"I Wanna Fondle Them Too" (Oppai Momitai) - Chapter 58
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Chapter 58 What you hold in your hands to protect
The three-way battle had started.
But not exactly.
“Natsuhiko-kun, would you like to have soaked spinach?”
“Ah! Yes!”
“OK♪”
Natsuhiko’s appetite was stimulated by the sound of the kitchen knife and the smell of miso soup as Miko’s mother’s cheerful voice came from the kitchen.
After the hellish exchange, Natsuhiko was invited to Miko’s house and was sitting at the table in the living room.
He wasn’t waiting for breakfast, but to have a discussion with Miko’s father.
Currently, he was waiting for Miko’s father to finish showering.
Natsuhiko relaxed for a moment.
The yellow flowers placed in the center of the table eased Natsuhiko’s tension just by looking at them.
“Aren’t those flowers beautiful?”
Miko’s father came into the living room after his shower.
“It’s called Hypericum. It’s a small flower, but each stamen is very long, so it gives a strong impression.”
Miko’s father wasn’t a bodybuilder, but a florist. He took a seat across from Natsuhiko and carefully watered the flowers with a mist blower in his hand.
Natsuhiko couldn’t understand his words, but he nodded in agreement, because he also felt that the Hypericum flower was strong and beautiful at the same time.
It was as if he was looking at a multitude of fireworks blooming in the night sky.
But, the flower’s language was not what he’d expected it to be.
“Wow… What does this flower represent?”
“Hostility, resentment.”
“Buh…”
He took back his words, understanding him was the hardest part.
“Huh… it must be a joke.”
Her father smiled, full of lechery and cruelty, as if he didn’t even know what on earth a joke was.
But he wasn’t just hostile, he was also grateful.
Her father put his palms on the table and bowed his head.
“Last night, thank you for letting her stay at your house…”
“P-please don’t!”
“I’m sorry to have caused so much trouble for you and your family, and I’ll be sure to thank your parents and your sister when I pick up Miko.”
Miko’s father apologized sincerely, and anyone could tell that he cared for his daughter very much.
And it was because he cared for her that he was able to say,
“Natsuhiko-kun. May I know the reason why you came to my home by yourself?”
“…!”
SO is so, and so is this. Instead of beating around the bush, her father asked him straight.
While putting some strength in his biceps her father looked intimidating.
“In that uniform, did you come all the way here to announce your wedding…?”
If he was a lion, his fur would stand on end in fear, and if he were to be affected by psychic pressure, he would prostrate himself on the floor.
“And you’ve come to say goodbye.”
His message was clear.
The more Miko’s father stared at him, the more Natsuhiko’s hands started to sweat, and he almost forgot how to breathe.
More than anything, he wanted to run away as soon as possible. Because of the fear of death.
But he didn’t.
“I-I am…”
Natsuhiko did not falter. He did not look down. He did not run away.
Because he made a promise to protect her.
More than everything, he loved her.
“I want to spend the rest of my life with Miko!”
“Forever… You say…?”
“Yes forever! That’s all I came to tell you!”
If he were to make a marriage announcement, his upper body would’ve been wiped off at any moment.
However,
Miko’s father, while keeping his ego, wanted to avoid using violence as much as possible. He took a few deep breaths to calm his seething emotions, barely maintaining his calm demeanor.
“You and my daughter have known each other for a long time, but you haven’t been in a relationship that long. What makes you so determined? Are these feelings just momentary…?”
“My feelings are not momentary.”
Natsuhiko immediately denied it.
When he thought back to his memories with Miko, rather than fear, it was courage that filled his body.
“I was really surprised when she confessed to me. I had always thought of her as my sister’s friend…”
The quivering in his voice subsided, and the corners of his mouth gradually started to rise.
“I thought it could be a misunderstanding, or a prank. I had never been in a relationship in my entire life and it was impossible for such a cute girl to confess to me…”
“…”
“But soon I realized it wasn’t a misunderstanding, or a prank.”
“… Why?”
“Because there’s no way a sweet girl like her would lie to hurt someone.”
“!”
He was too abstract to be certain.
Still, Miko’s father did not deny it. He had to believe.
Because he knew. He knew that Miko was just as kind as Natsuhiko, perhaps even more.
“Miko-chan, the sweetest girl I’ve ever known, says that I’m the kindest person she’s ever met. She says that I’m special. I can’t help but fall in love and want to protect her.”
