Motokano to no Jirettai Gisou Kekkon Volume 1 Chapter 1

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The Cohabitation Begins

Isurugi Haru, currently 19 years old, and in direct descent of the Isurugi Group, as the grandson of the chairman, and third son of the current president, in his second year at university—

Tamaki Rio, currently 21 years old, is the daughter of the greatest sweets shop in the north-east, called [Tamakiya]. With a single older brother, she is the oldest and only daughter of the family, and a third-year in university (repeated one year) at the moment—

That should suffice to sum up both of us in a few sentences. The Isurugi and Tamaki Family are famous all across the country—saying that would be a bit of an overstatement, but they are renowned here in the north-east, earning themselves the rank of a distinguished family.

From an outsider’s perspective, our marriage would surely look like a blissful event for both families, as it was a marriage of two wealthy partners. We were both walking the way under the blessings of a distinguished family, being in the winning party of life, taking the easy path.

However, reality couldn’t be more different. It was far removed from easy. Complicated, complex…and more than anything, a constant ugly state of emotions. Neither Rio nor I have decided on this marriage because of any love between us.

Of course, I can’t leave out the fact that there had been a time when we shared such feelings between each other…but that is a story of the past. Both of us chose this marriage to fulfill our own goals.

Rio wants to stabilize the finances of her family. [Tamakiya] is a Japanese sweets manufacturer with an old history here in the north-east of Japan, but because of a few misfortunate events overlapping in recent years, their finances had suffered drastically. That’s why Rio decided to get married with me in order to rehabitalize [Tamakiya]’s financial situation. Of course, there’s no love or romantic feelings involved whatsoever. Even if there was any love, then it would be towards [Tamakiya], and definitely not for me.

Talking about my case, I was forced to quickly look for a partner. Since we both had circumstances driving us into a corner, and with us still being university students, we decided on a marriage of convenience. Of course, only a small number of people know of this truth. Even our parents are under the assumption that we tied the knot out of pure love.

In this upcoming newlywed life of yours, we have to act like the happy couple, and continue to deceive everyone—

The first day of our newlywed life began. It was a Sunday morning, neither of us having to worry about university classes. After rubbing my eyes, I got up from my bead, and stepped out into the living room. There, I ran into Rio, currently folding the futon. For a second, my brain froze. The same seemed to be the case for her as well, as she just started at me in disbelief.

“Ah…”

“Y-Yeah…morning.”

“…Morning.”

We exchanged an awkward greeting. That’s right, it almost slipped my mind. We started living together yesterday. I mean, I knew of it, and I had prepared myself to a certain extent, but that doesn’t make this situation less shocking. Right after waking up, I’m greeted by my wife. Just that alone…is too much out of the ordinary for me to grasp. Even though this was my own home, it felt so foreign.

I’m sure that Rio must be aware of this gap herself, clearly bewildered. No, I guess she’s not the same. She moved to my home, a place unfamiliar to her, and spent the night in a different environment. She must be even more out of the routine than I could imagine.

“Well…Were you…able to sleep?”

“Despite the cheap futon, yes.” She said, with a sigh.

Sorry that it was only a cheap one, okay. I’m sure that this must be different compared to the luxurious bed you can enjoy at your place.

“Seriously, why did I have to sleep in the living room.”

“Because that’s the only choice we had left, remember?”

In this 1LDK apartment, there is only room besides the living room, dining room, and kitchen, which is a single bedroom. Normally, a man and woman living together as a couple would be sleeping in the same room. However, we are a fake couple. We can’t sleep in the same bed. And concerning this problem, we had a fierce debate the previous night.

“Hey, where am I supposed to sleep?” Rio asked.

“I bought a futon just to make sure.”

“A futon? Well, fine…But, where should I put it?”

“…Next to my bed, maybe?”

“Wha…A-Are you telling me to sleep in the same room as you?”

“We don’t have any other rooms you can use. I don’t like the idea of it myself, but I’ll put up with it.”

“Huh? Why would you be so against it?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? You’re going to ruin my comfortable sleep.” I gave a sharp remark.

“Hmpf, if you say so. Basically, you’re way too excited to be in the same room as me that you can’t even fall asleep.”

“Can you not put words in my mouth!?”

“I’m over this. Did you think something would happen just because we sleep in the same room? Betting on the chance since I’m your ex? Sorry to tell you, but I’m not that easy of a woman.”

