CH 49

49. Mother’s true intentions

Fountain… date… Yes, it was a fountain date…

Of course, in a Mama’s Association, such information is leaked out.

My eyes met Rie’s.

“Yes. It’s been a while since I went there. It was so much fun.”

Rie and Mom nodded to my words.

Then Mom said,

“I see. But, for giving such a thing called a “Free Hug Ticket”, aren’t my Take-chan getting bold.”

“Guhh!”

“Gahh!”

Rie and I held our chests at the same time.

“W-why do you know…”

“Because I heard that.”

“…………”

It’s an emergency. My life point is approaching zero. I’ve never thought “that” will be known by Mom… more so this fast…

“I was a little surprised you know? When I asked Aki-chan, she said she knew it already. How to say, I feel like I’m being left out.”

“No, that’s not my intention…”

What is this flow? Is it bullying?

“But, boys sure grow up so fast. Well, I thought that you were reaching that age, but before I knew it, you had already picked up someone’s daughter. Seeing that you grow up well, made me a little happy.”

Rie was uttering something that couldn’t be understood, “Uhauhauha”.

I know how you feel. I can’t stand it too.

“So, what did you say when you gave it?”

Mom’s eyes twinkle.

This is bad, I’m sure I can’t escape this.

I’m sorry, Rie. Really, I’m so sorry.

After that, Mom kept adding fuel, and Rie kept pumping steam. It felt like I was in a steam locomotive.

◇

After dinner, Rie left.

It was late, so I suggested that I would send her off, only to get a strange gaze from Mom and Rie.

Yeah, I forgot that in this world, walking alone at night was more dangerous for men.

As expected, although I had the knowledge, I still couldn’t get used to the common way of thinking of the people of this world.

“Today was fun”

When Mom said so, something came to my mind so I asked her.

“Maybe, the reason Mom invited Rie to come here……”

“She’s a girl that Take-chan chose, right? And I happened to see her, I thought that it would be nice to get to know her better.”

I don’t know where Rie’s house is, but since we went to the same middle school, it shouldn’t be too far from here.

Seeing her by chance isn’t something impossible. But, if I didn’t give the Free Hug Ticket, Mom might not have called out to Rie.

“Rie was troubled, you know.”

“Well, I guess I did something mean. But I wanted to meet her because she’s the girl Take-chan chose.”

Mom spoke without hesitation. Perhaps this was the general state of mind of a mother with a son.

Even in the original world, it was normal for fathers to intervene in their daughter’s relationships.

“I’m sure one day you’re going to “connect” with her. So, I thought it would be better in getting to know her sooner so it can proceed sooner.”

“Pfft!”

“Ara ara, Take-chan. What’s wrong?”

“M-mom…?”

“But you gave “that” to her, right?”

“Th, that’s… that’s right… but…”

I never thought that parents would speak like that so casually. I mean, I’m only 15, you know? Isn’t it too early?

In this world, both men and women could get married from the age of 16.

In the original world, people used the convenient expression “marriage”, but in this world, it wasn’t a very common expression.

Perhaps because “Marriage” meant that a man and a woman became a husband and wife, it had a strong meaning of having one partner.

But, this world’s normal thing was to be polygamous. Well, considering the male-to-female ratio, it wasn’t strange.

The problem would be the form. In the case of Japan, “Living Together (LT)” and “Living Apart Together (LAT)”, both had become mainstream.

During the Heian period (794-1185), LAT was common, but as times progressed, the number of LT increased.

However, in this world, LAT had not disappeared from Japanese culture, and both have a history of successfully coexisting.

In other words, Mom guessed that I would be marrying Makoto, Yuuko, and Rie, and so she wanted to have contact with them as soon as possible.

Personally, I had no intention of leaving the three, and so, it was kind of true, but when your own parents told me, you would feel embarrassed, right? At least, I was.

“I’m not in a hurry for that. Besides, I don’t plan on leaving this house that soon.”

Based on the memory, of when I was in middle school, I learned a lot about marriage in class.

It was an important matter in this world, surely, it would be taught again in high school.

But, anyway, in the class, it was said that after a man had a de-facto partner, or under the circumstance of common-law marriage, they should proceed in the direction of “Getting connected properly”.

It wasn’t directed at boys, but the meaning was the same.

Since that was how society should be, men were expected to get connected with women properly.

By the way, in the case of a LAT, no matter how many women a man married, most of them kept their wallets separated.

Even in the case of LTs, there were cases where the wallets were separated.

About the Family Register Certificate, well, it was a little bit complicated here.

When a man married someone, he would be the head of a new family, automatically removed from the mother’s family register.

In the case of the woman, she would be included in the man’s family register. However, there would be a problem, such as what about the woman’s mother, sister, aunt, etc?

Well, if they couldn’t meet the other conditions to live in the Special Ward, they would have to move out.

Luckily in my case, Mom and Aunt met those other conditions, but that didn’t mean I could feel at ease.

The possibility of not meeting the conditions wasn’t zero, and they might have to move to a house with lower taxes.

In short, this house was a temporary residence until I married someone.

“You don’t have to worry about us.”

“No, it’s not about that. Just that I have things to do first.”

“Things to do?”

Mom gave me a puzzled look.

“Anyway, I’m not in a hurry.”

“Is that so?… Take-chan, you should do as you please.”

“…You’ve met Rie today, but what about Makoto and Yuuko?”

By now, the three of them would probably be having a lively chat.

“Right…… I hope to meet them at least once before the end of this year. And I guess, meeting them one by one will be the best.”

Saying so, Mom started cleaning up in a good mood.

If it’s Makoto and Yuuko.. yep, they’ll be fine.

Well anyway, good luck. Just that, please don’t suddenly send a bullet in my direction. Spare me from the battleground.