Chapter 92: Mitsuri's Parents
Kanzaki Akira hadn't actually left the room to find the lavatory.
While he was speaking with Mitsuri, just as he mentioned having more than one lover, a faint commotion had stirred from beyond the door. It was almost imperceptible, so quiet that Mitsuri, her mind still in a happy, flustered blur, didn't notice it at all. But Akira, whose senses had been honed to a razor's edge by dozens of life-or-death battles with Demons, caught it instantly.
If the sound had come from Mitsuri's younger siblings, they never would have waited so quietly outside. They would have burst in long ago. Therefore, the disturbance had to have come from one of Mitsuri's parents—or perhaps both of them.
As Akira walked toward the shoji screen, he heard two sets of footsteps, deliberately hushed, retreating down the hall. He slid the door open without any hurry, acting as if he'd noticed nothing, and quietly followed in the direction the sounds had faded.
This was a good opportunity. He needed to speak with Mitsuri's parents, and it was better to do so away from her.
After a few turns through the corridor, the footsteps finally stopped near a corner, two rooms away from the guest chamber. Akira glanced at the spot. It offered a perfect vantage point for observing the guest room door. He watched the young couple peer cautiously around the corner, their gazes fixed on the room he had just left. Were they waiting for him to return from his supposed trip to the 'toilet' so they could resume their eavesdropping?
Without a second thought, Akira walked straight toward them.
"Auntie Hina, it's been a while. And this must be Uncle Kaito, correct? Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Kanzaki Akira."
"Ah!"
Startled by the voice suddenly appearing behind them, the two, who were already trying to be stealthy, jumped in surprise.
"Ah, it's you, Akira! Long time no see, long time no see," Hina replied, her face flushing with guilt. "Are you looking for the toilet? It's in that direction... Ahaha..." She tried to cover up her furtive behavior, but her flustered words only confirmed that she'd been listening in. Realizing her mistake, she could only offer an awkward laugh.
Beside her, Kanroji Kaito helplessly rubbed his forehead at his wife's unintentional confession.
"Hello, a pleasure to meet you," he said, his voice more composed. "I am Kanroji Kaito, Mitsuri's father."
Kaito had a pair of small moles under his eyes, just like his daughter. He didn't look particularly old, with well-defined features and a handsome, almost delicate appearance that wasn't overly effeminate. His smile, too, bore a faint resemblance to Mitsuri's.
However, as the initial surprise wore off, that smile slowly vanished. Standing before him was a young man who had just admitted to courting more than one woman and now seemed to be setting his sights on his precious daughter.
Seeing the shift in the man's expression, Akira decided not to waste time and went straight to the point. "You two must have heard my conversation with Mitsuri, didn't you?"
"We did," Kaito's tone was clipped, a hard edge of anger lacing his words. "You already have more than one lover, and now you're trying to win over our Mitsuri."
If Akira hadn't been the one to voluntarily confess his situation to Mitsuri, and if he hadn't immediately followed up by trying to confirm their relationship while she was confused, Kaito might not be speaking to him with even this much restraint.
No, that wasn't quite right. If Akira hadn't mentioned his other lovers at all, they would have remained ignorant. They might have even been delighted to see him and Mitsuri grow closer. After all, aside from his family background, which remained a mystery, they were quite satisfied with everything else about him. Otherwise, Hina wouldn't have been sizing him up with the hopeful eyes of a mother-in-law during his last visit.
"I do indeed have more than one lover," Akira stated, his gaze steady. "And I do have feelings for Mitsuri that go beyond simple friendship. However, how things ultimately progress between us is for Mitsuri to decide. I may be a philanderer, but I will always respect a woman's wishes."
Facing a father's stern judgment, Akira was not the least bit flustered. Urokodaki Sakonji had once chased him across a mountain with a live blade; this was far less intimidating.
"Including Mitsuri, the women I care for are all wonderful people. Being completely honest with them is the only way I can properly reciprocate the feelings they have for me."
"Hmph. If it weren't for that honesty, I wouldn't be speaking to you so calmly," Kaito grumbled.
