About the Time I Picked up an Angel in the Park and She Said “I Like You”

The test period was over, and I was back to my normal, basic slacker life.

Whenever I came home from my part-time job, I would see Kaede with her blonde hair swinging and smiling at me.

Before I knew it, I had become accustomed to this kind of life.

After a month of living together, I had become so accustomed to the sight that I was no longer surprised.

“We’re almost out of ketchup, so I’ll go buy some on my way home from school tomorrow.”

“Thank you.” I replied,

We had such casual conversation every day. I remembered that I had read in a book that happiness was born out of ordinary, everyday life.

◇◇◇◇◇

Today I had a day off from my part-time job, and as I was leaving school, I was approached by a man.

The man was quite huge, maybe 180 cm or so, as I was roughly 177-78 cm in height.

He looked quite powerful and intimidating, I was a little freaked out.

“Excuse me.”

“Uwa!?….What is it”

“I’m sorry for startling you.”

“It’s okay.”

After having such a conversation, I was about to leave when the man stopped me once again.

“Have you seen a pretty girl around here with blonde hair?”

“Yes?…I haven’t”

“I see.”

“Thank you very much,” and the man left.

No way… How scary it must be for The Angel to be popular with grown men in their 30’s and 40’s. I wonder if he was some kind of stalker.

The weather was cloudy and there were rain clouds, so I expected a shower.

Today, Kaede would come after stopping by the supermarket, so of course the front door was locked.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been home alone.”

Since Kaede was always home first, she would always greet me at the door with a smile, but that was not the case today, and for some reason I felt lonely.

A few minutes after I came home, I heard the front door crash open.　

“I’m sorry I’m late.”

While saying that, Kaede entered. After that, she started to cook.

However, I was amazed that she still made no mistakes. She never cut corners, no matter how impatient she was.

“Let’s eat then, shall we?”

“Yeah.”

After such conversation, I put the omu-rice that Kaede made in my mouth. It was really good, enough to open a restaurant and make a profit.

“Today it’s just as good as ever.”

“Fufu, thank you very much.”

Since she was cooking for me, I would usually say at least that it tasted good.

Even though I said it every time, Kaede always said she was happy and smiled.

(Huh…the ketchup is gone)

I was about to tell Kaede about the ketchup when the house intercom rang in the room with a ding dong.

As I was about to get up, Kaede said, “I’ll go,” and proceeded toward the front door.

Without ketchup, no matter how many dishes Kaede made, it still lacked a little bit of flavor.

(Let’s ask her about ketchup.)

“Hey, where can I get ketch…up”

I immediately noticed something unusual. I couldn’t see Kaede’s face, but I knew she was shaking.

I looked closely and saw that the person was the same tall man I had met on my way home.

“It’s been a long time, Kaede.”

Long time no see? It might have been my imagination, but I thought I heard the man say something like that.

“…Ah, Father….”

My body tensed up all at once. I was nervous because the word “father” came out of Kaede’s mouth.

I had a bad feeling and thought I was in big trouble, so I took my phone out of my pocket and pressed the record button and put it on a shelf where it wouldn’t be discovered.