What does it feel like to be suddenly called "husband" before you've even walked down the aisle?
Especially when it's your first time visiting your girlfriend's parents, and you're standing in their living room like a character who accidentally walked into the wrong anime episode.
Even though Shiratori Seiya didn't particularly care what others thought—his skin was thicker than a fortress wall in a war arc—facing Takahashi Isao's gaze, which looked ready to devour him whole like a hungry Pokémon, he still felt a twinge of awkwardness.
He turned to look at Takahashi Mio, whose eyes were practically dripping with syrup—like a yandere who had fully committed to her role. If he could, Shiratori Seiya really wanted to tell her she was overacting. If she kept this up, her parents would probably start thinking he was some kind of fox spirit from a folklore episode.
She's clearly gone all-in now, he thought. I have no reason to back down either.
Although the current development of events was completely different from what he'd expected—like a plot twist no one saw coming—at this point, he could only grit his teeth and push through like a protagonist entering the final dungeon.
Besides, even though he felt Takahashi Mio's plan was a bit extreme, she definitely understood her parents better than he did. Maybe it would actually work?
As for the marriage certificate sitting on the table like a bombshell waiting to explode... he could only ask about that later.
If she was willing to go this far, then he had no reason not to trust her.
Facing Takahashi Isao, who was clearly still fuming like a tsundere father from a rom-com, Shiratori Seiya thought for a moment and was about to speak when a soft voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Please sit down and have some tea first."
The end of her voice carried a hint of a sigh—like a character realizing she was the only sane person in the room. Shiratori Seiya turned his head and met Mrs. Takahashi's gaze.
Her eyes held doubt and worry when she looked at him. With just one glance, Shiratori Seiya knew that Mrs. Takahashi was definitely not foolish. Compared to Takahashi Isao, whose face was flushed red with anger like a Magikarp using Flail, she was clearly much calmer—a true kuudere in a storm of emotions.
"Let's go?"
Takahashi Mio tugged at his arm, trying to squeeze onto the single-seater sofa with him like a clingy cat. But Takahashi Reie shot her a look and said, "Mio, go inside and help Mom get the tea leaves. They're in the third-to-last drawer of the cabinet by my bed."
"Huh?"
Takahashi Mio froze for a moment—error 404: brain not found—and instinctively looked back at her mother.
"Hurry up."
Hearing her mother's urging voice—the kind that warned of impending doom—Takahashi Mio bit her lip, gave Shiratori Seiya a worried glance, and then darted into the master bedroom faster than a ninja using Shunpo.
"I'm truly sorry. We only have some old tea leaves. Please excuse the poor hospitality."
Although Takahashi Reie now wore a smile and spoke very politely—like a customer service representative in an anime—Shiratori Seiya knew in his heart that this was merely her "entertaining outsiders" mode. It was as if she had never seen that marriage registration form at all.
Shiratori Seiya looked at her deeply, placed his hands between his thighs—classic nervous pose—and lowered his head. "No, I should be the one apologizing. My unannounced visit was abrupt, but I was genuinely worried about Mio..."
"Mom, is this it?"
In less than a minute—seriously, was she a speedrunner?—Takahashi Mio walked back into the living room, holding up a half-empty bag of tea leaves like a quest item.
"Yes, that's it."
Takahashi Reie took the tea leaves. Seeing that Mio still wanted to squeeze next to Shiratori Seiya again, she subtly pulled her onto the sofa directly opposite him.
Mio tried to get up again—but immediately felt a sharp pain in her foot. She raised her resentful eyes to her mother, only to be met with a fierce glare that screamed sit down and shut up.
Stop messing around!
Rarely seeing such a look from her mother, Takahashi Mio instantly sobered up. She realized she was probably about to cross her mother's red line—the point of no return. Like a frost-bitten eggplant wilting in the sun, she deflated immediately.
But she still cautiously raised her eyes, pursed her lips, and gave Shiratori Seiya a look that clearly said: I tried my best. You got this. I'm on your side anyway.
"Hmph!"
Takahashi Isao naturally witnessed this entire silent exchange. Seeing his daughter finally settle down, he crossed his arms and let out a forceful snort—the universal sound of a dad who wants to be angry but doesn't quite know how to express it.
Splash.
