618 – Stay at Our Apartment Tonight

“I’m going to bed now. Good night, Yotsuba. Good night, Dad.”

“Good night~”

“Good night. Oh right, Mitsuha, how about I drive you both to school tomorrow?”

Hearing her father’s hopeful tone, Mitsuha froze mid-step on the staircase and turned around.

But before she could answer, her little sister immediately rejected the idea.

“No way! What kind of middle schooler still gets dropped off by their parents? That’s so embarrassing!”

Yotsuba’s refusal was firm.

No kidding—she was the future high priestess destined to dominate Japan’s Shinto world!

If her classmates saw her dad driving her to school, her carefully built image in front of Sachiko and Kayo would crumble in seconds.

Mitsuha glanced at her father’s eager face.

She could tell he was trying to make up for lost time—trying to fill the empty spaces that had formed between them.

Still…

“I mean, sure, you could send us. But I don’t have class tomorrow morning.”

“I can go to work in the afternoon!” Toshiki’s face lit up with joy.

“Uh-huh. Just make sure you actually do work hard, okay? Don’t set a bad example for Yotsuba.”

Mitsuha ignored him, grinned mischievously, and dashed up the stairs.

Now he wants to play the doting dad? Cute.

When I was little, he never showed up to a single parent-teacher meeting—and now he wants to drive me to school? Dream on.

For Mitsuha, those “parent meeting” days and the walk to school were far from pleasant memories.

The meetings were tolerable, though.

Since her teachers knew about her family situation, none of them dared ask her grandmother to attend.

They’d always smile kindly and say, “It’s fine if no guardian comes, Mitsuha. I’ll visit your grandmother next time I stop by the shrine.”

The first time she heard that, Mitsuha almost burst out laughing.

A home visit that doubles as a shrine visit? Only in her family.

Thank goodness they didn’t run a cemetery—otherwise the teacher would probably drop by during a grave visit.

Still, her grandmother did attend some meetings.

Sometimes she’d ride in the back of old Mrs. Kobayashi’s tricycle, other times she’d catch a lift with Teshigawara’s dad.

Honestly, getting her down from the mountain wasn’t hard—if she wanted to, the townsfolk would practically carry her down like a goddess in a festival parade.

After all, she was the living relic of Itomori—the town’s spiritual symbol.

Whenever she attended, the entire meeting turned into a spectacle.

Parents and teachers alike would line up to greet her, bowing and chatting nervously.

Even the teacher running the meeting would act like a schoolkid again, sneaking glances at her grandmother to see if she disapproved.

By the end, the teacher would quietly ask Mitsuha, “Was your grandmother satisfied?”

Meanwhile, classmates would whisper that seeing her was like meeting Amaterasu herself.

All while the old lady just sat there with her eyes half-shut, looking like she was meditating—or asleep.

So yeah, “fond memories” was not how Mitsuha would describe it.

Sometimes she even wished her grandmother would yell at her like Teshigawara’s dad did, or at least scold her like Sayaka’s mom—that would’ve felt normal.

And as for walking to school? That was a whole different nightmare.

It was like playing a real-life version of Tom and Jerry—the “monster” named Miyamizu Toshiki could appear at any moment, watching her posture, her tone, her manners.

Even when she escaped that danger zone, she still worried he might chase after her to give her a playful kick.

So yeah—now he wants to drive her to school? Not a chance.

Some regrets are best left beautiful. Oh, silly dad.

Toshiki sighed and turned toward his younger daughter—his last hope.

Yotsuba blinked a few times, hesitating.

She didn’t quite understand what her sister was thinking, but seeing her father’s hopeful eyes stirred something in her, too.

In Japan, if a house was close to a kindergarten, even a four-year-old could walk there alone.

And Itomori was tiny—so small that from the Miyamizu Shrine, you could walk straight to the elementary school without crossing a single road.

Yotsuba had been walking there on her own since kindergarten.

