Chapter 161: I Want to Marry Yu
Yu didn't use Kamui, walking alone through streets shrouded in night.
After completing the greatest obsession in his heart, he finally had time to quietly sense his surroundings.
Evening wind lightly brushed past his cheeks, carrying early autumn's characteristic coolness.
Naruko's grief-stricken appearance still lingered in his mind—that perpetually bright-smiled girl had shown such desperate expression before him for the first time.
He began recalling when these two girls had developed such feelings for him.
Memory scenes began turning page by page.
Young Sasuko had always followed tightly behind him, small hands stubbornly clutching his hem. Each time Naruko completed missions and returned, she'd always run before him first, looking up with a smiling face expecting his recognition.
They'd grown from seedlings needing protection into young women troubled by emotions without him noticing.
Yet he'd always focused on his guardian role, ignoring how this dependence had quietly changed nature over the years.
Yu looked down at his hands, self-mockery surfacing on his face.
He should have noticed earlier.
When Sasuko began caring about his gaze, when Naruko's eyes looking at him gained evasion and shyness... these minute changes, he'd deliberately ignored them all.
He couldn't give them the future they wanted—or rather, he felt unworthy.
Yu didn't know how much longer he could barely maintain himself.
He could clearly feel something irreversibly dissipating from deep within his body.
This wasn't merely pain but a more essential loss—like sand in an hourglass, falling bit by bit.
Having experienced death once, he now sensed that familiar chill again.
Yu felt somewhat cold.
---
Time rewound to when Yu had just left to walk Naruko home.
Sasuko pulled her mother's hand while helping the slightly tipsy Fugaku into her bedroom.
Closing the door, she spoke directly:
"Father, Mother, I want to marry Yu."
Mikoto drew a sharp breath. Fugaku's drunkenness instantly cleared by half. "What did you say?"
The couple stared at each other. In their memories, their daughter was still that six-year-old little girl clinging behind Yu all day wanting hugs and coaxing.
Now suddenly saying she wanted to marry, with the target being the adoptive brother who'd cared for her since childhood—this was momentarily difficult for them to accept.
Mikoto tried calming herself, gently persuading, "Sasuko, you're still young. Marriage matters..."
"I'm not young anymore." Sasuko calmly interrupted. "These years Yu has always cared for me. I understand him better than anyone and am certain of my feelings."
Fugaku's brow furrowed tightly. "But you two are..."
"Yu is only someone you adopted. We're only adoptive siblings." Sasuko's tone was firm. "No blood relation."
The room fell into silence.
Mikoto recalled Naruko's blushing face in the kitchen plus Yu's unusually gentle attitude toward that child, couldn't help feeling troubled.
"But..." She considered her words. "Mother can tell that child Naruko also toward Yu..."
"I know." Sasuko lowered her eyes. "But feelings can't be yielded. Moreover, Yu won't agree to her."
She raised her head, gaze clear yet persistent. "I've decided on him."
Mikoto pondered briefly before asking softly, "What about Yu? How does he see you?"
This question made Sasuko's eyes darken. "Right now he... only sees me as an adoptive sister." But she immediately raised her head again, tone firm. "But I know he also has those feelings for me. He just hasn't realized it himself yet, or isn't willing to admit it."
Their younger daughter's words left the couple unable to recover for a long while.
Admittedly, Yu was excellent—steady and reliable, outstanding in strength, and more importantly their cherished family.
Over these years, they'd long regarded him as though he were their biological son. But suddenly having their adoptive son become their son-in-law—this transformation came too suddenly.
Moreover, Sasuko had personally admitted Yu currently only saw her as a younger sister.
This made Fugaku and Mikoto even more hesitant. As parents, they both hoped for their daughter's happiness yet worried she'd be hurt in this relationship.
"Sasuko," Fugaku finally spoke, voice still carrying post-drink hoarseness. "Have you thought this through?"
Sasuko answered without hesitation. "I've thought it through very clearly. From long ago, my heart has held only him."
Mikoto watched her daughter's stubborn expression, seeming to see again that little girl from years past who'd only sleep if Yu accompanied her.
The couple exchanged glances, both seeing identical helplessness in each other's eyes.
Just awakening today, the succession of information had already overwhelmed them. The children had grown up in the blink of an eye, now presenting such a difficult problem.
Mikoto gently grasped her daughter's hand, tone warm. "I'm sorry. Mother didn't know you harbored such thoughts. But regarding this matter, we should deliberate carefully."
She cast a glance at Fugaku beside her.
Fugaku understood, hastily taking over. "Yes, Sasuko doesn't need to rush. You and Yu are both still young. The future days are still long. Marriage discussions... are indeed premature."
Speaking, he unconsciously averted his gaze. As a father, deep down he still couldn't bear seeing his little daughter marry so early.
Sasuko listened to her parents' comforting words, anxiety rising in her heart.
Though they spoke reasonably, that feeling of gains and losses in her heart had followed her like a shadow from long ago. She yearned to quickly keep Yu firmly by her side, having more intimate connections with him so their relationship would never change again.
Watching her parents' expressions, Sasuko understood today persuading them would likely prove difficult.
She nodded lightly. "Alright, no rush. But regarding today's matter, I hope Father and Mother won't tell Yu first."
Her gaze turned toward Mother, carrying some seriousness. "Also please don't matchmake Yu with anyone else anymore."
Mikoto felt somewhat embarrassed under her daughter's gaze.
Not knowing Sasuko's feelings, she'd indeed been secretly matchmaking all along.
She reached out to embrace her daughter, voice gentle. "I'm sorry, Sasuko. It won't happen again. We also won't tell Yu about this matter."
Hearing this, Fugaku also nodded solemnly.
After receiving her parents' affirmative reply, Sasuko performed a proper bow before turning to leave the room.
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