Lonely Me And The Lonely Caring Goddess - Chapter 284: Welcome Home.

Welcome Home.

After parting with Hayato in front of the apartment building, today’s schedule was finally complete.

Not only had I accomplished my main goal, but I’d also gained a new aspiration for the future and prepared souvenirs for Mayumi-san and the others.

The only thing left was deciding when to give that one… The next dinner gathering should be fine.

But for Sara-san alone, I planned to present it tonight, as soon as possible.

I hope she likes it… I was already looking forward to the moment I handed it over.

***

Considering Sara-san might already be home, I turned the doorknob—and just as I’d thought, it wasn’t locked.

…Now, what should I do?

I could just walk in normally, but since this was a rare opportunity, the idea of coming home a little playfully crossed my mind.

Sneak in quietly and…

No, no—when Sara-san left earlier, she gave me a “goodbye kiss.” So if I came home properly, maybe she’d give me a “welcome home kiss” in return.

Just imagining Sara-san doing that made me want to grin a little.

But that couldn’t be helped—it was something that made me genuinely happy.

And so, I decided to come home normally!

Click…

“I’m home~”

“Ufufu, welcome hooome~”

…Click

I gently closed the door I’d just opened, then took one deep breath.

Phew… That was strange… Was it just my eyes playing tricks on me?

The person who greeted me just now was…

Alright, let’s pull myself together and try again.

Click

“I’m home~”

“Ufufu, welcome hooome~”

Click

…I closed the door once more and took an even deeper breath.

Yeah, it wasn’t a mistake.

There was no way it could have been.

From the very first glance, I’d known exactly who it was.

Well, it wasn’t strange for Mayumi-san to be here. In fact, it would be stranger if she wasn’t.

It wasn’t a bad thing at all, and having someone welcome me home like this made me happy.

It’s just… you know.

This meant my “welcome home kiss” was… uwaah.

Phew… Time to pull myself together and actually go inside.

Click

I gripped the doorknob firmly, turning it slowly as I gradually opened the door.

It was just coming home, yet why was I doing something straight out of a comedy skit…

“I’m ho—”

Pull

Squish…

……Squish?

Wait… what was going on here?

I’d only tried to step inside, but the moment the door opened, something yanked me forward with incredible force.

Of course, I immediately realized who it was—but then my entire body was enveloped in something unbelievably soft. On top of that, even though my eyes were open, my vision went completely dark…

I couldn’t see anything, hear anything…

“Nfufu~ Kazunari-kun, you’re so adorable~”

I heard it clearly!!

Mayumi-san’s gentle, honey-sweet voice whispered right into my ear.

There was no need to think—this meant Mayumi-san had pulled me in and, for some reason, was hugging me.

Which meant this all-encompassing softness… no, wait, more importantly, my face. My face.

The “something” enveloping my face was on a level that surpassed even Sara-san’s, and I couldn’t help but panic.

Of course, if this were Sara-san, I’d surrender without hesitation and melt into it. No one could complain, because that paradise was reserved for me alone.

But Mayumi-san was different.

Mayumi-san was Sara-san’s mother—and to me, my mother-in-law.

She wasn’t someone I could do this with. And besides, I had Sara-san… wait?

…Speaking of which, where was Sara-san??

Click…

Right as that thought crossed my mind, I heard a door open from the direction of the bathroom. Followed by the soft patter of footsteps—this had to be Sara-san…

“That should finish the bathroom cleaning. Next is… Mother, what on earth are you doing there…!?”

Ah, so Sara-san had been cleaning the bath.

That explained why she hadn’t noticed me coming home.

…No, wait—this wasn’t the time to be calmly analyzing!

She’d clearly just realized what was happening over here!!

“U-Um!! Mayumi-san!?”

“No, no—it’s not ‘Mayumi-san.’ Come on, one more time?”

Ignoring my panic completely, Mayumi-san pressed a little harder against the back of my head. As always, she was completely at her own pace… no, this wasn’t the time for that!

This was bad—I couldn’t hesitate anymore!

“M-M-Mother-in-law, could you please let go now…”

“Get your hands off him right this instant!!!”

Sara-san’s powerful words echoed through the room, and the instant Mayumi-san’s body jolted… I was yanked in the opposite direction and pulled close.

Surrendering to that force, I heard a soft poof as I arrived in a place of supreme comfort—a paradise beyond heaven.

And finally, the hand placed on my head guided me gently to its rightful spot.

“Sara-san…”

Sara-san cradled my head tenderly with both hands, hiding my face against her. Then, slowly, she began stroking my hair.

Ahh… bliss…

Pat pat…

“Welcome home, Kazunari-san. I’m terribly sorry—I was cleaning the bathroom and didn’t notice you’d returned.”

