The aftermath

The matter between the Tachibana household had ended.

The relationship between everyone had returned to normal.

Still, knowing the truth about what had happened to Jou, Shishio also started to think.

Was Jou right?

Jou decided to lie to his wife since he didn't want her to be involved in his debt. However, this action caused Tsukiko to be hurt and even affected her confidence as a woman, along with her ability to trust someone again.

If Tsukiko didn't meet Akihito, she would still be single and live in misery.

On the other hand, if Jou was able to say what really happened, then something like this wouldn't happen. After all, it could be seen after a few years of hard work, his debt had already been paid, so there was no need to worry too much about the debt. Even if they were in debt, and their lives might be quite tough few years, it would be okay after that.

After all, this was what marriage was about, right?

Marriage wouldn't be all sweet, like sugar. Many problems had sourness, saltiness, spiciness, and even blandness during a marriage, but if they could persist until the end, respect, be on each other's sides during the toughest time, and love each other until death parted them up.

That's what wonderful things about marriage are, right?

However, everything had happened, and it was impossible to return to how it used to be.

Tsukiko had agreed to let Rui work under Jou. Then she excused herself after she had a wonderful dinner prepared by her daughter. As for going back to the past, there was no such thing in her head. After all, she had a wonderful husband now, and the thought of divorcing never crossed her mind.

Still, before Tsukiko went back, there was something that she had to say, "Thank you for taking care of Rui."

"Ah, it's not a problem," Jou answered.

Tsukiko then looked at Shishio and said, "Thank you for taking Rui too."

"No problem, Auntie," Shishio said with a smile.

"Auntie?" Tsukiko frowned, but she thought for a while before she shook her head. "Well, just call me that."

Shishio stared at Tsukiko, but he didn't think too much.

Tsukiko then looked at Rui and said, "Don't forget to go home. I still haven't allowed you to live together with your boyfriend. You should wait until you graduate from high school before you decide to live together." Previously, it was different since she was in an argument with Rui, but since the argument between them was solved, it was impossible to let her daughter stay with such a dangerous young man like Shishio.

While Tsukiko must admit Shishio was reliable, she was just afraid that her daughter might get pregnant. As for the thought that her daughter and Shishio were having sex, she had already given up on stopping them and just told them to be careful since having a child their age was tough.

"I..." Rui wanted to say something, but in the end, she sighed and nodded reluctantly. "Okay..." What could she do? Her mother had accepted her selfishness before, so she could only follow her to go home reluctantly. Still, she looked at Hina anticipatedly since she knew Hina was going to move out, and by then...

Hina noticed Rui's gaze and only smiled while thinking about what had happened between her and her father.

Frankly, unlike Rui, her relationship with Jou wasn't that good. After all, she was old enough to understand what was happening between her mother and father. She knew her father had betrayed her mother, and she also didn't really like to meet her father since it reminded her of how despicable she was.

Fortunately, everything unraveled. There was no need to lie anymore. She was able to date Shishio and Rui peacefully, and what was even more fortunate was the fact the compatibility between the three was so perfect that they even did a threesome.

Frankly, when Hina came to the restaurant, she would be lying if she wasn't nervous, so she often drank alcohol so she didn't have to stay sober when she happened to meet her father. As for Rui's matter, she knew Rui would be alright, especially when Shishio was there.

While Hina might be an adult, she wasn't sure how to meet her father, but who would have thought she would understand what really happened to her father back then. Jou didn't cheat on her mother. Instead, he ran away because of the debt and lied to her mother that he cheated and made a daughter with someone else.

Frankly, Hina should be happy to know that her father wasn't a cheater. Yet somehow, it was hard to describe her emotions since she just didn't know. She was happy that her mother and Rui were happy, yet it was hard to talk with her father. Maybe, because she was an adult?

Unlike Rui, who didn't know anything back then, Hina knew what kind of remorse her mother had felt, so when everything was cleared up, should she just forget about anything?

Hina knew it was for the better, but unlike Rui, who wanted to become a chef, and wanted to work with her father. She didn't have much of an interest in becoming a chef, so while it was quite cold, if possible, she didn't want to talk much with her father.

It was also the reason why when Jou and Hina met each other, there was this awkwardness around them, yet Hina must admit it felt warm when Jou asked about what she was doing. The only thing that she couldn't answer was...

"Do you have a lover now?" Jou asked with a cheeky smile.

"......."

When this question was asked, Hina was quite stunned, and her eyes darted toward Rui and Shishio, but the two of them were being reprimanded by Tsukiko, which made it impossible for them to help her.

