Chapter 119 Chapter 119 Eh Duo.

"Huh?"

Upon hearing this, the man, who had met the store three times in the past two days, widened his eyes slightly, revealing a surprised expression as if he had heard something unbelievable.

"Should we start the conversation with this? It's a little different from what I expected."

Despite making that expression, the person's tone didn't sound particularly surprised.

However, this person's voice has always been filled with a strong sense of monotone delivery. Unless he is really emotionally agitated to a certain extent, his voice generally cannot escape this calmness that seems to be pouring cold water on people, no matter what emotion he is expressing... Tsukino and Chiya have gotten used to this.

Just as Tsukino and Chiya's friends had grown accustomed to Chiya's expressions and tone of voice, over time, those who spent a lot of time with Tsukino and Chiya would gradually develop a special skill: the ability to inexplicably discern a part of Chiya's true emotions from his seemingly ordinary expressions and manner of speaking.

Regarding this point, Tsukino and Chiya once heard Hinata Hajime complain about it during a break after class. Hinata expressed surprise at the time, saying that sometimes he would subconsciously sense his classmate and friend's emotions, but after noticing them, he would start to doubt himself, wondering if he was mistaken.

After all, Tsukino and Chiya's calm and collected demeanor was far too deceptive.

But now, Hajime Hinata doesn't need to worry about these things anymore... Now that he possesses all the Ultimate High School level talents, it's incredibly easy for him to analyze and deduce Tsukino and Chiya's true emotions.

In comparison, the tone was only slightly more monotonous, and the expression was much richer... The emotions and thoughts of the man in front of her seemed much easier to understand than those of Tsukino and Chiya.

However, Tsukino and Chiya felt that this was the real problem.

I don't know if choosing to meet this person today was the right thing to do or a mistake... Oh well, it was all so sudden.

Tsukino and Chiya had been thinking about visiting this person sometime, but they never expected to run into him so suddenly without warning... Well, actually, they had considered the possibility. But when this person actually appeared before them, they still felt a little lost.

Despite their inner thoughts, on the surface, due to their familiarity with the person in front of them, Tsukino and Chiya quite naturally followed up on the other's topic: "So what kind of situation do you imagine?"

"Hmm—" The man pretended to think for a moment, "It should be something like, 'Oh, what a coincidence, we meet again. You're not some kind of stalker, are you?'"

Tsukino and Chiya raised a reasonable question: "Would I say something like that?"

Upon hearing this, the man considered it seriously for a few moments, and finally said with a solemn expression, "Thinking about it carefully, it is indeed out of character."

"Also, there's something I don't quite understand," Tsukino said to Chiya, "why do we have to pretend to be strangers?"

"Isn't this an unspoken agreement we've always had?!"

"Why did I suddenly get so emotional in this weird place... And you were the one who pretended not to know me first." And what kind of unspoken agreement is this?! This has never happened before!

"The answer to this question..."

The man rested his arms on the table, his hands clasped together under his chin.

"Because I suddenly remembered a time when I and someone I knew pretended to be strangers to each other, which was actually quite interesting. And you're probably in a state of partial pretense right now, aren't you?"

That there's some truth to the claim of it being a disguise, but...

Tsukino and Chiya suddenly asked, "Someone we know... could it be your ex-girlfriend?"

The man's gaze shifted for a moment: "That..."

Tsukino and Chiya remained expressionless: "'That'?"

The man's reply was tantamount to admitting it: "What you just said is dangerous. Bringing up this kind of topic can cause a family crisis!"

"I feel fine," Tsukino and Chiya said honestly. "In the past, there were people who coveted you, but Mom made them hesitate."

Given this man's charisma, it's perfectly normal for him to attract all sorts of people... For example, that black goat doesn't seem to have given up completely yet. He's tried to ask about it several times, but Tsukino and Chiya have brushed him off with various excuses.

However, while attraction is undeniable, this man can't completely control other people's feelings and actions. Regardless, it's true that he's currently in a very serious relationship with someone.

Those two were lovers, but also rivals who cheated and swindled each other... but in any case, their relationship was not one that outsiders could interfere with at will.

At least Tsukino and Chiya have seen plenty of PDA, and they don't think their relationship will ever fall apart. Rather than believing that such a day will come, he'd rather believe that Oda Nobunaga will suddenly come back to life and ask him to transfer fifty yen to restart his great cause of unifying Japan.

"Am I just imagining things? That sounds a bit strange."