“…You really don’t have to be that narcissistic, nobody asked.”

“Anyway, I don’t want to sleep in the same room with you. No idea what you might do to me.”

“Then what? I can sleep in the living room, so you can take the bed if you want?”

“Don’t wanna. Sleeping in your bed…must smell really bad.”

“…Can you give it a rest already?”

As a result of this conversation, Rio slept in the living room with the new futon I bought.

“We need to think of something.”

“Eh?”

“I’m talking about your bed. Can’t have you sleeping in the living room forever. We could put up a curtain in the bedroom and get another bed, or move to a bigger apartment.”

“You don’t have to. I can get used to it eventually. Not to mention…I don’t want to use too much money.” Rio rejected my offer without hesitation. “You don’t get much allowance anyway, do you? Your father is super strict when it comes to money, after all. What was your family’s motto again?”

“It’s ‘Leave no field for your descendants’ sake’.”

“Right, that’s what it was.”

‘Leave no field for your descendants’ sake’. These words had been left by Saigou Takamori, which basically translates to ‘Don’t leave behind any fortune for your children, or they won’t work hard for their money’. The Isurugi Family has a long lineage of being landlords during the feudal era, and this motto apparently had survived the times up to this day. Of course, I was no exception, and this idea had been hammered into me ever since I was young.

“Well, since they already provide the school expenses and a place for me to live, I at least have to earn my own living expenses with a part-time job.”

“Pretty much what I expected. Guess some things never change. Your family always had more money than mine, yet you don’t use it at all.” Rio said, almost like she was in disbelief. “Then again, I can’t afford to live in luxury myself. I need to save as much money as I can.”

“Quite the admirable way of thinking, isn’t it.”

“I have no other choice, do I.” Rio said, sounding annoyed, but determined all the same. “From here on out, we have to live together as a married couple, right.”

“………”

“Well, we’re both still students, so doing it all on our own is probably impossible…But, I want to be as independent as possible.”

I was shocked…would be a rude way of saying it, but I was positively surprised by how serious Rio had been considering our newlywed life from here on out. Naturally, that won’t be enough to dispel all the worries I have, but knowing that she was giving this some thought was reassuring at least. I looked at Rio with these sorts of sentiments, when…

“W-What is it? Why are you staring at me…Ah, don’t tell me.” Rio showed a faint smile, and hid her body behind her arms. “Got excited at the sight of your ex in her pajamas?”

“…The hell are you on about.”

My head started to hurt. I feel like an idiot for giving her any sort of praise.

“I couldn’t care less about you and your pajama.”

“So you say, but I feel like you’ve been staring at me for a while now~”

‘Especially around this area’—she said, and pointed at her own chest. Because she was wearing loose pajamas, her chest was more in the open than I would wish for. From there, I could get a deep look at her cleavage.

“Urk…” I was at a loss for words.

Honestly speaking…I was totally looking. I’m a man, you know. If there’s an open cleavage right in front of me, there’s no way my gaze wouldn’t drift towards it. Or, to be perfectly honest—her pajama appearance really hit home. I haven’t even seen her dressed like that while we were still a couple, you know? It’s…so defenseless, and full of openings.

Not to mention that you wearing a pajama is something you would only show to someone you’re close with. Like your family, the lover you’re living together with—or your partner in marriage. Now that I got to see her looking like that, I feel oddly satisfied, and at peace. But of course, I couldn’t openly show this emotion. If she found out that I was totally digging her look, she’d tease me until the end of time.

With these thoughts in mind, I planned to avert my eyes…But, my self-restraint was too naive.

“Hehe~” Rio let out a victorious snicker. “My god, you’re still a helpless guy, Haru. You said you wouldn’t see me as a woman, and yet you’re totally conscious of me. How cute, really~” She approached me, brimming with joy to the point where it was too dazzling to look at her, and closely took a peek at my face. “Well, I’m not a devil, so…If you beg me for it, I might offer you a glance? ‘Rio-onee-sama, I beg you!’, come on, say it~”

“…Moron.” I desperately hid my shock, and responded with a cool expression. “If you’re going to tease me, at least wash your face first. You still got some drool on your mouth.”

“Eh. No way!?” Rio frantically jumped backwards, hiding her mouth.

I turned my back towards her, and…

“Just kidding.” I said, and headed for the bathroom.

