217 – Assembling the heroines
“Sir, a groom! I don’t have a relationship with him!”
When Yuki Ka was startled and denied her relationship with Kim Yoo-sung, she said with a smile as if she knew everything about Fuma Kotaro.
“You don’t have to be so shy. My father first met your mother when he was in high school.”
“Oh, no! It’s not because I’m shy!”
Because it was a story that suddenly caught on, Yukika was perplexed, but tried to explain it as much as possible.
Perhaps it was only then that he felt something strange, and he asked with a hard face.
“Couldn’t it be that he skipped all the technology and said he wouldn’t take responsibility for you? If that’s the case…”
“So! Listen to what people say!!”
In the end, when Yukika, who had exploded, raised her voice, Kotaro Fuma quietly kept her mouth shut.
Perhaps thinking that it was only then that the atmosphere was able to talk calmly, Yukika let out a small sigh and said.
“It’s not the kind of relationship that Kim Yu-seong and my father think. Of course, at first, I tried to pass on Hayate on the condition that I become a son-in-law according to the family’s regulations, but through negotiations with the elders, I got rid of the powerful yokai that settled in the mountain in front of the village. I paid for it by getting rid of it.”
“The elders of the village allowed those conditions?”
“Yes. Probably because he needed a new heir to fill his father’s vacant position. After his father disappeared, no one in the village could learn hayate for nearly ten years.”
“Well, there’s no way those snarky old men would have granted such a condition for no reason.”
Fuma Kotaro nodded as if he understood roughly, and um… and took a moment to choose his words.
“Then, do you really have nothing to do with that Korean named Yuseong Kim?”
“…For now, it’s just a normal senior-junior relationship.”
“Yes…”
I didn’t really believe it, but Yukika decided to ignore it.
Because that’s not what’s important right now.
“So, is that really the only reason you’ve come to see me all of a sudden? Father.”
“Does a father need such a special reason to come see his daughter?”
“I don’t know about other family members, but my family does. Ten years ago, why did you leave the house without saying anything?”
To Yukika’s question, Kotaro Fuma seemed to be unable to answer, so he closed his mouth for a moment.
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Then he let out a deep sigh and said.
“Now is the time to tell you why I left town that day.”
After saying that, Kotaro Fuma took something out of his pocket.
It was an old pack of cigarettes.
“Is it okay if I open one?”
“My apartment is non-smoking.”
“…Really?”
With an awkward gesture, he put the pack of cigarettes back into his bosom and then said with calm eyes.
“It was 13 years ago, when you were just 5 years old.”
***
Your mother, Yukiko, was originally a healthy woman.
When I was in high school, it was to the point where rumors spread around the school.
But after giving birth to you in her hometown, she suffered from puerperal fever and her health deteriorated rapidly, and she suffered for several years before dying.
The elders of the village approached me as I was grieving over the body of my wife and whispered,
‘Get a new wife and make a boy who will carry on the family lineage.’
But I, who truly loved your mother, refused the elders’ request.
The reason was that if you were still young and got a new wife, you would be confused.
But the elders of the village kept on harassing me, so I made one condition.
If you wait until you’re 8 years old, I’ll get a new wife after that.
Then, having no other option, the village elders accepted my terms, and I taught you trust in the short amount of time I obtained.
If I disappear, so that I can take care of myself.
The day you turned 8, after all that time had passed.
I left the village on my own.
***
The story her father, Kotaro Fuma told her, was shocking.
To a certain extent, to Yukika Fuma, who had lived her entire life for the sake of the village, it was tantamount to denying her entire life up until now.
Her grandfather and the elders of her village had hidden her secret from her, which was ugly indeed.
So she denied it.
“…A lie.”
“I’m not going to ask you to believe me now. But as much as I loved your mother, I mean it.”
“It’s a lie!!”
It was an instant.
She aimed the blade of Raikirimaru, which she had hidden under her tatami, at Kotaro Fuma’s neck.
“Are you saying you’re just showing up after 10 years?! You can’t just ask if I’ve been doing well! No, am I really your daughter?!”
Fuma Kotaro silently closed his eyes at the torrent of emotions pouring out all at once, as if a blockage dam had collapsed.
It’s because it’s something I’ve already been prepared for since I came to visit her daughter after 10 years.
