4

The next morning, at around eight, I was woken up by the ring of the doorbell.

Ugh, let me sleep... Summer vacation is for sleeping.

The doorbell rang once more, so I jumped out of bed and rushed downstairs.

Did Nishina call movers or something?

Still half asleep, I pressed the button on the intercom and asked who was there.

“Yoo-hoo! It’s me, Nishina. Good morning,” a familiar voice said.

Huh? Nishina? Why’s she on the intercom?

I looked at the display and realized that the familiar surname did not, in fact, belong to my roommate, but instead to someone much older.

“Huh?! G-Good morning! P-Please wait a minute!” I said, suddenly wide awake.

Just as I was dashing toward the entrance to open the door, a sleepy-looking Kokoro emerged from her room and met me downstairs.

“What’s going on?” she asked. “It’s still so early...”

“Nishina... didn’t you say your mom wouldn’t be back until next month?”

“Yeah, and...?”

“Well, she’s outside the door right now!”

“She’s... WHAT?!”

＊　＊　＊

In extreme confusion, Kokoro and I darted over to the entrance, opened the door, and greeted Kokoro’s mother for the first time in a few months.

“Kokoro! It’s been so long since I’ve seen you! And you too, Ichigaya!”

“Mom... Why are you here? You said you’d be back next month!”

“But I sent you a text about my change of plans, didn’t I?”

“What? No way! You didn’t!” Kokoro anxiously took out her phone and checked her LINE conversation with her mother. “See? You never told me!”

“But that can’t be! Look,” her mother said, handing over her own phone. “Here’s the message I sent you!”

“That’s not sent! Can’t you see the arrow thingy next to the message? That means it didn’t send right!”

“Oh... It does?”

That explains it. Nishina didn’t know she’d be coming either...

“Ugh. Just wait there for a minute, okay?”

“What? Kokoro?”

Before Mrs. Nishina could get an answer, her daughter returned to the living room, forcibly dragging me with her. Once we were out earshot, Kokoro began to desperately explain her plan.

“If I know my mom, she’s gonna ask to check my room... I can’t have her see my otaku stuff! I’ll go try hiding it as fast as I can, so buy me some time, okay? Keep her in the living room! Can you do that, please? I won’t take long—most of my things are already packed up!”

“S-Sure! I’ll try!”

She really is fast at coming up with a plan!

Being alone with Kokoro’s mother would no doubt be awkward for me, but this was no time to worry about such things. My soon-to-be ex-roommate sprinted to her room, and I went back to the entrance.

“S-Sorry to keep you waiting. Nish— I mean, Kokoro wanted to clean up her room a bit.”

“Aw, not at all. I am sorry for intruding so suddenly,” she replied as I escorted her to the living room.

Seeing her for the first time in so long, I was struck by how much she resembled Kokoro. I had no idea about her age, but, for having a daughter who was still in high school, Mrs. Nishina still looked rather beautiful.

Kokoro had told me that her parents didn’t like otaku stuff—the fact that she was suddenly so anxious to hide it probably meant that it was her mother who was the most biased against it. She doesn’t look like the kind of person to get mad about something like that though...

“Sorry about the mess. Here,” I said, offering her a glass of iced tea from the fridge.

“Oh no, it’s not that messy at all. Here, take this. A little souvenir from England.”

“Oh, thank you,” I said, accepting her gift.

“So, how are things? Are you and Kokoro getting along?” she asked me with a smile.

Of course, the narrative that we’d somehow planted in her brain involved Kokoro and me being deeply in love with each other, so much so that we were already looking forward to our marriage.

“Y-Yes! Very much so!”

“I hope she hasn’t started any arguments or anything of the sort. She can be a bit stubborn at times, my Kokoro, and she has a very harsh way of putting things.”

“O-Oh, not at all,” I said, despite wholeheartedly agreeing with her description. “She’s a really good girl, and I owe her a lot.”

My rebuttal wasn’t a lie either—I really did think that about her.

“Hm, I see. But if there’s anything about Kokoro that’s troubling you, you can always go ahead and tell me, all right?”

“Troubling me? Oh, no, she would never...”

Answering was hard enough, let alone keeping the conversation going, so I just let it die like that. I was just too nervous. Not only did I have to focus on pleasantries, but I also had to make sure I didn’t say anything that would make her realize that Kokoro and I had never been dating to begin with. I figured that the less I said, the better.

What’s taking you so long, Nishina?! Hurry up already! You said you’d be fast!

“She sure is taking her sweet time,” Mrs. Nishina commented. “You’d think she’d always keep your room somewhat presentable, since she’s the guest in it... but that’s just me. I wonder why she would have so much to clean up in the first place.”