“~~!! H-How cheeky of you to tease me back like that. Even though you’re just Haru!” After complaining with a sulking tone, Rio chased after me, trying to get ahead. “Get out of the way. I’ll use it first.”

“Where’s your gratitude for the owner of this apartment?”

“Starting today, I’m the owner as well.”

“…Right.” I stopped my feet, and sighed.

For crying out loud, not even thirty minutes passed, and we’re already causing a ruckus like this? Will we really be okay?

Since we went around visiting our relatives pretty much all the time as of late, we often ate out, the fridge practically empty. Hence, we had a simple breakfast with toast. For the first half of the day, I didn’t have any business, so I could enjoy a cup of coffee.

“You want some coffee as well?”

“Sure~”

“With caffeine or without?”

“Hmm, without.”

I poured in some tee with my Dolce Gusto, and made some for Rio as well. Of course, I know that Rio drinks her coffee without caffeine, and I already prepared capsules without any before she even moved in together with me, but if she were to find out…

‘Huh, so you prepared this only for me, did you. You even remember the taste of your ex-girlfriend…Kinda gross.’

I’m terrified to hear this from her, so I went to confirm it with her one last time…It feels like I’m only fighting myself at this point, but whatever.

“Here you go.”

“Thanks.”

I handed Rio the guest cup, as she sat on the sofa. Sitting next to her would have been too much, so I instead chose a chair at the dining table.

“Rio, what are your plans for today?”

“Oh my? Are you interested in my plans?”

“That’s the least thing I can ask as your husband, you know? If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine.”

“I was thinking of going shopping.” Rio said, looking around the room, as she sighed. “I have to admit that this room is so clean I wouldn’t expect a man to live here alone, but…there’s barely anything in here, it’s actually creeping me out.”

“Praise me or complain about me, make up your mind.”

It’s not like I’m living a minimalist lifestyle, but I don’t like the idea of putting things in my apartment I don’t desperately need. I’ve only been living here for about a year, but it’s true that my apartment is quite…barebones when it comes to furniture. Although, saying that it was creeping her out was taking things a bit too far if you ask me.

“Since there’s not enough things for us to live here comfortably, I need to buy some stuff. Tableware, towels, and such. Also, I want to buy my own shampoo and makeup. When I used your shampoo last night…it felt as if it was directly hurting my beautiful hair.”

“Well excuse me, princess. It’s men’s shampoo to completely remove any dead scalp.”

“We do have some money from the engagement gifts, so we can use that to buy the necessities right now.” Rio said, and put down her cup.

She pulled up her hair, and crossed her legs.

“What about you, Haru? If you want to carry all the stuff for me, I wouldn’t mind taking you along?” She spoke like she was looking down on me.

For a moment, I was contemplating on it. I was planning on tagging along in the first place, but not if she’s showing me that kind of attitude. Can’t she just be honest and ask me normally?

“…I’ll hold off of that.” I said. “There’s no need for us to be together on a free day like this. We should both treasure our private lives.”

“………”

“If there’s something we need, we should buy that for ourselves. That makes things more efficient.”

“…Really now. Fine. Even though I went out of my way to invite you.” Rio spoke with a sulking tone, and took out her smartphone.

That was supposed to be an invitation?

“You’re really not reliable anymore, Haru. I’ll just do it on my own then.”

“…Just to let you know.” I got a bad feeling from her operating her phone, so I spoke up. “No getting a courtesy car or anything like that, alright?”

“Ugh…” Rio froze up.

I figured she was trying to have a servant from her family help out.

“Bulls-eye, huh…Didn’t you say you’d become independent?”

“G-Getting a bit of help is normal, right!? I don’t have a car or a license!”

It definitely ain’t. But, I can’t blame her. Ever since we were young, we’ve been living door-to-door. I heard that a servant of her family was driving her to school. It must be engraved in her head that ‘Place of Destination = A place a servant from my family can drive me to’.

“Normal university students are using public means of transportation, you know. From this place, it’d definitely be easier to go by bus. Then again, that might be a bit too hard for a sheltered rich lady like yours.”

“Huuuuuh? Can you not make fun of me? I know how to use a bus, okay.” She returned confident words, but I could pick up a level of anxiety from her. “Um…it’s that, right? I have to buy a ticket at the bus stop before hopping on it, don’t I?”

And that confirmed it. Makes sense, she’s never even used a train in her life. If I had to guess, she probably never used a public bus either. Compared to my own family, who leaves everything to their children, the Tamaki Family tends to be very protective when raising their children.

