"Akira-kun."
Sajuna's Dad's voice came over. For some reason, seeing Akira's submissive expression, his initial dislike for Akira slowly faded, and his tone began to soften.
"Pour me a cup of tea."
"Yes, Uncle."
Akira stood up, picked up the teapot from the table, opened the lid, and saw that there wasn't much left. He glanced at Sajuna's Dad, a little hesitant.
"The tea leaves are in the drawer under the TV cabinet."
Akira walked over and took out a half-used tea bag from the drawer. It didn't appear to be a very expensive brand.
He poured some into the teapot, then went to the kitchen and refilled the teapot with hot water.
Sajuna and her mom, who were cooking in the kitchen, looked over curiously and saw Akira holding the teapot.
"Akira-kun, are you making tea?"
Sayouye's mom said with a smile, then leaned closer to Akira and whispered a reminder.
"Uncle doesn't really like tea, Akira-kun, so you don't have to worry if the tea you make isn't good."
"Also, Uncle is actually a person with a sharp tongue but a soft heart, Akira-kun, so you don't need to be too afraid."
Akira nodded and gave Sayouye's mom a grateful smile.
"Thank you, Auntie."
After doing everything, Akira returned to the sofa, placed the teapot on the table, and waited for the tea leaves to fully unfurl in the teapot.
The news anchor on the TV was still clearly reporting recent events. There seemed to be some important news that kept Sajuna's Dad's attention focused on it.
Time passed slowly. Akira watched the tea leaves under the transparent lid slowly unfurl in the hot water, gradually tinting the water a light yellow.
Watching the time pass, Akira picked up the teacup from the table, took the teapot, filled a cup, and then offered it with both hands.
The imagined scenario of being treated as invisible didn't happen. Sajuna's Dad directly took the tea Akira offered, brought it to his lips, and took a small sip.
"It's still a bit hot."
"My apologies."
Akira bowed his head and apologized. After all, it had just been brewed, and if he waited any longer, he didn't know how long it would take.
The aroma from the kitchen grew stronger, and the tea in Sajuna's Dad's cup slowly diminished, but he still didn't say much.
"Sit back down."
Akira felt like a robot, performing stiff actions under Sajuna's Dad's commands.
For creatures like fathers, Akira could only analyze them from a fellow male perspective for now, but he felt he hadn't yet reached a deeper level of understanding their thought processes.
What was it like to watch his daughter grow up happily day by day?
What kind of feeling was it to wish his daughter a good future?
The tea in the teacup slowly decreased. Sajuna's Dad placed the empty teacup back on the table and spoke to Akira beside him.
"I knew my daughter would have a boyfriend someday, so I had already prepared myself mentally."
Akira remained silent.
"I understand what teenagers are thinking during puberty, and I know what will happen. I don't think it's wrong for Sajuna to date a boy, but that doesn't mean your relationship is necessarily right."
"Sajuna has been sent to an all-girls school since she was young, and she has basically never interacted with boys. So, I've always been worried that Sajuna wouldn't be able to distinguish between bad boys and good boys later on. You are the first boy she has liked, and also the first boy she has brought home."
"I believe you understand what this means to Sajuna, and you also understand the responsibility this entails for you."
"Therefore, combining Sayouye's mom's assessment, I am willing to grant Sajuna's request for this relationship and wish you and Sajuna well."
"Thank you, Uncle."
Akira bowed his head in thanks. Feeling Sajuna's Dad's serious tone, he became even more reserved.
"However, I have a question I need to ask you."
Sajuna's Dad turned his head and looked at Akira, staring into his eyes as he asked.
"If you only have one thousand yen a month, and our family needs you to help with five hundred, would you be willing?"
Akira subconsciously thought this was like the question of who to save if your mother and wife fell into the water, but upon closer reading, he felt it was not the same.
Sajuna's Dad's question seemed to not consider Sajuna's feelings. If he was willing, would Sajuna be willing?
As an orphan, with only his grandfather in the countryside still alive, who probably didn't need his support, was his money really that important?
"No," Akira replied. "I am willing to do anything that can make Sajuna happy. The reason I disagree is that I don't think Sajuna would agree."
"I think when Uncle brought this up, he no longer saw Sajuna and me as a single entity. I think when Uncle brought this up, it wasn't that Uncle needed to borrow money from me, but rather that the number of people spending money had increased to four."
Akira looked into Sajuna's Dad's eyes, wanting to know his opinion on his answer.
He felt so assertive at that moment, but he didn't seem to see what he wanted in Sajuna's Dad's eyes; instead, they were as still as an ancient well.
"Akira-kun, do you know what my question was asking you?" Sajuna's Dad didn't wait for Akira to answer, and immediately gave the answer, "Two things: the first is honesty, and the second is your feelings for Sajuna."
Akira wanted to refute that Sajuna's Dad's question was not honest enough, because the question existed within a hypothetical, and he preferred to think about Sajuna's happiness from a practical perspective.
He just felt that such a hypothesis, without encountering a real situation, would easily become empty words, and he, through empathy, practically considered the happiness of both him and Sajuna.
"And Akira-kun's answer is not the answer I, as a father, want to hear."
"'The reason I disagree is that I don't think Sajuna would agree.' Akira-kun, don't you think saying something like that in front of me is too arrogant?"
"And words like 'I am willing to do anything that can make Sajuna happy' are too empty."
Sajuna's Dad shook his head, a slightly disappointed expression on his face.
Were those words really empty?
Akira instinctively paused for a moment. He thought that directly answering the question would result in empty words, and then he cleverly said another kind of empty words?
It seemed so.
"Akira-kun, do you know where this question came from?"
"This question came from my father-in-law and me."
Sajuna's Dad looked at Akira, who had raised his head, a relieved smile on his face.