In the living room of my familiar home, I was leisurely reading a magazine while waiting for dinner to be ready. I'm not that good at cooking, but if I were to join in, it would be a burden for Arisa, who is following up on her mother, who is a poor cook in her own right.
　So, after the food is finished, I'm waiting for her to help with the dishes while killing time.

It's not an eye amount, Akari-san, please measure and put in properly. Also, it's still too early to add the miso. Please wait for another five minutes. If you add it now, the taste will be blurred.
Uggh, but I'll do my best. What's missing, I'll make up for in love!
That may be the secret of cooking, but unfortunately, love is not a magic spice that covers everything. Yes, please move your hands faster.
Ah, Arisa-chan ... that's tough.

　From the kitchen, you can hear her scolding from time to time. In addition, the person who is pointed out to me has been a housewife for more than 20 years.
　Well, thanks to Arisa's presence, I can wait for her today without any worries, and I'm really grateful for that. I'll thank her again next time.

　As I was thinking about this, I heard the faint sound of the front door opening. I put the magazine in my hand on the sofa and went to the door.

'Welcome back, Dad. You're early today.
I'm home, kaijin. Yeah, I'm on time for work today.

　A slightly gray-haired, bespectacled man with a kind face is my father.......Miyama Kazuya. He is an office worker at a medium-sized trading company, and currently holds the position of section chief.
　It seems that he works a lot of overtime, and it's unusual for him to come home at this hour.

Dinner is not yet ready, but they're having croquettes today.
...fried food....is it okay?

　As expected of a blood father and son.......they have exactly the same reaction as I do. After smiling at Dad's anxious expression, I opened my mouth to reassure him.

'.........Arisa is here today, so it'll be fine.
'Oh!　Arisa's here, that's a relief!
Well your mother will be mad at you again if you talk like that.
Oh, please don't tell my mom.

　My father is a fine man, kind and dependable, but he's lacking in some ways, and my mother is often angry with him for his careless gaffes.
　To be honest, I have a feeling that I'm a bit like that too... maybe we're similar.







　The four of us, along with my dad, my mom, and Arisa, sit around the table and eat dinner.

''Yes!　That's as good as it gets, Arisa. It's so delicious.
"Ha-ha, thank you.

　I completely agree with you. After all, Arisa's cooking is delicious. The batter on the falafel is crispy and the inside of the falafel is soft and fluffy, and the sauce on it is superb.

'........could this be the sauce you made yourself?
Yes, I made it a little fruity today with fruit.
I see.

　It has a good balance of faint sweetness and acidity. No, really, as expected of Arisa.
　As we were talking about this, my father, who was eating the food Arisa made while raving about it, suddenly stopped eating his chopsticks halfway through and opened his mouth with a serious expression on his face.

".........By the way.......when will Arisa-chan 'come to be the bride of Kaito'?
What?

　Both Arisa and I cringed at the bombshell announcement that was made out of the blue.

'....Hoho........and Dad!　What are you doing all of a sudden?
'....Look, Kaito. This is not only my advice as a father, but also as an elder.

　I asked him back, aware of the heat on my face, and for some reason he began to speak in a very serious and passionate tone.

'Think about it. You may have been too close to Kaijin, but there aren't many girls as good as Arisa. It's a beautiful girl, a good cook, and a beautiful girl without favoritism. In addition, she is smart, athletic, and has a cheerful and fun personality. In addition, she also has the worthy worthiness and kindness to act quietly and gently when she sees the right moment to build up a pleasant person. And above all, she's a good cook!　It's like a miracle in itself that I'm so close to such a wonderful girl.
....

　Putting aside the fact that I said I'm a good cook twice, there's certainly no room for rebuttal when you put it that way.
　It's true that Arisa's personality is fun to be with, and her specifications are so high that it's almost a joke. And if you're right, when the time comes, you can follow me around and if you're in trouble, you're kind enough to pay attention to me.

In addition, the fact that you occasionally serve home-cooked meals like this means that Arisa has no hatred for Kaito.
Dad.
"If Arisa-chan came to be my wife, I'd be happy for my dad. I'm sure we'll be able to eat good food every day...
...back.
...What?

　Dad, who was talking so passionately, hadn't noticed. The small shadow, which had moved behind him with steady eyes from around the area where he had twice said he was a good cook....

''You?''
'What?　Hold on, hold on!　You're wrong!　I never complained about your cooking!　I know it must be a lot of work to juggle household chores every day, and I sincerely appreciate and love you!
....
It's just that, well, you know, people are not suited for it, and I have regretted to a certain extent that I should have studied more about cooking. .....

　In Mom's honor, it's not that Mom's food is bad. It's not at the level of something you would often see in a comic book where you would faint just by eating it or something like that.
　Yes, it's not bad, but it's not at the level where you can praise it as delicious. It's on the level of being a few steps below the convenience store's bento.
　On top of that, I think they're better than me and my dad, who are mostly amateurs. It's just that Arisa's cooking skills are too good to be compared, and it's not like she's a messiah or anything.

　I can tell that she's concerned about my father and I's health and that she's making the food with a lot of love and care.
　But, yes, it's just not very good. Well, it was just one of my dad's usual careless mistakes.

Do you want to talk to me over there for a minute?
...Oh, no, I mean...
Would you like to talk?
Yes.

　Then my dad was taken away by my mom and disappeared into the back room. To be honest, this is a rather common sight.
　And by the way, this is the kind of thing that happens all the time when my dad gets upset with my mom, and then he comes back even more lovey-dovey than usual, so I think it's safe to leave him alone. It's like flirting.

　

'.........well, Arisa. I'm sorry, my dad said something weird.
'...No, no, I don't care about that!　Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's more like ... how about that?　The food........oh, is it good?
'What?　Oh, ah ... very, very good.
Well that's good to hear.

　An indescribable silence comes between us. It's not uncomfortable, but it feels oddly itchy, or oddly soothing.
　What is this?　Normally, I would be able to talk to Arisa with ease, but I felt strangely embarrassed and difficult to talk to her.

''Well ... that ... Arisa?''
What is it?
Well, well, I mean, you know, thank you for everything you've done for me.
It's okay....no need to thank me....I'm just doing this for fun...

　Oh, God!　My face is on fire!　I can't help but feel embarrassed about just this exchange.
　But....yeah. It's not that I'm uncomfortable, after all, I'm not.......uncomfortable, right?