“…Sheesh.” I let out a deep sigh, and stood up from my chair. “Then let’s get going.”

“Eh?”

“I don’t have anything in my schedule this morning, so I’ll escort Ms. Rich Lady.”

Rio showed a shocked expression for a second, only to immediately puff out her cheeks in a pout.

“…Hmpf. You could have just said so from the start. Honesty fits you better.”

“You’re never satisfied, are you.”

While teaching the spoiled lady how to ride on a bus, we headed towards our destination—A large interior furnishings shop selling miscellaneous items. Since the first floor was practically an entire parking lot, we took the elevator up to the second floor.

“Once we’re inside, let’s keep a bit of distance between us.”

The second we stepped off the elevator, Rio threw those words at me with a clear face.

“Why?”

“Think about it. On a weekend day like this, a man and woman go shopping for daily necessities. If someone saw us right here…” Rio continued, blushing ever so slightly. “T-They’d think of us as some newlywed couple flirting around, right…!”

“………”

I get what she’s trying to say. If someone saw a young couple like us shopping for daily necessities, 9 out of 10 people would judge our relationship to be that case—A married couple, or partners living together.

“We never know who’s watching. Unlike you, I actually have a lot of friends at the university.”

“I do have some of my own, okay.” I retorted. “I get what you’re on about, but…showing off the ‘Happy married couple’ appeal to the people around us is crucial for our marriage, remember?”

Not even our parents or siblings know that the two of us are actually in a fake marriage. That’s why we have to deceive our families, as well as the entire world. So that nobody finds out we’re just faking this, we need to show us being lovey-dovey. We need to always be careful even in our daily lives—No rather, especially because we’re outside right now, we can’t be careless. After all…one of my relatives is quite troublesome…

“So that nobody will be suspicious, we have to act like a married couple in a situation where somebody could be watching us.”

“…I get that, but…”

“Of course, I won’t force you. If you’re too embarrassed about it, I don’t mind keeping a bit of distance.”

I personally thought that I was being considerate, but…

“H-Huh? Who’d get embarrassed?” Apparently, she took it the wrong way. “I’m totally fine, you know? I don’t see any reason to be embarrassed, okay?”

“Weren’t you embarrassed about your friends seeing you with me?”

“That…I-I was worried because your acting is awful! It’s clearly showing that you have no experience with women whatsoever, so who’d believe you for being married!”

“Urk…”

This woman, hitting me exactly where it hurts…!

“I’m totally fine, you know~ Since I don’t feel anything about you, I can act as much as I want~”

“And you’re saying I’m different? Don’t joke with me, a bit of acting is nothing.”

“Hmm, really? Then—should we hold hands?”

“Wha…”

When I saw Rio offer me her hand, I failed to hide my shock. As expected, Rio showed a bright grin.

“See, you’re embarrassed! I totally saw that! Your face is beet red!”

“……”

“Hmmmmm? Weird~ I thought this was no problem for you~?”

“…You damn wench.”

Rio seemed more than delighted to see me flustered, and kept teasing me. The shame I felt had the blood rush to my head.

“Hehe~ Getting this flustered by holding hands, you’re still a young—”

As Rio walked on ahead, I lined up next to her, and took her hand. Grab, I put a lot of strength into it. It wasn’t just a normal hold, I made it so that our fingers were intertwined—creating a lover’s handhold.

“Eh…wha…” For a short second, Rio’s face turned as red as a tomato, clearly shaken.

I originally planned to tease her about that, but…To be perfectly honest, I didn’t have the leisure to do that. The warmth and soft sensation I felt on my palm robbed me of any ability to think, as my heart started racing. How many years has it been since I held Rio’s hand like this…

“W-What are you doing…?”

“…Weren’t you offering it?”

“But, doing it so forcefully is…”

She seemed to be angry to a certain degree, but there was no strength in her voice, and she showed no intention of brushing my hand away. I don’t think she hates it that much. Or, that’s what I want to believe.

“…When we were going out, we barely held hands five times…”

“You counted? And remember?”

“Wha…W-What’s so bad about that!? Sorry that my memory is just that great!” Rio grew even more flustered, and tried to scream objection, but I couldn’t make fun of her for that.

