*Ring*
My phone rang again, and I saw a message from my mother.
The text said, "Go buy the bread, we forgot it."
I replied to her with a cold "Ok." but instead of going, I remained to eavesdrop.
"Ema-Chan... Let's pretend that nothing happened, okay? Jealousy is like this." My mother said.
"Jealousy?" I thought. "Ema had never told me about any jealousy issues. We were 100% sincere with ourselves... That's how couples work... I should talk with her."
"Y-You're right, mother. You're right." Ema said. Her voice was still trembling, but I couldn't sense a cry in her words.
*Riing*
Another message from my mother arrived, saying, "No more need to buy, I found it, just come home."
"I'm already here, open the door." I texted back.
After five long minutes, my mother opened the door and, as if nothing had happened, both Ema and she greeted me with an enormous smile.
It was such a beautiful smile that I never saw coming from them. Too beautiful to be real.
"I'm home!" I said, faking a joyful tone.
"Darling! Welcome home!" Ema smiled and clung to my arm, nuzzling her head into my chest and then looking at me with puppy eyes.
I could see they were still wet from crying. I could see that she wasn't feeling well.
But still, I hugged her and kissed her on her cheek.
"Eheh... Thank you, Ema." I smiled back.
"Dinner is almost ready. Come with us, we were talking about our past, and how you two met each other! My mother said, smiling at me.
Too perfect to be real.
I decided to play along with them, pretending I had just arrived.
"Oh, what a surprise!! Thank you! What are we cooking tonight?" I asked. "Because I just went to the Sakura to get some vanilla candies!" I added while showing the package of candies.
When I said the word "Sakura", I could feel a little tremble coming from Ema's body.
She then looked at me and stammered a few words. "O-Oh! My favorites! D-Did you take them f-for me, darling?"
Her tone of voice was kinda nervous. She was very good at acting, but I'm really good at smelling lies. She wasn't feeling happy. I could sense... Sadness, in her voice.
Her eyes were not shining like before.
"Yes. I did it only for my love!" I smiled and hugged her tight. She hugged me back, but her grip around my body was very weak and... her arms were too light, like they were trembling.
I could see that she was forcing a smile, but I still pretended not to see it.
"Oh! I love you! Y-You're so special. I can't wait to marry you..." She said. This time her grip tightened.
My mother, seeing us two, smiled and said, "Well then, lovebirds, shall we go eat? Everything's ready."
"Yes, I'm ready." I broke away from the hug with Ema and gave the box of Vanilla candies to my mother. "We'll eat these for dessert!" I said, smiling.
"Okay, I'll put them in the fridge." She smiled back and took the candies to the fridge.
"And you, Ema? Are you ready?" I asked her.
"I'm... hungry." She smiled weakly, but I could see a small glimpse of happiness in her eyes... Or so I thought.
"I'm glad. Let's go have dinner then!"
We both nodded and walked towards the kitchen, holding hands.
We all then sat at the table, which was already filled with my favorite foods.
Too perfect to be real.
"Itadakimasu!" We all said before starting our dinner.
*Inside the house were my mother, my brother, and Ema. My father died a long time ago due to a car accident.*
When we started eating, Ema looked at me and asked: "So... What happened with Arai-Sensei? She wanted to talk with you."
I immediately blushed, remembering the transfer student.
"N-Nothing important," I said while looking away.
Ema suspiciously looked into my eyes, and with her hand, she turned my head back to her.
"What is it with that blush? Did you cheat on me with Arai-Sensei?" She said with a glimpse of jealousy.
"*Sigh* No. She only asked me to be the guide to a transfer student who is coming next week to our school-" My voice got interrupted by Ema.
A red bloodlust aura was around her.
"So? Is it a boy, or a GIRL?!" She asked, sounding like a crazy psychopath.
*I even love that side of her*.
"I-It's a girl. She's a French girl named Evangeline Beaufort." I said.
