The Beautiful Girl Who Asked Me to Pretend to Be Her Boyfriend Didn’t Want to Break up With Me for Some Reason - Chapter 68

Chapter 68: No Matter How Much Time Passes, You’re Still a Child

“It’s a shame that Shirafuji-chan is leaving already.”

“What about your precious son?”

“Hakuto is important too, of course… Is this enough for you?”

“That’s way too half-hearted.”

While having this conversation with Mom, Shirafuji and I continued getting ready to leave.

Once the weekend passed, summer break would be over, and school would start again.

No matter what happened, summer break was coming to an end.

By the way, Dad was working today too, so we talked yesterday after returning from the festival.

He told me things like, “Do your best in school” and “Take care of Shirafuji.” But I wasn’t planning to neglect either of those things.

I was allowed to live alone and commute to a school far away, and as for Shirafuji… Well, regardless of what our real relationship was, she was still someone important to me.

“Shirafuji-san… and Onii-chan, what are you doing for New Year’s?”

“Why did you add me in?”

“It’s fine, isn’t it? Don’t sulk.”

“I’m not sulking.”

Even Tansui was acting like this, so it seemed like Shirafuji and my family got along just fine.

I was happy that my home had become a place where she could feel at ease, but I didn’t expect her to get so attached.

Well, either way, it was good that they got along.

…Apparently, they talked about me behind my back, but whatever.

I trusted that neither Shirafuji nor Tansui would do anything I disliked.

“It depends on Hakuto. If possible, I’d like to come again.”

“Yay! Onii-chan, make sure to bring her this year!”

“If everything works out. Just pray that the bullet train doesn’t stop because of heavy snow like last year.”

“That’s true. Either way, as long as you two stay healthy, I have no complaints.”

“Yeah, really. We have to make sure we don’t get sick.”

“…Right.”

Shirafuji, who had caught a terrible cold at the start of summer break, nodded with a bitter expression.

I knew it was impossible for people to always stay in perfect health, but being healthy was still the best.

There were plenty of reasons why someone might catch a cold.

“If you ever feel unwell, rely on Hakuto. His strong point is that he’s barely ever gotten sick in years.”

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

“Onii-chan is really good at taking care of people.”

“Thanks to a certain someone.”

“You should be grateful, you know?”

Tansui smirked smugly and let out a proud huff, making everyone laugh together.

After that, we sorted the souvenirs that Dad and Mom had prepared and packed them so they wouldn’t be too bulky.

Going home with more luggage than I arrived with was proof that I was cared for.

Once we were ready, just like when we arrived, Mom drove us to the station.

“See you later, Mom.”

“Thanks for everything.”

“Bye-bye!”

“Take care of yourselves, okay? Make sure you eat properly, go to school, and get along without fighting. And—”

“You don’t have to say all that. I’m not a kid, I get it.”

“As far as I’m concerned, no matter how much time passes, you’ll always be my child.”

Feeling the weight of those words, we said our goodbyes and headed to the bullet train platform.

We boarded the train at the scheduled time using the tickets we had bought in advance, beginning our trip home.

During the ride, Shirafuji dozed off halfway through, so I’ll skip that part.

I was sure she’d enjoyed herself, but she must have been just as exhausted.

After all, it wasn’t a place she was used to.

When we arrived, I woke her up, then we transferred trains and made our way to the nearest station. From there, since we had too much luggage, we had no choice but to take a taxi home.

If it were just me, it wouldn’t have been an issue, but there was no way I could make Shirafuji carry all that luggage while traveling.

By the time we arrived in front of my apartment, the sun had started to set, and the surroundings were dim.

Naturally, the place we returned to was my room.

“Phew… We finally made it back. You must be exhausted.”

“I was in an unfamiliar place, so I’m a little tired, but more than that, I had a great time.”

“Glad to hear it. First, let’s turn on the air conditioning and unpack. As for food… I don’t have any groceries, and I’m too tired to cook. How about delivery? Eating out sounds exhausting too.”

“I don’t mind. Let’s get our unpacking done.”

Even though we were tired, leaving it for later would just make it more of a hassle.

After a while of dealing with our luggage,

“Hakuto… Are you free tomorrow?”

Out of nowhere, she asked in a probing tone.

“Yeah, I am.”

“There’s somewhere I want to go.”

“If that’s the case, I’m happy to go. Where to?”

It was the last day of summer break, so I was fine with going somewhere nearby.

I asked casually, but Shirafuji’s gaze wavered as if she were reminiscing.

“I want to visit my mother’s grave.”

Her answer was something I hadn’t expected at all.

“…Are you sure it’s okay for me to go?”

“Yes. I’d appreciate it if you did.”

“In that case, I don’t mind.”

…Visiting someone else’s family’s grave, huh?

If the situation were reversed, I’d definitely be nervous.