Chapter 96: A False Alarm
"Ren, what's this?"
The Himemiya couple didn't think too much of it, merely looking somewhat surprised at the sight of Ren holding Futari, then casually glancing at the Gotou parents and nodding politely as a greeting.
"These are some uncle and auntie I know. This is their daughter, Gotou Futari. She's quite close with me."
Ren's expression stiffened slightly before he offered a somewhat vague but not entirely unreasonable explanation.
He was sweating bullets.
"Huh?"
Noticing how tense Ren's body had become, Futari felt puzzled, but being a sensible child, she knew better than to speak up at that moment—there's a time and place for everything.
While Ren would indulge her whims earlier, throwing a tantrum now might actually make him angry.
"I see, hello there. I'm..."
The Himemiya couple nodded in understanding, then introduced themselves to the Gotou parents.
Fortunately, social interactions between unfamiliar adults tend to be more detached and interest-oriented compared to those among teenage boys and girls. Neither party knew about Ren's actual relationship with them.
Not wanting to cause trouble for others, the Himemiya couple exchanged a few pleasantries before taking their leave.
"Relatives?"
After the Himemiyas left, Michiyo looked curiously at Ren. With neither Karen nor Hitori present, they couldn't immediately discern Ren's true relationship with them, so she made a casual guess.
"Friends' parents. I've met them a few times."
With Karen not around, Ren had no choice but to silently apologize for describing her as just an ordinary friend.
The close call left his heart still pounding in his throat. Had Futari called him "brother-in-law" just then, he would have been done for.
"I see. Let's go then."
Michiyo took his words at face value, smiling gently before continuing toward the indoor gymnasium.
"Brother-in-law, were you nervous just now?"
As if having discovered some secret, Futari leaned close to Ren's ear and whispered, her eyes filled with curiosity.
"Yes, but you were a great help, Futari. Your brother-in-law is very grateful."
A relieved smile spread across Ren's face as he gently pinched Futari's soft cheek.
"No need to thank me! Futari knew not to interrupt your conversation. Hehe, isn't Futari very mature?"
Completely unaware of what had actually transpired, Futari puffed out her chest proudly upon receiving Ren's gratitude.
"Very mature indeed."
Praising Futari, Ren followed the Gotou parents into the gymnasium with her in tow.
The performance hadn't started yet, but many people had already gathered to rest, as the student council had set up chairs for students and their parents.
"You didn't need to be nervous earlier, Ren~ After all, I was here."
Yuno had been waiting for Ren inside the gymnasium. Spotting him, she walked over with a cheerful smile.
"I actually forgot about you."
A look of realization dawned on Ren's face belatedly. He'd nearly forgotten that Yuno could glimpse into his future—had anything truly gone wrong, she would have warned him directly.
"A pink-haired big sister, just like my actual sister! Hello, I'm Gotou Futari."
Still accompanying Ren, Futari looked pleasantly surprised upon seeing Yuno.
"Hello, I'm Yuno Gasai, your sister's friend."
Yuno felt nothing but goodwill towards Futari, since the girl posed no threat whatsoever and was an adorable child.
"You're so pretty, big sister."
This was part of Futari's social strategy—whenever she met someone acquainted with Ren, she'd compliment their appearance first.
"Hehe~ You might grow up to be as beautiful as Bocchi-chan one day."
"Really?"
In Futari's eyes, Hitori had always been beautiful, though previously her long bangs and constant track suit wearing had obscured it. But after Ren encouraged her to change—cutting her bangs to reveal her eyes and wearing less athletic wear—Futari realized her sister was as beautiful as a princess, and began dreaming of becoming that beautiful herself someday.
"Of course it's true. Your eyes are very similar to hers, so you definitely have the potential."
Yuno smiled gently, treating this as practice for future childcare.
After a while, Futari volunteered to go find her parents—having spent so much time with Ren today had already satisfied her.
After Futari left, Ren finally let out a long sigh of relief. Being around the Gotou parents required too much attention to detail, which was mentally exhausting.
Noticing this, Yuno raised her hands and began gently massaging Ren's shoulders to help him relax.
Soon evening arrived. The band had prepared one new song and performed only that single piece, yet at the school festival, they were clearly the best performers.
Listening to the cheers from below, meeting her parents' proud gazes, and seemingly catching her classmates' astonished looks, Hitori experienced another transformation.
This wasn't Kessoku Band—this was at school, with an audience numbering in the thousands.
Yet she felt no nervousness or fear, instead giving her all and accomplishing what she'd only dared to dream of before.
On such a memorable day, Hitori wanted nothing more than to spend time with Ren and share her joy, but the festival ended at 10 PM.
With her parents present, she couldn't reasonably skip going home to visit Ren, so she tearfully returned home, setting the unfortunate record of even Futari having kissed Ren today while she hadn't.
Karen faced similar constraints—with her parents around, she had to restrain herself. Though normally she only stayed overnight at Ren's on weekends anyway, so she was already accustomed to this.
Anon didn't even attend their school. Seeing everyone enjoying the summer festival, she went to record her shop review videos instead, even paying to feature Meowmeow, a beauty blogger she'd always liked.
Previously, the blogger rarely replied to comments or DMs, but the moment money was mentioned for a collaboration video, she came running eagerly.
Ah, the corrupting power of capital—though at least she was the one benefiting from it this time.
So in the end, it was just Ren, Yuno, and Satou who returned home together.
The sisters Ram and Rem were already waiting at home.
"Lord Ren, the bath is ready. Would you like to bathe first? Or have some supper? Or perhaps rest a while and let me give you a massage?"
Ren no longer needed to change his shoes himself these days. Rem had been waiting by the entrance for quite some time. The moment Ren returned, she proactively brought out his slippers, had him sit down, and personally changed his shoes for him while asking for his thoughts.
"First, I'll rest for a while and then prepare something to eat. I'll save bathing for last."
Ren contentedly enjoyed Rem's attentive service. The difference between Rem and Ram wasn't just in their housekeeping skills. Perhaps it was because Ram had yielded too much nutrition to Rem during their childhood—Rem's development was significantly better than Ram's. When she crouched down to change his shoes, he could casually admire the glimpse of fair skin that strained against her maid uniform, something Ram couldn't offer, as she fell into the less endowed category.
"Understood, I'll arrange that right away."
After changing Ren's shoes, Rem gave a gentle smile. Initially, she had been somewhat anxious about whether she could perform well, fearing that Ren might be a harsh master. But after a few days, she discovered she was unexpectedly skilled at being a maid—at least far more capable than her sister Ram. Taking care of Ren came to her with remarkable ease.
This put her much more at ease and made her grateful that she had chosen, like her sister Ram, to become Ren's maid.