"You`ve gotta be kidding me, how did this happen?" Ishigami thought in despair as Chika was reading and looking through Ishigami`s dirty magazines while giving a look of contempt like a mother who found out their kid failed their exam, Let`s go back a bit before the situation in front of us happened
A few hours ago
"Guess I`m stuck here playing video games," Ishigami thought as it was another typical summer day for Ishigami, "Normally I would be hanging out with Fujiwara since well we became a couple after that beach trip, but she`s been on vacation for a few weeks now, Miyuki and Shinomiya, I shouldn`t get in their way, Miko has things to do," Ishigami thought as the house intercom rung, "Yu, go check who it is" Mrs. Ishigami called out from the kitchen, "Fine," said Ishigami as he paused his game and went to the intercom
"Who is it?" Ishigami asked through the intercom, "It`s me silly, I`m back from vacation" said Chika to the shock of Ishigami, "Oh what brings you here?" Ishigami asked nervously, "Wait, when was she supposed to come back?" Ishigami thought as he had lost track of time, "I haven`t seen you for a while so I wanted to see you" said Chika, "Come on in" said Ishigami as he opened the door, "So how was vacation?" Ishigami asked as Chika sat on the couch, "It was fun, we traveled to Spain for a festival and went to Greece to do some sightseeing, I even brought some souvenirs for you" said Chika as she put a bag of souvenirs down on the table,
"Thank you so much, I`m sure Yu is happy to see you after all this time, he`s been holding himself up in his room," said Mrs. Ishigami to which a smirk formed on Chika`s face, "You`ve been so lonely without me," Chika said, "Since I`m here, why don`t we hang out in your room?" Chika asked to which sweat dropped from Ishigami`s neck, "I gotta take care of something real quick, sit tight for a moment," said Ishigami as he quickly ran upstairs
"Yu, did you remember to hide your dirty laundry?" Mrs. Ishigami asked as Ishigami was scrambling around his room, "You better make sure that she doesn`t find that stuff, it might ruin your relationship with her" said Mrs. Ishigami, "Yeah" said Ishigami as he put away the magazines and videos somewhere that seemed hidden from sight
Dirty Magazines, the essence of all young males, it`s common for males to have magazines lying around for alone time or sharing them with the boys, best you hide them tho otherwise you`ll be in a sticky situation
"Come on in," said Ishigami as he opened the door to his room, "Wow, it`s about what I expected your room to look like," said Chika as she saw that his room was filled with video games and posters along with a desktop on a table, "I`ll be right back, make yourself comfortable," said Ishigami as he stepped out of the room, "I guess I shouldn`t have expected too much, it`s a normal room for a teenage boy with a video game addiction not to mention that his clothes are all over the place, guess I`ll help him out," Chika thought as she looked around the room
"Hmm, what`s this?" Chika thought as she saw a magazine sticking out while folding some of Ishigami`s clothes, "Oh my" said Chika as she pulled out a dirty magazine titled, Mature Nurse Takes Care of Your Desires, "There`s some more" said Chika as she pulled out some more magazines along with some dvds, "Goodness what is this? I knew Ishigami was a bit perverted, but geez" Chika thought as she looked through some of them as some of them seemed to be more vulgar than she thought, "I`m back" said Ishigami as he came back to the room to which he was greeted by Chika having the magazines and videos in front of him, "Oh shit, I`m dead" Ishigami thought
"So you do have these magazines, not to mention these" Chika said as Ishigami was at the mercy of her while he was sitting in seiza, "I can explain, this isn`t mine, it must have stumbled in here somehow" Ishigami tried to say, "Crap how did she find out, I thought I hide it in a good place," Ishigami thought "It`s too late to deny it now, I know you`re a growing boy, but you have me now, you don`t need these magazines unless you`ve been thinking about doing indecent things to me," Chika said teasingly to which Ishigami turned bright red, "No I haven`t been thinking like that" Ishigami replied which didn`t seem to convince Chika,
