Introduction (21 nov 2020)

Sorry it took a while to finish part 2, but I just have been working late a few times last week, and thus lacking the time and energy to write. I don't want to write when not feeling fully up to it, as the story will probably suffer as a result. So, most of the writing was done in the weekends, after regaining most of my energy again.

Btw, someone asked in a guest review when this chapter was going to be ready. Since it's impossible to reply to guest reviews, once again, if you have a question for me, please take a moment to register a free account on this website, so you can send me a personal message, or leave a review when being logged in. Then I can reply to your question(s) and interact with readers.

I hope you will enjoy reading this, and I'm definitely looking forward to hearing what you think of this chapter, as well as the other chapters in this story.

Note: If you want to comment on this story, or any of my other stories, you're welcome to leave a review, preferably as registered member, as this allows much more interaction between writer and reviewer. If there are parts you felt lacking, or disliked, please let me know this as well. Things can appear amazing in my perception, while others might think very differently. I'm eager to hear such feedback as well, since praise is always nice, and can confirm being on the right track, criticism is often what helps more to improve.

Chapter Prologue:

Shortly after having arrived at the Kinoshita residence, Kazuya unveiled Chizuru has never been his real girlfriend. How will his grandmother react to this unexpected revelation?

Meet the Parents (again) - part 2

"The truth is…" Kazuya took a deep breath before finishing his sentence; "Mizuhara has never been my real girlfriend!"

"Eeh?" was all Kazuya's grandma could say at first, confused by her grandson's sudden revelation.

An awkward silence filled the room, as it seemed like everyone was waiting for someone else to break the quiet. Eventually grandma Nagomi was the first to compose herself somewhat and she started to speak.

"What exactly do you mean with Chizuru never having been your girlfriend for real?" grandma wondered; "You two even shared an hotel room and spent the night together back then, when we were visiting the Gunma prefecture secret hot springs, shortly after you had started dating."

"Huh?" Ruka said, as she crossed her arms and turned her head towards Kazuya, with a 'what's up with this, mister? You never told me anything about that!' look on her face.

"It's not what you think! I can explain!" Kazuya quickly whispered to Ruka, as some sweatdrops started to appear on his forehead.

Suddenly grandma Nagomi started to laugh out loud!

"Oh, that's a good one! Why didn't I see this coming!?" she said, while still laughing.

'Oh no, grandma has lost it!' Kazuya thought, as he witnessed this totally unexpected behavior of his grandmother. 'I should have brought the news more gently, so she could gradually get used to the idea! But I had no choice; Ruka was taking all the heat for my stupid actions…'

"Where did you hide the camera?" Kazuya's grandmother asked, as she frantically started to look around the room; "Oh wait, maybe it's in here!" she continued, as she picked up Ruka's bag, and looked inside.

"Grandma, are you ok?" Kazuya asked; "Maybe you need to sit down for a moment?"

"That's so typically you, Kazuya," Nagomi said, "… trying to pull a prank on your old grandmother. Was it your own idea, or did one of my Twitter friends set you up to this? I bet it was Nanako! Or perhaps it was that Mami person, she's always so interested in what I have to say. Actually she has really been trying to hear me out lately, must have been in order to be able to plan all this."

'Mami? Does she mean my Mami?' Kazuya wondered, 'Nah, that has to be a coincidence, this Mami is probably someone grandma met during her visits to the hospital, or maybe a childhood friend. They seem pretty close, so they must have a long history together.'

"Huh? Prank? What prank?" Kazuya asked, while still feeling confused.

"Like what you see on the internet all the time, in these YouTube prank videos…" grandma started explaining, "… where they use a hidden camera, and then a friend or family member of the person they are trying to pull the joke on, tells some shocking story, to capture the reaction."

'So that is what grandma was thinking!' Kazuya finally realized. 'Maybe today isn't the best moment to tell her the truth anyway...' He smiled sheepishly, while looking at his grandmother, as if he was admitting having been found out.

"You see! I just knew it!" grandma Nagomi cheered; "But I still don't understand where that camera is hidden. Maybe you can give a hint? You know I like games."

Kazuya smiled, still playing along, but then he turned his head aside, towards Ruka, and she had a face like thunder! 'Oh crap, Ruka is really mad! First grandma bringing up that story about sleeping with Mizuhara in the same room, during our family spa visit, and now I'm chickening out from setting things straight. This won't do, this won't do at all…'

"Grandma…?" Kazuya hesitatingly started.

