As Lily handed over the manga with a wry smile, Saito, her childhood friend, started observing it with keen interest.
“Even though he looks like that, my dad is actually a professional in the creative field. He has a lot of contacts too,”
“The world is pretty small, isn’t it? Besides, this manga is a romantic comedy, and I know you’re not a fan of those, right, Lily?”
Saito asked, knowing that Lily didn’t usually read romantic comedies. He quickly skimmed through the manga and looked puzzled.
“I don’t dislike them. I just avoid them if they turn into harems. If it’s a pure love story between the heroine and the protagonist, I can read it,”
“I see. It doesn’t seem to have any battles, so it’s not really my thing, but I’ll give it a shot for Takumi and the others,”
Saito said, accepting Lily’s opinion as he quietly started reading from the first page.
“Well then, while Saito’s reading, I’ll go help Mom,”
Lily said, not wanting to interrupt his reading. She joined Lucy, who was humming in the kitchen.
“Mom, I’ll help you,” Lily offered.
“Oh, thank you! Could you take care of the salad and soup?” Lucy asked.
“Sure, leave it to me,”
Fifteen minutes later, they finished preparing dinner,
and by the time they were about to set the table, Saito was already seated.
“Did you read the manga properly?”
Lily asked, noticing that Saito wasn’t holding the manga and could see it left on the sofa.
He probably hadn’t read much.
Lily gave Saito a reproachful look, but he just shrugged it off casually.
“With such a delicious smell in the air, I couldn’t concentrate. I’ll read it in your room later,”
“You’re always thinking about food. Well, as long as you plan to read it, that’s fine. For now, enjoy Mom’s special hamburg steak,”
Lily said, placing the hamburger steak plate in front of him.
“Wow, this looks delicious!” .
“Hey, what’s that smell? I thought we were having tomato pasta tonight—oh, I see. Saito’s here. Welcome,”
While Saito is enjoying the smell and the look, the living room door opens and a handsome, dandy-looking man enters the living room.
It is Masaki, Lily’s father.
Lucy had texted Masaki that Saito was coming, but he was probably too engrossed in his work to check his phone.
His puzzled expression at the smell of hamburg steaks quickly changed to one of understanding when he saw Saito. He welcomed him with a gentle smile.
“Masaki-san, thank you for having me,”
“It’s been a while since you’ve been here. How have you been? Enjoying high school?”
“Things have been busy, but it’s a lot of fun. I’ve made friends, and it’s great having Lily in the same class,”
“That’s good to hear. I’ve heard about it from Lily, but I’m glad to hear it from you too,”
Masaki sat across from Saito, and they started chatting.
Their conversation was just like one between family,
even though they weren’t actually related.
It showed how much Masaki liked Saito.
Lily was still not used to seeing her dad being so kind to other kids,
especially since he used to dislike children because she was bullied.
[“Move out of the way.”]
Lily vividly remembered Masaki giving a chilling voice and contemptuous look to a group of middle school students blocking their way when they went shopping.
Knowing that past version of Masaki made Lily sometimes doubt if he was the same person.
[“Hey, Lily, what do you think would make Saito happy? The latest game console? A complete manga series? An expensive tennis racket?”]
[“He’d be happy even with something simple, like a burger from McDonald’s.”]
[“Alright, let’s give him a $1,000 McDonald’s gift card.”]
[“Dad, that’s way too much!”]
[“What are you talking about, Lily? Saito’s a growing boy, he needs that much!”]
Especially when they celebrated Saito’s birthday for the first time, Masaki went overboard, and it was really hard to deal with.
In the end, they had to get Saito’s parents to help convince him that it was too much for an elementary school kid.
That day definitely changed Lily’s image of her father.
“Hmm? Is there something on my face, Lily?”
Masaki asked, noticing Lily watching him while he was enjoying the conversation.
He started patting his face, looking puzzled.
“Nothing, I just thought you two are as close as always,”
Lily said, finding his reaction funny and laughing.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
“Well, it’s Saito, after all. It’s only natural to get along with such a good kid,”
Masaki said, going over to Saito, putting his arm around him, and laughing.
“Masaki, you’re looking more muscular. Your workouts must be going well,”
“Oh, you can tell? I found a good method recently and have been keeping up with it every day,” .
“Really? Tell me about it after dinner,”
“Sure, no problem,”
“Don’t forget why you came here, Saito. And Dad, it’s already past seven, so don’t make too much noise,”
“I know, I know,”
“Yeah, we got it. I’ll just give him a quick rundown,”
Lily warned the two men, who were getting excited about their workout talk, and started bringing the dishes to the table.
“””Itadakimasu!”””
“This is delicious. Today’s demi-glace sauce is richer than usual. It’d be great for a hamburger,”
“I’m glad you like it. I added a bit of Godiva chocolate as a secret ingredient today,”
“Mom, that’s too luxurious to use as a secret ingredient!”
“Well, it does have a deeper flavor than usual. It’s delicious, Mom,”
With Saito here, tonight’s dinner was livelier than usual.
“Speaking of Saito’s first birthday we celebrated, we were late because Lily took forever to pick out a gift. She couldn’t decide what to get and was so adorable,”
“Mom! We promised not to talk about that!”
“Oh, sorry,”
“The waist pouch you gave me in first grade, you spent so much time picking it out. Thanks, I still use it and find it really handy,”
“Really? I’m glad,”
“And for birthday gifts, the blue ribbon Saito gave you. Lily loved it and has worn it every day since,”
“Thanks to that, Lily started getting interested in fashion. It was cute seeing her try different hairstyles to match the ribbon,”
“Yeah, and when it got worn out, the way you panicked was the best,”
“Right, and when Saito gave her a new one along with another present, her smile was the biggest I’ve ever seen,”
“I’m glad you liked it so much. The current one’s starting to fade a bit, so I’ll get you a new one for your birthday next month,”
“…Please, stop…”
But along with the joy came the embarrassment of having her past stories brought up, which was mentally exhausting.
Overall, it was a fun meal.
After dinner, while helping with the dishes, Masaki showed Saito some workout techniques, making a lot of noise as expected.
But Masaki kept it short as promised, which was a relief.
If it had continued, the neighbors would definitely have complained.
“Alright, let’s go to my room,”
“Sure,”
After everything settled down, Lily took Saito to her room.
They sat side by side on the floor, leaning against the bed.
This is the usual situation between Lily and Saitp.
There was a monitor in front of them, which they used for games, watching TV, messing with their phones, reading novels or manga, or just lazing around.
“Okay, time to read for real,”
“Go for it! Don’t try to run away, read it all,”
“I got it. But why are you leaning on me? It’s hard to read like this,”
“To make sure you don’t run away. Just ignore me and read the manga. You said you’d do it for the president, right?”
“Alright, alright,”
As expected, Saito looked annoyed when Lily leaned on him to keep him from escaping.
But realizing that she wouldn’t back down, he resigned himself to reading the manga.
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