Chapter 553: Let"s end this!
Frankly, his weekend was quite busy.
Yukinos.h.i.ta was one thing, but there was something more important that he had to do.
Unlike usual, the Tachibana household was quite busy today. Everyone gathered together and helped Hina move her things.
Shishio also came and helped them to move Hina"s belongings.
After their trip from Izu, Hina told everyone that she had decided to move. While her decision surprised them, she told everyone that she had decided to move in with her boyfriend.
Everyone was surprised and dumbfounded, but they quickly became happy to know what it meant to move together or live together.
Living together as a couple was something normal in this country.
If they had planned to move in together, their plan to marry wouldn"t be far off.
"Let me see your boyfriend," Tsukiko said with a smile.
However, Hina didn"t plan to show the face of her boyfriend and dodged their question. Still, this made them curious about the ident.i.ty of her boyfriend.
On the other hand, Rui watched this scene in silence, wondering how everyone was going to react when they knew the truth. However, she knew this wasn"t the time, to tell the truth to everyone, so she helped Hina and told them about Hina"s boyfriend.
"Have you met him, Rui? What"s his job? Can he take responsibility for Hina?" Tsukiko quickly asked.
Akihito also eagerly waited for the answer.
"He..." Rui thought for a moment and said, "He works in the finance-related industry." It was just a spur of the moment, and she didn"t think too much.
"Finance!" Akihito and Tsukiko nodded and somehow felt satisfied with Hina"s boyfriend. After all, the finance-related industry was one of the industries with the highest income. In other words, without a doubt, their lives would be well-off.
"...." Hina was speechless, but she didn"t say anything since somehow she understood why Rui answered with such an answer.
After all, on the Izu, they realized what kind of rich young master character their man was.
"So when are you going to introduce him to us?" Tsukiko asked while looking at Hina.
"He... He"s quite busy now. He"s still in Shanghai for some business," Hina said. She wasn"t sure why Shishio liked to say they should visit China in the future, but she didn"t think too much and just told the truth. 3
When Hina, Shishio, and Rui discussed the matter of the move, Shishio also told them about the issue of the ident.i.ty of this fictional boyfriend.
"Shanghai, huh?" Tsukiko nodded and asked, "So when will he come back?"
"It should be around a month. He has said that I should move first, and he said sorry that he couldn"t help me." Her lie had become smoother, and she didn"t stutter anymore. However, she must admit it felt uncomfortable to lie to her mother.
Still, what could they say?
Could they say that they dated Shishio at the same time?
While it was possible, it was better to wait a while to announce this matter. Leaving aside Akihito, or Natsuo, they knew their mother should understand them, so they decided to tell this matter to Tsukiko first.
As for Akihito or Natsuo, hopefully, they planned to let Tsukiko tell them.
Still, Tsukiko asked many questions about Hina"s boyfriends for a while since she was afraid her boyfriend was the husband of someone.
"..." Hina.
However, after Tsukiko confirmed everything was alright, she sighed in relief and agreed to let her daughter move. As for her first daughter"s boyfriend, there were some doubts on her mind, especially when she thought about a "certain someone," she decided to keep it inside her heart.
Hina had decided to move, and her plan was supported by Rui, Tsukiko, and Akihito. Neither of them said anything since she was already an adult, and it was normal for her to move out.
Yet someone was in shock and felt unhappy.
However, what could he do?
Natsuo didn"t know what to do. He knew that it was normal for Hina to have a boyfriend and even moved out with her boyfriend, yet he didn"t want it. He wanted to stop her and told her to stay in the house, but no words came out of his mouth. He still wanted to see Hina and make her his girlfriend, but he knew it was impossible.
While their status might not stop them from becoming together, Hina didn"t have an interest in being together with him.
The Tachibana household was filled with happiness, yet he was the only one who felt unhappy.
"Is this how it feels to be heartbroken?" Natsuo thought.
If only her boyfriend made her sad, Natsuo thought he still had a chance. However, when he saw her radiance smile, he felt helpless, and he knew she was happy. There was nothing he could do besides burying this feeling inside his heart.
Yet could he give up so easily?
"No!"
The love in his heart slowly turned into an obsession.
Natsuo couldn"t forget about Hina"s figure and wanted her, so at this moment, he decided to confess to her. He wanted to tell her how he felt toward her since he was afraid that everything would be late if he didn"t do it now. 1
Yet the days pa.s.sed, and he didn"t do anything before it was time for Hina to move out.
Shishio came to help with the moving, and everyone helped to move Hina"s things to her new apartment.