“What are you! You appear out of nowhere and ruin my life!!”
“I just…”
“Answer me!!”
Fuma Kotaro, who had pursed his lips for a while, managed to open his mouth.
“…Sorry.”
An awkward air lingered in the room.
“I didn’t mean to confuse you. I just heard rumors that a new Fuma Kotaro had appeared, so I was just wondering how you were doing.”
Word after word, he continued to speak in a calm voice, and then quietly rose from his seat.
“Let’s go away today. I don’t think we can continue talking any longer in the current atmosphere.”
Boom!!
After saying that, Fuma Kotaro’s figure disappeared along with the smoke.
Left alone in her tiny room, Yukika stared blankly at the spot where her father stood, then she dropped the hilt of her sword to the floor and sat down helplessly and began to cry.
***
The midterm exam, which started on Monday, is already on its third day.
Because I usually take 2 to 3 tests a day, the midterm ends tomorrow.
The atmosphere in the class, which was tense because of the exam, was naturally relieved because of it.
Since the main subject, Youngsoo Guk’s exam, is over today, it is practically treated as the end of the midterm exam.
“Hey, hey, where do we go to play tomorrow?”
“Arcade? Karaoke? Anywhere is fine.”
As I was sorting out the test papers, listening to the voices of the hard-nosed trio who were already making plans to play, Sasha came up to me and asked.
“Kim Yuseong, is it okay tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow? Why all of a sudden?”
Then Sasha said with a nonchalant face.
“My parents are coming to Japan to see me tomorrow. They said they wanted to meet you then.”
“…What?”
The moment I heard those words, I felt the inside of my head instantly turn white.
That’s also true, because Sasha’s father was Ivan Romanov, whom I served as a muk bowl during Golden Week.
To borrow Fuma-senpai’s words, he is the leader of the seven swordsmen who are said to be the strongest in the underworld.
The man called the ‘God of Destruction’ in Russia was Sasha’s father.
I asked, feeling my hands tremble involuntarily.
“Go, why is Japan suddenly?”
“Hasn’t it already been half a year since I came to Japan? My mother said she wanted to see my face. We video call every day, but it’s different from seeing it in person.”
“Really?”
The warning light in my head beeps loudly.
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t see anything good if I met Ivan again.
I did win once against him who was careless, but even now that he has grown in many ways, he was a threatening person.
First of all, a normal person doesn’t try to kill someone just because they’re wrong.
It is different from the normal people’s way of thinking.
However, Satoru, unaware of this situation, excitedly chatted after hearing Sasha’s words.
“Wow, if you’re Russian, Sasha’s father must be a manly man? Why do you see on the Internet that Russians ride brown bears on the roads?”
I wanted to say that it was a narrow perception, but I couldn’t deny it.
In fact, Sasha’s house keeps several brown bears as pets.
I could say that Satoru’s Russian-style manly image and Ivan matched 100%.
“So, what time should we schedule the appointment?”
“Wait, wait. It’s too sudden, so I’ll think about it…”
When I said that, it was time to think of a way out of the sudden predicament.
“Wow! Come to think of it, you’ve never been to Sasha’s house before, have you? Why don’t we all go out together?”
“…What?”
At Rika’s suggestion that suddenly intervened, I put on a dazed expression without realizing it.
Who meets whom?
“Well, that’s not a bad idea. I can show my friends that I’m doing well with my parents.”
Sasha, who had to decline this offer, reacts positively, so she is crazy.
“So it’s decided that we’re all going to Sasha’s house tomorrow? This sounds like fun.”
When Satoru, who doesn’t know anything, agreed, Sasha laughed bitterly and said,
“It’s not enough to say it’s a house. It’s just a temporary rental accommodation.”
“hahahahaha, since I’m an international student, it could be something like that.”
I was envious of the wealth that could be said as if I rented a suite on the top floor of a hotel, but now was not the time to think such carefree things.
“Wait, wait. Did you really decide to go?”
“You don’t have any plans for tomorrow anyway. Or are you just trying to fall for Yooseong?”
Are you disappointed?
I stared resentfully at Satoru, who acted as her cheater, without notice, and then I had no choice but to helplessly nod her head.
“Okay, let’s go.”
They said that even if you enter the tiger’s den, you will live as long as you wake up, so I’ll just have to behave well.