After all—I remember as well. In our high school days, we only went out for a short period of time, but this happiness I felt back then is still engraved in my heart. I remember us holding hands like five times. And, every single situation when it happened was still engraved in my brain. I had the initiative two times, whereas Rio started it three times. Really, this is gross. I’m still way too attached to her, I can’t even make fun of her.

“I can let go if you hate it.”

“…I-I don’t hate it. I don’t feel anything. Nothing at all, this is like breathing to me.” Or so she said, as her expression was stating the exact opposite. “W-Well, showing a newlywed appeal while walking around won’t hurt, I guess?”

“…Yeah, we should definitely look like a married couple if we talked around like this.”

“Also…just standing around like this is a waste of time, so let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

With our hands connected, we started walking. We were almost like a married couple—However, this time didn’t last long. From the corner ahead of us appeared a small family.

““—!?””

We both flung our hands away in an instant. The small family passed us by, too engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t even look at us. It’s not as if us being seen would be any bad, but…For the two of us, holding hands in public seemed to be a hurdle too high to handle as of right now.

“A-Aren’t you panicking a bit too much?” Rio looked at me, trying to regain her composure.

“…What do you mean?”

“You pulled away your hand first, right.”

“Huh? Don’t joke with me. You were the first to let go.” I remarked.

“No no no, it definitely was you. I was just surprised by you pulling away your hand, so I reflexively pulled mine back as well.”

“I was taken by surprise by your weird face, which is why I pulled my hand away.”

“I-I wasn’t doing a weird face!”

We started bantering like small children. After we continued this fruitless fight for a brief moment, we started walking again. Of course, without holding hands this time.

Because of this blunder, we kept an awkward level of distance between us, only filled with tension, but we somewhat finished buying everything we needed. Tableware and cooking tools, normal towels and bath towels, etc etc. I guess we really need more stuff now that we live together.

“Should we go eat somewhere?”

After we left the shop, the time of day was moving towards noon.

“Oh yeah.” Rio seemed somewhat indifferent.

“A family restaurant is good for you, right?”

“Sure.”

Aiming for the nearest family restaurant, we started walking.

“…Oh, right. Since we don’t have any food in the fridge, we should buy some ingredients for dinner. Eating out two times would prick my conscience…”

Going to the supermarket while carrying all the stuff we bought would only be more troublesome, so we’d be better off heading home once…I was making up plans, when.

“Hey, Haru.” Rio opened her mouth. “After we’ve eaten lunch, should we split up?”

“Split up?”

“I still want to buy makeup, shampoo, and all that stuff. And, you have your part-time job in the afternoon, right?”

“That’s true…But, that’s why I’m talking about dinner right now. There’s no time to go shopping after I’m back from work after all…”

“Dinner? Hehe, you can just focus on your work, and leave everything to me, Haru.” Rio puffed out her well-endowed chest even further. “Because you already have a very talented wife with you now.”

To put it simply, Rio’s cooking skill is…pretty low. Non-existent, you could even say. Of course, this isn’t because of her being inept to cook, but rather because of her family’s guidance. The housework and cooking is the duty of the servants, as this is a rich family’s mentality. Instead of having her help with the housework duties, she instead is told to focus on her studies. That is how the youngest child and only daughter of the Tamaki Family—Tamaki Rio grew up.

There’s been one time in the past where I got to eat the food she herself made. I think that happened around a month after we started dating. We met up at a park nearby our school after the classes ended, enjoying a very high school student-esque date—as Rio offered me her homemade lunch box.

‘H-Here…I’d like you to try this.’ She pushed the lunch box towards me with a bashful tone, which I accepted happily.

I opened up the lid—and was at a loss for words. What greeted me inside the box was a scenery of black and white. I thought the world suddenly turned monochrome, that’s how devoid of any color it was, merely two colors reigning inside that box.

‘Um…you liked hamburgers right, Haru. I tried my best to make some.’

Thanks to Rio’s explanation, I understood what this coal-like black lump was. At the same time, the white rice next to it looked perfect, presumably made from a servant at her residence, who helped her cook. This lunch box colored in a monochrome color turned out to be Rio’s very first homemade lunch box.

‘…Um…S-Sorry, I thought I’d be able to handle it better, but…Y-You don’t have to eat it if you don’t like it.’

She must have felt anxious because of my reaction, as she showed an apologetic expression. Looking at that face, and her hands riddled with bandaids, there was only one choice for me to take. I took out the chopsticks, and started munching on the food.

