"And that is the story of your old man and your mothers. Any other questions?"
At the Grand Blue bar, Miyazawa Yuu was wiping a glass until it shone brilliantly. His gaze drifted toward the sea outside the window, seemingly reminiscing about those unbearable yet glorious years!
If this scene were in a shonen manga, it would surely be the moment after the hero defeats the dragon, living a respected life with a beautiful family. Unfortunately, in PaB, he only fulfilled the latter half; as for being "respected," that was highly debatable...
"Yes, Father. We've heard this story many times from our mothers!"
Sitting on a swivel chair at the bar, an orange-haired boy of about seven or eight years old kept his hands neatly on his knees, his eyes filled with urgency as he looked at his old man.
"But... you still refuse to answer us directly: who exactly is attending our parents' meeting!?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Dad, I've been so good at school, I definitely haven't done anything out of line... probably?"
Nodding frantically, the purple-haired girl next to her brother had a much wilder sitting posture; her short legs were practically squatted on the edge of the chair. Rubbing her cheeks to look cute, she tried her best to feign innocence to deceive her dad, but her shifting eyes gave her away.
Compared to her mother, a cunning "bad woman," this child still needed a little more room to grow.
"Please! Please! You must attend the parents' meeting!"
"Dad~ don't be so stingy~"
"...Ugh, Zen, Subaru... how about I tell you the story of how your grandma almost killed me again?"
Exhausted by the two little cuties, Miyazawa Yuu suddenly faced a "cuteness attack" and nearly surrendered. However, he held his hands up to shield himself from the little hearts they were radiating. His gaze sharpened, and he took two deep breaths to withstand his children's counterattack!
Turning his head slightly, he saw Hamaoka Azusa nervously peeking from the shadows of the stairs, giving him a quiet thumbs-up.
Returning the thumbs-up behind his back, Yu steadied his stance with his wife's encouragement and resumed the battle. "The story after that is very interesting too. You guys definitely want to hear it, right?"
"But Father, we've been sitting here for three whole hours. We've heard everything from your first day of college to the 'Bathroom War God' triple-climax."
Scratching his cheek awkwardly, Miyazawa Zen thought the PaB stories were fun, but he really wanted to go clean up the room his sister had messed up. Then he wanted to go out and greet the neighbors—it would be even better if he could help Aunt Chisa with the customers at the beach! Even as a child, he had a clear plan for his life, and it was quite troublesome when his father took up too much of his time!
"Exactly! If you keep talking, I'm gonna sprout roots!"
Agreed! Although Miyazawa Subaru didn't usually like siding with her quiet brother, she'd rather be bored cleaning than be suppressed under her father's lecturing. She was at the age where she should be climbing mountains and rolling in the mud; listening to an old person's tearful reminiscence didn't fit her boundless energy at all!
"Hiss... you two are certainly blunt. About the parents' meeting..."
Backed into a corner by the two little ones, Miyazawa Yuu tilted his head in pretend deep thought, while actually peeking through a slit in his eyes toward Azusa-senpai for help. However, seeing things go south, she had already twisted her voluptuous hips and escaped upstairs. No way was she getting dragged into this.
"It's not that I'm saying no. It's a 'deferred yes,' a 'gradual yes,' a 'systematic yes.' We lead with the early stages to eventually achieve a 'staircase yes,' a 'rolling yes,' a 'sustained yes'..."
Stare—!
It wasn't the first time they'd been fooled by their dad's rhetoric. Both children gave him a look of pure disdain—a look that was a spitting image of their Aunt Chisa.
"I'm back~ Ah! Zen-kun, Subaru-chan, you're both home!? So cute~"
Wiping away sweat as she walked in wearing a tight OL suit, Yoshiwara Aina felt like she was melting from the heat. She was exhausted from head to toe. However, seeing the two little ones, her eyes lit up and she rushed over to hug them. Her sweaty face cooled down instantly against their chilly little cheeks.
"So refreshing~"
"Aunt Aina! Sweat! The sweat!"
"We've done this so many times, you should be used to it by now, Onii-chan."
With dead-fish eyes, Miyazawa Subaru obediently let her face be rubbed with sweat, even taking a moment to roast her brother, who still resisted like a victim every single time. As the saying goes: if you can't resist, just lie down and let them lose interest!
"Oh! That's a classic PaB-style 'alcohol-dodging' posture! Aina, how's work at the bank?"
"Dull and boring as always. Kohei has it good—drawing manga at least offers some visual variety, unlike me..."
Grimacing, Aina clamped her arms around the two little ones to prevent their escape while her hands mimicked the motion of counting cash. "All I see is Yukichi-san (the face on the 10,000 yen note). My eyes are going blurry!"
"I see. Hey, Aina, I remember you still have some annual leave left, right?"
"Yeah, that's true~"
A wicked curve appeared on Yuu lips. Having received confirmation, his eyes lit up like a Siberian hamster spotting prey. All that effort, three hours of storytelling, was for this exact moment!
Did you think stalling was the goal? No, it was just the means! This is my escape route!
"In that case, could you help out by going to the parents' meeting for Zen and Subaru? You know Grand Blue is in its peak season and very busy~"
"Eh? Is that so?"
Aina looked at Yu with suspicion. According to her memory, while Grand Blue entered its busy cycle earlier than other shops, being "too busy" before the holidays even started seemed a bit much. But it was just a parents' meeting; Yu had no reason to lie to her, and the two little ones didn't seem to mind...
Feeling Aunt Aina's gaze, Zen and Subaru immediately turned their heads away guiltily, refusing to make eye contact. They knew Grand Blue wasn't busy yet—if it were, their unscrupulous dad would have already dragged them off as child labor! But as for the parents' meeting, they didn't care who went, as long as someone did.
"How about it? If you agree, these two are yours for the day. Take them home—I won't mind even if you play with them until they break!"
Seeing an opening, Miyazawa Yuu vaulted over the bar counter in a flashy somersault and began a hardcore sales pitch while pinching his children's cheeks!
Subaru swatted at her dad's hands in annoyance, wanting to tell him to stop handling her if he wasn't going to "eat," but since Aina hadn't decided yet, she only dared to pull some harmless stunts behind his back.
Aina hummed in thought for a moment. Stared down by the expectant eyes of the father and children... she couldn't help it! She let out a sigh, snatched the two cuties from Yu, and nodded. "Fine, fine! It's just a parents' meeting~ How hard can it be? I'll do it!"
"Yes! Zen! Subaru!"
"Oh! Scumbag Dad! Banzai!"
"Banzai..."
The moment the answer was confirmed, Yu stopped acting and held out his hands; Subaru immediately high-fived him in celebration! Zen knew they had just set up Aunt Aina, and while his gentle personality made his conscience prickle a bit, the joy of finding a "scapegoat" led the boy to join the celebration of his shameless father and sister.
"Eh?"
Watching the Miyazawa family trio celebrate, Aina's brain stalled. Instinct told her she'd been played! But that shouldn't be right! It was just helping out at a parents' meeting; what could go wrong? She had watched these two grow up since they were babies; there was a 100% chance they wouldn't do anything bad, and their grades were as excellent as their parents'. There shouldn't be any "landmines," right?!