Will it?

"Shouldn't we be making sarcastic remarks at a time like this? It's been a while since we last met, and the first change I've noticed is that your sarcastic skills have declined."

Is this something very important?

"Of course, in our family, only those who are good at making sarcastic remarks deserve to be your mother's children!"

"Where did this come from? Is it a new setting that just appeared a second ago?"

"Nice rant!"

"...It seems I can continue to be my mother's child."

"It really wasn't my imagination!"

Although he was being treated with a subtle attitude, the man sitting opposite him didn't seem to care at all; instead, he appeared quite interested. No, rather than interested, it was more like—

"It's been a while since I last saw you, and you seem much more outgoing than before. Have you finally made some friends, little one...?"

"Thousand Nights".

—It's more like a prelude to something malicious, an attempt to scam someone. But it's too obvious, so even if he were to scam someone, he'd only be planning a small one.

Seemingly sensing this from the man's expression, Tsukino and Chiya decisively interrupted him before he could utter a certain name.

"Tsukiye and Qianye."

"Huh? I've never heard of this name before. Who is it?"

Tsukino and Chiya: "It's me."

Man: "Wow, um, I didn't expect it to be you."

Tsukino and Chiya hummed in agreement, then asked knowingly, "Did this surprise you?"

The man smiled modestly and, unusually, spoke the truth: "Actually, no."

"And what about you?" After introducing themselves, Tsukino and Chiya cautiously asked, "What are you now...?"

The man clearly understood what he meant, so he cautiously replied, "The usual is fine. Of course, you can pick any one of those if you want."

Tsukino and Chiya nodded knowingly and said solemnly, "I understand, Mr. Yangming."

The man nodded solemnly as well, as if he and Qianye had reached some strange consensus without anyone noticing: "Okay, Qianye-kun."

For now, the atmosphere is very good and harmonious.

But that's only to be expected.

To be honest, Tsukino and Chiya had rarely seen this man let the atmosphere cool down. This cunning man, who liked to set the rules for himself, always had a way of turning the situation into the way he wanted it to be.

The man before them was named Fusashi Yomei. —Of course, not his real name. But as far as Tsukino and Chiya knew, it was one of the names he commonly used.

When Tsukino and Chiya were children, they asked him about it, and he said, "This is my pen name for slacking off at work"... This shouldn't be a lie.

In short, this man who always refers to himself as Yangming is an old acquaintance of Tsukino and Chiya. His existence has had a significant impact on Tsukino and Chiya in many ways, and he is also a very important person to them. As for why…

Because, in terms of blood ties and guardianship, this man who calls himself Yangming is the father of Tsukino and Chiya.

Born from a calamity, Tsukino and Chiya were raised from infancy by their blood-related parents. Should he be grateful? Although his birth was not originally planned by his parents, and he even appeared suddenly because of the calamity, he was not actually troubled by his background during his growth.

After all, he hadn't encountered the awkward situation of having a child unexpectedly when his parents had no connection to each other. His parents were a very... interesting couple.

They're probably just a couple, right? To be honest, even Tsukino and Chiya themselves aren't sure if those two lovebirds are actually married.

After all, marriage requires a real name, right? Will this mysterious man, who always refers to himself as Yangming, really one day reveal his real name?

...Perhaps at some point he had already used his real name. It's just that he has so many lies that the truth might easily be drowned out.

Well, all in all, Tsukino and Chiya have a pretty good relationship with their father. Neither of their parents are strict; they are very supportive of their children's free development. Although they don't know what other people might think, Tsukino and Chiya at least feel that they had a very happy childhood.

After all, not all parents are free enough to tell their children to "be a good kid who is a little bad".

No matter how good their relationship was, he still remembered that the reason he was in Yokohama was because he had run away from home without any warning.

Running into your parents on the way to run away from home is something that almost anyone would do—well, actually, Tsukino and Chiya didn't feel that awkward at all.

only……

After a brief but pleasant (?) exchange of pleasantries, Fusashi Yomei posed a very normal question that parents would ask at a meeting when they finally see their runaway child: "Chiya-kun, what have you been doing while you were away from home?"

Tsukino and Chiya did not answer immediately.

He thought of the mark on his back, and of the strange things that had happened over the past two years—things that had not only remained unresolved but had actually worsened. But…

—Should we tell him?

Tsukino and Chiya considered it.

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Author's Note: This man is damn hard to write about (pointing fingers).