The Beautiful Girl Who Asked Me to Pretend to Be Her Boyfriend Didn’t Want to Break up With Me for Some Reason - Chapter 69

Chapter 69: You Seem Like You’d Be a Good Dad

The day after we returned from visiting my hometown.

I was accompanying Shirafuji to visit her mother’s grave, but first, we needed flowers. So, we stopped by a flower shop before heading to the cemetery.

“Every year, I buy white carnations. It’s the only thing I can offer, and that makes me feel a little guilty.”

“I think it’s fine. There’s a limit to how much you can maintain a grave.”

“That part is actually well taken care of. I think my father has been hiring someone for a long time, because it’s always kept pretty clean whenever I visit.”

“…That’s surprising. Sorry to say, but from what I saw before, he didn’t seem like the type to do that.”

“It’s something we can’t confirm now, but maybe my parents got along well. If not, I wouldn’t have been born.”

Shirafuji added that, but her tone made it clear that she didn’t particularly care whether it was true or not.

There are plenty of arranged marriages in the world, after all.

Actually, from what I’d heard, her current parents had probably gotten married that way too.

I wouldn’t know the details since I wasn’t directly involved.

“…Do married couples naturally want children?”

“That’s out of nowhere. Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”

“Just curious. What do you think, Hakuto?”

That was a tough question.

It wasn’t something I had ever seriously thought about, so it was hard to answer.

But Shirafuji didn’t seem to be asking as a joke. She was just genuinely curious and happened to direct the question at me.

…Kids, huh?

“Honestly, I don’t really know. I’m not great with kids to begin with, and I don’t think it’s a simple yes-or-no kind of thing. At the very least, you need a partner, and since I’m a guy, I’ll never be the one actually giving birth.”

“That’s a serious answer. I feel the same way. I think children should be the result of something, not the goal itself. Otherwise, the child might end up unhappy… or rather, I think all children should be loved by their parents.”

I had a feeling her answer came from personal experience, and I couldn’t come up with anything thoughtful to say in return.

I fully agreed with her belief that children should be loved.

I was only able to recover because of the support of my parents and little sister.

“If that’s how you feel, I don’t think you’d ever make the wrong choice.”

“Who knows? I’ve never been in that position before, so I can’t say for sure. But I did read somewhere that people who were raised a certain way tend to raise their own children the same way.”

“…Raising a kid sounds complicated. It’s still far off for me, and I don’t think I’d ever be in that position.”

“I think you’d make a great dad, Hakuto.”

“Wouldn’t kids be scared of my face?”

“Are you implying I would be scared?”

Shirafuji smiled at me, and I realized my own words contradicted what I knew about her.

But if the question was whether kids would like my face, most people would probably say no.

I wouldn’t argue with that, and I doubted Shirafuji’s opinion would be any different.

“You should have more confidence in yourself. You have a good physique, a calm personality, and you’re always working to improve yourself.”

“It’s hard to change something that’s been ingrained in me for years. I’m working on fixing it little by little, so just keep watching and see how it goes.”

“Can I watch from up close?”

“I doubt it’d be entertaining, but go ahead.”

“Then, I’ll take a front-row seat.”

Shirafuji gently ran her fingers over the back of my hand before softly holding it.

I had gotten used to this kind of contact, so I squeezed her hand in return without hesitation.

Before we knew it, we had arrived at the cemetery.

The gravestones here weren’t Buddhist-style but rather the kind you’d see in Christian countries.

“…I’m starting to feel a little nervous.”

“There’s no need for that. Just offer the flowers and pray.”

For some reason, entering a cemetery always made me quieter.

Maybe it was nerves, or maybe I just didn’t want to disturb the atmosphere.

This visit was important to Shirafuji, and I didn’t want to get in the way.

“We should be able to see it soon—”

Just as she was saying that, Shirafuji suddenly stopped.

Wondering why, I followed her gaze and saw a familiar-looking man standing in front of a grave.

…Could that be her father?

“…Why is my father here?”

The way she muttered that confirmed my suspicion.

Her father, who supposedly didn’t have a good relationship with her mother, was visiting her grave.

Shirafuji probably had no idea this was something he did.

Maybe the only reason they ran into each other was because she had delayed her visit to come with me to my hometown.

Shirafuji stood frozen, unsure of what to do.

As I was hesitating over how to handle the situation, her father was the first to act.

He turned away from the grave and started walking toward us.

Our eyes met, and for a brief moment, we just stared at each other.

But even after recognizing Shirafuji, he didn’t say anything and simply tried to walk past us.

“—Wait, Father. Why are you visiting Mother’s grave?”

The one who stopped him was none other than Shirafuji.