The sharp, severe tone she’d used with Mayumi-san just moments ago was gone entirely.

In its place was her usual voice—endlessly gentle, allowing me to indulge completely. The voice of the Sara-san I loved most.

“I’m home. Sorry, I ended up much later than planned.”

“No, it’s not that late yet. Shall I prepare dinner as usual?”

“Yes, please. I only had something light for lunch, so I’m fine.”

“Kazunari-san, you really should eat proper meals…”

“Well, once I thought about coming home to your delicious cooking, I just…”

Squeeze…

Sara-san tightened her embrace ever so slightly, drawing me closer to her body. The arms around my head grew a touch firmer, yet the hand stroking the back of my head remained gentle, gliding back and forth again and again.

“Honestly… when you say things like that, I can’t even pretend to scold you.”

“Eh? No, I didn’t mean it like—”

“Fufu… I know. I fully understand that you truly feel that way. And that makes me truly happy.”

“Yes. Your cooking is my absolute favorite, Sara-san. If you’re the one making it, I don’t need anything else. For the rest of my life, I only want your meals.”

This wasn’t flattery or empty words—it was my genuine, heartfelt truth. As long as I could eat Sara-san’s cooking, I wouldn’t need to eat out ever again. I just wanted her food.

“…You’d be content with only my cooking for the rest of your life?”

“Yes. I want yours, Sara-san.”

“Fufu… Very well. Though I do think eating out on anniversaries would be nice too?”

“Eh? Ah, y-yeah, you’re right. Anniversaries would be good for that. Birthdays and such…”

Shoot—I might have gone a little overboard, even if it was the truth.

Celebrating a birthday with a hotel dinner, or proposing there… those were classic scenes from dramas and anime. That kind of atmosphere mattered, and if it would make Sara-san happy, eating out definitely had its place.

“Sorry, I got carried away.”

“Please don’t apologize. Hearing how you feel made me so happy.”

“Y-Yes.”

As if putting those words into action, Sara-san strengthened her strokes on my head and back just a little.

“Fufu… Ah, pardon me—I got carried away myself.”

Saying that, she suddenly seemed to notice something and gently pulled my face away.

What was it?

“Sara-san?”

“Mmm…”

Chu…

“!?”

With a slightly mischievous smile, Sara-san placed a light kiss on my cheek.

This had to be…

“Welcome home, darling.”

“Y-Yes, I’m home.”

Yes—this was the “welcome home kiss” I’d secretly been hoping for!

Since I’d been anticipating it, my face threatened to break into a grin… but I didn’t want to look pathetic, so I desperately held it back and tried to act calm.

Sara-san’s smile only grew brighter as she watched me… Yeah, she definitely saw through it. Of course she did.

“Fufu… I’m glad you liked it. If you’d like, shall I do this every time you come home from now on?”

“Well, um…”

“…Understood♪”

No, I hadn’t actually answered yet… but it was too late now. Even I knew my face had given everything away this time.

Still, if Sara-san found it just as joyful, then it was more than I could ask for. I’d welcome it every single day.

***

“Um… Mayumi-san?”

“………”

“Mother, you’re not a child anymore. How long are you going to sulk?”

And so, the current situation was…

Mayumi-san had taken offense and was now in full sulking mode!

Sara-san forcibly separating her from me had been fine (maybe?), but after that, we’d completely ignored her and gotten lost in our own little world. To be blunt, both Sara-san and I had utterly forgotten Mayumi-san was even there.

Then, when Mayumi-san finally interrupted—fed up with being left out—I’d accidentally thought, Oh yeah, I forgot Mayumi-san was here, and she’d read it perfectly on my face.

Seriously… whether it was Sara-san, Hanako-san, or Mayumi-san—why could they all read my mind so easily? But that wasn’t the issue right now.

“Mayumi… M-Mother-in-law, um…”

Sniffle sniffle… “You’re both so mean…”

The sniffles were obviously fake, but…

Even knowing that, it was clear Mayumi-san had genuinely felt a little hurt. And thinking about that made it impossible for me to be firm with her.

I was hopelessly weak against this kind of thing from her…

“Mother… if you keep making Kazunari-san uncomfortable, I won’t hold back, you know?”

This was bad.

Sara-san’s voice carried a dangerous edge as she spoke to Mayumi-san in a tone that felt like a warning. I could sense real anger rising in her.

There had been similar scenes before, but Sara-san never forgave anyone who inconvenienced me—no matter who they were.

Even if it was Mayumi-san. Especially because she was her actual mother, Sara-san held nothing back. That made the outcome unpredictable.

If things went poorly, this could turn into a full-blown mother-daughter fight.

What should I do? I wanted them to get along. There had to be something I could do in this situation…