"No, don't tell me yet where the camera is hidden, I think I see it now…" grandma Nagomi continued her search for the mystery camera; "That pen wasn't there yet earlier today, that must be it!"

Kazuya's grandmother picked up a pen from a side-table, and studied it closely, clicking it a few times, hoping to find some proof it wasn't an ordinary writing utensil.

"We didn't put that pen there, grandma…" Kazuya said, "… mom or dad must have misplaced it, after writing something down. And we didn't set you up for a hidden camera prank video."

"Not?" grandma said, sounding a bit disappointed; "But then…?" Nagomi thought out loud, as she slowly sat down again.

"It is true, what Ruka said about being my girlfriend now. And, what I said…" Kazuya bowed down his head, "… about Mizuhara and I having never been a real couple..."

Grandmother Nagomi's face suddenly became very serious, while she was processing Kazuya's explanation.

"I'm so, so very sorry for lying to you, and mom and dad…" Kazuya began apologizing.

"You know, it's such lovely weather for the time of year," grandma Nagomi started, surprisingly talking at a very calm voice; "Why don't you and Ms. Ruka go outside, to the balcony and get some fresh air?" she added, with a smile on her face.

"Eh… grandma…?" Kazuya wondered, as he couldn't understand her reaction.

"Come along now, my dears," grandmother said to them, on an overly friendly tone, as she stood up again, and made some gestures to urge the two youngsters to go towards to the balcony, then closed the door behind them.

"Your grandma was right, it sure is nice out here now," Ruka said to Kazuya, with a big smile on her face; "And apart from a few things that we need to discuss later, like what she said about that spa visit… it all went pretty much ok so far, right?" she added, as they stood outside on the balcony.

"Hmm, I'm not so sure about that…" Kazuya replied.

"Huh? What do you mean by this?" Ruka wondered; "It seemed to me like she took the news pretty well, actually."

"True…" Kazuya started, "… but still something feels 'off' about this…"

"Stop that!" Ruka said, as she gave him a slap on the shoulder; "Relax for a moment, you just worry way too much about this. Now, how about a little kiss, to celebrate that things have turned out so well?" she suggested, while puckering up her lips.

"K-Kiss? You m-mean here, out in the open?" Kazuya stuttered.

"You know you want to, just admit it," Ruka teased him.

Suddenly they heard a loud scream coming from inside the house! Kazuya stormed back inside, with Ruka following closely behind him.

"Grandma! Are you ok!?" Kazuya yelled, while entering the living room.

"OK!? OK!?" grandmother Nagomi yelled; "Of course I am not ok! Do you have any idea how many tweets I have sent to all of my friends, to show off that my grandson had finally found a girl, and not just any girl, but a perfect angel, like Chizuru?"

"Eh?" Kazuya uttered, as he was expecting to find his grandma in a totally different situation.

"At first everyone simply thought I was joking, or that I had now finally lost my mind…" Nagomi continued, "… but eventually I was able to convince them it was real. I was so happy for our family."

'Hmmm, considering how you worshipped Mizuhara, I bet you were the one who was the most happy about Mizuhara posing as my girlfriend…' Kazuya thought, while he remembered how his grandma had often been reacting when the subject changed to Chizuru. And how, when they had organized a combined celebration of Chizuru's and his birthday, even his name had simply been crossed out on the banner, to be replaced with Chizuru's name…

"And now I have to tell each and every single one of my friends and followers that it turns out that Ms. Chizuru isn't your girlfriend, apologize to them and admit they were right, all along!" grandma continued; "Oh, the humiliation! Kazuya, why are you doing this to your poor grandmother!?" she added, while starting to hit Kazuya on the head with her backscratcher.

"Auaa! Grandma! I… ouch! I am really… ow! Sorry about this!" Kazuya apologized, as he tried to cover his head with his hands, to have at least some protection.

"How could you!?" grandma shouted, as she kept hitting Kazuya.

"Please stop!" Ruka suddenly yelled.

"Ehhh?" was grandma's reaction, as she let down her 'weapon'.

For a moment everyone was quiet, and both Kazuya and his grandmother looked at Ruka, who was just standing there, her arms down her side, with her hands clenched. Watching Kazuya getting hit had become too much for her, and although it could be considered very impolite to raise your voice when being a guest at someone's place, and certainly when the host is a respected and elderly family member, Ruka could no longer hold back.

"Uh, I'm sorry… I didn't mean to be disrespectful and such, or intrude on family affairs…" Ruka apologized, as she looked down, "… it's just… well, I don't like to see Kazuya get hurt..."