"Akira," Hina began, having shaken off her initial awkwardness. Her voice was gentle but firm. "We don't particularly care that you have more than one girl in your life. But Mitsuri... she is too kind, too naive. And we know very little about you or the people you associate with. So, for now at least, we are not comfortable entrusting her to you."
It was clear the couple was playing good cop, bad cop. Anyone capable of building such a comfortable life from humble beginnings would not be foolish or rigid. In fact, because they had witnessed some of the ugliness within wealthy families, they weren't as scandalized by Akira's romantic situation as others might have been.
Judging from his attire and bearing, Akira's family was certainly not poor. Coupled with the fact that he hadn't tried to deceive their daughter, her parents weren't inclined to make things unnecessarily difficult. But as Hina said, they knew almost nothing about him. It was impossible for them to simply agree.
"I had no intention of confirming a relationship with Mitsuri right now, anyway," Akira replied. "I came here today simply to apologize. For certain reasons, I was unable to reply to her letters in a timely manner. Reading them, it was clear she must have been very sad at the time. That's why I rushed over as soon as I had a moment of freedom." He paused, then added, "I read those letters with the other women I'm with."
That last sentence took the couple by surprise. If what Akira said was true, it at least proved that his relationships with the other women were genuinely strong and open.
"So," Kaito asked, his eyes narrowing slightly, "can you tell us what it is you do, exactly?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you the specifics for now. I can only say that this world is not as safe as it seems. There are dangerous monsters that hunt in the night, and the organization I belong to was founded to eliminate them." Akira met their gazes. "You must have heard Mitsuri say that when I first met her, I warned her not to go out after dark."
"Isn't that incredibly dangerous?" Hina asked, her expression softening with worry. She had already accepted his words without question. For now, she was quite fond of Akira. Even putting her daughter aside, her kind nature meant she didn't wish for such a fine young man to meet a terrible fate.
"It is," Akira confirmed. "That's why most of the people in the organization are those whose families were destroyed by those monsters. Without that motivation, few would have the courage to fight them. Only a handful of us, myself included, are exceptions."
He let that sink in before continuing. "This is also why I'm not ready to define my relationship with Mitsuri yet. She's still young, she has a happy family, and there's no need for her to get involved with these things for now."
"And later?" Kaito pressed, his voice sharp. "When do you plan to make everything clear to her?"
"When Mitsuri has had time to think clearly about our relationship, and when she's a bit older, I will tell her everything about myself. At that time, whether she still wants to be with me will be her decision to make."
"If what you're saying is true," Kaito countered, "then with Mitsuri's personality, she would definitely want to join your organization and take part in such a dangerous endeavor." He stopped there, but his meaning was perfectly clear.
Akira met his gaze without flinching, his own voice hardening with resolve. "Then the only guarantee I can give is that I will risk my life to protect her, just as I have promised the other women I care for."
"I hope you keep your word."
"Of course."
...
The private meeting with Mitsuri's parents concluded. Akira took a moment to adjust his mood before walking back toward the guest room, leaving the Kanroji couple to exchange hushed words as they watched his retreating figure.
"Do you think what he said is true?" Hina asked her husband softly.
"It should be," Kaito replied, his mind replaying the moment Akira had made his promise. The air around the young man had shifted, and an aura he'd kept hidden had emerged, startling him. "At least the part about monsters in the night. We heard about it from the village elders when we were children, didn't we? 'There are demons that devour people at night, and swordsmen who slay them.' Back then, we just thought they were stories made up to keep children from wandering off after dark. Now it seems... perhaps they weren't just stories."
Kaito's expression grew thoughtful. "That young man, Kanzaki Akira... he has a sharper presence than even the government's most elite guards. Only someone who has truly walked the line between life and death could cultivate an aura like that."
Having built his family's status from a small rural household over two generations, Kaito had considerable experience with people. And precisely because he had seen so much of the world, he understood just how rare and genuine the intensity surrounding Akira was.
"Then Mitsuri..." Hina murmured, her voice laced with concern.
"Let the child decide her own affairs," Kaito said, a gentle smile returning to his face as he looked at his wife. "Our children have the right and the freedom to choose their own lives. Isn't that what we've been working for all these years?"
"Mhm."
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