Chapter 7: How to Get Permission to Be a Freeloader

“I never imagined there’d come a day when just visiting Yousuke’s house would make my heart pound like this.”

In front of a two-story detached house, built on a roughly 100-tsubo plot with no yard, Hikari placed a hand on her chest as she spoke.

Her expression was tense.

She was probably anxious about whether my mom would really allow her to stay with us.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “Like I told you earlier, I’ll make sure to convince her.”

“Well, you’re the kind of person who follows through once you say you’ll do something… Still, it’s not something I can reason my way out of, you know? Just makes me nervous somehow… mmmmmgh…”

Looked like I was right.

Letting out a conflicted groan, she tilted her head uncertainly.

Though to be fair, it didn’t last long.

“Oh, right,” Hikari murmured, crouching down. “Here—you can have your shoes back. I told you I didn’t need them, but you just insisted. Honestly, what a pain.”

She held out the sneakers she’d been wearing.

They were the pair I’d given her when we left the park.

From what she confessed earlier, she apparently wasn’t wearing anything under that cloak of hers.

So naturally, she didn’t have any shoes either.

“It’s dangerous out at night. You could’ve stepped on broken glass.”

“Even so! Why would you go barefoot instead?! You just finished healing, and now you’re the one getting hurt in my place? That makes zero sense!”

“If that happens, I’ll just have you heal me again. As many times as it takes.”

“No way! That’s totally unsustainable! Don’t push your luck with magic!”

Her silver hair whipped around as she puffed up in anger, shouting “Muuuu!” with her frustration in full display.

Still, I was half-joking.

She seemed to realize that too, because soon enough, a giggle slipped out of her.

“…Alright, I’m ringing it.”

“…Yeah.”

Looks like her nerves had settled down.

Taking a breath, she reached toward the doorbell.

A light melody chimed out, followed by the sound of soft, hurried footsteps.

With a clack, the door opened—revealing my mom with a slight frown.

“You’re awfully late, Yousuke. I was getting worried. You didn’t have to ring the bell though—you could’ve just come in. …Oh?”

“U-um! It’s been a while, Youko-san!”

As soon as Mom looked her way, Hikari shrank behind me and bowed quickly, her demeanor now completely different—like a nervous kitten in a stranger’s home.

For the record, Hikari always calls my mom—whose name is Youko—by name.

Apparently it’s because she doesn’t seem her age at all and looks super youthful.

She once said my mom reminded her of those anime moms who’re all “Ara ara, ufufu”... which, yeah, I kind of get but kind of don’t.

Strangely enough, Mom seems to like it, so it stuck.

“Good evening, sweetie. But… have we met before?”

Still, this time was different—Mom tilted her head, visibly puzzled.

Which made sense. At a glance, she didn’t recognize Hikari at all.

“…Wait a second. Is this your girlfriend, Yousuke?”

She whispered it low enough that Hikari couldn’t hear.

I immediately shook my head, not wanting any weird misunderstandings.

“No. It’s a long story, but she’s—”

“Achoo!”

But right at that moment, Hikari sneezed again.

…Maybe it’s because they’re family.

Mom’s attention shifted straight to her.

“…Could it be a cold? Even in summer, the nights can get chilly. Are you alright?”

She asked almost the exact same thing I had earlier.

Naturally, Hikari gave the same kind of reply—that she was completely naked under the cloak—

—and just like that, the air froze.

“Y-Yousuke…! What kind of deviant play are you dragging this sweet girl into?! No! You can’t just do whatever she says! I thought it was strange you never had a single romantic rumor in high school, but I never imagined you were this twisted…!”

Mom pulled Hikari close—cloak and all—and backed away with a horrified look.

Then she turned toward me… with eyes like she was looking at human garbage.

Meanwhile, Hikari, caught completely off guard, stood blinking in confusion.

But then her mouth twitched slightly, and in a whispery voice—

“She’s right…! I told him no, but he forced me…! He said, ‘I’m taking you to a whole new world…’ It was terrifying…!”

With her eyes cast downward, she delivered the line.

…Wow. That’s one hell of a false accusation.

And seriously—you’re the one who went to a new world and came back.

It was only now, in the middle of this mess, that I remembered something important.

My mom actually gets along better with Hikari than with her own son.

She’s childishly playful, despite her age.

Which means being teased like this? Pretty much a daily occurrence.

I just never thought she’d do it even when she thought Hikari was someone else entirely…

Well, I guess this makes explaining things easier than if they had a bad relationship.

Trying to stay positive, I roughly scratched my head and let out a big sigh.

Then I said:

“…Mom. Before this gets any more complicated, let me explain. Just let us into the living room, okay? And Hikari, knock it off with the jokes already. I’m gonna get mad.”

The explanation happened around the square four-person dining table we usually used for meals.

“…So, this girl is really Hikari-kun…?”

Once I finished, Mom murmured in disbelief.

Which was understandable.

Even I hadn’t believed it until I saw proper proof for myself.

And now, on top of that, we were asking her to let Hikari live here.

No wonder I thought it’d take a while to convince her—

“…I believe you.”

—only for her to nod immediately, without the slightest hesitation.

“W-Wait, seriously…?”

Just to be clear, since having a vampire living here would complicate things, we left that part out and said her appearance had been changed by magic.

Still, both Hikari and I stared in shock at how quickly Mom accepted it.

“…Was it really that surprising?”

“I mean, yeah? Any normal person wouldn’t believe that. Just to make sure, Mom, you haven’t been sending money to shady accounts or anything, have you?”

“What a rude son! Sure, I’ll admit—talking about worlds with magic sounds like a joke by normal standards…”

When I gave her a suspicious look, Mom puffed out her cheeks in indignation.

Honestly, it makes me want to remind her of her age.

Then again, with her soft, youthful features and baby-faced charm, these kinds of childish reactions actually suit her weirdly well…

But that expression lasted only a moment. Almost immediately, Mom’s face turned serious.

“Yousuke’s leg—it's completely healed. No matter how many doctors we saw, nothing worked… But if you tell me it was magic, I can believe that. And even if you weren’t actually Hikari-kun, it doesn’t change the fact that I owe you a thank-you.”

“Youko-san…”

“Besides, just talking to you… there were these little moments where I really thought, ‘Ah, this is so Hikari-kun.’ So don’t worry about it, Hikari-kun—you’re welcome to stay here as long as you like. And if there’s ever something you feel uncomfortable saying to Yousuke, just come straight to me, alright?”

“…Yes. Thank you.”

As Mom smiled gently at her, I could see Hikari’s eyes glisten just a little.

Anyway, with that, everything was settled.

Dad wasn’t home at the moment, but from the sound of it, Mom would take care of explaining things to him too.

“Phew…”

And just as that sigh of relief escaped—

—grrrgle~

A very ungraceful sound echoed through the living room.

Wasn’t me.

“Heh… whoops.”

The one looking sheepish was Hikari. Apparently, even vampires get hungry.

“Well, that’s no surprise. It is getting late. Let’s have dinner, even if it’s a bit delayed. But before that, Hikari-kun, go get changed first. Yousuke, lend her something suitable to wear.”

“Got it. …Alright, let’s go, Hikari.”

With that, we wrapped things up for now and headed upstairs to my room on the second floor.