My Japanese Childhood Friend Is Too Flirty - Chapter 155



154. My Japanese Childhood Friend and Our Daughter Are Too Bewitching (End)

I once read this phrase in a book.

‘When people are too happy, they close their eyes. It is because of the earnest desire that this happiness will not run away from before their eyes.’

Back when I first encountered it, I wondered what on earth that meant… These days, I understand the meaning of those words.

When people are too happy, they cannot help but close their eyes.

Because I don’t want the people I love to run away from before my eyes.

–Thump.

Something heavy struck my chest. Deeply asleep, I slowly opened my eyes.

“…What.”

A voice cracking and splitting reached my ears. Still half-dreaming, I looked around.

Yura’s fist was resting on my chest.

The one who woke me up after I was sleeping soundly was, our daughter, Yura.

“…Unn.”

“……”

Yura is the one who closes my eyes, and Yura is the one who opens them.

What does that signify, I wondered…then yawned hugely and scratched my face.

Signify, schminify. Just kids’ babble in their sleep.

“Haaah….”

Come to think of it, I slept with Yura last night. She said the thunder was too scary and asked if she could sleep with Mom and Dad just for tonight, so the three of us spent the night in the same bed for the first time in ages. The memory returns as I gather my wits.

Carefully, carefully, I took Yura’s hand and placed it back where it belonged, then slowly rose. Aki is nowhere to be seen. Seems she’s up before me.

Where could she be? Yawning once more, I made my way out of the bedroom. The kitchen light is on.

Aki was sitting at the kitchen table under the bright light.

‘What is she up to?’

Stretching as I approached, I could see quite a lot. Dozens of photos developed in print, and a thick pocket album.

There were pictures of Aki and me from our school days, when we’d just turned twenty, just before Yura was born, after Yura was born, and recent photos of Yura. Aki, diligently organizing them, only looked up when I was practically at her elbow.

“Oh! Honey, you’re awake?”

“Yeah. Just woke up. What are you doing?”

“Organizing the photos I got. If I put them in like this, like this, they’ll look pretty in storage, right?”

Aki showed me the album as if she’d been waiting for me to ask.

Perhaps because the design was so pretty, the album with a few photos inserted looked incredibly presentable. Almost like a sample of an album you’d buy at a store.

“Busy from the morning, huh? Need any help?”

“No, it’s okay. I put the rice on, so I just had some time to kill.”

Aki waved her hand. I naturally sat down opposite her and began to examine the photos closely. Up close, there were even more kinds, and a few I’d never seen before.

Especially this one, at the very end. Judging by the background and clothes, it looks like a picture taken when Aki and I went to the water park in high school. Only the back of me, wearing swim trunks and stretching, is visible, while Aki, in a bikini, is beaming in front of me, making a V-sign. When on earth did she take this?

“This, it was taken in high school, right?”

“Yep. That’s right. The picture taken when we spent our first night away together.”

“That sounds awfully strange when you say it like that….”

“Heheh.”

Undoubtedly a statement based on unadulterated fact. But why does it sound so oddly suggestive? Is it my mind playing tricks on me, or is Aki deliberately trying to make it sound suggestive…?

Well, seeing Aki smiling as she sorts through the photos, it seems more like the latter. I pulled out a photo buried under the pile. It was a picture of Aki and me taken in front of a shrine when we went to Japan.

“Wow, this is a memory now too…?”

It was before Yura was born, so it must have been at least five years ago.

It feels as vivid as if it were yesterday, but in reality, it’s been much longer than five years. Amazed by the gap between perception and reality, I stuck out my tongue and fiddled with the photo.

“Aki, was this… five years ago, then?”

“Yeah. We were twenty when we went, so about that, right?”

“These photos were taken freshman year. Now we’re almost graduates…”

“Time flies like crazy, doesn’t it? That’s why you have to take pictures. In the end, all that’s left is the photos, you know.”

Aki smiles as she slips a picture into the album. I wholeheartedly agree with her, deep down.

Memories are bound to fade, so the best way to hold onto them is with photos. To be honest, back then I was even a little embarrassed to be taking them. But looking back now, I think it was a really good thing we did. These photos will remain for a long time, becoming our memories.

“Here, there are some pictures we took at the baseball stadium. Wanna see?”

“Oh, really? I do. Where are they?”

From noble mtl dot com

“Just a sec…. Ah, here they are.”

Aki opens the album to the middle and shows it to me. Sure enough, in the upper right corner is a photo of us at the baseball stadium. We hadn’t even had our first k*ss then, I think. It’s such a place of cherished memory for me that just looking at it brings back so much.

“Who was playing? Was it Lotte and LG?”

“Yeah. Lotte and LG. We were both cheering for Lotte together, remember?”

“Right. I remember. Oh, speaking of Lotte, how are they doing these days? Are they any good?”

“…….”

Aki snaps her mouth shut.

As if she had heard something she shouldn’t have, the corners of her mouth droop into a blank expression… and her fingertips, organizing the photos, tighten.

“No talking about Lotte until March next year. …Got it?”

“…….”

I probably shouldn’t ask why, right?

I can tell something’s not right from the atmosphere, so I just keep my mouth shut. I guess Lotte isn’t doing so well lately.

Well, actually, it’s not just lately. Lotte hasn’t been doing well since I was in high school…

“…Husband.”

