Jhin played with Futari Gotoh for a while, waiting until Michiyo Gotoh walked into the living room leading a sparkling, glowing Hitori Gotoh.
"Jhin." Hitori Gotoh's eyes, usually hidden behind her bangs, were bright and spirited. She pursed her lips in a faint smile, her entire body radiating an aura of composure and confidence. Jhin suspected his mother-in-law had used some kind of hypnosis on her.
My girlfriend can't be this confident!
"Um... Mother-in-law, what's up with Bocchi-chan..."
"Mother-in-law?!" It was the first time Hitori Gotoh had heard Jhin address her parents this way. Unable to maintain the image of the 'ideal girlfriend' she had imagined, her entire face collapsed. She twisted and squirmed, reverting into the pink tsuchinoko Jhin was familiar with.
Michiyo Gotoh rested her cheek on her hand and sighed with a touch of regret. "If only Hitori could have kept that state while going to register the marriage with you."
"Uh... I actually prefer the way she is now."
"Oh my, then that's even better." Michiyo Gotoh pushed Hitori Gotoh to Jhin's side and went to help her husband cook, chuckling all the while.
Seeing her sister return to her familiar self, Futari Gotoh finally leaned in close to Hitori Gotoh and whispered, "Big Sister, when do I get to eat the wedding cake?"
"Ah, that... I'm not really sure either." Hitori Gotoh hadn't even thought about a wedding ceremony; just going to formally register her marriage with Jhin already felt like a dream. She turned her head to seek his help. "Jhin..."
Jhin smiled and gently patted Futari Gotoh's little head. "You should finish the cake I brought first before worrying about that."
The effect of his disordered timeline would only last for a day, and a wedding wasn't something that could be prepared on short notice. Moreover, there was no guarantee that Hitori Gotoh wouldn't suffer a bout of social anxiety and hide away when faced with a sudden wedding. Going to register the marriage first was much more feasible.
After finishing a hearty breakfast, Michiyo Gotoh brought out the marriage registration form she had prepared in advance. Under her guidance, Hitori Gotoh took a ballpoint pen and filled in the content line by line.
The content of the marriage registration form was relatively simple, requiring names, dates of birth, family registers, addresses, parents' names, and whether it was a first marriage.
When Hitori Gotoh saw the 'Marital Status' column, her snow-white face flushed red with shyness. Her hand, clutching the ballpoint pen, firmly and happily checked the box for 'First Marriage'. After filling out the information, she took her personal seal from her mother and pressed it into the seal column next to her name, seemingly using all her strength.
Hitori Gotoh pushed the marriage registration form in front of Jhin. She watched him fill out his information with a look that was both shy and expectant, her two small hands clenched into fists, trembling with excitement.
I'm not dreaming. I'm really going to register my marriage with Jhin!
Hitori Gotoh was already fantasizing about the scenario where she would inadvertently reveal the marriage registration form to her classmates tomorrow.
But... what if I lose it?
Or what if someone secretly steals it and tears it up...
Hitori Gotoh shivered uneasily. She felt that such a precious item should be kept safe at home.
I'll ask Papa to buy me a small safe. That way, the marriage registration form will be secure.
But what if a thief breaks into the house, sees the safe, assumes there are valuables inside, and steals the whole safe?
The expression on Hitori Gotoh's face shifted rapidly—from happiness to unease, then to disappointment, and finally to sheer terror. Worried about her daughter's current mental state, Michiyo Gotoh reached out and touched her forehead.
"Hitori, are you okay? Do you still remember your boyfriend?"
"Ah, Mom, I'm fine... Later, could you ask Papa to buy a safe for me?"
"What do you need a safe for?"
"To... to keep the marriage registration form." Hitori Gotoh decided that when the time came, she would put the safe in the yard, dig a hole, and bury it.
Michiyo Gotoh didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She gently knocked on her daughter's head. "No one is going to steal something like that! Your father and I have kept our marriage registration form in the drawer for so many years, and isn't it still perfectly fine?"
"O-Okay then."
"Mother-in-law, I've finished filling it out."
Michiyo Gotoh checked it over once. After confirming that there were no issues with what the two had written, she pulled Naoki Gotoh over to fill in their information in the witness column and stamp their seals. Then, solemnly, she handed the marriage registration form and the guardian consent form to Jhin.
"I'm entrusting my daughter to you."
Jhin put away his smile, his face full of solemnity. He straightened his back and extended both hands. "Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, please rest assured. I will definitely make Hitori happy!"
"Wow! Brother-in-law is so cool!" Futari Gotoh cheered, jumping and clapping her small hands, breaking the serious atmosphere. She sucked on her index finger and asked her mother greedily, "Mama, can I eat the cake Brother-in-law brought now?"
On such a rare and auspicious day, Michiyo Gotoh relaxed the restrictions on Futari Gotoh. "Of course you can. Today, you can eat as much as you want."
"Hooray!" Futari Gotoh threw her hands up in excitement and ran into the kitchen to get the cake.
Naoki Gotoh didn't say anything. His eyes were slightly red as he patted Jhin heavily on the shoulder twice, then got up to go to the kitchen to help Futari Gotoh cut the cake.
Silent fatherly love, huh...
Jhin sighed emotionally in his heart. He took Hitori Gotoh's soft hand and held up the fully prepared marriage registration form. "Bocchi-chan, have you brought your student ID and everything? Let's go register our marriage."
Hitori Gotoh's heart began to pound violently and uncooperatively again. Just hearing Jhin say those words to her was enough to make her swoon with happiness. Fortunately, her obsession with getting married forcibly pulled her back from the brink of unconsciousness. She shouted the phrase she used most often when looking for things at home to Michiyo Gotoh.
"Mom, where did I put my stuff?"
"It's on the cabinet in the genkan. Don't forget to take it when you go out. Without those, the staff at the Ward Office won't help you register!"
"Got it!"
Jhin and Hitori Gotoh arrived at the genkan entrance. After picking up the documents, Jhin pretended to put them into his pocket, but actually stowed them away in his storage space. Hitori Gotoh, however, held onto the marriage registration form.
Watching his girlfriend stuff the registration form into her tracksuit pocket, then take it out and stuff it into her pants pocket, feeling it wasn't safe enough no matter where she put it, she finally just unzipped her jacket. Two large black bunnies wrapped in the Kessoku Band team uniform popped out from inside, nearly blinding Jhin's eyes.
Hitori Gotoh carefully folded the marriage registration form and clamped it between her twin peaks. Then, like a magic trick, she zipped up her tracksuit, putting the two rabbits away, and reverted to her plain and ordinary appearance.
"Bocchi-chan, where did you learn that method of hiding things?"
"Ah, that... aren't there often videos like that on the internet? Pulling notes out of the chest or something. Is... is it okay for me to do this?"
"Mn... no problem."
How Jhin wished his Little Jhin could turn into that marriage registration form and be clamped in there.
If the staff member at the Ward Office today turns out to be male, he simply wouldn't get married and would just preserve this registration form instead.
____
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