Returning Home (6)
The next morning.
I woke up rolling my stiff shoulders.
Because of what happened yesterday, Cecil was in a "get away from me!" mood, and since there was only one mattress, I'd had to sleep on the floor.
But I couldn't exactly make a girl sleep on the ground, could I?
"Mmmph…"
"Ah, you're up?"
"Yeah… Aren't you tired?"
"Not really?"
My shoulders were a bit stiff, but that was it. Nothing that would affect my condition.
"Let's go. The kids are probably waiting."
"Ah, yeah."
Today I was planning to spend time with the kids, get to know them better, play with them.
I'd originally meant to do it yesterday, but… well, yesterday turned out the way it did.
Leaving a yawning Cecil behind, I headed for the bathroom to freshen up.
Wait, do I even need to do this? It's my own house.
I mean, I'm doing it, but I don't really know what all these cosmetics and lotions and creams and conditioners are supposed to do.
I just do it because my mother told me to.
Alright. Let's skip it today.
"I'm done."
"Huh? Already?"
"Yeah. I'm just gonna wing it today."
"Ahh, I don't wanna get up."
So she'd been planning to drag her feet while I got ready?
"……."
Her eyes half-closed, mouth slightly parted, she wore a dazed expression.
Her head bobbed slightly — she was still half-asleep.
Watching her like that, I felt a strange warmth in my chest.
It was the kind of scene you'd only see between a married couple living together.
Until yesterday, I hadn't really thought much about Cecil staying at her parents' house, or even sharing a room.
It wasn't that I didn't see her as a woman or anything. I liked Cecil as a woman, and she liked me the same way.
But the feeling of her being a friend, or someone I needed to take care of, had been stronger.
…Until now.
Even though I was pretending otherwise.
The stomach I'd seen yesterday, and the outline of… her breasts, well, that was pretty devastating for a guy my age.
I'd never realized Cecil's figure was this good.
So it was all a bit jumbled, but putting it together…
I was excited.
Yeah.
The feeling I'd recognized but struggled to define — it couldn't be fully captured by the word "excitement," but it was close enough.
"Cecil."
"Mmmph…?"
Right. Regardless of how I felt, it wasn't a good idea to be evaluating someone while they were right in front of me.
Well, that's that.
Time to wake her up properly.
I walked over and sat down beside Cecil on the mattress.
I pulled the blanket up over her, and over myself too.
Then I leaned a little closer to Cecil.
"……."
"……."
Oh. Her face turned red.
She must've woken up.
According to my expertise in Cecil psychology and the statistical data I'd gathered, she'd scream "Mwah!" and pull away.
So now would be a good time to get up—
She grabbed my wrist.
…Huh?
I turned around, caught off balance by the resistance I felt.
"……."
Cecil's hand was firmly holding my wrist.
When I looked up and met her eyes, I saw embarrassment and satisfaction, confusion and awkwardness.
She'd grabbed me reflexively without thinking about the consequences.
…Cute.
Her grip gradually loosened, but she didn't get up. Instead, she sat back down.
Leaning against the wall, the two of us sat side by side on the mattress.
When I sat close, Cecil's big eyes darted around.
"……."
Then.
She rested her head on my shoulder.
Small, but unmistakable.
"……."
"……."
Her breath tickled my ear.
Whether from the heat or nervousness, a bead of sweat rolled down my jaw.
We said nothing, just sat side by side, leaning on each other's warmth.
…And that fact alone made me happy.
Then.
I remembered the final scene of the romance novel Cecil had told me to forget.
So.
With my now-free right hand, I reached between the wall and Cecil's back.
"?!"
Cecil flinched, startled by my somewhat rough touch.
But she quickly understood my intention and shifted her back slightly away from the wall.
My hand moved unimpeded.
I wrapped my arm around Cecil's waist and pulled her to face me.
"……."
"……."
We didn't say anything.
Or rather, we couldn't.
Her flushed face was too visible, her quickened breath too palpable, our warmth warming not our bodies but our hearts.
It was as if time had stopped — we couldn't move at all.
Then Cecil finally opened her mouth.
"……Is this something you saw in a book too?"
"……Yeah."
Cecil thought for a moment.
"You're gonna say you saw this in that novel too, right?"
"Yeah."
"…That's not a romance novel."
"It is."
"Don't lie. It's obviously an erotic novel."
"'That' is originally the product of love. Since they love each other, you could call it romance too."
"Are you really a pervert?"
"……."
"Hey, where's the guy who does things he saw in smutty novels to his girlfriend…!"
"I know that sounds really weird."
"……Yeah."
Cecil had already covered half her face.
With both hands, she was covering almost her entire face and head.
