Parents remarried. Now my lover starts referring to me as "Onii~chan" - Chapter 1 Part 2

I wanted to go to school and see Neneka as soon as possible.

… However, I wondered if I had listened to my mother’s story way too perfunctorily?

As soon as I got on the train, I suddenly remembered my mother’s face just before leaving her. My mind got flooded with the image of her face… becoming cramped up in the process in my mental imageries.

Thinking that I might have done something terrible, my heart became a bit cloudy.

But… it was not that I didn’t listen to her properly because I wanted to think about and meet up with my girlfriend. I thought, it would be better if my mother was to get remarried to a suitable person.

For a long time, she raised me all by herself with her womanly hands. Even though I had started working part-time after I entered high school, I was fully aware of the amount of burden I had put on her up till now.

On starting the third year of high school, my mother stopped me from working part-time. She said she didn’t want me to work too hard because of our family’s condition, and in turn, for that very reason, failed to clear the entrance examination.

However, if I quit my part-time job, our family income would decrease. She wanted to work more to compensate for my lack, but on the other hand, I was worried that she might tamper her health and get sick because of overworking.

If she was to remarry, life would become a lot easier. The reason for my mother to force herself alone into work, would cease to exist. I felt grateful about it.

I had readied my heart on welcoming any man who was ready to remarry my mother.

Judging by my mother’s personality, she would not choose someone whom I would oppose her to remarry. Since he was the person, my mother chose after my father, I believed he would be as serious and gentle as my father.

It was a little embarrassing, but I might as well call him “stepfather” one day.

I was no longer at the age to make a fuss like, “My father is the only one who is pure as heaven while no one else is!” I believed that even my father would have wanted his surviving family members to live happily.

That was the very reason I neglected those “important matters” that my mother wanted to discuss with me, half-heartedly.

To be honest, one of the reasons I passed through without hearing her out was because it was embarrassing to hear my mother talking about the person she liked.

That reason was not cool, so I would keep it locked deep inside my heart.

“Well, I guess it will be better to ask her next time when she’s calmer…”

I shelved the matter of my mother’s re-marriage in the back of my mind, thinking I would ask her about it next time I had the chance.

As a student, I had a lot of things to think about. About the classes which I had to attend, about the next test that was scheduled, about committee work along with my new girlfriend. Also, adolescence was a period of time riddled, full of worries.

Yes, and after that, as days passed, I became busier.

And so, I left my shelved things… shelved on the back shelves of my mind and forgot about them.

It was one of such holiday in mid-June.

All of a sudden a vehicle of a moving company arrived in front of my house and built a mountain-pile of cardboard boxes in front of the entrance. Witnessing the scene, I assumed the reason before my mother could tell me about it.

Finally that day had arrived when my mother’s re-marriage partner would move in.

“Anyhow, these are too many cardboard boxes indeed…”

Before the arrival of my new family, the cardboard boxes arrived at our place. As I gazed at them intently, a murmur escaped my mouth.

I had not heard much about her second-marriage partner, but I did hear that he used to live in an apartment. That was why I had imagined by myself until now that only a few cardboard boxes would arrive here.

The correct answer was, close to two dozen large cardboard boxes had arrived.

I wondered if I packed all my clothes and other personal belongings, would it also astonishingly reach this number.

While I was trying to guess what was in that pile of cardboard boxes, my mother, dressed more spiritedly than usual, came out and stood beside me. Witnessing her wearing that long, flouncy skirt inside the house was perhaps because it was the day of our new family member’s arrival.

“It seems that they will be arriving anytime soon. Are you mentally prepared?”

“No worries about it. I’ll be sure to greet them in a friendly manner.”

“I’m not worried about that part though”

Even though my mother laughed saying that, she did look a little bit nervous.

–If I were to live together with the person I adored from today, I guess even I would get nervous…

The face of Neneka floated in my mind.

–I would tell Neneka about my mother’s re-marriage once I got settled with a new lifestyle…  If our relationship survived for a long period in the future, there may come a day when I would have to introduce Neneka to my mother and my new father…

While I was busy thinking about such stuff, the doorbell rang.

My mother called out to the front door and opened it.

It was finally time.

Through the widening gap from the opening of the door, I saw a figure of a mature man in his primes smiling serenely.

–Heh, so this man will be my new father… he did look very kind… He seemed quite kind and…

But the door still opened.

As it proceeded to open gradually… and by the time the door was completely open, I had somehow forgotten how to breathe altogether.

A familiar hair, lengthy enough to go to till the waist.

A familiar figure, stood up in front of me.

And a face I was definitely familiar with.

Be it the eyes, the nose, the mouth, and all… all resembled the image of my girlfriend whom I was imagining moments ago, the one I loved and adored greatly.

–Neneka!?

Right at the end of my sight, Neneka had also frozen up on seeing me.

“Daiki. This is Torii Ryosuke-san, your mother’s second marital partner. While this is his daughter, Neneka-chan.”

My mother briskly introduced me to my new father and Neneka.

And then pointed towards me.

“And this is my son, Daiki. Look here! Daiki! Your greetings!!”

“No, no, no, wait a minute! I didn’t hear about any kids on the other side too though!?”

I stopped my mother in between and complained to her in a whisper.

“Why the heck didn’t you tell me about this important thing right at first!?”

“Important thing right at first…? When I was about to say that, wasn’t it you who didn’t want to listen, didn’t you, Daiki? Come on now, just say hello to them quickly.”

What the heck. So, the important thing my mother was trying to tell me about her re-marriage partner, was that they also had had a child of their own?

It was such an important thing to talk about, but I just let my mother’s part of the story slide away without even hearing it.

And so, she got upset and gave up on communicating this important part of the information to me.

Furthermore, I forgot to ask her about it later.

“That’s what happens when you don’t try to listen to people properly.”

My mother said so with a nonchalant smiling look on her face.

From the look on her face, it seemed that she had already decided to get back at me by not telling me that her re-marital partner had a child from his first marriage.

–Still, the one at fault was me right!

I was sorry about that!

If I had listened to my mother carefully, I would have known in advance that her re-marital partner had a child from his first marriage and eventually realize that the child was my girlfriend.

The fault here was completely mine. Here, I had no choice but to accept the reality without making any more fuss…

“Oh… umm, I’m Daiki… it’s nice to meet you.”

I thought the greeting was as thin and empty as a greeting exchanged on the first day of high school.

–Come to think about it, did Neneka know about this re-marriage story beforehand?