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This was a bad idea.
Absolutely terrible.
The most bizarre idea that he has ever heard and he’s heard ideas from Subaru.
He doesn’t know why Anzu wanted to do this.
“I want to meet with your father. Nothing bad will happen so don’t worry.”
Even if she tells him not to worry, Hokuto can’t help but worry. After all, it’s his father they’re talking about. It’s Hidaka Seiya they’re talking about.
“If possible, I’d like to tell your father that we’re dating.”
To be honest, Hokuto doesn’t want to tell him at all but he knows it’s inevitable. As long as his father is in existence, he knows it’s impossible for him to not find out about him and Anzu.
He can imagine it now. His father bombarding them with questions left and right, telling them to spare no detail. It makes for a headache-inducing image.
Thankfully, Anzu planned to come by on a day where they didn’t have school.
Unfortunately, today is that day.
Hokuto lies on his bed and stares at the ceiling, as if he were contemplating life’s existence all at once. His two worlds colliding with one another and he doesn’t know what the outcome will be.
Again, this was a terrible idea.
His phone vibrates from a text message. He picks it up and sees it’s from Anzu, signaling that she’s here. Hokuto gets up from his bed and takes a deep breath.
The time has come.
He makes his way to the entrance of his house and opens his door, revealing Anzu with a smile on her face.
“I still think this is a bad idea.”
That’s the first thing that comes out of his mouth.
“You really don’t want to tell him, do you?” Anzu says.
“Absolutely not. He’ll make a big deal out of it and pester me everyday.” Hokuto sighs. “But I suppose it’s about time he knows…”
“It’ll be fine so don’t worry.” She says, trying to reassure Hokuto.
“If it doesn’t go well then I prepared some alternatives.” He says.
“Which are?”
“I fake my death.”
“No.”
“You fake your death.”
“Also no.”
“We both fake our deaths.”
“Are your alternatives just us faking our deaths?” Anzu asks in disbelief. “Even Subaru would have a better idea than that.”
“Buchou taught me how to create the perfect fake death so I think this skill might be useful after all.” Hokuto protests.
“What in the world is Wataru-san teaching you…” Anzu sighs
She brings her hand up to Hokuto’s head, patting it. This became a normal thing between them. The slightest touch of her hand makes Hokuto’s worries wash away.
“You’re overreacting. I’m sure Seiya-san wouldn’t object so harshly.” Anzu says.
“What wouldn’t I object to?”
Anzu quickly retracts her hand from Hokuto’s head and hides it behind her back. She looks into Hokuto’s house and sees that his father is standing in the entrance.
“Ah, Seiya-san, nice to see you! The weather is so nice today!” Anzu says. Her tone of voice has a hint of nervousness.
“Indeed it is. Did you stop by for something?” He asks.
“Just for a visit.”
“Well, come in. I’m sure Hocchan is happy to have you over.” Seiya smiles and walks back into the living room area. Hokuto frowns at his father’s comment and lets her inside the house.
They both go into the living and sit down in front of Seiya, who is at the dining table and reading a newspaper.
“Is something wrong?” He asks.
“There’s something I’d like to tell you. It’s very important and I think you should know.” Anzu says.
“Something serious, is it? I’d like to hear it.” Seiya sets down his newspaper and focuses on the two of them.
Hokuto sees that Anzu’s hands are shaking a bit. He places his hand on top of hers. She lets his hand intertwine with hers and her shaking stops momentarily.
She takes a deep breath before she says her next words.
“Seiya-san, I’m...dating your son…”
No words were spoken for the next seconds after Anzu finished her sentence.
Hokuto imagined there would be silence but he didn’t think that it would go on for so long. His grip on Anzu’s hand tightened without him knowing.
“Anzu-san.”
“Y-Yes?!”
“How long have you two been dating?” He asks with a smile. Hokuto definitely does not trust that smile.
“Six months…” Hokuto mumbles.
“I see…” Seiya says. “That’s almost half a year.”
Hokuto nods to confirm the fact.
This is a different reaction than what Hokuto was expecting. He was expecting his father to be more excited and annoying about it. Seeing his father act like this was unsettling.
“Anzu-san, do you love my son?”
“Wha-” Anzu’s face turns immediately red from hearing Seiya’s question.
“What in the world are you asking?!” Hokuto exclaims. His face is red too but it’s from embarrassment and anger.
