Chapter 21

This time, I tried writing the family tree in the afterword.

First, Soichiro pointed to a nearby restaurant.

"Shall we go into a restaurant and talk while we eat?"

After all, they had come here to eat.

Besides, it would be better to explain properly rather than run away awkwardly.

Yuzuru exchanged a glance with Arisa and nodded in agreement.

"You two are so in sync. Just as I expected, Yuzuru and Yukishiro are lovers... Ow! Yuzuru hit me!"

"Don't jump to conclusions."

Yuzuru lightly tapped Ayaka on the head.

After they sat at the table and ordered their food, Arisa greeted the three of them.

"Let me introduce myself again. I'm Yukishiro Arisa. Nice to meet you... Tachibana-san, Kousai-san, Sato-san."

The three of them bowed slightly and returned the greeting.

"I'm Sato Soichiro. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Kousai Ayaka. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Kousai Chiharu. Nice to meet you."

After the greetings, the three of them turned their gazes to Yuzuru.

"So, Yuzuru. Are you and Yukishiro really in that kind of relationship?"

"What kind of relationship?"

"Don't play dumb. Are you lovers? That's the question."

"No, we're not."

"Again... If you're not lovers, why would you come to a pool together? Even if you're not lovers, you wouldn't come unless you had some interest, right?"

"That's..."

Yuzuru was at a loss for what to do.

Given that they had been seen in swimsuits at the pool, it wouldn't work to try to bluff.

"...Takasegawa, are these three trustworthy and reliable people?"

Arisa asked Yuzuru in a low voice.

There shouldn't be a problem with that.

While none of the three could be called saints, they weren't the type to reveal a friend's secrets.

...After all, in business, nothing is more important than trust.

Damaging Yuzuru's trust here would be detrimental to the three of them in the future.

"Of course. ...I can promise that. But, you never know when information might leak..."

"Wouldn't it be safer to explain the situation to some extent and make them understand how important and serious it is for us?"

"That... you might be right."

Naturally, how tight-lipped someone is depends on the importance of the information.

If they really wanted the three to keep quiet, they would need to explain the situation thoroughly...

However, explaining the situation would inevitably involve touching on Arisa's family circumstances.

While the three were Yuzuru's friends, they were essentially strangers to Arisa.

"...Alright, I understand. I'll explain."

Yuzuru decided to explain without touching on Arisa's family circumstances.

He concealed some information and gave a general explanation of the situation.

After hearing everything, Ayaka said with a grin.

"Yuzuru, you're in quite an interesting situation, huh?"

"...I'm aware."

Yuzuru sighed, looking at Ayaka with a wry smile.

If it were someone else's situation, it would be quite amusing.

It was like something out of a manga or drama happening right in front of him.

"But, Yukishiro really did come, didn't she? Your grandfather is amazing."

"Yeah... I underestimated him. I should have made the setting even more unrealistic. Like an alien, a person from another world, a person with superpowers, or someone from the future."

Yuzuru replied half-heartedly to Soichiro, who looked impressed.

Of course, Arisa wasn't blonde or blue-eyed, so the conditions weren't met.

If he wanted to, he could have turned her down.

But Yuzuru didn't do that...

"However, Yuzuru. Yukishiro isn't blonde or blue-eyed. You could have turned her down for that reason. ...Aren't you actually somewhat interested?"

Chiharu said with a face that seemed to say, "I've caught you in a contradiction."

Indeed, Yuzuru's explanation had a significant contradiction.

He accepted the situation even though he could have turned it down. Could it be that Yuzuru liked Arisa to some extent?

After all, Arisa was beautiful, and most men would think, "What if she were my real girlfriend?" when they saw her in a swimsuit, and Yuzuru was no exception.

"Tell me to bring someone I like, and if they don't come, it's fine, but if they do, it's also fine. I see, Yuzuru thought it through."

"Indeed, the 'Takasegawa of schemes' lives up to the name."

"Yukishiro, when you said Yukishiro wasn't your type, you were just being modest, right?"

Ayaka, Chiharu, and Soichiro all had slightly different misunderstandings.

This made Yuzuru seem a bit devious, but...

Since he lacked the confidence to explain while concealing the parts he wanted to keep hidden, he decided to let it be.

"That's not true."

However, Arisa said, contradicting their thoughts.

Yuzuru couldn't help but look at her.

"Hey, Yukishiro."

"Takasegawa accepted this for my sake, to protect my privacy."

Arisa revealed everything, including the fact that Yuzuru had hidden to protect her privacy, that she was being used as a pawn in a political marriage for the sake of a dowry.

"Takasegawa could have refused, but he did it for me, not out of ulterior motives... Well, not entirely without ulterior motives, I suppose."

"No, you should have denied that part completely."

Yuzuru couldn't help but point out the lack of confidence in the latter part of her statement.

On the other hand, Soichiro and the others looked a bit surprised.

"Wow... You really are a good guy. I believed in you from the start."

"Of course, Yuzuru. I was sure of it too."

"Yuzuru's stock is rising in my book. As expected, I anticipated this from the beginning."

"Absolutely not."

Yuzuru glared lightly, and the three of them shrugged.

Just then, the food arrived.

The conversation paused as the five of them started to eat... or so it should have been.

"Hey, Yukishiro. Can I call you Arisa? You can call me Ayaka."

"Me too. You can call me Chiharu. Can I call you Arisa?"

"Eh? ...Sure, I guess. Ayaka... Chiharu...?"

