Chapter 121: Meeting the Parents!

[You try every possible way to cheer up Reina Nakajima, who is feeling down. The two of you sit in an empty park at night. Your closeness saddens Reina; she feels that someone like her, with little time left, doesn't have the right to be loved.]

[You kiss her, expressing your love through the heat of your lips. She tells you about her illness, and your response revives her withered heart. However, fate plays a small joke on her—just as you confess your love, her heart condition acts up.]

[She's not in serious danger.]

[With the help of Yuko Ibuki, who had been secretly watching you two for a while, you quickly get Reina back to the hospital. The attending doctor rushes in, checks her test results, administers medication, and instructs her to rest well.]

[It turns out that her condition flared up due to emotional stress overwhelming her heart.]

[The nurses help cover up your night outing. You stay in the hospital room and end up running into Yohei Nakajima and Honoka Nakajima, who have come after hearing the news.]

[Yohei looks at you and Yuko Ibuki, then at his daughter on the hospital bed. His daughter, who has always been so calm—so calm it sometimes worried him—how could she have gotten so emotional that it triggered her condition?]

[The night outside grows deeper, and Yohei proposes that on Friday night, two days from now, they talk together in the hospital room about what happened.]

[He says this only to put his daughter at ease. After leaving the hospital, he asks Yuko and Honoka to head home first, then takes you to an izakaya.]

[You apologize to Yohei Nakajima and confess your relationship with Reina.]

[Yohei is first shocked that you two have been secretly dating under his nose for over three months. Then, he feels as if he's dreaming—he's often fantasized about his obedient daughter being a little more willful. That fantasy has come true, but he never imagined her first act of rebellion would be so astonishing.]

A short dialogue plays out:

"After bringing Reina back to the hospital, you could've left immediately. The fact that you stayed to wait for me shows that you're serious, doesn't it?" Yohei Nakajima lights a cigarette.

"I am." Yuuki Minami adopts a rare seriousness, needing Yohei to understand his intentions.

"Did she tell you about her condition?"

The waiter brings the food. Yohei puts down his cigarette, eats a piece of edamame, and takes a gulp of beer.

"I knew about it earlier, but she only told me the full details tonight."

"What made you approach her in the first place?"

"Curiosity about Nakajima Sensei's daughter."

"What about Yuko? What role does she play in all this?"

When Yohei brings up Yuko, Yuuki realizes they've moved past the main questions.

He doesn't know how to answer this one. Is he supposed to admit that Yohei's stepdaughter interfered in his relationship with Yohei's biological daughter?

"…You'll have to ask Ibuki-senpai about that yourself." It's the best he can say.

"Asking you or asking her—what's the difference?!" Yohei glares at Yuuki, trying to pressure him into revealing the truth, a skill he's honed in his years as a teacher.

"Even if I answer, Father is going to ask her again once you get home."

Yohei furrows his brows, speculating on what Yuko could've done. Based on the boy's words, it must be something hard to believe.

He takes a puff of his cigarette and chews on another piece of edamame.

Suddenly, he realizes something and narrows his eyes at Yuuki. "What did you call me a moment ago?"

"I don't remember." Yuuki flatly denies it.

Yohei studies the boy in front of him. Despite harboring some hostility toward this guy who's stolen his daughter's heart, he can't deny one thing—this boy is undeniably a stunningly handsome young man.

Although Yohei Nakajima held his daughter in high regard, he had to admit one thing: the boy standing before him meant more to his daughter's life than she did to his. The boy could have another relationship—perhaps several more in the future—but this was likely the only chance his daughter would ever have.

To be honest, he felt a bit guilty at this moment. He didn't know how their relationship had developed, but he suspected it was his daughter who pursued the boy. After all, even before they met, his daughter had shown great interest in the boy's existence.

"Reina's illness is practically incurable," he said, steering the conversation back.

"I know."

"Are you truly prepared?"

"Yes."

"And what about Chitose Kazumi?"

"She's known about me and Reina from the very beginning."

"Hah, who'd have thought you'd be so honest?" Yohei's tone carried mockery, but in truth, he appreciated Yuuki Minami's approach.

"I intend to marry Reina after graduation," Yuuki said next.

"Hah! Barely grown, and you're already talking about marriage!"

"Got it. I'll let Reina know that her father disapproves of our marriage."

"…?" Yohei set his drink down. "You're not allowed to bring this up with Reina!"

"Seems like Father doesn't understand how to ask for a favor." Yuuki's earlier seriousness faded, replaced by a playful smirk. "Not just what you said just now, but the whole situation tonight. You lied to Reina, saying you'd talk in two days, but instead dragged me to a late-night izakaya for questioning."

Yohei took another sip of his drink, the bitterness sinking into his throat. He realized he was in trouble. The boy had been so well-behaved in the hospital and on the way here that Yohei had completely forgotten he was dealing with someone difficult. His approval had been too obvious, and the boy had caught on—he wasn't afraid of him anymore.

"You don't want Reina knowing about tonight, either, do you?" Yuuki cornered him.

"What do you want?" Yohei conceded.

"The last page of the menu. There's a deluxe special set meal highly recommended by the chef."

"That's the most expensive one!"

[Yohei wasn't truly upset. On one hand, Reina's condition this time, while frightening, wasn't serious. On the other hand, he himself had been far more reckless in his youth.]

[He had used the boy's unease and guilt to gauge his attitude, and he was very satisfied. He felt grateful his daughter had met Yuuki in the final years of her life.]

[But Yohei had made his approval too obvious. Yuuki seized the opportunity, using Reina as leverage to extort him into ordering the most expensive set meal.]

[While Yohei winced at the cost, he couldn't help but feel a strange warmth toward the boy's lack of reservation. He began to see him in a fatherly light.]

[When the set meal arrived, Yohei, feeling defeated, sought to reclaim some pride—and to better probe the boy's thoughts—by pressuring him to drink.]

[You hesitated. Your body in this life had never touched alcohol, and you doubted you could handle more than a few sips. You prepared to cheat if necessary, but it turned out you didn't need to.]

[At dawn, you escorted a thoroughly drunk Yohei Nakajima back home. You hadn't expected the man's alcohol tolerance to be so abysmal.]