"Ah, I'm sorry if it makes you uncomfortable. It's okay if you don't want to tell me." Jou might realize that he was quite rude, especially when he had parted from Hina for so many years. Unlike Rui, Hina was an adult, which made it hard for him to interact with her.

"No, no, you don't need to apologize. It just makes it awkward somehow." After all, what kind of father would talk to his daughter like this? Hina somehow felt they were like a stranger instead of a father and a daughter.

Jou laughed, then joked. "Or were you seduced by Shishio?"

"Cough!" Hina was startled, and her heart almost stopped. "What the hell were you saying? We're teachers and students!"

"Sorry, sorry." Jou smiled bitterly when he saw Hina glaring at him. "I was just joking, alright?"

Hina sighed and said, "Don't say something like that again, dad."

"Okay, okay. I won't ask much, but I am glad you're okay," Jou said with a smile.

"Dad..." Hina looked at her father, and now, she could smile.

By then, the relationship between the two had become closer, and there was no awkwardness.

Natsuo was also happy since everyone was also happy. He was even happier when he heard that Rui had to be parted from Shishio. Frankly, he knew there was nothing he could do about the relationship between the two, so he could only accept it. After all, he must admit Shishio was so responsible even took care of Rui on her problem like this and even helped his step-mother.

Even if Natsuo didn't want to, he had to accept it since he knew they would be together from now on, especially whether Jou, Tsukiko and even her father, Akihito, supported the relationship between Shishio and Rui. Frankly, he wanted to tell them that Shishio was a scumbag who dated many girls, but somehow those words couldn't come out of his mouth since he knew if he said that, he would fool the mood of this occasion, so he could only endure everything.

The only good thing was that Hina was by his side, and she probably didn't have a boyfriend.

'I need to confess...' Natsuo thought.

With the matter settled, they cleaned up the restaurant before Rui returned along with her family, leaving Shishio, Jou, and Hibiki there. The three of them watched them leave before they looked at each other.

"Uncle, Hibiki, I'll go home now."

"Oh? Are you going back immediately? Don't you want to drink with me first?" Jou asked with a smile while making a gesture to drink alcohol.

"Who-Who cares about you?! Just hurry up and go home!" Hibiki pouted and looked away.

"Then, I'll go back." Shishio teased this little tsundere.

"Huh? You're really going back, Shishio?" Hibiki asked sadly, wondering whether they could meet again.

"What are you sad about?" Shisho just rubbed Hibiki's head.

"As I have said, don't treat me like a child!" Hibiki raised her hands, showing her annoyance, but she didn't slap his hand away.

"If you want to meet, just text me," Shishio said in a whisper.

"O-Okay." Hibiki blushed and nodded gingerly.

"......." Jou stared at the two of them, then asked, "Say, is it only me, or has your relationship become so close?" He wondered whether this was a normal friendship between a male and a female in the current era.

"Wh-Who is close with him?!" However, Hibiki quickly got angry at Jou.

"He-Hey, you don't need to get so angry..." Jou was so helpless when his daughter hit him lightly. After coaxing his daughter, he looked at Shishio and asked, "Are you in a hurry?"

"I need to prepare something since I will have to go somewhere," Shishio said while wearing his helmet.

"Where?" It wasn't Jou who asked this question, but Hibiki.

"Izu." His answer was simple.

"Why?" 2x

The two asked at the same time, wondering why Shishio went to Izu.

Shishio looked at the pair of a daughter and a father, wondering why they asked him so many questions. "For a trip. Then, I'll go back now." He said goodbye politely before he left them.

"......."

The two stared at Shishio while saying goodbye, but inwardly, they must admit they were so jelly at this moment.

"Dad, how about we take a trip to Izu with mom?" Hibiki suddenly asked while looking at her father.

"Hmm... if I go on a trip, it's better for me to go with your mother alone. If you're there, it's hard for us to be intimate," Jou said of his selfish desire.

"........"

Hibiki stared at her father and realized how heartless he was, so she just threw a tantrum while rolling around. "I want to go! I want to go! I want to go!"

"......"

Jou stared at Hibiki speechlessly and sighed. "Well, let's go together..."

"Yay~! I love you, dad!" Hibiki hugged Jou happily.

Jou sighed helplessly, but he showed a warm smile on his face.

Mikimoto also decided to take a trip to Izu, yet the probability of them meeting at Shishio's party would be near zero, but they should have a good family memory, so everything was okay, right?