Ema calmed down a little after seeing that I didn't lie to her, but I could still sense a bit of jealousy.
"I can't believe it. Why should you be the one who helps her?" She mumbled while eating her food.
"W-Well, Arai-Sensei actually recommended me to the director. I don't know why me." I said while eating.
"Ara, ara~ My little prince is popular among girls~ Fufufu~ Just like his father." She giggled.
"My father was popular among girls?" I asked in surprise.
*My mother doesn't usually talk about my father because it's a very sensitive topic for her. Since his death, she even remained single because of her love for him.*
"Ahaha! Yes. He truly was a gentleman, and he had a lot of charm. He was **Really** popular. Every woman wanted to steal him from me." She said with a nostalgic tone.
"I was really jealous when I was around him. Every woman looked lustfully at him... I was so jealous, but I have so many beautiful memories of him." My mother got emotional. "Did I ever tell you about how we met each other?"
While my mother was talking, Ema's jealousy was disappearing, but she still seemed bothered by something.
"Yes, Mother! Tell me!" Takibi said. "I want to hear about Papa!" He added joyfully.
"So... I'll tell you..." My mother replied while cleaning her mouth. "It was during my time in high school when I first saw your father. He was always the shy type... I never cared about him since I was a very popular girl... But someday he randomly bumped into me..." She said with a confident tone.
"How is my mother talking so freely about my father...? Isn't that a sensitive topic for her...?" I thought while I was still eating.
"Anzu-san, didn't you say that your husband was really popular among the girls...?" Ema asked.
"Hahaha! Yes, I said it. But he became popular after we became a couple. I literally transformed him into a man!" She laughed.
But her laugh was... trembling. My mother wasn't feeling comfortable talking about this.
"Anyway, where was I...? Oh yeah! So he bumped into me... And I got mad at him, but I didn't yell at him... I just... told him he was an idiot and should be more careful. I remember his face was as red as an apple, and his voice was trembling. He said: "I'm sorry, I'm just searching for... for the library...!" while rubbing his hair and scratching the back of his head. After he raised his gaze to me, I saw his eyes, and, without knowing, I was already in love with him... And that is how I met him... "
"Wow... What a beautiful story!" Takibi said while wiping his mouth with a napkin. "Fumihiro, do you remember the first time you met Ema? I think that it's the same thing!"
Ema looked at me with an evil smirk.
"Oh, yeah, Fumihiro, do you remember our first meeting?" She said in a gentle but threatening tone, finishing her meal and putting the fork down.
I sighed. "O-Of course I remember. How could I forget?" I said proudly.
"Tell us, son! It's been so long since we last heard that story!!" My mother said joyfully.
"Okay then." I took a deep breath. "It was a normal summer day, and I saw a bunch of bullies bullying a little girl. At the time, I wasn't as brave as I am now, so I tried to avoid them and walk past. But then, I saw a poor girl crying and screaming, "Stop it!!" My "Super-hero" instincts were awakened, and I ran towards the bullies with a stick and my dog to help that girl... and thanks to my courage, I saved her! I said with a proud smile.
Ema's eyes began to sparkle. But the light in her eyes wasn't the same as every other day.
She clung to my arm and said, "So you remember !" But her body was trembling a little.
"What a couple of lovebirds!" My mother said in a playful tone. "Ema-Chan, how did you feel when he saved you?" She then asked.
She let go of my arm and started thinking.
"To be honest, I wasn't expecting someone who could save me… but when I saw Fumihiro coming for me… I was happy. In that exact moment, I said to myself, "He'll be my future husband," and now… here we are.
Ema clung to me again and smiled.
"I'm so glad that someone loves my son so much…" my mother said in a lovely tone, but still, for some strange reason, I sensed a glimpse of sadness in her words.
Ema smiled back at my mother and said a strange phrase to her.
"I… love him so much… I'm so happy… I'd never hurt him. I want to marry him after we graduate."