"I see. That's sweet of you," grandma Nagomi started, seemingly calmed down a little now; "You do really seem to care a lot for this odd grandson of mine."

Ruka still didn't dare to look up, but silently nodded in response to Nagomi's remark.

"But…" Nagomi continued, "… it's just that I think he just needs a good whack on the head from time to time, to set him straight again," the elderly lady added, while laughing; "And you really don't need to worry so much about that, Ms. Ruka, I'm not hitting him that hard anyway. Besides, my Kazuya has such a thick skull, sometimes I wonder if there is any room left for brains in there."

"Hey!" Kazuya objected, as Ruka had chuckled about grandma Nagomi's remark; "Just whose side are you on anyway?"

"Well, you're not the one holding the backscratcher," Ruka said, while she continued laughing.

"That's just lovely, you two are now teaming up against me…" Kazuya muttered, but deep inside he was happy so see Ruka and his grandmother apparently getting along quite well, despite things.

Then Ruka stopped laughing, and her face became much more serious. She lowered her head and looked down at the ground again.

"Ms. Ruka, is something wrong?" Nagomi asked, on a worried tone.

Ruka nodded but didn't say a word.

"What is the matter, my dear?" grandmother Nagomi asked; "You know you can always tell it to your 'Tokyo grandmother' if something is bothering you."

"Well, I know I'm probably not as pretty and classy as Chizuru-san..." Ruka hesitatingly started, as she kept looking down at the ground, before turning up her head again, with watery eyes, "… but maybe there is still a slight chance that one day, you could be willing to consider accepting me instead… as a possible future granddaughter in law?"

'Ruka… I'm so sorry, time after time I've made you feel you had to measure up against Mizuhara, and made you think you were not good enough… ' Kazuya thought, blaming himself for Ruka still feeling so insecure as she clearly did right now. 'I will make it up to you, I promise you that!'

"Oh, Ms. Ruka, please don't cry," grandma Nagomi comforted the dark-haired girl, as she gently put her arm around the young girl; "I would definitely be happy to one day welcome a pretty girl as nice as you, as part of the Kinoshita family…" Kazuya's grandmother reassured Ruka, "… and I am sure that goes for my son and daughter in law too."

"Eh, a-about mom and dad…" Kazuya stuttered, as he suddenly realized that telling his grandmother the truth was only the beginning, "… I still have to…"

"Oh, yes. I think it's probably better that I will inform them of your strange behavior," Nagomi quickly interrupted her grandson; "If you do such a 'great' job telling them, as you did to me now, I'm sure we'll soon have another family crisis at hand. I know your dad much longer than you have, so I'll probably be much better at handling this, don't you think?"

"Wow! Thanks, grandma! You're the best!" Kazuya said, as he nodded enthusiastically, feeling much relieved by his grandmother's offer to help.

"I know," grandma started, while smiling; "But don't expect I will go easy on you and let you get off the hook that easily…" she warned him, "… I still have to think of some fitting punishment for you later. I'm sure I can come up with some chores, to begin with, and some other things as well..."

"Sure, grandma, anything you say!" Kazuya said, while smiling.

"But that will be for another time," Nagomi continued; "First you two have so much to tell me. Like how did you first meet, for instance?"

"Well, that's a long story…" Kazuya replied, thinking back about literally bumping into Ruka, the first time they saw each other.

"Then I suggest you get us something to drink, before we sit down and talk," grandma stated.

"Wait, let me get that, grandma!" Ruka instantly reacted, and walked towards the kitchen.

"That's another girl who's way nicer than what you really deserve…" Nagomi commented.

Kazuya nodded, as he fully agreed with his grandmother's words of him being undeserving of having such a nice girl care for him. 'But still, she is my girlfriend…' he thought, with a smile on his face.

(To be continued…)

Epilogue (28 nov 2020)

Not much 'outside-action' in this chapter perhaps, but hopefully the emotional moments more than make up for that. The next chapter will be different, I can already promise this. Stay tuned, if you don't want to miss anything…

Please let me know what you think of this story and leave some feedback in the form of a review. If you are logged in on this fanfiction website, and post a review as registered member, I can even reply to your comments. Looking forward to some more interaction with the people who read my stories!

Btw, since I am not a native speaker, there will likely be some silly mistakes in this story. And in punctuation, maybe I made the same mistakes as in previous stories, or even made new mistakes. Hope you can bear with me and see through that. Helpful tips and suggestions are welcome.

Stay safe, and maybe until soon!