Although they stayed there for dinner, it’s only half-past eight in the evening. And to save time, everyone left together making our first destination the nearby train station.

This time, even though I offered to come with them and send them home one by one, they united to reject that proposition. They urged me that it’s enough to accompany them until their platform and bus stop.

Even if I tried to insist on walking at least one group home, it’s like they talked about it already as they simultaneously gave me a cold shoulder until I eventually gave up.

As for their reasoning, they refused to tell me and just answered that I should take a rest sometimes and not push myself further.

That’s naturally a lie, of course.

If I have to guess... they’re being considerate of me again.

My parents had just arrived from overseas after months of absence. They wished for me to spend some time with them and catch up on what I missed.

Akane and Miwa-nee being there was something they didn’t care too much about anymore. It’s already a situation accepted by all of them.

Without any more room for discussion, I settled on sending them off until the train and the bus leaves. Unfortunately, with people still coming and going to both the train and bus stop, we refrained from being too intimate. I only managed to sneak in quick kisses.

In any case, that was proven enough for the girls to be satisfied. We still have more days to look forward to anyway.

When I returned to our house less than an hour later, I checked on Akane and Miwa-nee first. They’re already upstairs. Akane was preparing our bed while Miwa-nee was humming a lullaby for Minoru.

Following that, I returned to the living room where my parents were waiting.

Naturally, there are things that we can only talk about when we’re alone like this. Akane and Miwa-nee understood that so before this ends, they’ll remain in their room.

Compared to earlier, I am now just sitting in between my parents on the long sofa where I often sit and lie down with Akane. In front of us, the TV was showing a primetime drama series that’s a mix of romance, action and fantasy. At one moment, there were the two main characters having their moment and the next second, they suddenly drew swords against each other and eventually got ambushed by CGI of an endless undead army where they became allies again.

The scenes changed quicker than me brushing my teeth in the morning.

And as expected, all three of us weren’t following the series but we still ended up being absorbed by it because no one opened a conversation.

For the next fifteen minutes, nothing changed in our situation until the commercial break stopped our immersion in what we’re watching.

And while advertisements rolled on the TV, I decided to finally break that silence. Akane and Miwa-nee were waiting for me after all. And considering they didn’t talk about the room... they’ll probably go to a hotel or their office.

“Mom, Dad, don’t we need to talk about something else? I mean, it’s great that we’re bonding by watching a series we didn’t follow from the start. If this is all you want then I’ll accompany you until you’re tired.”

Although they arrived in the middle of the day, they probably haven’t rested yet. Their baggage was probably even left behind in the car or put at that storage unit my mom owned.

“Talk about something else, huh? Is my sermon not enough?”

Well, your sermon didn’t even touch the main point. It’s definitely not enough. But those pieces of advice I received from you will definitely be put to use.

“Dad, if that’s enough, you two will not be here anymore. You still have to report to your office, right?”

“Aren’t you outdated with your information about our work?”

Yeah... It will be great if you just tell me the nature of it so I don’t have to guess anymore.

“Did it change? Is that the reason why you’re always away for months? I can appreciate a little update, dad.”

“Ruki. Need I remind you where your focus lies for the past five years?”

Ah. That’s right. Because of my desire, I ignored almost everything unrelated to it. Perhaps, they already told me about the new nature of their work, I just filtered it out. And based on the clues I gathered... it’s something big. At least, the two were still together.

Wait. No. Mom just followed my dad. She’s like his owner, always keeping him on her leash.

“C’mon you two. Enough of that. Can’t we stay here to spend some time with our baby boy?”

My mom interjected into our conversation and pulled my head down to her shoulder, definitely trying to baby me.

Since it’s been a while, I let it go. I still remember that between the two, my mom always spoiled me for the simple reason of my clear resemblance to my dad.

Unfortunately, I failed to grow up like him. I became my own person. Furthermore, at a young age, I did all those to the girls that caught my eye all for the sake of satisfying my desire. At that age, my dad was probably diligently studying along with Uncle Satoru.

“... Of course, you can. But mom, I’m not a child anymore. You saw and held the proof of it.”

Although I implicitly said it, there’s no way they wouldn’t understand it.

I heard my old man release a sigh with his head shaking to the left and right. As for my mom, she began patting my head.

“Even so, you’ll remain my baby boy. You’re planning to be independent from us as soon as possible. Let me dote on my baby boy before that. Don’t you notice? This is the first time in five years that we got to sit here, relaxing together...”

No matter how much she tried to hide, I definitely caught her voice breaking in the middle...

I’ve been turning a blind eye to that but... just like how I distanced myself to Akane, my relationship with my parents also became distant. Even if I told myself that I love them, I was probably treating them as close to strangers for the past five years...

Looking closely at my dad, he’s stealthily wiping the tears looming to spill from his eyes.

And at this moment, the feelings of remorse suddenly flooded into me.

I’ve been a bad child or rather... a strange child whose sole purpose was that awakened desire.

More than Akane, my parents were most likely deeply affected by it. They surely got devastated when I began acting like that.

“... I. I caused you a lot of trouble. I’m sorry mom, dad.”

I don’t know what kind of tone I used there but with remorse filling my chest, it’s definitely not normal.

A moment later, I felt two pairs of arms wrapping around me, covering my sight. Their warmth immediately spread in my person, melting the ice covering my heart that I probably put to stop my tears from flowing.

It’s the warmth brought about by familial love that the two people at my sides were passing onto me. No matter what I did, it wouldn’t erase the fact that they would unconditionally love me...