Well, not entirely on her own.

Mitsuha always walked her down the mountain first, until Yotsuba met up with her little group of friends.

Not completely lonely—just lonely enough to build character, as she liked to think.

Still…

“Um, Dad, you do know that even kindergarteners here don’t need their parents to drop them off, right?”

Though tempted, Yotsuba cleverly tossed the question back at him.

“That’s how it is in small towns! But Tokyo’s a modern, international city. In developed countries, parents take their kids to school to let them enjoy their childhood instead of forcing them to grow up too soon. So me driving you is actually a progressive thing!”

Ah, the art of persuasion—Toshiki sounded more like a politician than a parent.

“…Okay, then~”

Yotsuba’s face lit up, and she cheerfully said goodnight before heading upstairs.

The Miyamizu house was simple—three rooms on the second floor, one for each daughter and one for storage or hobbies.

Toshiki slept downstairs—partly because of his unpredictable work schedule, but also because he wanted to respect his daughters’ privacy.

“Hm hm hm hm♪”

Humming a little tune, Yotsuba climbed the stairs—only to stop outside her sister’s door.

“Wait… you’re coming with me to school? Don’t you have school too?”

Mitsuha’s voice floated from inside—bright and full of barely hidden excitement.

Even though it was phrased as a question, the joy was obvious.

Yotsuba’s smile stiffened.

Uh oh. Things just got complicated.

“Another day off? A lecture again? Kyousuke, you’ve been working nonstop lately—you must be exhausted. It’s fine, I can go by myself.”

‘You liar! If you want Hojou-nii to walk you to school, just say so!’

‘Who are you fooling with that fake modesty?’

‘You think Hojou-nii’s too dense to notice?’

Yotsuba puffed out her cheeks and silently fumed.

She didn’t even have to guess—Hojou would definitely say something like, “It’s no trouble at all.”

“…You really don’t need to come that early. My first class isn’t important anyway—I’ve already studied the material. You should sleep in a bit, okay? You’ll be busy again soon.”

Yotsuba rolled her eyes dramatically.

‘Poor Hojou-nii… completely wrapped around her finger.’

And poor, clueless Dad.

He didn’t realize his daughters weren’t little girls anymore.

Mitsuha didn’t want to hold his hand on the way to school.

She’d rather cling to Hojou-nii’s waist as they cruised down the road on his little scooter, wind in her hair.

And who knows—maybe they’d even share a goodbye kiss at the school gate.

As the self-proclaimed genius who’d sworn from childhood to marry off her sister and claim the Miyamizu Shrine for herself, Yotsuba had already seen right through everything with her sharp little eyes.

‘Knock, knock, knock!’

Burning with jealousy because she wanted Hojou-nii to sent her to school too, Yotsuba stomped over and banged on her sister’s door.

“Onee-chan, keep it down! I’m trying to sleep!”

‘Thud!’

Almost the moment her words fell, something heavy slammed into the door.

Yotsuba didn’t even flinch—she knew that her dumb sister had just tried (and failed) to murder her through the door with a pillow.

“Shut up! Go plug your ears and stop eavesdropping!” Mitsuha’s embarrassed voice rang out from the room.

“Ugh, honestly… I miss the dorm already! Kyousuke, your idea to add soundproofing was genius!” Mitsuha muttered under her breath.

“You could always come back and stay again,” Kyousuke replied with a light laugh on the phone.

“No way!” Mitsuha rolled over in bed, her nose scrunching up as she pouted and said crisply,

“When I was at the dorm, everyone could talk to you—back then, you belonged to everyone! But now, when I’m on the phone with you, you belong only to me!

The best things in life are the ones you can’t see or touch… I want you to miss me like this.”

Her face burned as she said it, her body tingling all over from embarrassment.

“……” Kyousuke fell silent for a moment.