She had a small head and long hands.
I reached out and gently stroked her snow-white scalp.
Stroke, stroke.
I'd noticed this before — Cecil's hair had a strange addictiveness. Whenever I got the chance, I kept wanting to stroke it.
Her head tilted slightly, following my hand.
Then at some point, Cecil tensed her neck and held still.
And then she said.
"……Jeden."
"Yeah."
"C-could we just… stop here?"
"Why?"
I didn't have the courage to do anything more either, but I asked back, wanting to tease her a little.
But.
"If we get… any closer than this… I really… won't be able to hold back…"
"…Huh?"
The eyes visible between her fingers looked somehow sinister and dangerous.
My left eye, which had started detecting not just weaknesses but threats, burned fiercely.
"Uh, yeah…"
"……."
I took a small step back without realizing it.
…Was it just my imagination, or did Cecil's expression look disappointed, like she was licking her lips?
Cecil couldn't calm down even while showering and changing clothes — she changed in the bathroom — as if she couldn't handle her own words.
Even turning on the cooling artifact I'd given her didn't help with her flushed face.
Only after tying her hair up in a single braid did her heated face finally cool down a bit.
Feeling the slightly awkward atmosphere, we headed for the living room, where Cecil's father — looking young — greeted us wearing an apron and holding a ladle.
"Welcome. Did you sleep well?"
"Ah… yes. But who are you…?"
Oh. Cecil doesn't know.
"That's father."
"…What?"
"This is his real appearance. What you saw yesterday was fake."
"……I don't understand anymore. There are two of you, and two mothers… Ah! I didn't mean that as an insult!"
"Hehe. Don't worry about it. Come, sit down. Let's eat."
Father treated us with unexpected kindness.
"Ah, Jeden."
"Yes."
"I'd love to see a grandson soon, but it's still too early, so hold back."
"…Yes?"
"You can't ignore the stares from around you, after all."
No.
No, no.
"Why are you saying crazy things again…"
"Ehaha! Youth is wonderful!"
"Saying that with that face feels off. And, that's not what happened. Cecil just overslept, that's why we're late. Nothing happened…"
……But, could I really call what happened earlier "nothing"?
…….
And, thinking back to those eyes.
Chills—!
"……!"
"…? What's wrong?"
"No, it's just…"
I didn't know why, but something stirred within me as a predator.
"…Never mind."
"Boring guy."
Breakfast was soybean paste soup with vegetable side dishes.
Cecil seemed to especially like the soybean paste soup — I should get the recipe later.
Around the time we finished eating.
I could feel the kids' gazes.
Since today was the day Cecil and I were in charge of the kids, they must've gotten the word.
Among them, Enta's gaze was particularly intense, so I spoke up.
"Enta."
"Yeah."
"Have you thought about what you want to do?"
"…! Yeah! First, sword fighting! And then…!"
It was a rare day where I'd spend the whole day playing with them.
I should do it properly.
After all, I'd been too close to Cecil for the past three days.
After the meal.
Ifril grumbled and fell right back to sleep.
Since someone needed to take care of a sleeping Ifril, Cecil would handle that, and naturally, playing with Enta fell to me.
"I'll show you the family sword techniques I learned from father!"
"He taught you at five years old…?"
For a moment I pondered father's character, but thinking about it as him playing with the kid, it wasn't so strange.
He hadn't given Enta a real sword, just taught him the forms with a wooden stick.
Enta struck a pose that looked like a ready stance and glared at me.
"……Hup!"
From what I knew, that form was for a counterattack.
…I guess I should go first?
I approached at a pace that was neither too slow nor too fast, inching forward.
One step, two steps.
And then three.
"Yah!"
When I was close enough, Enta swung his sword with a battle cry.
That wasn't even a real sword, let alone a practice sword — it was a tree branch.
And the one swinging it was a child barely five years old.
I could stop it with one finger.
But if I did that, it wouldn't count as playing.
On the other hand, just letting him hit me would be boring.
So the conclusion I came to was.
"Uwah?!"
Subdue him with technique.
Of course, one could argue that overpowering a five-year-old with skill isn't much different from overpowering him with strength.
"How was that?"
"That was awesome, hyung!"
Not a bad reaction.
After a few rounds, I eventually got excited and started showing him various things.
And Cecil, watching from the side.
"He really is a good dad."
That's what she thought.
"Mmmph…?"
"You're awake, Ifril?"
"Mhm."
Cecil held sleepy-eyed Ifril and patted her, but her eyes remained fixed on Jeden.
I wasn't used to handling children, but I'd have to get used to it from now on.
Just as Jeden could become a good father, I needed to be able to become a good mother too.