Just being kind was not enough to protect Miko.
In order to protect her, he would have to overcome an endless feat. It was far tougher than crossing the scorching earth to the roaring sea.
To challenge her father, who was both unyielding and overwhelming.
Natsuhiko raised his voice…
“That’s why! That’s the reason why I want to be with Miko! My feelings were never momentary!”
Natsuhiko finished everything he wanted to say in a single breath.
Natsuhiko’s shoulders heaved, and he was sweating excessively, but he managed to express all his feelings and love for Miko.
How much time had passed? —Only a few seconds, but it felt like eternity.
After a moment of unsettling silence.
Miko’s father sighed.
“Do whatever you want…”
“D-does that mean…!”
“As if I’d say that…”
“Eh”
Right before the moment of relief, Natsuhiko was hit by a right hook and he stared blankly.
Seeing the look on his face…
“…… Kukk! Wahahaha!”
Miko’s father laughed out loud.
The killing intent a moment ago seemed to be a lie, and he continued to laugh with a beaming smile, befitting a strong man.
But Natsuhiko couldn’t comprehend it.
“Erm, that… Miko-chan’s father…?”
“Because! You’re only half a man, how can I let you have my daughter?”
“That’s… right.”
“But I know you’re prepared.”
“!”
“I’ll be monitoring the relationship between you and my daughter for a while.”
“… T-then do you mean… you’ll approve of my relationship with your daughter?”
“If you don’t wanna, I can take back my words.”
“Oh, no way! I appreciate your words, sir!”
When Natsuhiko bowed deeply in a panic, Miko’s father snickered intentionally.
In contrast to her father’s tsundere attitude.
“Congratulations, Natsuhiko-kun♪”
She must have been eavesdropping on them for a long time. Miko’s mother, who had been in the kitchen, came into the living room with a smile on her face.
“You know, He wasn’t against your relationship with Miko. Isn’t that right, Miko’s father?”
“Eh? Oh, is that so?”
“Yes-yes. Right, Miko’s father?”
“Miko’s Mom, you shouldn’t…”
After receiving a killer pass from his wife, Miko’s father had no choice but to confide in Natsuhiko.
“I was worried.”
“Worried…? About what…?”
“Yeah. I wondered if you were the right man for Miko.”
Miko’s father explained…
“Natsuhiko-kun is right, Miko is the sweetest kid. But she’s not very good at asserting herself. Even from a parent’s point of view, I feel that she’s often forced to play a detrimental role.”
From the boyfriend’s point of view, Natsuhiko thought that Miko’s character was exactly the same.
At the same time, he also felt as if he was being judged.
“One day, this timid little girl said to me that she was going to the same school as the guy she likes.”
“You mean, me…”
Natsuhiko didn’t even know whether to smile or not when he got a stare that said, “Yes, you.”
“As a parent, I was concerned, wondering if she was being manipulated by the wrong man.”
“That’s why you’ve been intimidating me more than you should―― you meant to warn me.”
“I guess so.”
A father’s overprotective stupidity.
However, Natsuhiko understood her father’s feelings to the point of bitterness.
Natsuhiko could understand how her father felt, because Miko was so beautiful and pure-hearted that he wanted to protect her more than anything. She was a kind girl who didn’t lie even when she was opposed to it, and that explained the reasons for his worries.
“I know that you can only experience high school life once. But even life itself is something you can’t start over.”
The weight of his words made Natsuhiko swallow his saliva.
He was made aware of the fact that he was now carrying her father’s most precious, once-in-a-lifetime responsibility.
“Natsuhiko-kun. What are your feelings again, based on what I just said?”
“!”
Natsuhiko’s heart started to race once again, at the serious look on her father’s face.
Miko’s father wasn’t looking at a child or a teenager, but at the man inside Natsuhiko.
Her father’s gaze pierced through his body once he said, “Can you really make her happy?”
He didn’t have any proof, so it might be irresponsible.
But still…
“My feelings are unshakeable and I want to be with Miko-chan forever.”
He was filled with the desire to make Miko happy, to make her smile.
“… I see.”
Miko’s father must have been convinced by his firm answer.
That was why he spoke with a gentle tone…
“You’re lucky, Miko, that Natsuhiko told you how he really feels.”
Not to Natsuhiko, but to the Miko behind him.
“Eh, Miko-chan?” “Natsu-kun…!”