“Well? Do you?” He asks again.
Hokuto looks at Anzu, who is staring at the table with an extremely red face. Since they’re still holding hands, he can feel her grip becoming stronger.
“Anzu, you don’t have t-”
“I do.”
Both father and son’s eyes widen at her answer. Even though her face is violently red, she still has the confidence to say that. Seiya puts his hands together and hums in reply, waiting for her to say more.
“I love Hokuto very much. He’s done a lot for me and I appreciate him very much.” Anzu says with more determination. “I don’t ask for your blessing or permission for us to date but I believe that you should know about it.”
At this point, Hokuto’s face is basically on fire. If you put ice on it, it’ll definitely melt.
Seiya unfolds his hands but the smile on his face remains unchanging.
“Anzu-san, please treat my son well. He is in your hands.” Seiya bows slightly.
Without saying a word, Anzu also bows her head. If an outsider saw this situation, it looks as if a marriage arrangement has been made.
Seiya lifts his head up and looks at Hokuto.
“You as well, Hokuto. Treat her well too.”
“Of course, I will.” Hokuto retorts.
“Now that’s been settled…” Seiya walks over to a cabinet and takes out a large book. When he returns to the table, the book makes a large sound when it hits the table.
“Do you want to see Hocchan’s baby photos?”
Anzu eye’s light up and she rushes over to the other side of the table. She sits in the chair next to Seiya. He opens the book, showing several pictures of Hokuto from different ages.
“Put those away!” Hokuto yells, trying to take the album away from his father. Seiya evades his attempts and shows Anzu the photos.
“This was Hocchan when he was five. He tried to make a rice ball for his grandmother.”
“Aw!”
“And this was Hocchan when he was seven. He tried to draw a giraffe.”
“Aw!”
“And this is Hocchan sneezing from a few days ago.”
“Aw?”
Hokuto finally manages to pry away the album from his father’s hand and holds the album to his chest.
“Stop showing her my photos! It’s embarrassing!” Hokuto yells.
“Fine, I won’t show anymore of your photos.” Seiya sighs. “Do you want to watch old recordings I have of Hocchan instead, Anzu-san?”
“Yes!”
“No!”
“Hocchan, what do you want to be when you grow up?”
“Konpeitou.”
Despite him asking them not to, they went against his wishes and watched some old recordings. Unfortunately, his father had to pick the worst ones to show.
“I can’t believe you wanted to be konpeitou when you grew up…” Anzu snickers.
Her snicker turns into laughter and it fills the whole room. Hokuto buries his face into hands shamefully.
At this point, they’ve abandoned the table and moved to the living room. All three of them sit on the couch with many pictures and CD’s full of Hokuto’s childhood.
“Anzu-san, this one was when he was nine.” Seiya shows her a picture of a young Hokuto who is stretching his cheeks out. “He’s trying to imitate mochi.”
“That’s so cute!” Anzu exclaims.
“Isn’t it? His cheeks were so stretchy back then.” Seiya says endearingly.
“Eh? Is that true?”
This is one of Hokuto’s worst fears. His father and Anzu are getting along frighteningly well.
“Please stop.” Hokuto mumbles. “I can’t take this anymore.”
Anzu scurrages through a couple more photos before a certain one catches her eye. She picks it up and her eyes widen.
“Is this Sagami-sensei?” She asks, showing Hokuto the photo.
It’s a photo of what looks like to be a young Sagami Jin holding a young boy in his arms. That must be Hokuto.
“Yeah, it is.” He confirms. “I think I told you before that Sagami-sensei used to come over to my house when I was younger.”
“He looks so young…” Anzu says. “Are you sure this is Sagami-sensei?”
“I’m positive.”
Seiya watches the two of them talk and smiles fondly. Hokuto catches his father staring at him and gives him a glare.
“Why are you staring at us?” He asks.
“It’s nothing. I just remembered something.” Seiya gets up from his spot and walks towards the hallway. “ Feel free to keep looking at the photos. I’ll be right back.”
He walks out, leaving the two by themselves. Hokuto exhales a deep breath and stretches out his arms.
“That was tiring.” He says.
“I think that went pretty well. We didn’t have to fake our deaths.” Anzu says.
“Please forget about that. I realize now that it was a stupid idea.”
