I Started Dating Someone By Taking Advantage Of Her Weakness, But I Was Actually Dating Her Mother - Chapter 45-46: Stalker? (Part 5&6)

(It’s the first time I have ever seen panties under a skirt.)

Jin was captivated by seeing something for the first time. That led to his carelessness.

“Who’s peeping?”

(This is bad! I’ve been found out!)

While one might argue that the person carelessly exposing herself was at fault, Jin, who had been peeping, was overwhelmingly at a disadvantage. Since Otowa didn’t seem to have noticed who it was yet, the option of running away was still available, but Jin resolved to face the scolding and decided to show himself.

“Sorry, I didn’t intend to peep.” 

“Kaneda Jin! It’s you again, isn’t it? Don’t just stand there like that, come over here!”

Jin showed himself to Otowa while apologizing, then Otowa told him in an overbearing manner to come closer. Jin did as he was told, climbed the stairs, and moved to where Otowa was.

“Sigh, if you stay in that position, I’d have to speak loudly, and other people might notice. Let’s talk a little. Sit next to me.”

The reason Otowa called Jin over was because being far apart would require speaking loudly, and if others heard them, they might come up the stairs to see what was happening. Otowa told Jin to sit next to her.

“Is this good?” 

“You’re too close! Move away a little more.”

Jin sat next to her as Otowa had instructed. Jin sat close to her with the same sense of distance as when he interacted with Yoriko, but since Otowa protested that he was too close, they ended up sitting with enough space for one person between them.

“You saw it, didn’t you?” 

“Uh…” 

“Don’t stay silent, say something!”

Jin couldn’t immediately answer Otowa’s question. Toward Jin who couldn’t answer, Otowa asked again in an intimidating manner.

“…It was white.”

Jin resolved that he had no choice but to answer and honestly told her what he had seen.

“So you were looking after all. That’s right, my lunch is plain white rice balls with nothing in them!” 

“…Eh? Rice balls?”

When Otowa said something different from what Jin had been thinking about, he momentarily didn’t understand what she was talking about.

“Actually, my family doesn’t have much money. I can only prepare this kind of thing for lunch, and since I didn’t want to be seen, I was eating in this place where people don’t come.” 

“I see.”

Otowa explained to Jin the reason she was eating rice balls in this place.

Grumble grumble grumble.

“Ah.”

Jin’s stomach rumbled loudly while Otowa was having a serious conversation.

“Could it be that you haven’t had lunch yet, Kaneda-kun?” 

“Actually, that’s right.”

The sound seemed to have reached Otowa’s ears as well, as she asked Jin with a worried expression.

“It can’t be helped. I’ll give you this if it’s okay with you.” 

“Eh? Is that okay?” 

“If something like this is fine with you.” 

“I’ll eat it. I’ll gratefully accept it.” 

“Here you go.”

Otowa handed Jin the one remaining white rice ball.

“Yeah, it’s simple, but it has just the right amount of salt and it’s delicious.” 

“I’m surprised you’re so happy about plain rice balls.” 

“Tsukimizato-san seems good at cooking.” 

“H-hey, flattering me won’t get you anything! Besides, this rice ball wasn’t made by me, it was made by my mother. If you’re going to be grateful, be grateful to my mother.”

Seeing Jin eating happily, Otowa answered with a slightly embarrassed manner.

“I’m leaving now.” 

“Eh?”

After finishing cleaning up, Otowa stood up as if rejecting staying together any longer.

“Well then.” 

“W-wait.”

Jin called out to Otowa who was about to go down the stairs.

“Um, would it be okay if I came here tomorrow too?” 

“It’s a school facility, so do what you want. But I’m only sharing food today.” 

“I understand. Then I’ll prepare my own food before coming tomorrow.”

Jin somehow managed to secure a promise to meet Otowa here the next day.

“I’m going ahead.”

Otowa said that and went down the stairs.

“It seems I made her angry about something after all. She won’t talk to me in the classroom, but I was able to talk a little here, so I have no choice but to come tomorrow too.”

Jin decided to come to this place the next day as well in order to ask why Otowa had come to dislike him.

“Dinner preparation is done.”

Time passed, and Otowa had returned home and finished preparing dinner before her mother Yoriko came back.

“I’m home.” 

“Welcome back, Mom.”

A while later, Yoriko returned home after finishing her part-time job.

“Dinner is ready, so let’s eat once you’re ready.” 

“Thanks. I’ll get ready right away, so wait for me.”

Yoriko finished changing clothes and sat in front of the low table.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” 

“Well then.” 

“Let’s eat.”

In the Tsukimizato household, dinner was basically eaten together by mother and daughter. While it couldn’t be helped on days when schedules didn’t align, they deepened their parent-child bond by talking about what happened that day.

“Hey, Mom.” 

“What is it, Otowa?” 

“Actually, for the past few days, a boy from my class has been trying to get involved with me.”

After they started eating, Otowa was about to consult with Yoriko about something that had been bothering her for the past few days.

“Getting involved with you, huh. Could it be that he’s interested in you, Otowa?” 

“Hmm, I wonder if that’s it? Actually, today, he found me eating lunch in secret.” 

“Otowa, you’ve been eating lunch in secret?”

Yoriko showed a surprised expression upon learning that Otowa had been eating lunch hidden from people at school.

“I mean, it’s plain rice balls, you know? It would be embarrassing if people saw me eating them in the classroom.” 

“Ugh, that’s certainly true. I’d like to give you better things to take, but it’s tough with our household budget.”

Yoriko, who could only give her plain rice balls to take, learned that Otowa was troubled by this.

“It seemed like he hadn’t eaten anything, so I shared one of my plain rice balls with him. He was really happy eating it, and we ended up agreeing to eat lunch together again tomorrow.” 

“How heartwarming that he was happy with plain rice balls.”

When Otowa told her about sharing one of her plain rice balls, Yoriko felt it was like a heartwarming story between students.

“Hey Mom, about that boy… it’s Kaneda-kun.” 

“Whaaaat!”

Upon hearing from Otowa that the person in question was Jin, Yoriko let out a surprised voice.