess I had my focus elsewhere, so I couldn’t notice. As such, I chose to ignore her teasing and cut right to the chase.

“Well, it’s not like that matters.”

I took a deep breath.

“I did sleep with her. We… we didn’t have any sex though!”

Why did I have to yell it so awkwardly!?

Suddenly though, Aya burst out laughing, causing me to rise out of my seat in shock. Weirdly enough though, by the time she could speak again, she, along with Aka, simply smiled.

“Congratulations, Ayane-chan!” her parents said in unison with their hands in the air.

“It’s not that big of a leap!” Ayane argued.

It’s so cute when she turns on her tsundere mode, especially given how her father still held onto her, leaving her immobilized.

“Stop smiling, Yuuki-kun! Don’t encourage them!”

By this point, I burst out laughing, a response that no one saw coming. So much so that Aka loosened her grip on Ayane, allowing her to sit next to me again. Once she did, I held onto her hand.

“I love you so much,” I whispered to her.

“Even if you say it quietly, they can still hear us,” she whispered back.

I quickly glanced over to see Aya actively leaning toward us, then quickly turned away to forget what I just saw.

“That just goes to show how much I needed to tell you,” I said as I patted her head.

“A line like that would’ve been embarrassing, even without my parents involved.”

“And I thought I was being cool.”

After my quip though, I noticed that the tsundere button on Ayane turned off. She looked down at the ground, red in the face. Maybe she didn’t mean what she said, although I also doubted that she enjoyed listening to such embarrassing lines, knowing her.

I wanted to enjoy her cuteness forever, but sadly, Aya just had to butt in.

“You two really are a good match.”

“How come?” I asked.

She once again put her finger on her chin.

“I don’t know how to put it… Normally, I wouldn’t think a relationship like yours could work.”

“It works because they enjoy spending time together,” Aka said.

“Well, I didn’t expect you to have anything to say,” I clapped back.

“It’s not like I can’t talk. I just choose not to.”

“Liar,” we all said in unison.

Before the conversation could die too, Aya picked it back up with her infinitely good social skills.

“I still think Aka-kun is onto something, though.”

“I agree, although it is a rather basic explanation,” I said.

“In that case, you’ll just have to look for the answer,” Aya said to conclude the conversation.

We simply ate dinner by that point. Aka and Ayane had finished early since they never had much to say in our previous conversation, but Aya and I didn’t finish too much later given how quickly we ate our food.

“Delicious!” I yelled.

Ayane went red like she always did in these situations, although unlike usual, Aya had something to add.

“Really? I feel like it would’ve turned out better if I made it.”

“Like I care! I loved it more since it came from Ayane-chan herself.”

Having stood up to say that, my words of affirmation had gotten so corny by this point that even Aka started to die of secondhand embarrassment, resulting in Aya bursting out in laughter. This gave me the opportunity to talk to Ayane again.

“I don’t know why you find your parents so annoying.”

“Huh? Isn’t it obvious? They won’t ever give me a break.”

“I wish I had parents like that.”

“You don’t?” Aya blurted out.

“So you were still able to eavesdrop, somehow?” I tried to snarkily respond with.

Hearing this, Aya slammed her hands on the table with the eyes of a demon while breathing sharply like a pervert in a hot spring.

“I’ll never pass up on something interesting! Give me the details.”

I couldn’t say a word. I looked down with my face tensing up as Aya leaned closer and closer toward me. I think I finally understood why Ayane reacted the way she did toward her mom. She may have been nice, but she did not understand boundaries!

Unexpectedly though, Ayane pulled her away from me.

“Don’t get closer to him! He obviously doesn’t want to talk to you about it!”

Instead of talking back like she always did, though, Aya instead stared blankly at her. I couldn’t get a read of what her expression meant, whether it was sadness, anger, shock, or even happiness. That was until she finally spoke up.

“I didn’t know you’d grown this much, Ayane-chan. I’m so proud of you,” she said as she went for a hug.

I guess she might have changed her mind on the subject then. I frankly did not know how I felt at this point, to the point where Aka had to step in and just tell me what she went through.

“Sorry about that. She can be overbearing, but she’s quick to change her mind. She doesn’t mean any harm.”

Before I could thank him for clarifying, though, I heard a constant buzzing noise in my pocket. Putting my hand in my pocket to figure out what it was, I found my phone.

Answering the call I received, I answered.

“Yes, dad?”