As Mrs. Takahashi lifted the teapot in her hand, a stream of pale yellow liquid poured into the cup, and the aroma of tea instantly filled the room like a calming aura in a healing anime.
Watching her skilled tea-making technique—smooth, practiced, elegant—Shiratori Seiya thought she must have specialized in tea ceremony back in her younger days. She probably had a whole backstory no one knew about.
Handing the first cup of tea to Shiratori Seiya, Takahashi Reie looked at his face and said softly, "Please enjoy."
"Thank you."
Shiratori Seiya looked at the half-full cup of tea in front of him—never fill to the brim, that's manners 101—took a sip, and was about to say something complimentary when he heard her say:
"Although Mio just told us quite a lot, there are still many things that aren't clear. May I ask you a few questions?"
"Please do."
Takahashi Reie glanced at her husband, who was still blushing and glaring at Shiratori Seiya like he wanted to use him as fishing bait. She silently sighed in her heart—this man, honestly—and then asked:
"When did you and Mio start dating?"
Upon hearing this, Shiratori Seiya instinctively glanced at Takahashi Mio. The latter immediately started gesturing frantically—say this, not that!—but Takahashi Reie clearly noticed. She pressed Mio's hand down and said:
"Mio, are you feeling unwell? If you're not feeling well, you should go back to your room and rest."
"Ah, I'm not—"
Takahashi Reie gave her a warning look that could freeze lava, then turned back to Shiratori Seiya with a smile. "Shiratori-kun, is this question difficult to answer?"
"No."
Shiratori Seiya's fingers rubbed against the teacup—a small, thoughtful gesture—and his eyes grew unfocused, as if lost in a nostalgic flashback sequence.
"Actually... I first saw Mio at the entrance ceremony. I suppose you could call it love at first sight..."
He lowered his gaze, a shy smile appearing on his face—was he blushing? Impossible. The man had nerves of steel. "I hesitated several times after that. It took me about a month to finally get Mio's contact information. Then we knew each other for almost half a year..."
He spoke very seriously, his tone natural and real, like a voice actor delivering a heartfelt monologue. Takahashi Mio watched him with this honest, almost vulnerable expression for the first time. Although her own face showed nothing special, inside she was genuinely surprised.
So you can act too? And here I thought you were just a permanently calm, unflappable robot.
But just as Shiratori Seiya was halfway through his beautifully crafted fabrication, Takahashi Isao impatiently shot him a glare and snapped:
"Reie didn't ask you to tell a love story, did she? What are you rambling on about?"
Listening to the romantic details between this scoundrel—who seemed to have crawled out of nowhere like a surprise boss—and his daughter, Takahashi Isao felt inexplicably irritated. He wished he could hang the boy on a fishing hook and use him as shark bait.
Hearing this, Shiratori Seiya didn't get angry. That would have been useless. After a two-second pause—just enough to show he was being respectful—he said:
"Alright. Mio and I started dating after summer vacation ended."
Takahashi Reie stared at Shiratori Seiya's face, searching for any cracks, any tell. She found none.
But after thinking carefully, she felt something was off.
Although he had deliberately blurred the timeline to make their relationship sound much longer, strictly speaking, it was only October... or at the earliest, September, when he started dating her daughter. In just two months, they were already married?
With doubts swirling in her heart like a mystery anime's third episode, Takahashi Reie looked at Shiratori Seiya with a half-smile—the kind that said I see right through you—and asked:
"But Mio clearly said that you two started dating right after university began. Did you misremember... or did Mio?"
Upon hearing this, Takahashi Mio's eyes went blank—oh no, the jig is up—and ignoring her mother's death glare, she quickly jumped in before Shiratori Seiya could respond:
"Mom, what are you talking about? I just—"
Before she could finish her sentence, Takahashi Reie silenced her with a single look—a mother's ultimate technique—and said flatly:
"Is that so? Then I must have misremembered."
Although she appeared calm on the surface, like a still lake hiding deep currents, Takahashi Reie was genuinely puzzled. What kind of love potion did this scoundrel give my daughter that she's so desperate to protect him?
"Oh, by the way. I just heard Mio say that you write screenplays? And that Mio is going to act in a screenplay you wrote?"
This part didn't require any fabrication. Shiratori Seiya nodded simply.
Seeing this, Mrs. Takahashi's slender eyebrows rose slightly. The impression of "this child seems honest and sincere" that had just formed in her heart evaporated instantly like morning dew. To be honest, she was a little disappointed.
