I Was Sleep-Deprived at a Matchmaking Meeting and Ended Up Engaged - Chapter 24

Whew, I’m glad that wasn’t the case.”

Waiting together outside for their shoes to dry, Hideko said with relief.

“I thought maybe because we live here, we’d seen something terrible. I almost ended up in a situation where it would’ve been better to never know Shirakami’s true nature for my entire life,” Hideko said to Yoshinori.

“But wouldn’t it be worse to find out after marriage?” Ayato said.

“You have a point there,” Hideko nodded.

“Wait. Why are you talking about my murder and confinement as if they’re facts…? Those were just our delusions, right?”

…Ayato was slightly bothered by the “our” part, but decided not to press further.

While waiting for their shoes to dry, the three of them spent a leisurely time in the apartment’s front garden.

“Time always seems to rush by so busily, so this is actually nice,” Yoshinori said.

“I agree.”

“Oh, Ayato. There’s a green bug on your shoe. Isn’t that one of those stink bugs?”

Hideko said while looking at the shoes from a distance.

It seemed to be a stink bug.

Yoshinori turned to look and said, “No, it has wings.”

Stink bugs do have wings, but he probably meant it had wings like a bee or fly, not the normally closed wings.

“Having wings sounds dreamy,” Ayato said.

“What’s dreamy about that?” Hideko retorted.

In reality, they were probably realistic insect wings, but the wings in Ayato’s mind were white and fluffy like angel wings… Though if a green bug with something like that was stuck to his shoe, that would be scary in its own way.

Soon after, a phone call came, and Yoshinori walked away while talking.

Hideko was silently looking up at the apartment building.

“What’s wrong?”

“The day Shirakami moved here, I really thought it was fate,” Hideko began speaking nostalgically.

…Even though there’s someone here who’s liked Shirakami longer than I have. Should someone like me, who only met him through an arranged meeting, really marry Shirakami? Ayato was troubled by something that Midori would probably say: “You had an arranged meeting, so isn’t marriage the natural next step?”

While staring at Yoshinori’s room, Hideko murmured, “I’ve always thought if I jumped from the entrance roof over there to that tree, I could peek into Shirakami’s room.”

In Ayato’s mind, he pictured Hideko peeking through the window at Yoshinori relaxing in his room.

“And if I jumped from that small building over there, I could get to Shirakami’s room too.”

Hideko’s eyes were serious.

Just at that moment, Yoshinori called for Ayato.

Ayato put on his finally dry shoes and said, “Th-thank you for your company!” before leaving.

Hideko was still looking up at Yoshinori’s room.

Hurrying Yoshinori into the apartment building, Ayato said, “L-let’s get out of this apartment quickly! Let’s buy a house! I have some savings too!”

What happened!? Yoshinori looked at him with that expression.

Maybe the stalking suspicion wasn’t completely unfounded after all, Ayato thought, though he didn’t say it out loud.

“The call was from my parents. They’re nearby and want to meet.”

“I’m glad my shoes dried,” Ayato said, though he thought meeting them with shoes that had just stepped in cat poop—even if they were cleaned—was questionable.

In the private room of the elegant restaurant they visited, an even more shocking fact awaited them.

“I can’t go on the trip I planned with my friends. You two should go instead. It’s a hard-to-book inn.”

Just the two of them—Yoshinori and Ayato—!?

They were shocked beyond words.

“Um, Mom. We’re not even married yet,” Yoshinori said, implying something about premarital trips.

Ai frowned and said, “Oh please, what era are you living in?”

Then, as if in passing, she dropped a bombshell: “And you were conceived during a premarital trip too.”

“No, staying together is impossible,” Yoshinori said what Ayato should have said.

“We haven’t even set a wedding date yet.”

“Then set one!”

…Well, she had a point there. Sano-san was also urging them that good dates were becoming scarce.

“Knowing you, you probably haven’t even held hands yet.”

“We haven’t had the opportunity to hold hands.”

…Well, that was true.

“If the moment arises, holding hands, if the moment arises, touching—that might happen,” Yoshinori said while looking at Ayato.

He seemed to be imagining touching Ayato.

“…Maybe pinching, at most.”

“…Somehow I feel like I’m something dirty.” Ayato said childishly, making Ai laugh.