Episode 36: A Postponed Remarriage Is Just Too Convenient!
Chirp, chirp.
The sound of little birds outside the window pulled me up out of sleep.
…My whole body was unbelievably heavy.
More than that — every joint felt stiff and locked up, and on top of it, I was overwhelmingly sleepy.
Checking the wall clock: ten in the morning.
Or, well, honestly, a little late to still call it “morning” at this point.
And sleep — I’d gotten basically none.
“…Mmn, Yotsuka… mornin’.”
From right beside me, a melting, half-asleep voice, along with the sound of sheets shifting.
I rolled over, and there was Makina, pajamas slightly more undone than usual.
On her neck and collarbone, a few faint reddish marks that hadn’t been there yesterday.
“O-oh. Morning… hey, wait, Makina, don’t cling to me the second you wake up! I’m still kind of a wreck about all this!”
“Fufu… but we don’t have to hold back anymore, do we. Either of us.”
Smiling happily, all soft and hazy, she wrapped herself around my arm.
That freshly-together, honeymoon-phase air between us — got completely blown away the second I opened the living room door.
“We’re home! Happy birthday, you two!”
“Oh, you’re up. Happy birthday, Yotsuka-chan, Makina.”
Sitting on the living room sofa were Mom and Makina’s dad.
“M-Mom?! Uncle?! Wh-why are you both here…?!”
“What do you mean, why? I texted you we’d arrive in the morning.”
“Ah, r-right… today’s the day…”
“What are you two so dazed about… hold on…”
Mom’s eyes fixed on our faces, staring hard.
Both of us with heavy bags under our eyes, faces still wrecked from lack of sleep.
One of Mom’s eyebrows twitched, ever so slightly, upward.
Something about that felt like she’d just figured out a lot more than I wanted her to.
“…You two look like something happened. Also, why are you both coming out of Yotsuka’s room…”
“O-oh, ha ha! It’s nothing! We just, uh, stayed up all night gaming since it’s our birthday!!”
Desperately covering, cold sweat streamed down my back.
We did “play” (in a manner of speaking).
In some sense, that wasn’t even technically a lie… probably.
◇◆◇◆◇
We got changed, threw together a quick breakfast.
Once all four of us were gathered around the living room table, Mom cleared her throat and spoke up, sounding formal.
“Alright, let’s talk about something important.”
“…Okay.”
“About Tokio-san’s and my marriage registration.”
Makina and I glanced at each other without meaning to.
Right. Today, on our eighteenth birthday, our parents were also supposed to file the paperwork, the important—
“We’ve decided to hold off on filing it for now.”
“…Wh-whaaat?!”
An embarrassingly high-pitched sound came out of me before I could stop it.
“H-hold on! Wasn’t today supposed to be the day we actually become a real family?!”
“That was the plan, yeah.”
Beside Mom, Makina’s dad scratched his head, looking apologetic.
“Thinking back, the actual time we spent living together as four people was really short, wasn’t it. We got sent off to Hokkaido for work, so it ended up being mostly just you two living together, for way longer than us.”
“I mean… that’s true, but…”
“So.”
Mom held up a single finger.
I’d seen this exact gesture before.
“Tokio-san’s assignment wraps up in July. So, starting from there, we want to restart the trial period — for becoming a proper family.”
“…Excuse me?!”
I nearly shot straight up out of my seat.
“A trial period, again?!”
“We just want to actually try being a family with all four of us properly together for a bit longer.”
“So the remarriage is… delayed?!”
I glanced over at Makina, who was staring back and forth between her dad and Mom, looking a little stunned.
But that expression — was, if anything—
“I want to live together as four people again soon…!”
…Oh. Makina’s genuinely happy about this.
Watching her react so honestly made something in me settle a little, even as it stung.
But at the same time, something deep in my chest gave a small, sharp twinge.
Makina’s dad glanced between the two of us, then continued quietly.
“You’ve both got entrance exams coming up this year, too. It might end up being a bit later than planned, but we want to support you both as much as we can through that. Once things settle down, then, this time, let’s really, properly become a family.”
Entrance exams, huh.
Right. We’re already at that grade now.
“Well, that’s the situation. So, until July, we’re asking you two to just keep going as things are for a little longer. Anyway, now that we’ve told you, we’ll be heading back again tomorrow.”
Mom said it all lightly, and finished off her coffee.
…That same old, deflating, business-as-usual energy of hers.
◇◆◇◆◇
That night.
Lying on my own bed, I kept turning the same thought over and over.
…Obviously, sleeping together wasn’t happening tonight.
Our parents were actually home.
So, that life starts up again.
Under one roof, all four of us, doing “family” together, day after day.
Hmm…
We’d decided something together, before.
Stay quiet about us, until the day of the remarriage.
Which means, now that it’s been pushed back — we’d be spending more time as “sisters-to-be childhood friends,” all four of us together, again.
Is that… actually okay?
Yesterday, I threw everything I had at Makina, poured my whole heart out to her.
And now I’m supposed to just put on the “we’re gonna be sisters, yay~” face in front of our parents?
Doesn’t that feel… wrong, somehow?
If we’re going to become a family.
I want to be welcomed into it honestly. For real.
I don’t think I can keep hiding it anymore.
I don’t think I’m capable of that.
Before I knew it, I was already sitting up in bed.
◇◆◇◆◇
I knocked on the door of the next room, and Makina’s face appeared almost immediately.
“Yotsuka?”
“Hey, um… there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
She let me into her room, and we sat side by side on the edge of the bed.
I took one deep breath.
“I want to tell them. About us. Mom and your dad.”
“Tell them, as in…”
“That you and I are dating.”
Makina’s eyes widened slightly, a little surprised.