"You sure about that?" Chika asked as she reached for another magazine, "Wait" said Ishigami as he approached her, but slipped on a magazine and took Chika with him down on the bed, "Oww" said Chika as she was about to get up, but was stopped by Ishigami moving around her "Holy crap, I`m touching something so soft" Ishigami thought as he was unknowingly touching her chest, "Ishigami please..." Chika pleaded as Ishigami continued to move his hand, "Oh I`m so sorry," said Ishigami as he took his hands off, but they were still inches away from each other, "Holy crap, she looks so cute flustered like that, should I?" Ishigami thought as he was tempted to lean in and go into stage 2 of their relationship
Something rose in Ishigami and it wasn`t the shield hero
"Yu, I brought some snacks for you two oh my," said Mrs. Ishigami as she opened the door and noticed that Ishigami was on top of Chika on the bed in a compromising position, "Mom! Can`t you knock on the door, this isn`t what it looks like," said Ishigami as he got off of Chika, "Yu, I know you`re getting older along with your hormones and body, but try not to make too much noise if you`re going to do that, if you need protection I`ll stop by the store later," said Mrs. Ishigami as she closed the door leaving Chika and Ishigami red as tomatoes
"Ishigami, just tell me the truth, why do you have all of this?" Chika asked as they sat on the bed, "Fine, this is stuff that I used to have during middle school when I was still a loner, all boys have these around" Ishigami explained, "And why exactly are they all women with big chests? Do you have some fetish I`m not aware of?" Chika asked, "No, I just like things bigger" Ishigami replied to which Chika sighed "Honestly I don`t really care that you have these magazines, but it`ll look bad if people find out my boyfriend has these on him" Chika explained, "You`re right, I`ll hide them better next time," said Ishigami, "So Ishigami likes them big huh?" Chika teased, "That`s not true," Ishigami said in protest, "Really? I could have sworn you`d been stealing glances at me lately," said Chika with a smug grin to which Ishigami couldn`t deny as that statement was kinda true
"Alright fine I will overlook what just happened, but since I`m here, why don`t you show me some of the video games that you have," said Chika which seemed to ease the tension between the two, "Sure," said Ishigami as he looked through his shelf of video games, "They were so soft tho," Ishigami thought as he moved his hand remembering what he had touched a moment ago
Later
"Fujiwara-san why don`t you stay for dinner tonight?" Mrs. Ishigami asked as the two walked out of Ishigami`s room, "Thank you so much" said Chika, "No problem, you`re my son`s friend" said Mrs. Ishigami much to the surprise of the two as they realized only their friends knew about their relationship, "Uh Mom, there`s something we need to tell you, have a seat" said Ishigami which caused Mrs. Ishigami to bat an eyebrow, "Oh what`s going on?" Mrs. Ishigami, "Well me and Chika well..." Ishigami started to say, "We`re dating right now," said Chika to which Mrs. Ishigami paused for a moment, "Mom?" Ishigami said as he noticed that her mood had shifted, "Congratulations you two" said Mrs. Ishigami as she gave Chika a big hug, "I`ll go all out for dinner tonight" said Mrs, Ishigami as she happily hummed her way to the kitchen
"So how did things go?" Mrs. Ishigami asked as she was cutting up some vegetables, "It was okay, although I wish she hadn`t found my collection" said Ishigami as he brought some ingredients over from the fridge, "That`s why I keep telling you to throw that garbage away" said Mrs. Ishigami, "It`s not garbage Mom, we guys need to have it around sometimes" Ishigami tried to explain to which Mrs. Ishigami just sighed wondering where she went wrong in raising him
"So when did you two start dating?" Mrs. Ishigami asked as they were having dinner, "During our trip" said Chika to which a set of keys was heard from outside, "Oh welcome home Yuto," said Mrs. Ishigami as the door opened as it was Ishigami`s brother, "Oh hey Mom, Ishigami, who`s our guest?" Yuto asked as he noticed an extra guest at their dinner table, "This is Ishigami`s girlfriend," said Mrs. Ishigami to which Yuto`s jaw hit the floor, "Okay hold the phone, Yu got a girlfriend?" Yuto asked as he couldn`t believe what he was hearing, "Yeah so what?" Ishigami asked seeming a bit annoyed,