He wanted to say that even if everyone shared one big bed, he’d still treat them all equally—fair and impartial, under the watchful eyes of Yukari herself.

Not because he was a flirt, but because he was a man of pure love!

But wisely deciding he valued his life, he swallowed those words and instead chuckled.

“Well, if you came back to the dorm, I could visit your room, and it’d still be just the two of us. And we wouldn’t have to worry about Yotsuba eavesdropping.”

“No way!” Mitsuha shot back immediately.

Just the thought of Yukari-sensei sleeping in the room next door was enough to make her hide under the blanket.

Even if no one could actually hear her from that distance, she’d die of embarrassment first.

“Then what about the apartment in Sendagi?” Kyousuke offered. “I could tell the publisher I’ve got some last-minute work to finish tonight. We could stay there and head out together tomorrow morning—”

“I’m not listening! I’m not listening! If Dad ever hears you say that, he’ll kill you, Kyousuke!” Mitsuha shouted, her face going bright red.

Sendagi… that’s…

Her mind flashed back to that body—tall, lean, yet perfectly sculpted.

Not even the models her classmates drooled over in magazines could compare to Kyousuke.

His physique wasn’t bulky but refined, every line radiating strength and elegance—

No, no, stop it!

She shook her head violently.

If Kyousuke ever invited her classmates out to eat again, chaos would erupt.

Kaori was fine she was relatively tame—but the upperclass girls from the flower arrangement club and kendo team?

They were feral! Compared to them, even the martial girls she’d met at the dojo recently—Himeno Seiko and Arisugawa Ren were basically pure maidens.

If they ever saw Kyousuke up close, they’d lose all sanity!

Meanwhile, on the other end of the call, Kyousuke quietly listened to Mitsuha’s silence.

He could almost hear her tangled thoughts—every frantic emotion and shy breath—and his grin grew wider by the second.

Of course, that whole “urgent work in Sendagi” excuse was nonsense.

The only one gullible enough to believe that would’ve been Eriri—and she’d probably explode, declaring she’d draw a revenge doujin where the entire publishing staff got gender-swapped.

And the delinquent author was punished with the “Cola Torture” (five liters straight until soda came out of every hole).

The last victim of that fate? Kosaka Akane.

And no, that wasn’t something Kyousuke came up with—it was straight out of Eriri’s deranged creative vengeance after a signing tour left him utterly drained.

She’d turned righteous fury into art, as usual.

If it were Momotarou, the dog would just bark and insist on going too—for “security reasons.”

As for the others… In the Hojou Kyousuke Trivia Contest, nine-time champion Yamauchi Sakura would instantly call it out:

“No way! Kyousuke going back to work at midnight? He’d sooner untangle his own wired earphones!”

The contest’s head judge, Mrs. Mikiko Hojou herself, would sternly declare:

“Even if God descended, my son would be going to work—not on some secret date. Don’t believe me? Fine, I’ll follow him myself.”

Shouko would softly say, “Please be careful, Kyousuke-kun.”

Yukari would just fix those galaxy-dark eyes on him in silence.

Naoka would insist he take off his jacket first.

And Kasumigaoka Utaha? She’d sneak out behind him… and intercept him halfway.

So yeah, going to the apartment wasn’t just risky—it could literally start a war.

After a long pause, Mitsuha finally spoke again.

“Then… I want to eat Kyousuke’s homemade breakfast tomorrow.”

“Huh? Shouldn’t you be the one cooking for me?” Kyousuke teased.

Mitsuha rolled around in bed, whining playfully, “Aaah~~ I just want to eat your cooking!”

“Hahaha~ then should I make enough for Yotsuba too?”

“No!” she blurted instantly—then realized how sharp that sounded.

A second later, she awkwardly added, “I mean… eating too much in the morning isn’t good for kids!”

That desperate recovery made both of them burst out laughing—until Yotsuba’s muffled yell echoed from the next room:

“Can you two shut up already, onee-san?!”