“H-Hahaha... r-right... I-I’ll go check on her!” I said, escaping the living room and practically sprinting upstairs to knock on Kokoro’s door.

“Are you done?” I called.

“Wh-Where’s my mom?!”

“Still in the living room...”

“Come in then!” she said.

I walked into the room and found Kokoro standing on a chair, trying to put a box on a shelf above her. Since she was wearing one of those short dress-like things for pajamas—a nightgown, was it?—I was very close to getting a full-frontal view of her panties. I quickly looked away before she could tell.

“Agh, I can’t reach it! Can you help me?”

“U-Uh, s-sure...” I replied, stepping up onto the chair once she’d moved out of the way.

“Perfect timing by the way. There’s just one box left. Can I keep it in your room while Mom’s here? There’s, like, nowhere left to hide it in here, and if she saw what’s inside it, that’d be the end of me...”

“Sure, no problem,” I said, picking up the box and moving it to my room.

“Thanks!” Kokoro said as she followed me out. “That should be everything...”

“So, is your mom the one who can’t stand otaku?”

“Yup! I don’t think Dad really cares. She was so mad that one time she found me looking at some of this stuff you wouldn’t believe it. I managed to lie my way through it, but now I have to be extra sure that she doesn’t find me out.”

“O-Oh...”

I actually wanted to ask her more about that, but I didn’t want to make Mrs. Nishina suspicious by keeping her waiting for too long.

“Okay then, let’s go back,” I said.

“Wait a second!” She stopped me. “I wanted to discuss this with you a bit better before my mom showed up, but... don’t you think we should tell her that we broke up? Like, right now.”

“Right now?!”

“The sooner we do it the better, don’cha think?”

She has a point... If we keep the pretense up much longer, telling her parents we’ve broken up is going to be way harder. And she’s in love with someone else... I definitely didn’t feel ready to bring that up, but I knew we’d have to do it sooner or later.

“I’ll tell her, since she’s my mom, so just follow my lead, okay? I’ll say I fell in love with someone else, then you’ll totally get off scot-free.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.”

We headed back to the living room, prepared for the worst.

“Oh, Kokoro, there you are. Was it that messy up there?”

“Haha... Well, a bit, yeah...” Kokoro replied, sitting next to her mom. I took a seat on the chair facing the two of them.

“I heard from Ichigaya here that the two of you have been getting along nicely. I’m so happy to hear that.”

“Huh?!” Kokoro, shocked, shot a look in my direction.

What else was I supposed to tell her?! I thought we were supposed to lie for a while longer!

“You see, my biggest wish is for the two of you to continue loving one another. Even after you’re married, I hope you’ll be a lovey-dovey couple for years and years.” Mrs. Nishina closed her eyes as if in prayer.

Why are you talking about years into our marriage?! Slow down! This isn’t going how we planned at all!

“W-Well, I know you and Dad are like that, but, that’s kind of like... just your thing. Y-You shouldn’t force that on others, you know?” Kokoro replied, choosing her words with the utmost caution.

It is true that her parents look like a lovey-dovey couple though...

“Dad and me? Lovey-dovey? Pffft. Please.”

“Huh?”

Kokoro looked just as surprised as I was to hear her mother’s tone make a full one-eighty. In an instant, Mrs. Nishina’s kind, nurturing manner had transformed into an annoyed, even angry, one.

“What was I thinking, following him all the way to England, leaving you here? Hah! I should have let him go by himself. Well, at least I’m glad it turned out to be an opportunity for you to spend more time with Ichigaya.”

“M-Mom? Did something happen between you and Dad?”

“Oh, you should’ve seen him! All the time I’ve been in England with him, he’s been nothing but work, work, work. He’s barely had any days off! I know he needed to increase his connections within the company, but I ended up being alone most of the time, in a new and scary place where I couldn’t even understand the people around me! Since I don’t know any English, he was the only person I could talk to, but every day after work he was so tired that he couldn’t even have a conversation with me! I’d have ended up depressed if I’d spent any more time there. I couldn’t talk to you, nor could I see my friends here in Japan, what with the time difference and the cost of international calls. I was so relieved when he told me that the company was preparing to send him back!”

“R-Really? But I’ve never heard you complain about any of that...”

“I didn’t want you to worry, since I knew you were still getting used to your new life together.”

I see... Mrs. Nishina’s explanation made perfect sense to me, but I also thought, more than a wife, she sounded like a needy girlfriend. Basically, she was sad that her husband wasn’t paying enough attention to her. It was clear that she still liked him. Personally, I felt more sympathy for him, having to work so hard in an unfamiliar country.

