Yos.h.!.+ You know, every time I sit down to start translating, something will inevitably interrupt me. Today my computer decided it wanted to update the BIOS. First time I"ve ever seen that happen…ughh
On another note, I"ve flipped through the second Affection book, and let me tell you this, prepare yourselves, once we get to the epilogue, you"ll be barfing pink for a week, I tell you!!!
Anyways, here"s the next part~
~^.^~
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The distance between the Jinguuji house and their home was 5 minutes while walking, but they cut it down to two by running and arrived at 17.15 [5.15 PM].
They were late by 15 minutes.
"You"re late!"
Sure enough, they got their mom, who was standing with his hands on his hips, angry, and the two ducked their heads. It was absurd, but, resigning himself to this also being the collective responsibility of twins, Takahito remained silent as he was being scolded.
"Sorry."
"I"m sorry."
"That"s why if you"re late the next time, I"ll cut your allowance."
"Huh?"
"Don"t huh me. Good grief."
At Kizuki"s booing, their mom looked at the sky and brushed his bangs. Their mom who had given birth to them in his late teens was still young.
Furthermore, because his appearance was younger-looking than his real age, from the outside he could completely pa.s.s as their older brother. As a matter of fact, because mom and dad had registered an adoption, in the family register mom and they were listed as siblings.
"Listen up, go help your father."
Being released from the preaching, the two went towards the kitchen.
In the kitchen there was their dad and Tachibana. As for preparations for dinner parties, these two generally became the central point.
Their dad whose cooking skills were at the same level as a pro"s was the boss of the kitchen, and the methodical Tachibana had a supporting role. For the sake of this day their dad had begun to think about the menu since a few days ago, and had also purchased ingredients.
In addition to these two, Takahito and Kizuki entered following their mom, but at any rate their mom"s and their contribution as helpers was insignificant. They were mainly in charge of things like final arrangement of food, and was.h.i.+ng up.
"Dad, I"ll help you."
"I"m sorry we were late. Let me help you."
When the two spoke, their father who was deep-frying food turned around. Seeing his sons, a serene smile rose on his bearded face.
"Oh, you two finally came?"
Whenever he heard his father"s low, deep voice, no matter what, Takahito felt relieved and could relax.
When they were children, each time they were being scolded by their mom for some mischief or blunder, the two as if competing would run to take refuge with their dad. The arrangement was for each of them to cling to one of their dad"s long legs.
Their broad-minded father was Takahito"s ideal father-figure.
When he had children, he wanted to become this sort of father. Kizuki probably thought so as well.
Despite just having a werewolf bride being difficult, he had managed to raise werewolf children. Two at the same time even.
It was no ordinary hards.h.i.+p. However, as far as the twins knew, their father had never let them sense any of the child raising hards.h.i.+ps.
It was the same with their mother, who had given birth to them at an age not that far away from their current one (furthermore, their mother"s male body had feminized, and he"d given birth to twins), and the twins sincerely respected their parents for that.
"Yuuki-mama, sorry I"m late."
Takahito stopped by Tachibana who was dutifully dis.h.i.+ng up pickled dishes into small bowls. At school Takahito called him "sensei [teacher]", but in private he still called him "Yuuki-mama" as he had since a long time ago.
Tachibana"s hands stopped, his head rose, and his eyes behind the gla.s.ses gently squinted.
"Today is not that busy, so it"s alright."
The same as their father, Tachibana as well had become the partner of a werewolf while being a human. He had heard that when Tachibana and their uncle had met, the two of them had been a teacher and a student.
The taboo of a teacher and a student, the racial wall, the difference in age, the fact they were the same gender - they had not one hurdle on the way to being joined in marriage. They had overcome those various obstacles, and even now the two were still together.
In betrayal of his outward appearance that at a glance gave a fragile impression, Yuuki-mama"s heart was strong.
"Since I"m helping, tell me anything you need me to do."
"Well then, put some citron in the small bowls. The citron is on that small dish."
"Roger."
Takahito helped Tachibana, and Kizuki became their father"s a.s.sistant.
The kitchen here was twice the size of one in an average home, but as expected it felt cramped when four men stood in it.
After that with the addition of their mother it became five people, while b.u.mping into one another here and there, they somehow completed all the dishes.
The finished dishes were carried by everyone.
In the central room that was the largest reception hall, the partic.i.p.ants of the dinner party had already gathered, and were chatting pleasantly.
In the chief seat sat the previous leader of the chivalrous organization [1] "Oogami Group" that had existed since the closing years of Edo period, the head of Jinguuji family - Tsukiya Jinguuji. He was the father of their mother and uncle, and the twin"s grandfather.
[1] a.k.a. yakuza
At his side sat the wakagas.h.i.+ra [second in command] of the Oogami Group, their granduncle Jin Iwakiri.
The grand uncle was the younger brother of the long ago deceased grandmother of the twins, the only human relative of the Jinguuji family. He was also from one of the three families who had protected and served the Jinguuji family since ancient times. His loyalty to their grandfather was stronger than anyone"s, the granduncle who had supported the family as wakagas.h.i.+ra for a long time was the central pillar of Oogami Group.
Opposite the granduncle, there was the current leader of the Oogami Group, the twin"s uncle Takao Jinguuji.
By all rights the eldest son their mother should have inherited it, but because he had given birth to them and entered the Gamon household register, the second son their uncle had inherited the Jinguuji family heads.h.i.+p and organization.
Next to their uncle with a free spot in-between sat the a.s.sistant of the wakagas.h.i.+ra Tsuduki and the Jinguuji family doctor Mizukawa. Same as their granduncle, these two were the descendants of the three families, and were amongst the few humans who knew of the existence of werewolves. It could be said that without their support, the Jinguuji family would not have come about.
Except for their grandfather who wore j.a.panese clothing, everyone was dressed in suits. As it was related to their work, many were in black or matching dark tones, only Mizukawa who was the chief of the surgical department at a University hospital wore a bright grey suit.
Amongst the three men"s uniform"s, only Tsuduki had stiffly tied a necktie. As usual he was expressionless; his gaze behind the gla.s.ses was sagacious. Strong in economics, he was the Oogami Group"s safe single-handedly carrying the burden of managing the organization"s funds.
For Takahito Tsuduki and Mizukawa were the same as family, he had known them since he was still in diapers. Even now he met them at least once a month.
Nevertheless, seeing the line-up of their family and close friends, his back naturally straightened. Kizuki seemed to be feeling the same as his expression was unusually meek.
(Even though I"ve seen it many times, the intensity is amazing.)
Despite them being special enough by just being "yakuza", on top of that around half of them were werewolves.
Because even they who were used to seeing everyone, and were werewolves themselves got nervous, perhaps if an average person ended up here they would be frozen stiff and could not breathe normally.
"Sorry for making you wait. We"re going to set the dishes now, so please wait for a little bit more."
Final part of Chapter 2 up on Sunday~
Now I"m gonna go finish that drawing of the MC of the BL novel I"m currently writing…
See, ya~
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