While I Was Shutting in My Room for One Year, My Parent Remarried and Now I’m Living Together With Super Beautiful Stepsisters - Chapter 65: Dad's Past, Aoto's Future

Chapter 65: Dad’s Past, Aoto’s Future

Dad placed a plate of curry rice and a spoon in front of me while proudly wearing a heart-patterned apron.

“What I’m about to tell you now… is something I haven’t shared with you before.”

In complete contrast to his silly appearance, Dad muttered those words heavily and sat down in the chair across from me.

It seemed like he was going to tell me everything that had happened so far… but could a man as bad with words as Dad really do that?

Just then, Dad suddenly picked up his smartphone and, for some reason, turned off the lights in the room.

“Hey, Dad? W-Why did you turn off the lights?”

“Eat your curry and… look over there.”

“Huh?”

Dad pointed toward the plain white wall, so I turned my eyes in that direction. Suddenly, something appeared projected onto the wall from a portable projector.

It looked like… PowerPoint?

“I’ll explain everything that’s happened in presentation format.”

No way, an actual presentation just started!?

How much of a workaholic is this guy!?

Dad operated the PowerPoint slides projected on the wall with a completely calm face.

Then, a photo of a beautiful woman appeared.

This face… could it be?

“First, I’ve avoided explaining much about your real mother to you. That was her wish, so please forgive me.”

“Is that so? When I was little and asked, I remember you saying she left home because you were quiet and unsociable.”

“That was… well, a lie. Your mother passed away from illness when you were very young. From that day on, I resolved to raise you alone. I’m truly sorry for hiding it.”

“It’s okay… That was Mom’s wish, right?”

So… that’s how it was.

I’d always thought my real mother was still out there somewhere… I see.

“Please look at the next slide.”

“Uh, sure.”

The next slide showed Dad working.

“I was certainly busy with my job, but after you became a shut-in, the reason I took more solo assignments and business trips was, honestly, because I lacked the confidence to face you.”

“Dad…”

“I had no idea why you were hurting—whether it was because of the entrance exams or something else entirely. I couldn’t even take the first step to find out, so I left you in Mitayama-san’s care and stayed away from home.”

“…That’s my fault. I failed the exams and shut myself in without talking about it properly.”

Yeah, not getting into the same high school as the girl I liked was so frustrating that I shut myself away for a whole year. If I’d told anyone, it would’ve sounded like such a lovesick idiot thing to do that even getting punched would’ve been fair.

Thinking about it now, it feels like total black history and super embarrassing.

“No, I was the one who didn’t face it. So I’m truly sorry about that too.”

Dad kept apologizing one after another.

I’d never seen him talk this much before, and more than anything, this was the first time I’d ever seen him apologize.

“Hey… then why did you remarry? It doesn’t seem like something you’d choose when the family wasn’t doing well.”

“Ah, I’ll explain that on the next slide.”

“Uh, o-okay.”

The remarriage topic came up faster than I expected.

Since it’s already on the next slide, he planned to bring it up anyway, even without me asking.

“About the remarriage… I was on a business trip to Shikoku and got invited to a company social party.”

Dad switched slides and showed a two-shot photo with Nanoka-san that seemed taken at the party.

Nanoka-san in a suit looks kind of fresh.

“That’s where I met Nanoka… We both had worries about our kids, and when I learned she was raising her three daughters alone, I wanted her to teach me what I lacked since I couldn’t even face you by myself. As we spent time together… we ended up remarrying.”

“H-Huh…”

While he explained the story, Dad somehow looked embarrassed, which creeped me out a bit, but I still reacted properly.

“And then… Nanoka’s whole family moved into this house, but I ended up telling you about it too late.”

“Hold on! It’s not just ‘too late’! It’s Golden Week now, and there was zero explanation!”

“I heard from Nanoka that the move would be around Golden Week too. But somehow they’d already finished moving in April… and she suddenly told me to handle things with the school. That’s when I found out.”

“What!? So the lack of explanation was—”

It’s totally Nanoka-san’s fault!!

In my mind, an image of Nanoka-san sticking out her tongue and saying “sowwy” popped up.

“…And that’s pretty much it. In any case, I’ve lacked proper conversation and explanation with you, my son. Now that you’ve come out of your room and become a high school student, I want to apologize for everything.”

“W-Well, I should be the one apologizing, and being able to come out like this and start a new life now is thanks to you, Dad. So actually… thank you, Dad.”

Those simple words of gratitude were what I’d wanted to say.

I just hadn’t been able to say them until now.

“And Aoto… there’s one more thing I need to tell you.”

“One more? Well, at this point, bring it on.”

“…The truth is, the real reason we didn’t do the adoption when we remarried is because of a promise with Nanoka.”

A promise… with Nanoka-san?

“The promise was to choose one of those three girls to become your lifelong partner.”

“…………….Huh?”

Dad dropped that outrageous bombshell with the energy of some adult video.

Hey, hey, hey… what the hell is that!!