章 16: Chapter 16

"Hey, Ceres-kun, you like Haruka, don't you?"

　Shizuko-san caught me off guard.

　"Of course I like her. She's like a sister to me."

　"That's not what I mean. I mean not "sister and brother" but "man and woman," you know? Am I wrong, hehehe?"

　"Well, when I was a child, if Shizuko-san was my first love, then Nee-san would be, I guess, the second person I fell in love with."

　"Indeed, from the outside, Haruka looks good enough to be with Ceres-kun."

　Haruka indeed looks very young.

　She is Lida's mother, so she must be in her late twenties or thirties, but her look is like she is in her early twenties.

　Also, she often wears a T-shirt, hot pants, and an apron in the past, making her look even younger.

　"Yes, Nee-san certainly looks young..."

　"Hehehe, I see. She does look very young."

　For a moment, Shizuko's smile looked darker than before, or was it my imagination?

　"But I think Shizuko-san looks very young too."

　I should not say that, though such a young girl is not good for me.

　After all, I feel there is a gap in the way of thinking between Zect and me.

There are many times when I feel that they are bothering me while talking over each other.

　"Hehe, I'm glad, but if you like Haruka, why don't you make a move? It feels so different from the past."

　Well, somehow, I have always had this feeling in my heart that I can make Shizuko-san happier in some way.

　But Haruka is different.

　She is Kazuma's wife, whom I adore as my brother.

　Kazuma is such a good person that I no longer feel like doing something about it.

　After all, he hugged me when I cried because I had lost my parents and felt lonely.

　Besides, Kazuma, a transmigrant's grandson, listened to my stories and played with me a lot, like catching fish with me when I was little.

　Haruka, too was always with me and encouraged me together with Kazuma.

　Then, at one time, I told them I wanted to cook, and they were happy to let me use their kitchen and teach me many things I didn't understand.

Ingredients are very different in this world than in the previous one.

　And it was Kazuma who came up with the alternative ingredients.

　So, after all that kindness, I can't fight, and above all, Haruka is always smiling by his side.

　Then, with that in mind, I decided to become their little brother.

　Well, I would have preferred to be their son... but when I said so, Haruka slapped me and asked me to call her 'sister'.

　In short, these two were always friendly and laughing, and they invited me into their circle. So, I couldn't just barge in on them... even if I wanted to.

　After all, Kazuma and Haruka were very important to me, and they had become like family...

　"Nee-san is a great sister, and I've given up on her because she's with Kazuma-niisan."

　"Ceres-kun... that was true then, but things are probably different now, so if you still love Haruka, you don't have to give up on her."

"But even so, Nee-san's partner is Kazuma. There's no room for intrusion at all."

　"Is that so? I think Ceres-kun will have a chance to join in now, and I'm sure the conversation will go smoothly."

　"Shizuko-san, you're joking again..."

　"Hehehe, I'm not joking, so tonight, Ceres-kun, you're going to crawl on Haruka. I'll miss you a little, but I'll put up with it tonight."

　"Night crawl? I can't..."

　"Hehehe, you know, night crawling is a traditional custom in this village, right? It's not what Ceres-kun thinks it is."

　"But night crawling is night crawling, isn't it?"

　"Yes... but if there are rules and we follow them, there's no problem! And I'm sure Kazuma-san will be fine with it."

　"Ehh..."

"Okay, okay... now that it's decided, you're going to practice night crawling."

　"But I need to say hello to the others."

　"Don't worry, since Ceres-kun isn't here today, I'll invite Misaki (Maria's mother) and Sayo (Mel's mother) over for drinks, so I can tell them that we're getting married."

　"Yes... but is it really okay to crawl on her at night?"

　"It's not against the rules as long as you follow the rules... right? Just be sure to follow the rules."

　Thus, I did as Shizuko told me to and crawled on Haruka at night.