We were led into the hall, and Yamato and I settled into the sofa, unsure of its value, while we chatted with his parents.
We exchanged greetings again formally, talked about my family, and discussed our lives at school with Yamato.
I accidentally let slip some details about Yamato that his parents didn’t know, leading to Yamato scolding me… But then his parents just laughed it off with smiles.
As the conversation flowed, my nervousness dissipated quickly, and before I knew it, it was dinnertime.
“Yuto-kun, why don’t you stay over after dinner? I assume Yamato plans to as well?”
“Yeah, I brought some things for that.”
“Thank you for everything, dad!”
With his father’s gentle encouragement, I allowed myself to rely on them a bit.
Dinner was also a surprise… It was Japanese cuisine, but there were so many dishes, I wondered how we could finish them all. It was a lovely kaiseki meal.
C-Can I really finish all this…?
“Yuto-kun, if you can’t finish it, don’t push yourself. Yamato will eat whatever you can’t!”
“M-Mom! Yuto… Don’t push yourself, okay?”
The exchange between Yamato and his mother was heartwarming. I felt that Yamato was somewhat dependent on his mother.
As we all said “Itadakimasu” together and started eating, I brought a piece of food to my mouth…
Wow… It’s delicious…
Everything was so flavorful…!
And upon closer inspection, it was also incredibly nutritious…!
I had so many dishes in front of me, each in easily manageable portions, and the deliciousness was so overwhelming that I couldn’t stop myself from eating.
“Yuto-kun, is it delicious?”
“Yes! It’s really delicious!”
I answered with a beaming smile to his father’s question, but beside me was Yamato, who muttered quietly.
“I prefer Yuto’s cooking though…”
“Oh, Yamato!”
“Oh my! Yuto-kun, you know how to cook?”
Whenever Yamato stayed over at my house, I usually cooked for him, and each time he would compliment me with a big smile, saying how delicious it was.
But there was no way I could match the feasts at Yamato’s house…
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“P-P mjc’a wjxf jr wemt jr atlr, yea P atlcx P mjc wjcjuf ab mbbx rbwf vlrtfr…”
“Lww, rb ktja?”
Let… Qtja jgf sbe ajixlcu jybea???
“Tjwjab, gluta? Qtfcfnfg sbe mbwf yjmx ogbw Teab-xec’r tberf, sbe jikjsr rjs sbe’nf fjafc rbwfatlcu vfilmlber jcv vbc’a cffv vlccfg, gluta?”
“Zbw, rfglberis…!”
“Qtja’r kgbcu klat atja?! P’w pera afiilcu atf ageat, jgfc’a P? Tjwjab, sbe’gf iemxs; sbe uba Teab-xec, ktb’r ubbv ja mbbxlcu♪”
As his mom laughed, Yamato, for what must be the umpteenth time today, clicked his tongue and continued eating his hedgehog-shaped bread while blushing slightly, just like me, feeling a bit embarrassed by his mom’s words and finding it hard to appreciate the taste of the delicious meal in front of me.
* * *
After finishing our meal and thinking about tidying up, I suddenly remembered, Oh, they have a maid, and once again I felt a strange sensation…
Yamato’s father said this to me while the maid was cleaning the dishes.
“Yuto-kun, can I borrow Yamato for a bit?”
Without any need for refusal, I readily agreed.
In response to my answer, his father smiled back and left the room with Yamato.
And as soon as they left the room, Yamato’s mother said,
“Yuto-kun? Would you like to come and talk with me in the garden?”
Once again, there was no reason to refuse, so I smiled and said, “Yes!” We went out to the garden and sat down on the bench.
* * *
We were sitting on the bench and gazing up at the night sky. The countless stars sparkled in my eyes.
As I admired the beautiful stars at that moment… Yamato’s mother softly spoke to me.
“Yuto-kun, you must be tired today, aren’t you?”
“Huh?! Uh, well…”
“Hey! Don’t push yourself! Anyone would feel tired if they were brought here without being told the truth, right? Honestly, Yamato is at fault too!”
Just like my own mother, she understood my feelings and expressed them in words…
But after her words and the various stories she shared, my feelings towards Yamato became firmly solidified.
“But… but, Yuto-kun… thank you so much…”
“…Huh?”
“It’s been years since I’ve seen Yamato so happy… Maybe you know the reason?”