Arisa, who was cornered by Ayaka and Chiharu, nodded hesitantly.

The two of them seemed to be trying to close the emotional distance.

"I have a strange sense of familiarity with you, Arisa."

"Eh, really?"

"See, our names are similar, right?"

"Only the first letter and the number of characters are the same."

Yuzuru couldn't help but point out the absurdity.

It was on par with saying 'Chiharu' and 'Yuzuru' were similar.

"By the way, Arisa, you're really beautiful, aren't you?"

"Thank you."

Arisa, suddenly complimented by Chiharu, replied with a slightly surprised expression.

However, this was the wrong response to Chiharu.

"Your hair is so smooth and beautiful, and your skin is so white and flawless... Your chest and hips are also big, but your waist is slim. Your face is so well-defined... Honestly, you're my type."

"Ah, I see. Arisa is cute. I might like her too. The white skin and black swimsuit look great. And despite the innocent look, she's surprisingly bold... Hey, you don't look very Japanese. What's your heritage? By the way, my great-grandmother was British... Ow, ow!"

"Stop it! Soichiro-san!!"

Ayaka and Chiharu's antics came to an end when Soichiro grabbed them by the neck and pulled them back.

"You're making Yukishiro uncomfortable. Really..."

He forcibly seated Ayaka and Chiharu, who had leaned in, and bowed slightly to Arisa.

"Sorry about these two. ...They need to be told firmly. If you don't like it, say so. If you're annoyed, tell them to die."

"No, it's fine. I was just a bit surprised. ...My mother is three-quarters Russian and one-quarter Japanese, and my father is half French and half Japanese. That's what I remember."

Arisa answered Ayaka's question conscientiously.

While she hadn't been directly asked about her heritage, she had already heard it during the arranged meeting, so it wasn't a surprise to Yuzuru.

If Yuzuru's memory served, "Yukishiro" was Arisa's father's surname.

He had been a trader.

Of Arisa's adoptive parents, only her adoptive mother was related by blood.

She was Arisa's aunt (or possibly her cousin).

Yuzuru had met her at the arranged meeting, and she indeed had a strong Eastern European appearance.

Incidentally, "Amagase" was the surname of Arisa's adoptive father.

He was a regular Japanese person and had no blood relation to Arisa.

"Wow, by the way, about Yuzuru. His great-grandmother was a Nordic American."

"Really?"

Arisa looked at Yuzuru with a slightly surprised expression.

Yuzuru nodded slightly.

"Yeah. It's pretty distant, so it's within the margin of error."

He was essentially Japanese, so it wouldn't be noticeable from his appearance.

If asked, he might think he had a slight Nordic look... or maybe not.

If anything, his blue eyes might be the only hint.

Incidentally, the great-great-grandmother on his great-grandfather's side was a German woman.

This was from the Meiji and Taisho eras, so it was "classical" to Yuzuru.

While discussing their family backgrounds, the five of them finished their meal.

As they left the restaurant, Ayaka made a suggestion.

"Since we're all here, why don't we all hang out?"

By "all," she meant the five of them, including Yuzuru and Arisa.

For Yuzuru, there was no problem since Ayaka, Chiharu, and Soichiro were childhood friends...

"But... today, I came with Yukishiro."

For Arisa, the other three were strangers.

It would be awkward for her to join in with four people who were close to each other.

This was easy to imagine.

Considering that Arisa might find it hard to refuse, Yuzuru said this.

Then Ayaka...

"I want to hang out with Arisa. Unless you and Arisa want to be alone and get cozy, that is?"

"Since we're all here, why don't the boys and girls split up? I want to hang out with the girls without any reservations."

They were hinting that they had something specific in mind for Arisa.

Despite their playful demeanor, they were quite perceptive.

"Good idea. ...I'm tired of being the bodyguard for Ayaka and Chiharu."

Soichiro said this, playing along with Ayaka and Chiharu.

This was also a considerate gesture for Arisa, but the tired look on his face suggested it was partly genuine.

"I'm fine. I want to get to know everyone better."

Arisa answered with a natural expression.

...She didn't seem particularly reluctant.

Perhaps she had sensed their consideration.

"Well, if you say so... let's do that."

They decided to split up by gender.

To clarify, in case there's any misunderstanding:

Yuzuru's requirement was "blonde and blue-eyed," but Arisa has "hair that can be mistaken for blonde and green eyes," i.e., "ash blonde."

Regarding Ayaka and Arisa, sometimes in the author's mind, "Ayaka" and "Arisa" get mixed up and cause a traffic accident, so there might be a major love triangle in the future,

but that would definitely be a typo, so you can rest assured.

Here is Yuzuru and Ayaka's family tree:

〇... Takasegawa family ●... Kousai family ☆★... women who married into the family

〇＝☆←German ★＝●

｜ ｜

〇＝☆ England→★＝● Great-grandparents

｜－－－－－－ーー｜ ｜

〇＝☆←American 〇＝● Grandparents

｜ (Nordic) ｜

〇＝☆ ★＝● Parents

｜ ｜

〇＝☆ ★＝● Current generation

｜ ｜

Yuzuru Ayaka

Unless the setting changes, it will remain like this.

The mention of America in the first chapter and the subtle fact that Yuzuru's eyes are blue are due to this genetic background.

For this chapter, the level of affection hasn't changed.

If you find it interesting and are looking forward to the next part,

registering a bookmark and giving a rating (changing the ☆☆☆☆☆ to ★★★★★) would be greatly appreciated.