"Hey Mom, I`m gonna have dinner in my room, I`ve got some work to do," said Yuto as he took his plate of dinner, "Sure," said Mrs. Ishigami as Yuto went over to his room, "Is he alright?" Chika asked as she felt that her being around caused some tension, "Don`t worry about him, I have more if you want seconds" said Mrs. Ishigami, "Thank you" said Chika as she asked for seconds, "By the way, may I ask how far you two have gone?" Mrs. Ishigami asked which raised the temperature of the room by a lot, "Oh uh, we just started dating so not that far" said Chika, "I see, my son is pretty lazy so you may have to put up with that, please look after my son" said Mrs. Ishigami to the dismay of Ishigami as Chika smirked, "Is your family always like this?" Chika asked as she ate some curry, "More or less" Ishigami replied as he took a sip of water
Later
"Thank you for having me over," said Chika as she put her shoes on at the front door, "Not at all, you`re always welcome here, Yu why don`t you walk her to the station," said Mrs. Ishigami, "That`s fine, I can walk there on my own," said Chika, "You sure?" Mrs. Ishigami asked, "Positive," said Chika as she walked out the door leaving Ishigami and his mother in a bit of silence "Now since you`re dating a girl like Fujiwara, you need to clean your act up, Fujiwara is a sweet girl, almost too good to be with someone like you," said Mrs. Ishigami, "Yeah yeah, I`ll do that" Ishigami deadpanned, "Just don`t let this one slip, I do want grandchildren at some point," said Mrs. Ishigami as she walked away to which Ishigami turned red, "Mom!" Ishigami yelled in embarrassment as now his family knew that he was dating Chika
The Next Day
"Geez it`s another day," Ishigami thought as he got up, "What time is it? 9:30, well it`s earlier than usual" Ishigami thought as he looked at the clock before walking into the kitchen, "Oh Yu, good morning" said Mrs. Ishigami as she was in the kitchen, "Oh morning Mom" said Ishigami as he went into the fridge, "Yu, if you`re just going to be home all day, I need you to go outside today, I have some stuff to do at home today" said Mrs. Ishigami to which Ishigami sighed,
"What do you need?" Ishigami asked, "I need you to bring a bento to your father, he was in such a rush he forgot it, I also left some money for you to go out today," said Mrs. Ishigami as she pointed to the counter, "Fine," said Ishigami as he went to his room to get changed, "Once my mom`s made up her mind, there`s no changing it," Ishigami thought as he knew he had no choice but to go outside today
"Man I guess I`m going outside today, it`s too hot for me," Ishigami thought as he walked to the subway station, "So much for playing video games all day," Ishigami thought as he got on the train headed to the toy factory
At the Toy Factory
"Mr. Ishigami, you have a guest," said a secretary, "Let them in," said Mr. Ishigami as the door opened, "Hey Dad," said Ishigami as he walked into the room, "Ah Yu, it`s quite rare to see you here, what brings you here?" said Mr. Ishigami as he put his papers aside, "You forgot your lunch," said Ishigami as he placed a bento on his desk, "Oh thanks, must have forgotten," said Mr. Ishigami as he took the bento, "Well I better get going, don`t wanna get in the way," said Ishigami as he headed towards the door,
"Hold on a second," said Mr. Ishigami to which Ishigami stopped, "I heard from your other that you`re dating one of the Fujiwara`s daughters," said Mr. Ishigami, "Yeah what about it?" Ishigami asked, "I have no issues with this, but there is one thing you need to know, do not do anything that will upset her, you have no idea what type of power the Fujiwara family holds, they could finish us if they wanted to" Mr. Ishigami explained to which Ishigami sighed, "All right I`ll be a loyal boyfriend to her," said Ishigami as he left the room, "Geez I thought getting into the relationship was tough, but my parents keep telling me to do this and that," Ishigami thought as he got on the elevator
Later
"Alright, that`s done, what to do next?" Ishigami thought as he walked out of the toy factory and noticed an old man in glasses trying to carry several bags, "Guess I should go help him out" Ishigami thought as he noticed the old man was struggling a bit, "Excuse me sir, let me help you out with that" Ishigami said as he approached him, "Why thank you, kind sir" said the old man as Ishigami took his bags, "Consider it my good deed for the day" Ishigami said as he followed the old man to his home