"Is that all?" Shishio asked.
"Yes." Hina nodded with a smile. "Thank you, Shishio-kun."
"No problem, Hina."
Hina somehow shuddered and said, "Being called someone younger than me without an honorific is nice."
"......." Shishio knew Hina had a certain m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t tendency, but he didn"t complain. "Well, let"s celebrate your move later."
Hina blushed, but she nodded eagerly.
"Hina, Shishio, hurry up and come down! We need to go to the apartment to move Hina"s belongings," Tsukiko"s voice could be heard from below.
"Yes."
Shishio and Hina looked at each other and smiled. After all, it would be impossible for them not to feel excited since they would be living together now. They wouldn"t be bothered by many things, and there would be many things that they could do together.
Still, when they walked down, Shishio noticed Tsukiko"s gaze, so he asked, "Is there something on my face, auntie?"
"Nothing." Tsukiko shook her head and said, "I"m not sure, but I feel that I want to punch you."
"...." Shishio.
"What do you think?" Tsukiko asked with a smile.
"Did I do something wrong?" Shishio was speechless.
"I don"t know, but I feel annoyed somehow." Tsukiko rubbed her first and wondered why she wanted to beat this b.a.s.t.a.r.d. She knew the relationship between Shishio and Rui was already impossible to stop, and she didn"t want to stop it either. However, she felt there was this strange intuition that told her the relationship between Shishio and Hina wasn"t that simple.
Tsukiko might not have evidence, but the close relationship between the two rang the alarm in her mind.
"Then, you need to calm down." Shishio held Tsukiko"s shoulders gently and put her to sit down on the sofa. He gave a light ma.s.sage on her shoulders and said, "You might get tired from the job and help Hina to move out."
"...Well, probably." Tsukiko let out a satisfied sigh, feeling his ma.s.sage was so nice.
"Does it feel good, auntie?"
"Yeah, over there. That place is good."
Her white and soft shoulders were nice to touch, but Shishio knew they were quite stiff, and as a responsible son-in-law, he knew he needed to help his mother-in-law to take care of this matter.
Fortunately, Rui, Hina, Akihito, and Natsuo were outside, and they didn"t see what Tsukiko and Shishio were doing.
"By the way, where"s the apartment?" Akihito asked since he didn"t know where the apartment was.
Natsuo also looked at Hina curiously.
"It"s in Ebisu."
"Ebisu?"
The location wasn"t that far from Hina"s workplace but was quite far from their house. Yet it was still in Tokyo, so it wasn"t a place that was hard to visit.
Natsuo made up his mind to visit Hina"s new apartment in the future. However, he knew that after she moved, their chances of meeting each other would be limited. He felt slightly regretful since he didn"t appreciate the time he spent with her and thought to use that time well, so he could do something about the fiery feeling inside his heart.
Natsuo knew that he might have taken everything for granted, but this was normal.
After their parents married, they had been together and lived in the same house for so long.
Yet that day would disappear.
Hina would move away with her boyfriend, whom he didn"t know.
Their chance to meet with each other would become rare and might be almost non-existent. Even if they met, he wouldn"t be inside her heart.
This frustrated him, and he also felt regret that he didn"t dare to say what he wanted.
"That"s why..."
Natsuo knew that he had to say it now, or else he would lose his chance.
"It"s good that we have moved everything." Akihito wiped the sweat off his forehead.
"Should we go now, Hina-nee?" Rui asked.
"Okay." Hina nodded and asked, "But where"s Shishio and mom?"
They tried to look at each other, but then they heard his voice.
"Hey, you forget one thing," Shishio said while holding a huge card box filled with something.
"Ah, I forgot!" Hina quickly approached Shishio and stuck her tongue cutely.
Tsukiko walked to everyone and said, "Should we go now?" Her body was refreshed as if she had become several years younger.
"Good."
They agreed and didn"t seem to notice the change in Tsukiko.
Still, when they were about to go, Shishio noticed Natsuo"s strange expression and couldn"t help but frown. However, he thought for a while and made up his mind since he knew that this was for the best.
The short pain was better than long-term agony.
There was no need to procrastinate, and it was better to solve it as soon as possible.
As for a chance or whatever, Shishio could only smile, and he didn"t say anything since it would be too cruel of him to say anything.
Everyone prepared to go to Hina"s apartment by car.
Shishio was also about to enter the car, but Tsukiko suddenly came and whispered, "Shishio, give me a ma.s.sage again in the future."
"....." Shishio.