“…Yes…”
“We didn’t know how to help him… But we wanted him to enjoy his student life… We wanted him to have fun during his youth, even if it was just once, and remember it fondly as an adult…”
“Since Yamato met you during his last days of school, I felt like everything about him changed…”
“Every day… he seemed so happy… I noticed that he was always talking about you to me, and he even made a new best friend, Shun…”
“…Yamato…”
“When I asked about those glasses, Yamato smiled and told me they were from someone important to him… My heart swelled with pride…”
“I remembered Yamato from when he was little… and then seeing him laugh so innocently and happily again…”
“I wondered what kind of person you were… We could only watch over him, but you managed to turn him around to bring back that carefree happiness…”
“And today, meeting you, I’m glad… Every time I talk to you, I become more convinced… Yes, it has to be you for Yamato… And with you, everything will be okay!”
“…Yuto-kun? Please stay by Yamato’s side from now on… He may seem tough, but he’s quite fragile inside!”
His mother’s words gently pierced my heart… Over this past year, despite everything that happened, I realized once again that Yamato felt happy spending his days with me…
Before I knew it, tears were streaming down my face… Along with the happiness, I remembered the days of joy, the days of hardship, and the realization that Yamato had always loved me…
“I-I’m sorry for crying…”
“It’s okay. But you know, it’s still too early to cry.”
“…Huh?”
With those words, Yamato’s mother beside me began to untie the neatly wrapped scarf around my neck and showed me something…
Yes… Just like me, it was the mark of a guardian engraved on the nape of the neck…
On Yamato’s mother’s nape, the mark of a bonded pair was clearly engraved.
“M-Mom…”
“Hehe! Surprised? I’m just like you… I carry the blood of an Omega too!”
I was honestly surprised… Yamato’s mother is an Omega… It meant she had experienced various things in life, just like me as a senior.
As I was rapped in an incredible warmth from this senior, my heart couldn’t stop crying with the words she spoke afterward.
“When I heard about your parents in the hall earlier… I saw myself in their story…”
“…Huh?”
“I… like you now, I also lost my parents when I was a little younger… due to the side effects of suppressants…”
“I was deeply depressed, living desperately, knowing that someday my time would come… hiding as a Beta despite being an Omega…”
“During that time, it was Yamato’s father who picked me up… Yes, we met in high school just like you guys did.”
“At first, we were both awkward around each other, and he, being ridiculously cool, didn’t pay much attention to me…”
“But later, we became lovers, and eventually, our bodies intertwined… But he never proposed the bond…”
“And when my parents passed away… he cried for me as if they were his own parents… That’s when it happened… I realized I wanted to stay by his side forever… My place was by his side…”
“As an Omega, I too will eventually decay before him… When my parents passed away, he resolved to accept me as his bonded pair…”
[Your life is mine; I will never let it decay!!!]
“I was so happy… Hearing those words made me incredibly happy… Because he’s the one who saved my life and taught me the meaning of living…”
“That’s why I want to be by his side no matter what, to protect him… He gave me a place when I lost my parents…”
“And today… Yamato brought a wonderful boy who bonded with him… I couldn’t be happier to have reached this point as a parent under his care, providing me with a place… ”
“At the same time, hearing about your parents and feeling the same… and realizing this child is strong… even though they’ve walked a path only Omegas understand… I felt their pain…”
I couldn’t… put it into words…
Next to Mom, tears wouldn’t stop flowing…
The painful reality of being an Omega…
Walking a difficult path…
Yet I feel happiness now…
I am fortunate… because Yamato gave me a reason to live and a place to belong…
And now, beside me, I have someone who understands the suffering of being an Omega…
“Yuto-kun? Your parents… it must have been painful, right? It was difficult, wasn’t it?… I understand those feelings painfully well… so…?”
“I would be happy if you could think of me and my husband as your real parents and treat us that way… It’s okay… You’re not alone anymore…”
“We’ll support you both with all our might, and Yamato will always be by your side… So, please don’t endure it alone anymore…? Don’t carry it all by yourself?”
With each loving word from Mom, I cried and jumped into her arms…
“Ahh… hik… M-Mom…!”
Yamato’s mother, just like Yamato, gently stroked my head until I stopped crying as she was sharing the warmth of family love…
Once my emotions settled down, Yamato’s mother smiled at me and gently stroked my head again.
“I’m counting on you to take care of Yamato, okay?”
“Yes! I’ll never leave him! I’ll always… always be by Yamato’s side!”
My words seemed to make Yamato’s mother happy.
“Shall we head back now? Oh, I’ll guide you to Yamato’s room.”
“Yes!”
We got up from the bench and followed Yamato’s mother’s guidance back to Yamato’s room.