"We`re here," said the old man as he opened the door to his condominium, "Whoa, nice place how would have thought an old man lived somewhere as nice as this" Ishigami thought as he walked in, "Where do you want me to put this?" Ishigami asked the old man, "Right on the countertop sonny" said the old man, "Alright" said Ishigami as he placed the bags on the counter", "You want anything to drink?" said the old man, "Normally I would ask for something crazy like soda, but I`m in an old person`s place, should ask for something simpler, "Tea is fine" said Ishigami as the old man grabbed some tea leaves from a cabinet, "Have a seat on the couch, the tea will be ready soon" said the old man as Ishigami took a seat
"I see, so you were a politician in the old days," Ishigami said as he was listening to the old man telling him stories of his past, "That`s right, things were easier back then, so I decided to kick back and let my daughter handle the reins, guess politics runs in the family," said the old man as he sipped his tea, "May I ask a question?" Ishigami asked as he sipped some tea, "Sure, what is it, young man?" the old man asked, "That girl in the picture, what is your relationship with her?" Ishigami asked as he noticed a picture that seemed to stick out, "Ah her, she`s my granddaughter," said the old man as the door rang, "Ah I`ll get that for you" said Ishigami as he got up and headed for the door
"Who is it?" Ishigami asked as he opened the door and he saw Chika waiting outside, "Ishigami? What are you doing here?" Chika asked surprised, "Oh uh," said Ishigami as he wasn`t sure what to say "It`s fine, come on in Chika," said the old man to which Ishigami let her in, "Grandpa," said Chika as she hugged the old man, "Chika my favorite granddaughter, how are you?" said the old man to which Ishigami put two and two together,
"Wait, you`re Chika`s grandfather?" Ishigami asked dumbfounded, "That`s right, by the way, what`s your name young man?" the grandpa asked, "It`s Yu Ishigami, I`m your granddaughter`s boyfriend" Ishigami replied to which Chika gave him the look of why did you say that, "Boyfriend, well I`ll be, one of my granddaughters finally got a man," the grandfather said as he wiped some tears from his eyes, "Grandpa, stop you`re embarrassing me," Chika said in embarrassment to which Ishigami chuckled to which Chika glared at him to which Ishigami stopped laughing
"Since you kids are here, why don`t we play a board game," said the grandpa as he pulled out a game of Parcheesi, "Yay, I wanna play, Ishigami will you be joining us?" Chika asked, "I guess it would be rude to decline," Ishigami thought as he joined the two in the board game
Later
"Could it be that you`re actually not that good at board games?" Ishigami asked as they walked out of the condominium after playing board games for several hours, "Shut up, I`m just not good at that board game" Chika said in embarrassment as in reality Chika had tried to cheat as usual, but Grandpa Fujiwara had other ideas, "Hey it`s getting late, wanna go get dinner?" Chika asked out of the blue, "Yeah I`m starving," said Ishigami, "Let`s go to this restaurant that my grandfather told us we should stop by," said Chika as Ishigami followed her
Aragawa Restaraunt
"We`re back here again?" Ishigami thought as he was feeling some deja vu as they walked into the restaurant, "Welcome, ah Miss Fujiwara, how are you today?" said the greeter, "I`m good," said Chika to which the greeter turned their attention to Ishigami, "Do you have an appointment sir? You need to have a reservation," said the server, "Here, this might help clear things out," said Chika as she showed the greeter a document from her grandfather that said that she and Ishigami would be going in the place of her grandfather as a way to thank Ishigami for helping him out, "I see, right this way," said the greeter as they led the two into the restaurant
"Man I stick out like a sore thumb," said Ishigami as he noticed that everyone in the restaurant was dressed in business casual, "Well this restaurant is where many politicians have dinner and have their meetings along with some fancy parties," said Chika as they sat at their table, "Just perfect, wish you told me that earlier," Ishigami thought as he realized that the rich patrons could smell the lack of class out of him
"Hello, how are you? What`ll it be tonight?" the waitress asked as she came up to their table, "Yes I`ll have the wagyu filet with potatoes on the side," said Chika, "You sure it`s a good idea to have dinner here? I didn`t exactly bring all that much with me," said Ishigami as he checked his wallet, "I can spot you, after all, grandpa told me to repay you," said Chika, "Okay, let me get the strip steak, medium rare please," said Ishigami as the waiter took the order before walking away, "Geez what kinda guy is he? Doesn`t have enough to pay for the lady, what a freeloader," the waiter thought as she walked to the kitchen