*She never talked about something like this before, especially in the presence of my mother.*
I blushed after what she said.
"M-Marry me? Isn't it a little bit early to talk about marriage?" I mumbled.
"Why? Do you plan on breaking up with me!? I'll never let you go. And I'll never lose you to another woman." Ema said, while the grip on my arm tightened a little.
"What?!? No! Why should I break up with you? I think that it's early to talk about marriage," I said while giggling nervously.
Ema looked straight into my eyes and said with a firm tone: "Fumihiro. I don't want to lose you…despite everything that will happen… I want you to stay with me… and never leave me." She said.
My mother and my little brother were listening. Ema didn't care about their presence.
My body shivered after I heard these words. She was sincere. She was not lying. She really wanted to stay with me forever. But… her eyes were wet. She was holding back tears. Her body was still trembling.
"Maybe she really got emotional…" I thought in my mind.
After a few seconds to process her words, I smiled at her and gave her a small head pat to comfort and reassure her, like I was saying, "I will never leave you alone."
She leaned into my touch, rested her head on my shoulder, and said, "Thank you, Fumihiro."
My mother smiled tenderly at us, then stood and took my little brother's hand.
"Takibi, let's go to sleep, okay?" She said.
"Yes, mommy!!" He said happily as he stood up from the chair.
My mother then looked at us and said, "Goodnight, lovebirds! I hope everything will go well between you two." She then walked away from us, grabbing Takibi's little hand, and when she was at the door, she said, "You'll be the one to clean the kitchen today, okay?"
I nodded at her while she closed the door, leaving us alone.
Ema looked at me, directly into my eyes, as if to ask for a kiss.
She leaned in and closed her eyes.
Her lips were getting close to mine, but…
"Ema, wait a second," I said while stopping her and looking down.
Her body twitched a little after hearing my words as she opened her eyes and looked at me with a surprised look. It was a mix of fear and… love.
"E-Eh…? Fumihiro…? W-W-Why didn't you kiss me?" She asked. "We always do this every day…" Her eyes were still wet.
"I mean… you've been acting strangely today. Is there something bothering you?" I gently asked, a smile on my face, while a mix of bad emotions hurt me inside.
"You know you can tell me everything, Ema," I said while rubbing my hand on her cheeks and playing with her hair.
I have always done that to calm her down during bad or stressful moments.
Instead of leaning into my touch, she twitched at my touch, like she got scared.
I couldn't ignore that reaction.
"Ema… is everything alr-" I tried to ask her.
"Yes." She said coldly.
"I've been only stressed because of school." She added.
After those words, she kissed me.
But I didn't feel the usual romance of our kisses.
That kiss was bitter.
She kept kissing me more passionately, and our tongues were dancing together like always.
"Mmm- Mmph-" The silence of the room was filled with the sound of our kisses.
After a few seconds, I closed my eyes and lost myself in the kiss.
Ema's hand was caressing my chest while she slowly got on top of me.
Something was not right.
Ema's kisses, Ema's behavior… it was like she wanted to forget something, or like she wanted to distract me. It wasn't 100% genuine.
She then broke the kiss.
"F-Fumihiro… Please… let's go to your room. I'll sleep with you tonight. I want to." She said, while her breathing got heavier with two big, wet, and lustful eyes.
"Ema… I…~" She then sealed my mouth with another kiss.
Her hand grabbed mine, and then she gently guided it on her soft chest.
She then had me squeeze it.
She was trying to get a reaction from me.
In other situations, I would've already gotten excited… but…
"Ema, stop it," I said after breaking the kiss and removing my hand from her chest.
She looked down.
"Can you tell me what's going on? Is there something bothering you, Ema? You're not acting like your usual self."
Ema remained silent for ten seconds.
She kept looking down at the floor while getting off me.
"Fumihiro… i… i… just… I'm sorry." She said.