‘Eh, H-Haru?’

‘…Yup, delicious!’ I aggressively chewed on it, gulped it down. ‘I can eat it just fine. It’s just more on the well-done end.’

I tried my best to make it sound positive, but…Of course, it wasn’t delicious at all. On the contrary, it was pretty tough. Eating literal charcoal was rough, let me tell you. Luckily, it wasn’t that bad that I had to puke it all out again. Although the outside of the hamburger was burned to a crisp, the distinct taste of meat I could pick up inside of it, and the rice was cooked perfectly, so that was my saving grace. I tried my best to keep a smile while swallowing the burned hamburger—and Rio watched me with a happy expression.

Over. Flashback Over. It’s a sweet…or rather, unpleasant memory of my youth. Possibly because I had experienced this before, I was immediately assaulted with a bad premonition when Rio brought up the offer of cooking the food. As a man, I have to eat her food with a smile no matter how bad it is, but—Now, we’re a married couple.

If it’s once in a while, I might be able to deal with it. Not like bad cooking will kill me. But…things are different if it’s every single day. I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle that. Thinking about our life together from here on out, I need to make Rio realize how bad her cooking actually is. But, how should I go on about doing that?

With these worries in mind, I headed to my part-time job. However, a few hours later, I was forced to eat my own words.

“Wha…!”

It was a bit past 6pm. After I came home from my job, I was looking at the spectacle on the table, completely in awe. Hamburger steaks, rice, miso soup, salad, fruit yoghurt, it wasn’t exactly a luxurious dinner, but definitely not lacking either…To put it simply, it’s what you’d expect from a normal dinner.

“He he he. What’s wrong, Darling?” Rio said, wearing an apron on top of her clothes.

She looked quite delighted at seeing my baffled expression.

“Did you…make this?”

“Of course I did? Who else was supposed to?” She said with a confident grin, puffing out her chest. “Why are you that surprised anyway? Something of this level is totally normal~ I just made an average dinner~”

“…I mean, of course I’d be shocked. Your cooking…In my memory, I can still see the monochrome filter after eating your monochrome lunch box.”

“Don’t call it a monochrome lunch box! Just forget about that already!” Rio threw in a panicky retort. “I mean…even I’ve grown up.” She added, with another shit-eating grin.

Albeit surprised, I sat down at the table, and began eating. Of course, I expected some ‘It looks good but tastes awful’ development, but that didn’t turn out to be the case either.

“And? How is it? Does it taste good?”

“…Yeah, it’s ordinarily delicious.”

“Hey, what do you mean by ordinarily?” Rio voiced a complaint, but I could hear a bit of relief and joy in her voice.

Without any exaggeration, it was delicious. Of course, it wasn’t something out of the ordinary, but it was definitely edible to say the least. To a level where I would want to eat it every day.

“Come on, eat some more of the hamburger. It’s not some retort food. I’ve been practicing with this, so I’m confident. Have a go at the miso soup, will you! I made that out of normal soup stock.”

“A-Alright, I got it.”

As I was listening to Rio’s prideful boasting, I tested out her homemade cooking. After watching me for a bit, she went to start eating herself.

“Hm…Delish. As expected of my divine talent.”

“When did you get so good…”

“I’ve grown up, as I said. As of late, I’m practicing a lot at home.” Rio commented. “It’s not just cooking, you know? Cleaning, laundry, I can do it all on my own. Back when I was going out with you…I might have been a sheltered lady who can’t do anything on her own, but women change. It’s only a few years, but they can mean a lot.”

“………”

“Basically, the girl you let go all these years ago has grown into a proper woman.” She grinned, and continued with a confident tone. “And? You missed out big time, right?”

I hate to admit it, but now that she’s shown me such a big chance, I couldn’t argue.

“Yeah, I guess so.” I showed a wry smile, and gave in a vague response.

❀

After the dinner—

I sat on the balcony, on a phone call. The balcony of this flat was rather big, the perfect place to talk on the phone without any cohabitants hearing you.

‘—Is that so. So your cooking has succeeded with no failure.’

“Perfectly. I wish you could have seen Haru’s shocked expression, Hayashida.”

‘I am glad to hear that. I know how hard you have been working after all, Rio-sama.’