Anzu laughs and continues to look at all the photos.
“Your dad took a lot of photos, didn’t he?”
“My grandparents took a lot too but he was the main contributor.”
“How many photos do you think you have?” She asks.
Hokuto looks at all the photos scattered on the coffee table in front of them. He couldn’t possibly count them all by himself. Anzu sees the look on his face and pats his head to console him.
Again, it’s strange how a single touch can make him feel at ease. It was as if he was put under a magic spell.
“Anzu.”
“Hm?”
“I was...surprised to hear you say that you love me. I didn’t think the first time you say it would be in front of my father.” He says.
“Was that too sudden?” She asks
“No, not at all.” Hokuto extends his hand out to Anzu’s cheeks. Her hand, which was on Hokuto’s head, has retracted back. “I’m extremely happy to hear those words from you.”
Anzu’s cheeks becomes a faint tinge of red. He can feel the warmth they radiate.
“Anzu.”
“Y-Yes?” She stutters.
“Thank you. I love you too.”
The color from Anzu’s cheeks has now spread to her face. Hokuto chuckles quietly watching her reaction.
He smiles at her affectionately and grabs Anzu’s face with both of his hands. He brings his face closer to hers. Anzu’s hands cling onto the sleeves of his shirt nervously.
“Is this ok?” He whispers before doing anything.
It takes a few seconds before Anzu nods slightly. Her face is still a violent color of red.
Hokuto takes a deep breath and slowly closes the gap between them.
The first thought he had was wondering if this is the right way to do this.
The second thought he had was wondering if there was a right way to do this.
The third thought he had was that it felt nice.
The final thought he had was that kissing Anzu felt nice.
The gap between them returns as they broke the kiss. Both of them wear the same color of red on their faces. A wave of silence washes over them and neither of them speak.
Shortly, the silence is broken thanks to the sound of footsteps. Hokuto and Anzu both distance themselves far enough to what looks like to be an appropriate distance.
“I’m back. Sorry that took so long.” Seiya says. “Hm? Did something happen?”
“Nothing happened. You’re just imagining it.” Hokuto says quickly
That was risky of Hokuto to just kiss Anzu like that. He had completely let his guard down and forgotten his father was still in the house. If he saw that then Hokuto would’ve put the fake their deaths plan back into action.
“Since Anzu-san is here, I thought we could add one more picture to the album.” Seiya says, holding a camera.
“I think that’s a nice idea.” Anzu agrees.
“Hocchan?” Seiya turns to his son for his input.
“If Anzu wants to then it’s fine.” Hokuto says. “But only one photo.”
Seiya smiles and sets the camera up. It’s a sleek black camera that looks very expensive. It might be a professional camera.
“You two should move closer so that the frame captures both of you.” Seiya says, gesturing them to get closer.
They do as he says and Seiya observes their position in the camera to see if they’re in the frame. He gives them a thumbs up and hovers his finger on the button.
Without saying a word, Seiya presses the camera button and it makes a sound, flashing momentarily.
“It’s finished.” He says, going through the camera.
“Can I see?” Anzu asks. He hands over the camera to her and they both look at the picture.
It shows Hokuto and Anzu sitting next to each other smiling at the camera. Both of their smiles emit joy.
“Anzu-san, I’ll print out these out as soon as possible and have Hocchan send them to you.”
“Ah, thank you.” She says, bowing quickly. “Thank you for having me over. It was a lot of fun.”
“You’re leaving? If that’s the case, I’ll walk you back home.” Hokuto offers.
“It’s fine you don’t have to.” She shakes her head. “Besides, your dad would be cleaning up all these photos by himself.”
All three of them look at the cluttering mess on the coffee table. It would be a pain for one person to clean them up by themselves.
“Hocchan, go take Anzu-san home. I can handle this myself.” Seiya says.
“And so there it is.” Hokuto says, turning to Anzu. She sighs and walks towards out to the hallway.
“Have a safe trip, you two.” Seiya says and waves them goodbye. Anzu waves back and heads out the door with Hokuto following her.
Seiya begins to pick up all the pictures from the album and sorts them back into their rightful place. After a few minutes, he stops to take a break and looks at the photo of Hokuto and Anzu. They truly remind him of when he and his wife were young.
Seiya sets down the camera and sighs happily.
“I can’t wait to become a grandpa.”