And Takahashi Isao's reaction was even more dramatic. He suddenly tilted his head and let out two sneering laughs—Ha. Ha.—then abruptly leaned forward, slapped the table, and barked:
"What kind of joke is this? You're not even twenty yet, are you? And you expect me to believe that in university, you wrote a screenplay that got picked up for filming? You scoundrel, there's a limit to how much you can lie!"
"You're treating Reie and me like complete fools, aren't you?!"
He spoke with increasing force, eventually leaning so close to Shiratori Seiya's face that you could measure the distance in centimeters.
Shiratori Seiya looked at Takahashi Reie, finding her also silent. Clearly, this was exactly what she had wanted to ask as well—she was just letting her husband do the dirty work, like a stealth character letting the tank take aggro.
After thinking for a moment, he took out his phone, found several signed electronic contracts—the kind of documents that would make any salaryman nod approvingly—and wasn't afraid of the two seeing them or any potential leaks. He even opened the copyright certificate issued on the official website, placed his phone on the coffee table, and slid it between the two like a quest item.
"These are the contracts signed last month, and the copyright certificate for the screenplay..."
Hearing this, the Takahashi couple exchanged glances—a silent did you know about this? kind of look—then leaned in to examine them carefully. They didn't understand much, but the company seals on them didn't look fake, and with the copyright certificate staring back at them, they had no choice but to believe.
When the two had finished looking, Shiratori Seiya continued:
"Perhaps Uncle and Aunt still don't quite believe why I could become a screenwriter so quickly and have my screenplay chosen so early..."
"Actually, it's because I built up some connections from writing songs before. Among those connections, there happened to be a producer, so I submitted my work directly to him..."
"Writing songs? You were writing songs before?"
"Yes."
Shiratori Seiya nodded, his face completely sincere—the kind of earnest expression that makes you want to trust him despite your better judgment. "I wrote a few songs back in high school and, luckily, achieved some success..."
"What are the names of the songs you wrote?"
Takahashi Reie's voice cut through the air like a kunai. This time, it wasn't Shiratori Seiya's turn to answer. Takahashi Mio reached out and tugged at her mother's arm, her face showing a shy, almost bashful expression as she playfully complained:
"Mom... The songs Seiya wrote are the ones I played for you before. The ones Hojo Shione sings. The popular 'Snow Flower' and 'Riding on the Back of a Silver Dragon'—Seiya wrote both of them."
"?"
This time, Takahashi Reie could no longer maintain her calm composure. A surprised expression appeared on her face—the kind of wide-eyed shock you'd see in a reaction face from a comedy anime—and she couldn't help but ask:
"You're... A-Sensei?"
A-Sensei. That anonymous songwriter everyone had heard about but no one had met. The mysterious figure behind some of the biggest hits in recent memory.
"Yes."
Shiratori Seiya nodded, then raised his gaze and looked at Takahashi Mio with deep, almost theatrical affection—give the man an Oscar—and said:
"Actually, Mio and I first met because of these songs..."
"..."
The air fell silent for a moment, heavy as a dramatic pause before the commercial break.
Takahashi Reie looked at Shiratori Seiya with complex eyes, her gaze sweeping across his young, unlined face. But rather than decreasing, her doubts increased.
If he's truly this talented... why would he be interested in Mio?
She knew her own daughter best. Besides being pretty—okay, very pretty—Mio basically had no other outstanding strengths. She even had a fair share of small flaws. As harsh as it sounded to say about her own flesh and blood, it was the truth.
She really wanted to ask, "What exactly do you like about my daughter?" But asking that would inevitably embarrass Mio, and a mother's intuition told her that might backfire spectacularly.
After thinking for a moment, Takahashi Reie took a deep breath and sighed.
"It is indeed somewhat surprising. This is the first time I've seen someone as young and talented as Shiratori-kun. I've only read about people like you in novels or watched them in dramas, but..."
She changed her tone—the classic but that signals trouble—and looked at Shiratori Seiya.
"So, Shiratori-kun previously collaborated with Hojo Shione? I heard you stopped writing songs. Did you have some kind of conflict with her? Why did you suddenly give up songwriting and decide to develop in the film and television direction instead?"
She was just short of asking, "Why didn't you choose Hojo Shione and instead end up with my daughter?" But she was too polite—or too strategic—to say it outright.