“So... did you come back before Dad because of all that?” Kokoro asked.

“That’s part of it, but I also just wanted to move back as soon as possible. I’m sorry that I’m tearing the two of you apart by coming here, but don’t worry. As soon as you graduate high school, you’ll be able to live together again!”

“Huh?”

She wants us to live together after we graduate? I, um... I guess that makes sense, since she expects us to get married. But how are we going to tell her that we aren’t dating “anymore” after hearing all this?

“Actually,” she continued, “I’ve already found the perfect place for you both. And I’ve personally taken care of the down payment.”

“WHAT?!” we both shouted in disbelief.

“You can’t be serious!” Kokoro exclaimed.

“Why are you so surprised? Anyway, with this you’ll be able to live together again as soon as possible!”

“Why didn’t you ask me first?!”

“Kokoro? You don’t sound happy about this as I thought you’d be. You wanted to live with your boyfriend so much that you stayed behind without us, right? Well, I thought I’d make sure that you’ll be able to do just that.”

“Y-Yeah, but, I mean... you should have at least talked to us first...”

“Why? Are you going to tell me that you don’t see yourself living with him anymore after we agreed to let you stay just so you could?” Her mother was smiling, but the coldness in her voice was giving me the chills.

“N-No! I... I was just surprised, is all...” her daughter replied, frantically shaking her head.

Nishina wanted to tell her that we’d split up, but can she really go ahead with it after hearing that?! Her mom’s already made the down payment for an apartment! This woman’s already counting how many grandchildren she wants!

“That’s good to hear,” my self-appointed mother-in-law said, showing us yet another terrifying smile.

She usually looks so kind, but she sure knows how to make a guy fear for his life...

“Your father agreed to your absurd request because of how in love you are with Ichigaya, so he wouldn’t be very pleased if things had changed. But anyway, it’s just a down payment. If you look at the apartment and you don’t like it, we can get it back and find a different place. I’ll help as much as I can so we can find a home that both of you like.”

Kokoro and I, feeling utterly defeated, could do nothing but voice the saddest, most broken laugh ever. Things have gone so, so wrong. So much for convincing Nishina’s parents!

“Oh, Ichigaya, I have a little favor to ask you. Would it be a problem if I were to sleep here for a couple of nights? I thought I’d asked Kokoro to ask you, but as it turns out, she never received my message, so...”

“E-Excuse me? Why would you need to stay here?” I asked.

“You may have heard from Kokoro, but we began renting out our home just before leaving for England. We thought we wouldn’t be back for three years, and Kokoro was staying with you, so...”

Heard... what? Did I ever hear that from Nishina?

“There’s still a family staying there,” she continued. “And until their contract is over, we’ll be living in an apartment. Unfortunately, the start date on our own contract is two days from now. And you see, after all that time I spent basically alone, I can’t stand the idea of spending another two days in a hotel by myself! There’s also the fact that I won’t be able to live with Kokoro anymore once she graduates from high school, so I want to stay close to her for as long as possible.”

Kokoro’s mom sounded very passionate about all of this, but the second problem could have been easily solved by not letting her daughter marry as soon as she graduated. Of course, I kept that thought to myself.

“I promise I won’t bother either of you, and I’ll cover the cost of my expenses. So, may I...?”

“Um, er, s-sure! Okay!” I replied. There was no way I could say no to the mother of my (fake) girlfriend after she’d said all those things.

“Really? Thank you so much!”

“O-Oh, don’t mention it...”

“Sheesh, Mom, you never think about other people’s circumstances.”

That’s an extra roomie we don’t need one bit... We’ll have to act like we’re dating the whole time she’s here!

Having agreed to let Kokoro’s mother stay in my house, we spent a little more time in the living room catching up after the few months apart. Or rather, Kokoro and her mom did that. I just sat there without a word.

They really get along well, these two. I’d never have guessed that Mrs. Nishina’s the type to prevent her daughter from enjoying her hobbies...

After chatting with us for a while, Kokoro’s mother told us that the long trip had left her in need of a bath. I was glad we’d been keeping the bathroom—and more or less the whole house, for that matter—in a presentable state.

“I’m so, totally sorry about all this!” Kokoro exclaimed as soon as her mother was out of the room.

“It’s okay, we’ll survive.”

“I just couldn’t tell her the truth with her going on about all that. She even put the money down for a freaking apartment. And now she’s gonna be staying here...”

Yeah, after all that, I can’t blame Nishina for not being able to break it to her.

“Oh well, that’s that. We just have to find the perfect moment to tell her during the two days she’s staying here.”