“Huh?”

“You were thinking something weird just now.”

“…….”

*Creak-*

“Um, Mommy…?”

Just then, the bedroom door opens. Yura rubs her eyes with the back of her hand, looking for Aki. She’s usually not up at this hour, but it seems we woke her up with our chatter outside.

“Yura, you’re awake?”

“Uh-huh. Yes.”

Yura comes tottering over. Adorned in a dress with sweet frills, Yura, half-asleep, stumbles into Aki’s arms, embracing her tightly.

Aki strokes Yura’s hair as if combing it, then shoots a swift, sharp glance my way. Feeling a pang of guilt, I feign interest in the photos.

“Mommy, I’m hungry.”

“Oh, are you? Alright. Dinner will be ready in ten minutes, so I’ll prepare it then. How about we go wash up together first?”

“Yesss…”

Yura and Aki rise together from their seats.

The two, a mother-daughter resemblance, clasp hands tightly and disappear into the bathroom in the living room. Soon, the sound of water fills the air. Interspersed between the flowing water, the sound of Aki and Yura’s laughter and chatter.

— Did our Yura not wet the bed today?

— Awww, Mommm… I’m not a little kid anymore…!

— Heheh. Yura’s not a little kid? Mommy didn’t know~? There, hah!

— Hmph…!

“…Heh.”

They’re both so adorable, it’s just…

Even just listening, a chuckle escapes me, and I quietly laugh as I organize the photos. Aki and Yura emerge from the bathroom around the time I’m placing the seventh photograph into the album.

“Yura, what did I tell you to do first when you wake up in the morning?”

“Ah, right…! Daddy, good morning…”

“Good morning to you too, Yura. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, I slept well.”

Yura abruptly lifts her head, which had been lowered. I hadn’t noticed it before, but there’s an indentation on her chin from the pillow. Judging by her face, she definitely slept soundly.

I smirk and gesture to Yura.

“Yura, come here.”

“Yesss.”

Yura approaches. I pat my knees a few times, indicating for her to come sit on my lap.

Oop-cha, with a cute little grunt, Yura climbs onto my knees. While I become a human chair for Yura, I show her the photographs I haven’t yet put away.

“Yura, look at this. These are photos of Mommy and Daddy when we were students, see?”

“Gasp. Daddy’s naked…!”

“Huh? Oh~ no, I’m not naked. I’m wearing a swimsuit here. Boys usually only wear the bottom part of the swimsuit, you know.”

“Ahh… I see. But Daddy, why do boys only wear one swimsuit piece?”

Yura asks, her face filled with curiosity.

To tell the truth, I’ve never once thought about it. So my response is slightly delayed.

“Maybe it’s just easier to wear only one thing?”

“Then, why do women wear swimsuits on both top and bottom? Women could just wear the bottom piece comfortably, couldn’t they?”

“Well… actually, there are swimming pools where you can do that. They’re called nude beaches, where men and women can both go about comfortably…”

“Dear, what are you saying to the child…?”

Aki tapped my hand. There wasn’t much strength in it, so it didn’t hurt, but I startled a bit and stopped talking.

“Yura, come here. Sit with Mommy.”

Aki gestures to Yura. Immediately, Yura climbs down from my lap and onto Aki’s.

Seeing them like that, their similar appearances seem even more pronounced. If you said Yura’s current appearance was Aki’s from 20 years ago, and Aki’s current appearance was exactly what Yura would look like in 20 years, everyone would believe it without a doubt. They look that alike.

‘The more I look, the more amazing it is…’

How can there be a mother and daughter who look this identical? And how can Yura’s current appearance be so similar to Aki’s appearance from my memories of the past?

The genes don’t lie, Yura’s current features are a spitting image of Aki’s from when I first saw her at the embassy almost 20 years ago. Even their hairstyles are the same, a blunt bob.

“Is there something on my face?”

“Huh? No, why?”

“You were staring so intently. I wondered if something was on it.”

“Ah… no, it’s nothing. You’re just so pretty.”

“Hmph, suddenly?”

“Papa, what about me?”

“Of course Yura is pretty too.”

“Hmm, then.”

Yura straightens her back and looks up at me.

“Who is prettier, Mommy or me?”

“…Huh?”

Why is this question coming up all of a sudden?

I look at Aki, slightly fl*stered.

I thought she would stop it, but instead, Aki smiles as if it’s amusing and meets my gaze.

“That’s right. Dear, who is prettier, me or Yura?”

“Uh…?”

“Obviously me, Papa?”

“Obviously me, Dear?”

“……Uh.”

Gulped.

Without realizing, I swallowed hard.

In this tension-filled situation, the look-alike mother and daughter were waiting for my reply.

I…

I……

“……I love you.”

“Huh…?”

“Ah… Yes?”

“I love you both.”

Taking Aki and Yura’s hands, I confessed in a sudden burst.

At first, the mother and daughter were fl*stered, but realizing I was serious, they both smiled and nodded.

“I love you too, Papa!”

“Atashi also loves you, Husband!”

“Yeah. Me too, really…”

“So, between Yura and Atashi, who’s cuter?”

“Papa, why can’t you answer?”

“Husband, why can’t you answer?”

“Papa!”

“Husband…!”

“……Ah.”

─The End.