Publishedat 16th of August 2019 11:23:01 AMChapter 304
Translator: Reflet
Editor: ryunakama
Taiyou and the three sisters lined up their shoulders, gazing into the evening sun . They were out in the open cafe terrace overlooking the ocean, enjoying the sea breeze . They were sitting on a white sofa, gazing at the evening sun while munching on sweets . It was a truly peaceful time .
“The sun is super round, isn’t it?”
Taiyou muttered in deep interest as he gazed at the orange sun . Perhaps because it was emitting a calm light, it appeared smaller than usual, and round as well .
“I feel the same way . ”
“It’s normally too bright to look at, but…”
“When we get the chance to look closer like this, it’s super round, yeah . ”
“Yep . Oh, and it actually looks smaller than the moon . ”
He said, directing his eyes to the moon, which was comparatively much larger .
“I actually quite like the moon when it comes out in the afternoon . ”
“””Why is that?”””
“Well, the afternoon is supposed to be the sun’s time to shine, right? Oh, and I mean the actual sun, not my name . ” (**Taiyou means sun in j.a.panese, so that’s always the word they use**)
He said jokingly as he pointed at the sun .
“Sure, there are other stars out there as well, but you can’t see them, right? The only thing you can see clearly in the afternoon is the moon . It’s not like it stands out all that much, but when it’s there you can definitely see it . Doesn’t stick out, but it’s there all right . The afternoon moon…”
“True . ”
“It is there every so often when you look up, isn’t it?”
“The afternoon moon…”
“And I think you girls resemble it . ”
“””Huh?”””
The three sisters exclaimed in surprise at once . They looked at Taiyou, questioning what he meant . He continued speaking as he split a cake with a fork and fed the pieces to them .
“Amongst everyone in our family, you probably stand out the least out of everyone . There were some incidents that occurred and there were even those events at the school . But you girls don’t really get wrapped up in stuff like that . That’s usually because I help you take refuge or protect the family . ”
“That’s true . It happened with Youran-chan as well . ”
“And with Aoyamsan as well . ”
“We weren’t able to be of help . ”
The three sisters were in low spirits . He had antic.i.p.ated this happening, so he gave them all a light kiss .
“Didn’t I say that I was the one who did that? There’s absolutely no reason for any of you to feel down about this . ”
“But…”
“So I think that you resemble that midday moon . It doesn’t stand out, but once you look at it it’s definitely there . Honestly, just from looking at you, you all should really stand out the most . With all your mismatched sizes, if you stand next to all of my brides and no one speaks a word, you would definitely stand out the most . But you usually don’t, which is why you remind me of that moon . ”
“Are you sure?”
“Plus if you guys hadn’t been here, there’s no way that our family would be the same right now . ”
He said as he gazed at the three of them .
“If I’m the sun, then you’re the midday moon . ”
“””Taiyou-san…”””
The three sisters leaped into Taiyou’s chest with moist eyes . He caught the sisters who shared one soul in an embrace .
“Seems like there’s a lot of moons in our family . ”
In his arms, Kotone giggled as she said that .
“You think so?”
“Of course . Kohaku-san loves the moon and is always trying to imitate it with her hairstyle . ”
“And Youran-chan is literally ‘New Moon’ . ”
“So if all three of us are the midday moon, then there are a lot of moons to go around . ”
“Ahaha, gotcha, you do have a point . ”
Taiyou laughed pleasantly . Now that they had mentioned it, he really did have a lot of moons amongst his brides .
“Well after all, you are the sun . ”
“I don’t know what you mean by ‘after all’, but in the first place, if I’m the sun, then wouldn’t it make more sense for you guys to be planets?”
“That’s a bit difficult . ”
“We can only go up to seven, but…”
“There are a total of eight planets in the solar system . ”
“True . We’d be down by one . ”
Taiyou said, and everyone laughed together . Enjoying an incoherent conversation in the evening sun, he felt a warmth develop in his chest .
At length, the sun began to descend, and nighttime approached .
The three sisters left their seats for the bathroom, leaving Taiyou gazing up at the moon above his head .
“May I take your plate, sir?”
A male employee came his way, and Taiyou nodded, furthering his gaze at the moon .
“Were those ladies with you your family?”
“Hm?”
Being asked a question so suddenly, Taiyou inclined his head, looking at the employee . As he cleaned up the plates, he smiled and approached him . He didn’t seem to have any ill intent, so Taiyou answered him straightforwardly .
“No, we’re lovers . ”
“Is that so? And may I ask which one of them?”
“All of them . ”
Even though he was a stranger, Taiyou answered without hesitation . It wasn’t something that he felt should be hidden . If anything, by this point he would rather boast about them . On the other hand, he still knew that this was something peculiar in today’s day and age, which was why he expected the man to make a strange face in response, but…
“Is that so? That’s amazing . ”
Betraying his expectations, the employee did not make any sort of strange face, instead speaking in an awed tone . Taiyou was surprised by that . Moving his gaze from the moon, he looked at the employee .
“Is it, now?”
“Yes . I’m jealous . ”
“Jealous . ”
Taiyou parroted his words . Sure, if someone was looking from the sidelines, they would be envious of someone who has a harem, he thought to himself . As if reading Taiyou’s thoughts, the employee spoke while wryly smiling .
“This was quite a while ago, but I once was confessed to by my wife’s younger sister . ”
“So in other words, your sister-in-law confessed to you?”
“Technically . At the time, we weren’t yet married, so she wasn’t my sister-in-law yet, but she confessed to me . Of course, I turned her down, but she was upset after that for quite some time . ”
After having cleared up all of the plates, the employee continued as he wryly smiled .
“It’s only recently that we’ve been able to interact with each other as family . ”
“Have you heard the reason why she liked you and confessed to you?”
“Yes . ”
The employee made a further strained expression .
“Apparently, she started liking me because I was a man who treated my wife with care . And I heard this recently as well . So I rejected her because I already had my wife as a lover, but that seemed to only make my sister-in-law further pained . ”
“I was not mistaken in what I saw in him and began to like him more and more—-”
“—-But my feelings will never be reciprocated . ”
“Wow, that’s pretty tough . ”
“Yes . Which is why from time to time, I wonder: Was there perhaps a way to make both of them happy at the same time?”
“Is that right . ”
“My apologies for telling you such a strange story . ”
“No worries . ”
“Then please continue to make yourself at home . ”
The employee said, bowing and returning to the shop’s interior . As he was staring at him go, the three sisters returned .
“We’re back, Taiyou-san . ”
“Welcome back . ”
The three sisters sat on the sofa .
The sisters were all gathered, the moon was floating in the sky, and the employee was continuing back to the shop .
“What’s wrong, Taiyou-san?”
“Are you perhaps tired?”
“Want to rest for a bit?”
“No, I’m fine . ”
Shaking his head, he grinned . (Guess it’s about time), thought Taiyou . Firmly gripping the things he had been keeping hidden in his pocket, he took a deep breath .
Nothing would change too greatly from what he was about to do . It probably only had symbolic significance . Still, he was nervous . Probably the most nervous he had been since first meeting the girls .
“There’s something that I’d like to give you all . I figured it’d be best to start with you . ”
He held out his hands to the three sisters as they puzzled over what he said . Three small boxes containing rings were handed to them .