Master’s Family

Author: Ryusui
Raw: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n2121hw/53/
Translator: Lilia v4
Editor: Yuriko AYA

Where I teleport is in front of a certain house. Compared to other houses in Japan it’s not big and not small. A two-story cream-colored house. There’s a small gate and a garden, but that’s all.
Hmm… Now then. What do I do. I came on momentum, but what should I say. Um… Yeah. I’m getting really nervous.

The doorbell is… the one by the gate, maybe. If I press this, I can call the people inside the house, right. I’m nervous, but hesitating won’t help. It’ll only turn out however it turns out.
Press. Yeah. Press. Just that. If I do that for now, after that I only have to go forward.
I take a deep breath last, and press the doorbell. A light ping-pong sound. And right after that, a woman’s voice saying yes.

“Um… Is this Kikuchi Kouta’s house?”
“Yes, it is, but…”
“I’m, um… Rita. I have something to talk about, about Master… about Kouta.”

When I say that, I can tell the other side catches their breath. About three minutes of silence continue. I can’t exactly rush them, so I wait, and the door slowly opens.

“Please. Come in.”

The middle-aged woman who comes out says that with her brows lowered, somehow sad.

 

Where I’m shown is a Japanese-style room. There’s a table in the center, and cushions on both sides of the table. In the corner of the Japanese-style room, something I’m seeing for the first time. A Buddhist altar, maybe. That was there.
Sitting across from me are two people. The woman who let me in just now, and a man who was in this room from the start. The man is Takeshi. Master’s father. The woman is Chie, Master’s mother. Both of them were on the documents so I remember them properly.
To the two with solemn faces, I bow my head and introduce myself.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Rita. Um, today I have something to talk about with you two…”
“Wait a moment. Before that.”

Takeshi stops my words, and when I raise my face he’s putting on a gentle smile.

“If honorifics are hard, you don’t have to mind. You can talk in a way that’s easy for you.”
“Yes, that’s right. Stream-style is fine.”

Meaning they’ve been watching the stream, right. I wonder since when. Maybe they even watched Master’s streams.
I’m a little curious, and Takeshi tells me right away.

“We weren’t watching the stream. After you were taken up on TV, we started watching out of curiosity.”
“Yes. So we know that Rita-chan, that you are looking for your Master’s family home.”

So, Chie continues, looking like she’s about to cry.

“Rita-chan’s Master is our son, isn’t he?”
“Mm… Spirit-sama said there’s no mistake.”
“I see…”

Both of them fall silent after that. I get a little lost too, about what I should say. I’d been thinking the whole time. I wanted to tell them, as far as I know, what Master had been doing over there… My head was blank too.
While I endure a little heavy silence and think of the next words, Takeshi opens his mouth like he’s made up his mind.

“Rita-chan. If you don’t mind, could you tell us about him? Of course, only what you know is fine.”
“Mm… Of course.”

Sorting in my head what I want to say, what I can say, I start talking about Master.

 

By the time I finish talking, the sun has long since set, and even more time has passed. The clock’s short hand is on the nine. Nine at night, apparently. I feel like I talked a really long time.
The two who finished listening were smiling, somehow happy.

“Really, it’s so like him, or something…”
“He hated cooking but he loved eating… So he worked hard.”

Master liked eating in his previous life too, apparently. Just, he worked that hard at cooking, so I thought he cooked on this side too… I guess not.
The two laugh for a while, then both of them lower their eyes. Quiet time flows. Both of them have their shoulders shaking a little so they might be crying. So I don’t say anything.

It’s late to think, but was it good that I came here. Being told that someone important who’d died had been living in a place you didn’t know, and then they’re dead again now. Maybe I did something awful. Maybe I really shouldn’t have come.
But it seems I was the only one who thought that.

“Rita-chan.”

The faces of the two who looked up were somehow clear.

“Tell us last. Was Kouta having fun?”
“Mm. He looked like he was having fun every day.”

No mistake, Master was enjoying his second life. Even when I said I still had memories from after I was born, he didn’t hold some stupid revenge, he even said live enjoyably like me.
If looking back only makes you dark, look forward at what you don’t know and enjoy now. Then life will turn out however. That was Master’s way of thinking. Fortune comes to a smiling house, he said.

So I don’t look back either. Of course I have thoughts about my former parents, but they’re already beings that have nothing to do with me. So I still live however I like.
When I say that, both of them smile looking happy.

“I see. If he was having fun to the end, if he lived happily, then there’s nothing more to say.”
“Rita-chan, thank you for coming to tell us.”

 

After that, Chie served homemade food. The dish Master liked most, karaage.

“Here, Rita-chan. Eat lots.”

The freshly fried karaage is crispy and fragrant, and when I bite, meat juice spills out. Mami has made it for me too, but I think Chie’s karaage is more delicious.
Maybe that’s because I know it was Master’s favorite, but even so, for me too it was a flavor I really like.

“Mm. Really delicious.”
“Oh, is that so? There’s lots so keep eating.”

I really was treated to a lot of karaage. Satisfied.

“Think of here as another home, and come back anytime.”

Takeshi said that looking a little embarrassed. According to Chie, it’s embarrassing like he suddenly got a grandchild.
Just a little. I was a little embarrassed too. Happy, of course, though.

 

“Spirit-sama, a souvenir.”

After I go back to the Spirit Forest and call Spirit-sama, she comes out right away. Only, her face looks a little worried. Was she curious after all.

“Rita, um… How was it…?”
“Mm. I told them about Master properly. Thank you for telling us, they said.”
“I see… That is a relief…”

The Great Spirit says that and lets out a big breath. A breath of relief, maybe. But this time I might understand the feeling a little. I was really nervous too.

“This karaage, Master’s mother, Chie, made it. Want some?”
“Yes… Yes. By all means.”

I set a large paper plate on the ground. A mountain of karaage. I put it in the Item Box right after frying, so they should be able to enjoy the freshly fried deliciousness.

“Itadakimasu.”

The Great Spirit takes one right away and puts it in her mouth. She’s eating slowly. Feeling like she’s savoring it more properly than usual, is that my imagination.

“Very… It is very delicious.”
“Mm.”

I like this karaage too. Because it’s really delicious.
The two of us eat karaage. Remembering Master a little.

“Rita.”
“Mm?”
“If anything happens… please be sure to consult me. I do not want to lose you.”
“Mm.”

I think she’s a worrier, but… this is surely the Great Spirit’s true feelings. If I said I wasn’t happy she worries, that would be a lie. My heart gets warm.
So.

“I’m the Guardian. I don’t intend to quit yet.”

Wherever I go, even if I make friends, even if I get more homes. Even so, the place I go back to is here.
Hearing that, the Great Spirit smiled looking happy.