However, Shiratori Seiya merely smiled. His gaze swept past her and landed on Takahashi Mio with such deep, earnest affection that it could have melted a yandere's heart.
"It's because of Mio."
"Because I knew Mio wanted to be a star, that's when I started thinking about writing screenplays."
"I want to help Mio achieve her dreams. I want to make her happy."
"..."
Thump.
Takahashi Mio felt as if her heart had been struck by a meteor—the kind of hit that leaves a crater. She stared blankly at Shiratori Seiya, her long eyelashes fluttering twice like butterfly wings.
Even though she knew—deep down, she knew—that what he was saying at this moment wasn't entirely sincere, that he was deliberately cooperating with her to put on a show for her parents like a fellow actor in a two-person play...
When she heard him say it was for her, to help her achieve her dreams... her nose just stung.
As she had said before: from childhood to adulthood, when it came to her dreams, Shiratori Seiya was the only one who had ever wholeheartedly supported her.
Even if that scoundrel was entangled with several other women—even if he often made her angry enough to scream into a pillow—his effort on her behalf was clear to anyone who wasn't blind.
At this moment, Takahashi Mio felt that all her efforts were worth it.
Even if her father still disagreed and kicked her out of the house right now... she absolutely could not let down Seiya's expectations and efforts.
Drip, drop.
Tears welled up from her eyes, falling onto the tabletop with a crisp sound—audible in the silence like the first raindrop of a storm.
Although Takahashi Isao was equally surprised by Shiratori Seiya's achievements at his age—high school? Writing hit songs? Seriously?—he still wanted to make a few sarcastic remarks. What "A-Sensei" or not, he had never even heard of any of that.
But seeing his daughter in tears at this moment, the words he wanted to say got stuck in his throat like a fishbone.
Watching his wife and daughter look at this brat with surprise, admiration, and even emotion—like he was some kind of hero from a shonen manga—a sour, jealous feeling rose in his heart. The more he looked at Shiratori Seiya, the more annoyed he felt. Clenching his fists, he could only widen his eyes and glare at the other party like a grumpy old man in a family comedy.
Swish, swish.
Takahashi Reie reached out and pulled two tissues from the box, handing them to her daughter. Compared to before, her suspicion of Shiratori Seiya had lessened considerably—like fog lifting after sunrise.
Although she still felt that such love came too suddenly—love at first sight at an entrance ceremony? Really?—she also knew that you couldn't apply logic to matters of the heart. She only believed that there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. But then again... who could truly predict love?
What if he really did like Mio that much? Her own daughter wasn't bad-looking, after all...
But despite being somewhat moved—and despite the atmosphere practically begging someone to tear up—some things still needed to be clarified.
Thinking this, Takahashi Reie pursed her lips, looked at Shiratori Seiya, and sighed.
"Although I don't know how much you truly like Mio... getting married suddenly behind your parents' backs is still wrong, isn't it? Do Shiratori-kun's parents know about this?"
"..."
Hearing this, Shiratori Seiya froze for a moment. Then the expression on his face stiffened—like a character whose hidden backstory had just been triggered. Finally, his lips moved twice before he said with a wry, almost apologetic smile:
"Well... actually, there's no need to tell them. They should already know."
"Hmm?"
His nonsensical words left the three of them completely confused, their heads practically generating question marks like a visual novel dialogue box.
"My parents passed away when I was young. Before university, I lived with my aunt, but now I don't have any contact with her anymore either..."
Shiratori Seiya's words landed like a bomb—the kind that doesn't just explode but also changes the entire landscape.
Takahashi Mio stared at him blankly, her red lips slightly parted, her mind racing to catch up.
This was the first time she had ever heard about this.
Her first thought was, Is he joking?
But then she knew—she knew—he wasn't the kind of person to say something like that for sympathy or for any reason other than the plain, unvarnished truth.
She couldn't help but wonder... did the Hojo sisters know about this? Did Hasegawa Saori?
They definitely knew.
Although she wanted to deceive herself—to pretend that maybe she was the only one who had truly seen inside his heart—reason immediately slapped her with the obvious answer.
Suddenly, Takahashi Mio felt a huge, yawning chasm open up between them—a gap of time, of shared history, of things left unsaid.
It seemed... she had never truly understood him at all.