With a calm of a tone as always, I could feel a certain level of warmth from the other end of the phone—From Hayashida Saeko. She is a servant of the Tamaki Family, 29 years old as of this year. She had always been in a caretaker position of mine, and quite possibly the servant I am most closest with. Although our positions make it a bit complicated, I basically think of her as an older sister.

Ever since my fake marriage with Haru had been decided, I asked her to teach me more about cooking. Of course, the same was the case with cleaning and laundry. As I was a rich lady who didn’t know anything, Hayashida taught me the ropes about practically everything. It was only a few months, but I’d like to think I was trying hard. I guess—you could call it wife training.

‘Good for you, Rio-sama. You managed to make your beloved Haru-sama happy.’

“Indeed, you can say that again. I’m super happy that my beloved Haru liked it that—Wait, hold on!” I nodded along at first, but quickly denied it. “W-What are you talking about, Hayashida!”

‘Hm? Did I say something wrong? Weren’t you practicing your cooking to satisfy your beloved husband Haru-sama? I had assumed that your passion about learning household duties from me was all for the sole goal of pleasing Haru-sama, am I wrong?’

“Super wrong! This is just a fake marriage! Didn’t I tell you about that?!”

Hayashida was clearly playing dumb to tease me, whereas I was frantically denying everything. She is one of the few selected people who knows about this marriage being fake. Even though our parents don’t know anything, she knows it all. About the fact that we’re a fake marriage couple…and that we had been going out temporarily back in middle school even.

“I don’t feel anything for Haru anymore, okay!”

‘Ah, that was the setting we were going with.’ Hayashida calmly ignored my desperate attempts at correcting her.

What do you mean ‘setting’…

“T-The reason I wanted to learn more about cooking and cleaning…is so that he wouldn’t make fun of me. It’d be embarrassing if he just thought of me as a sheltered rich lady who couldn’t do anything on her own. Basically, I wanted him to regret letting go of me, but there are absolutely no romantic feelings involved…”

‘As always, I haven’t the foggiest as to what exactly you are fighting…’ Hayashida sounded like she was fed up with me. ‘You needn’t be worried about such a thing. Haru-sama is not the type of man to blame you for any incompetence you might have, is he? He may be still young, but he possesses wisdom and common sense, not to mention kindness more than anything. He would not hold such prejudice that a woman’s value equals her housework skill.’

“…That’s exactly why.” I spoke up. “That guy…he definitely won’t complain no matter how bad my cooking might be…He’d just eat it in silence…because that’s the kind of guy is it.”

I remembered my high school days—My dark past that I would rather forget about now. The lunch box I totally messed up, Haru ate it like it was the most delicious thing in the world. The happiness I felt back then, and the frustration born out of that, they still lingered in my heart.

“Since I married that guy, I can only work hard to make him some delicious food.”

‘…If you want to brag about how much you’re loved, I can always hang up, you know?’

“Wha…I-I’m not bragging! I’m just annoyed at him constantly being considerate of me! He should just tell me if it tastes bad!”

‘Ahh, so jealous…I want to marry a man like Haru-sama as well. As of right now, I should have quit my position, and become a wife instead…’ She spoke indifferently, but I could hear a definite tone of sadness in her voice.

A few years ago, Hayashida quit working as a servant because of a marriage…But, she came back right away. I haven’t heard the details, but apparently the engagement was nullified.

‘…How long am I going to work as a servant…Here I am, taking care of this little girl who still needs my help after getting married…’

“…I can hear you.”

Also, you’re saying that exactly because I can hear you, right? For crying out loud.

‘Mmm. Either way.’ Hayashida said as if to cut off the topic herself. ‘Do your best, Rio-sama. However, housework is a lot of work, so don’t overdo it. You don’t need to go that far just to look like a great woman in front of Haru-sama.’

“I-I know that.”

‘A marriage is like a three-legged race. No matter how fast or slow you may be, both parties have to match their speed, so that they can move forward. That’s the most important part.’

“…Yeah, thanks.” A faint snicker escaped my lips. “Fufu, you really are reliable, Hayashida.”

‘Not as much. Also…I don’t think I should be giving you much advice, seeing that I am single. With how my own marriage ended, my words hold not much credibility.’

“T-That’s not true! How do I say this…Because you failed so miserably once, your words hold much more value to me! Like the weight of a curse!”

‘……’

Click, the call ended with Hayashida hanging up on me. I wanted to provide a kind follow up, but I guess I chose the wrong words.