"Miss Fujiwara, it`s an honor to see you here tonight," said a man in a suit who approached their table "Who`s this gentleman with you tonight?" said the general manager as he noticed Ishigami, "Oh he`s my friend," said Chika, "Ah welcome to Aragawa sir, consider it an honor to have the privilege to have dinner with Miss Fujiwara," the general manager said to Ishigami, "Yeah like I haven`t heard that before," Ishigami thought as he had heard the same thing one too many times
"Sir, we have a bit of an issue," a waiter said to the general manager, "What`s the problem?" the general manager asked, "Well you know the pianist that was supposed to play tonight, yeah he said he had an emergency to take care of, so we don`t have anyone playing the piano," the waiter said to the general manager, "You gotta be kidding me, the guests are all here tonight to watch a piano performance, what do we do?" the general manager said frantically, "Guess we`ll have to let the audience know that the performance is canceled tonight," said the waiter to which the general manager sighed, "Alright fine," said the manager as the two walked away from the table, "Well that doesn`t sound good" Ishigami thought as he heard the entire conversation
Later
"Ladies and gentlemen, it seems that due to unforeseen circumstances, tonight`s piano performance has been canceled," said the general manager to which he was met with disappointment and some boos as it seemed that most of the guests had come to see the performance, "Wow it`s getting pretty crazy," Ishigami thought as he realized the situation could get ugly to which Chika stood up from her seat much to the surprise of Ishigami, "I can take the place of the pianist," Chika said boldly to which the attention shifted towards her followed by some murmurs among the patrons, "Come to the back room," said the assistant manager as the two got up and headed over there
"Can you play this?" the owner said to Chika as they were in the back room discussing the plan, "It`s a tough piece to play, but I can try" Chika replied as the piece that was to be played was Scarbo, a difficult piano piece to play even if Chika was a prodigy in the past, "Seems to me that we don`t have much of a choice" said the assistant manager, "It`s settled then, Miss Fujiwara when you are ready, head over to the piano, the piano will be there" said the general manager as he excused himself along with the assistant manager leaving just the two of them
"Maybe I shouldn`t have agreed to this," said Chika as anxiety was kicking in as Chika had not played piano in this type of atmosphere, "You`ll be fine," said Ishigami, "You have no idea the pressure I`m facing, I haven`t played piano this pressure-packed in years, if I mess this up it could ruin my reputation," said Chika to which Ishigami gave her a headpat, "I believe in you, go out there and do your thing," said Ishigami as he gave her a hug which seemed to calm her down, "Thanks Ishigami," said Chika as she seemed to have regained her confidence
"It`s too late to back out," Chika thought as she walked towards the piano to which she could hear murmurs from the crowd with some questioning why there was a different performer and some who knew who Chika was as well she was a daughter of the Fujiwara family, "You think she`ll be okay?" one of the waiters asked Ishigami, "She`s a piano prodigy, have some faith in her, I think she can do it," said Ishigami as Chika bowed to the crowd before she sat down and started playing
"The piano feels different after not playing it for so long," Chika thought as she focused on playing the difficult piece while looking back at her past, as she touched a different key each time, she was reminded of her past memories of the piano good and bad,
Flashback to middle school
Why don`t you just quit?" Kaguya asked before walking away leaving Chika speechless, "Why would she say that to me? I`ve worked so hard" Chika thought as during her entire life Chika was considered a genius by her peers, "Was this practicing all for nothing?" Chika thought while in tears as she had spent all her free time on the piano, "But maybe this is for the best, it`s time I move on," Chika thought as she closed the piano before walking away from it