“Actually,” Kokoro began, “I’m afraid we won’t be able to do that for a while.”

“What?! How so?”

“She’s trying pretty hard to keep it together now she’s in front of you, but I can tell she’s super grumpy because of Dad.”

“I-Is she?”

I mean, she did give me chills for a second, but she looked pretty calm in general.

“You really don’t want to see my mom when she snaps,” Kokoro muttered grimly. “At least, we should wait until she makes up with my dad.”

“Really now?”

“She changes like night and day depending on how things are going between them. If we wait for things to get better, it’s a bit more likely she’ll just forgive us.”

She must really love her husband, huh? But, wait... “a bit more likely”? That’s all?!

“For now, the best we can do is just act like we’re dating. Like, I don’t even wanna think how she’d react if she found out the truth. Will you help me out for just a bit longer? I’ll tell Dad to apologize to her, and once I move out, I’ll find the timing to tell her everything. I promise I won’t make it a pain for you.”

“O-Okay then...”

To be honest, I’d rather not be there when she reveals the truth to her mom, so that actually works a lot better for me. But we’re still going to pretend we’re dating...

Mrs. Nishina left the bathroom some time later. Now that she was with us once more, we had to go back to being careful not to reveal our secret.

“Whew! I feel much better now,” she said. “By the way, Kokoro, you’re done cleaning your room now, right? I’d love to see it!”

“Wh-What? Well, um, okay...” Kokoro replied nervously.

Good thing she already hid all the compromising stuff.

The room that Kokoro was staying in used to belong to my little sister, Kisaki, as did pretty much all of the things that were still in it at this point. Kokoro had already packed up almost everything she’d brought with her, hiding away some of the boxes on shelves and others in my room.

“It’s so clean...” Mrs. Nishina commented when she entered. “Perhaps even too clean. It’s like nobody’s been using it.”

Kokoro twitched in fear. Her mom certainly had a point—the room was so empty it didn’t look like Kokoro had actually been living in it. Of course, that was only because she’d recently tidied it all up.

“Th-This is Ichigaya’s sister’s room, so I’m only borrowing it, basically. I can’t fill it with my stuff; that’d be rude,” Kokoro said, failing to mention that was exactly what she’d been doing up to a few days prior.

“Hmm, I guess you’re right. Wait... Do you sleep in this bed?”

“Y-Yeah? I brought my own pillow and sheets though, since I thought his sister wouldn’t like a stranger using hers.”

“I see... So you’re following our rules and staying away from... untoward conduct,” Kokoro’s mom said, glancing at me.

Oh. I, uh... yeah. I think I know what she means by that.

“Huh?! What are you talking about?! We’re not doing anything like that!”

“Don’t get me wrong,” her mother replied. “I’m happy that you’re doing as we told you, but... the two of you don’t really act like a young couple at all.”

“What...?” That comment was enough to terrify both of us.

“You don’t even call each other by your first names.”

“Th-That’s just because, you know, we’re so used to using last names! Old h-habits die hard!” Kokoro stuttered.

“And to be honest, from how you interact, I don’t feel many loving vibes. Don’t tell me that you’ve already grown bored of one another. Are you even going on dates? Where did you go this summer?”

“D-Dates? We went to, uh... to the pool with a friend!”

Apart from the otaku-related events, which she obviously couldn’t talk about, Kokoro and I had only really gone to the pool together. Did she really have to mention Minami though? Won’t that make her mom more susp—

“With a friend? That doesn’t sound like a date at all.”

“W-We’re totally going on proper dates too! Just the two of us!”

“Such as...?”

“Um, well... You know, we go on dates like, every single day! So many dates we can’t even remember the details! Right, Ichigaya?!”

“Huh? O-Oh, yeah! H-Haha, indeeeed!”

“Really...?”

Now she’s even more suspicious!

“So,” Mrs. Nishina continued, “could it be that you were planning to go on a date today too? If that’s the case, I’m sorry I showed up like this...”

“T-Today? Um, yes, actually” Kokoro dutifully replied. “We were planning a house date sort of deal. You know, like, staying at home, chilling...”

“I see. But hey, since I’m here, why don’t we all go somewhere? I want to see the two of you having a date!”

By the way she said that, I couldn’t help but think she was trying to test us.

“What?!” Kokoro cried.

“Don’t worry, I won’t bother you at all! You can go wherever you want, and I’ll pay for it!”

“But...” Kokoro mumbled before turning her gaze to meet my own.

“I-I think we should accept your mom’s kind offer, Nishina,” I said, trying not to elicit any suspicion.

“F-Fine then.”

“I really want to see what kind of date you two usually go on!”

“I-In that case, um...”