Chapter 273: Go out with Each Other!
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24
"...a florist."
Florist? Seiji was rather confused to hear this.
"Yui Haruta-san is a regular customer of mine—she always purchases the flowers that I plant," Shouzou explained. "I've chatted with her about various things in the past, including her younger brother. Young Master Seiji Haruta. I never expected that I would meet with you like this."
"I didn't expect that Amami-san would know my older sister, either," Seiji said, sighing.
Then, a brief silence fell between them. Both of them sipped their tea.
"Young Master Seiji, how long have you been using the name 'Seigo Harano?'" Shouzou inquired.
"No need to call me 'young master,' as I'm no young master," Seiji told him. "I started using this alias when I transferred to Genhana High School, so I think I've been using it for about a month and a half now."
"Does Yui Haruta-san know about this?"
"She does."
"Does she know about you helping my grandson?"
"Er... this, I wouldn't know." Seiji was unsure.
Shouzou blinked upon hearing this. "Harano-kun... is it alright if I still address you in this way?"
"Of course."
"Harano-kun, your personality and behavior... are incredibly different from the person that I heard about. Just what exactly is this about? Could I hear the story?"
Seiji smiled at this. "Of course—this isn't a complex tale at all."
He recounted his fake story about how he decided to change himself after he almost died from choking on instant noodles. After all, he felt it wouldn't be appropriate to say that he was actually an entirely different person that had reincarnated.
"You witnessed 'death...'" Shouzou muttered to himself with a melancholy look in his eyes. He was evidently moved. "Indeed, this does have the power to influence people greatly."
Seiji silently sipped his tea. At this moment, somebody arrived.
It was a beautiful girl with an excellent figure, delicate eyelashes, and blue eyes. She was wearing casual clothes.
Rion Amami... or Kotomi Amami.
Seiji didn't have the ability to differentiate the twin sisters from each other.
"Grandfather, dinner is ready," she said before turning to Seiji.
This was their first meeting in just over a month.
"Hello, Harano-san. Thank you for coming here, and welcome."
"Hello, Amami-san. Sorry for the bother."
The two of them greeted each other calmly. Shouzou watched this scene, an enigmatic light flashing in his eyes.
"Harano-kun, let's have dinner now," he said.
The elderly man and the teenage boy rose and followed the girl to the dining hall.
Apart from the other twin sister, there was also a kind-looking elderly lady in leisure wear. She had a slightly round face and her silver-white hair was bundled up on top of her head.
Shouzou introduced her as his wife, Yukina Amami; she was also the twin sisters' and Hoshi's grandmother.
Seiji politely greeted her, and she also smiled and returned his greeting.
Then, everyone sat down and began eating dinner together.
The food was delicious and abundant. Seiji felt that every dish was wonderfully cooked, and he gave his sincere praise.
"All these dishes were cooked by Rion and Kotomi," Yukina said proudly. "I merely guided them."
"No, we only succeeded in cooking them so well thanks to Grandmother's guidance."
"Yeah, if it was left only up to Rion and I, we wouldn't be able to cook so well."
"You don't need to say that; it was still made by you after all... You're really quick learners when it comes to cooking; you're already skilled to the extent where you'd make excellent brides." Yukina looked at the twin sisters.
Rion and Kotomi's faces flushed slightly under their grandmother's gentle gaze.
Seiji felt relieved at witnessing such a gentle family scene.
"By the way, I've been wanting to thank my two Senpais." He smiled. "During the school festival, thanks for helping out my good friend."
Rion and Kotomi exchanged glances before looking at him.
"Are you talking about Mika Uehara?"
Seiji nodded.
"That was merely our duty," the two of them said lightly.
"What's this about?" Shouzou wondered. "Harano-kun, mind explaining?"
"It's like this..." Seiji repeated what he had heard from Mika.
"Oh... well done, Rion, Kotomi." Shouzou sincerely praised the twins after hearing about what they had done.
"We only did what we should have..."
The twins' faces flushed slightly redder when their grandfather also praised them.
Seiji chuckled at this. Everyone looked at him.
"I never expected... that my Senpais would say something similar to me," Seiji explained. "I just did what I should have."
He'd said that exact sentence to Shouzou last night on the phone.
And now, the twins were saying the same thing to Shouzou.
He felt that this was rather ironic, which was why he'd let out a chuckle.
Shouzou understood his meaning and smiled in realization.
Yukina was still curious about it, so Shouzou explained it to her. After she understood, she also smiled gently at the twin sisters.
Rion and Kotomi blushed even deeper.
Seiji felt that they... were actually quite cute like this.
'Wonderful.' The various exclamations within him finally coalesced into this one comment.
...
After dinner, Shouzou asked Seiji return to the living room, and he also called Rion and Kotomi over.
"I have a suggestion," he said to the boy and the two girls. "You might feel that it's rather sudden, but I've taken it into serious consideration, and I think it's an excellent idea."
Suggestion?
Seiji was rather curious what it could be.
Rion and Kotomi were similarly curious.
"My suggestion is... go out with each other!" Shouzou announced with a serious expression and tone.
Seiji and the twin sisters were all rendered speechless.
"What?" All three of them were stunned and simultaneously uttered the same word.
This was rather comical; it was akin to a scene out of a gag manga.
'What did this elder just say? Go out with, as in date? Me and Rion and Kotomi!?'
Seiji knew what he'd heard, but a part of him suspected that he was afflicted with hearing problems and that he'd misheard.
He could only stare dazedly at the beautiful twins. It just happened that the twins were also staring at him with blank expressions.
After they exchanged stunned looks for a full three seconds, all three of them turned in unison to look at the elderly man sitting across from them.
'You must have made a mistake with your words!?' the boy and girls' eyes and expressions seemed to say.
"I didn't make any mistakes with what I said," Shouzou continued seriously. "Just earlier in our discussion, I learned that Harano-kun doesn't have a girlfriend, and Rion, Kotomi, you don't have a boyfriend either, so there's no problems with you dating each other."
'No, no, there are going to be huge problems!' Seiji inwardly moaned.
"Amami-san," Seiji said cautiously, "not having a girlfriend or boyfriend is just one of the conditions for dating, but it isn't the only condition... Between me and the Amami twin Senpais..."
"I know that perhaps you don't view each other favorably right now, but that doesn't mean that you're not appropriate for each other," Shouzou said. "Harano-kun, based on my observations and understanding of you, and now that I've added on my experience of you, my judgement is that you're the most suitable boy to date Rion and Kotomi!"
"Your physical appearance, personality, eloquence, and behavior... it's all excellent. And the most important part is this: you're the person who defeated them and caused them to change for the better! If you were the one to be with them, you'd be someone they'd respect, and you'd also be able to guide them down the right path. This is something that other boys aren't able to do."
Seiji was rendered speechless at this.
He understood what Shouzou meant, but...
"And Rion and Kotomi… may not be the most suitable girls for you, but they're truly excellent, beautiful, and talented as well as good cooks. As long as they continue going down the proper path, they'll become incredibly charismatic women! They're definitely up to par for being your companions."
'Before any of this, aren't you ignoring a fundamental problem!? Rion and Kotomi are two girls, and I'm just one boy!!'
'Wait a moment, I'm feeling a strong sense of déjà vu from this retort of mine… oh, I recall! Isn't this exactly what I said to Hoshi before!?'
'This Amami-san's suggestion... isn't it exactly the same as Hoshi's suggestion long ago!!!?'