After I finished giving my gratitude and report to Hayashida, I returned inside. Haru stood in the kitchen, doing the dishes. He took care of the tableware we used together, as well as the cooking utensils—Wait, dishes!? A-Ahhhhhh!

‘Listen carefully, Rio-sama.’

As I started to panic, Hayashida’s words she told me the other day started to fill my head.

‘Cooking at home includes the clean-up after. Someone who is used to cooking always thinks about the cleaning while they are cooking.’

This is what Hayashida told me during my training.

‘Even if you were to perfectly succeed with your cooking, Rio-sama, as long as you don’t properly clean up after you, it’ll all be in vain. It will just make him think ‘Huh, she normally doesn’t cook, does she’, greatly lowering your feminine charm.’

She told me to a level it made my ears bleed. And yet, I just…

‘Yeah, I got it already. I’ll definitely do it during the real deal, so you take care of it today, Hayashida.’

‘…Really, what a spoiled lady you are.’

Waaaaaaaaah I totally messed uuuuuuup! I forgot about that! Makes sense that I’d forget it if I never do it in practice! I was too busy being happy that I didn’t mess up the food itself! I even took a picture instead to celebrate my success! I just left all the cooking utensils and even the ingredients there—

“H-Haru!” In a panic, I ran to the kitchen. “What are you doing?”

“I mean…Doing the dishes? What else?”

“I-I can do that as well, there’s no need…”

“Come on now, you went out of your way to cook, so I can at least do the dishes. No need to worry about that, I’m about to be done anyway.” Haru said, as he worked on cleaning the frying pan with experienced movement.

The tableware he had already put into the dishwasher. I was already too late, he saw through it all now. He saw the catastrophic situation inside the kitchen, showing that I normally don’t cook.

“U-Um…this isn’t what you think it is, okay? I normally clean up right after, but today I was just feeling off…”

“…Right.” As I was busy making excuses all on my own, Haru merely showed a nod like he had seen through everything. “It really is messy. You left out everything you used, even the ingredients. It sure looks like the after-cooking kitchen from someone who doesn’t cook often.”

“Urk…You can tell that much?”

“Sure can.”

“T-Then, are you also aware that I had Hayashida take care of all the shopping for ingredients?”

“…I had no idea about that.”

Ahhhh, now I even confessed more than I needed to!

“You were using Hayashida-san again…?”

“W-What else am I supposed to do! I never practiced shopping for the ingredients! Not to mention that I don’t even know where the local supermarket is!”

“Then just ask me. I’d tell you.” Letting out a sigh, Haru put away the frying pan.

It seems like he perfectly finished cleaning all the dishes.

“Ugh…Just laugh at me then. You probably think of me as some naive spoiled lady who tried to act cool, right?”

“I really don’t.” Haru said. “Well, maybe a bit.”

“Which is it…”

“I won’t laugh at you for that. The dinner you made…was delicious. You made this, right?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“That’s enough then. I think you did great nonetheless.” He showed a gentle smile, only to then grin to himself. “Thinking about how much you’ve grown compared to our high school days, I feel like crying, honestly. I can’t even imagine how much effort, sweat and tears, maybe even blood you put into improving like this…and I don’t even want to know how much Hayashida-san suffered through for you to achieve this.”

“Wha…O-Okay, I get it already!” When I burst out in anger, Haru let out a snicker.

He sighed gently, and continued.

“Well…you know. We’re not living in a day and age where a woman is supposed to do all the housework, and you’re not some home-housewife either. Let’s split up as much as we can.” He said.

I was happy about his gentle words, but…

“…Hmpf, of course.” I couldn’t help answer in a disrespectful tone. “But…since I’m older than you, and don’t have a part-time job, I thought that I should at least do more than you.”

“Aren’t you being kind for that. But, we can just talk things out. The best thing would be to do it in a system we’re comfortable with.”

“You’re right. We’re a couple, so we should do this at our own speed.” I continued. “You know what they say. ‘A marriage is like a three-legged race’, right.”

“…Do they really say that?”

“Apparently.”

“Sounds shallow.”

“Does it?”

“Yeah, sounds like something some idiot with no experience in marriage would say.”

“…You just hurt someone without even knowing about it.”

Like this, our first day of our new married life ended. How do I say this…it was a day full of events. I’m still a bit worried, but in the end, we just have to take one step after that, walking next to each other. Because, a marriage is like a three-legged race after all.