"I once thought of this as the only thing that mattered in my life, but I decided that perhaps it was better to try new things, but now I`ve returned to this as a different person not to mention my boyfriend is watching me so I better look good," thought Chika "But one thing is for sure, the piano will never leave my soul" Chika thought as she played the final note of the piece ending the performance,
"Did she do it?" Ishigami asked as he noticed there was some silence for a moment, but was soon followed up by loud applause from the crowd to which Ishigami breathed a sigh of relief, "Whew, she did it" Ishigami thought as he was relieved that the performance went smoothly, "Thank god, I didn`t think I had it in me still left" Chika thought as she bowed to the crowd
"You did it," said Ishigami as he handed her a bottle of water while they were chatting in the backstage after the performance, "It was tough, but I somehow managed to do it," said Chika as she took a sip from her bottle of water "Fine work Chika," said a familiar voice followed by applause, "Mom? Dad? What are you two doing here?" Chika asked as her parents walked up to them,
"Well I was still at work when I heard that my daughter was playing piano again after a long time, so of course your mother and I had to drop by to see what that was about" Daichi explained, "Ah Yu, good to see you again, how are things?" Maho asked Ishigami, "They`ve been good" Ishigami replied, "We heard from grandpa that you two are dating now for real, is that true?" Daichi asked to which Chika and Ishigami looked at each other before Chika decided to answer the question, "Yes, yes we are" said Chika to which Maho and Daichi looked at each other before turning back to the two, "Congrats you two, we`re happy for you two, but try not to get too crazy though, we still expect her to follow our family customs" said Maho to which Ishigami nodded, "Of course" Ishigami replied
"You sure you don`t want to give the piano a second try? It`s not too late" Maho asked Chika to which she shook her head, "I`m fine with how things are," Chika replied to which Maho nodded as the door opened followed by several people, "Thank you for saving us Miss Fujiwara," said the owner as he shook Chika`s hand, "To repay you, your bill for tonight is on us tonight and we`ll give you a bottle of champagne," said the general manager as everyone was praising Chika which made Ishigami feel out of place as he walked away unnoticed by the others
"Maybe Mom is right, Chika seems too good to be with me, why would she like a person as plain like me," Ishigami thought as he sat at the table by himself as upon seeing the piano performance he felt inferior to Chika, "Ishigami, you seem quiet, is everything good?" Chika asked as she walked back to their table, "Hey I`ve been meaning to ask, but are you sure you`re fine with dating me?" Ishigami asked which caused Chika to bat an eyebrow,
"What do you mean?" Chika asked, "It`s just that, you seem so much better than me," said Ishigami to which Chika pinched both of Ishigami`s cheeks, "That may be true, but I never cared about what talent a boy has, all that matters to me is having someone who cares about me, I don`t want to hear you talk down on yourself, I`m having fun being around you" said Chika which seemed to give Ishigami the message
"By the way, the manager gave me a bottle of champagne as thanks, wanna drink it?" Chika asked as she pulled out a bottle of champagne, "Yeah, let`s end the night off with that" said Ishigami as Chika poured some champagne into their glasses, "To our relationship" said Chika as she raised her glass, "Cheers" said Ishigami as they tapped glasses and drank their champagne while enjoying the rest of their evening together
Later, 10:00 pm
"You`re back, you were out quite late, I thought you were going to rush back home and play video games," said Mrs. Ishigami as Ishigami entered the house, "Something came up," said Ishigami as he took a drink from the fridge, "You were with Fujiwara?" Mrs. Ishigami asked, "Yeah," said Ishigami as he headed into his room, "Man I guess I should really be better," Ishigami thought as he plopped on his bed after a long day
Results of Battle: Fujiwara wins
Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, it seems that Ishigami has started to have doubts in himself whether or not he feels, will this cause problems in the long run? The next chapter will be the last one for the summer arc
As always feel free to leave a review on what you thought of the chapter, see you all in the next chapter
Merry Christmas Everyone and stay safe