How to raise a random guy's wife

How could he have remained unchanged after all these years?

However, those changes were not obvious to Megumi Kobayashi.

Just like Eriri and Kasumigaoka Utaha often remarked, Ran Kobayashi has grown so much in just a few days.

However, in Kobayashi Megumi's view, Kobayashi Ran's changes were negligible.

Because we spend so much time together, we can't notice those subtle changes.

It's only when I occasionally look through photos that I realize how much time has passed.

That's not all...

Eriri looked at Kobayashi Megumi, who was holding Kobayashi Ran.

There is another very important reason.

Compared to appearances, Kobayashi Megumi sees the essence more often.

That's why Megumi Kobayashi was able to maintain a calm expression most of the time.

Once you see through the true nature of those startling and troubling things, it becomes difficult to elicit any significant emotional response.

In contrast, because she can clearly see the essence, Kobayashi Megumi rarely pays attention to appearances.

The answer to this question becomes clear.

No matter how old Ran Kobayashi is, how much taller she has grown, or how her weight has changed, in Megumi Kobayashi's eyes, none of these are changes.

Because in essence, Kobayashi Ran is still her lovely daughter.

The same goes for Kobayashi Sora.

From Eriri's perspective, Kobayashi Sora's life changes as she goes from being an opportunist to a producer and partner, then the president of RER, the president's secretary, a transfer student, a familiar classmate, to Kobayashi Megumi's husband and Kobayashi Ran's father. Her identity and the things she does also change.

But can these really be considered changes?

Eriri learns from Kobayashi Megumi's way of thinking, stripping away the superficial appearances.

Compared to Eriri, who felt that Kobayashi Sora had changed a lot, a more accurate way to put it is that Eriri saw Kobayashi Sora in many different identities.

Student Kobayashi Sora and club president Kobayashi Sora are, of course, different.

If someone acts like a club president at school or has a student-like demeanor at work, then there's a big problem.

Are student Kobayashi Sora and club president Kobayashi Sora completely different?

Nor is it.

They are all Kobayashi Sora, but they appear different due to changes in their environment and identity.

Eriri felt that Kobayashi Sora had changed a lot, while Kobayashi Megumi felt that Kobayashi Sora hadn't changed much. Ultimately, this was because Eriri was looking at the surface, while Kobayashi Megumi was looking at the essence.

Eriri noticed that Kobayashi Sora had changed from a student to the club president, and naturally sensed that he had changed.

But in Kobayashi Megumi's eyes, whether she is a student or the club president, Kobayashi Sora is still Kobayashi Sora.

He is the person she loves, and the person who loves her.

It has never changed.

Thinking of this, Eriri suddenly felt like she was choking.

This feeling is so familiar...

Eriri often had this feeling when Kobayashi Sora and Kobayashi Megumi were being intimate.

Even though Kobayashi Sora isn't there, Eriri feels like she can already see the two of them being intimate.

Sofa, kitchen, bathroom, dining table, toilet, entryway...

Chapter 730 Don't Hesitate

Ran looked at Eriri, then at her mother, hesitated for a moment, and then got up from her mother's arms.

Kobayashi Megumi released her grip. "What's wrong?"

“Mom…” Lin Lan twisted her fingers together. “Why don’t you hug your godmother? Lanlan won’t mind.”

"No way!" Eriri shook her head vigorously. "I was thinking about something else, not that I wanted to... Besides, your mother doesn't want to hug me either."

Kobayashi Megumi put her finger to her lips, "Mmm..."

Eriri panicked, "Don't hesitate!"

"Something else?" Ran Kobayashi sat back down in Megumi Kobayashi's lap. "What is it?"

"About your father."

"Daddy..." Lin Lan paused for a moment, "Do you want Daddy to hug you?"

Eriri immediately denied it, "No!"

Kobayashi Megumi smiled happily, "Can Daddy hug Godmother?"

"I'm fine with it..." Xiaolin Lan looked up. "Mom, don't you mind?"

Kobayashi Megumi tilted her head, "Hmm..."

"Don't hesitate!" Eriri felt exhausted. "I just suddenly realized that we are observing from different angles, so the blue sky we see is also different."

“Now that you mention it, that’s true.” Kobayashi Megumi nodded. “In your opinion, he has changed quite a bit.”

“In Shiyu’s opinion, Sora is the kind of reliable, mature partner, a rather pragmatic type,” Eriri further explained. “As for me… I disliked her at first, but after getting to know her better, she became… well, how should I put it? She became…”

Kobayashi Megumi chimed in, "Uncle?"

"No way!" Eriri thought of a way to describe it, "She's become the kind of annoyingly reliable person."

"Ugh...annoying?" Ran Kobayashi asked, puzzled. "Is that a good description?"

“Because Eriri’s godmother can’t express her thoughts very honestly,” Kobayashi Megumi explained, looking down, “so this is already a very good description.”

"I see." Xiaolin Lan used a familiar example, "Lanlan wants to eat ice cream, but she also wants to share it with her parents, so she says she doesn't want to eat it herself?"

"Uh-huh."

Ran Kobayashi praised Eriri, "Godmother is so well-behaved!"

Eriri: "......" Should I be happy?

"In short, I don't hate him as much as I did at the beginning." Eriri carefully chose her words. "As a creator, of course I would hate an opportunist like him. If I had seen Sora and you together first, I definitely wouldn't have hated him. Even if I found out later that he was an opportunist, I would only feel a little annoyed."

Kobayashi Megumi nodded gently, "That makes sense."

“Throughout this process, he remained the same, unchanged. I just gained a better understanding of him.” Eriri finally clarified the situation. “So, I was thinking that, even though it was our first meeting, the Kong Qing you saw and the Kong Qing I saw were different. Or rather, the angle from which you observed Kong Qing and the angle from which I observed Kong Qing were different, so the Kong Qing we saw was also different.”

"Because I didn't know anything about it, and I didn't understand otaku culture at the time." Kobayashi Megumi tried to put herself in Eriri's shoes, "If I were an otaku too..."

"Then you won't hate him."

"Huh?" Kobayashi Megumi blinked. "Are you so sure?"

“Because I’m looking at what Sora does,” Eriri finally found the crux of the problem, “while you’re looking at what he thinks, right?”

"How could you possibly see it...?"

“Really…” Eriri leaned forward slightly, “Can’t you see?”

Kobayashi Megumi gently rocked Kobayashi Ran while holding her, "Even if you deliberately pause, lower your voice, and lean forward to increase the sense of pressure, I still can't see what you can't see."

"This is it!" Eriri caught that familiar feeling. "When most people focus on appearances, you use appearances as a tool to observe the inner self! That's no different from directly looking at what people are thinking."

"The difference is huge..."

“We initially disliked Sora because of his actions, but we didn’t dislike him as much later because we understood his thoughts and feelings—but you are different.” Eriri felt a chill. No wonder Kasumigaoka Utaha liked to analyze characters so much. In the process, all sorts of ideas and inspiration would burst forth. “You first understood his thoughts and feelings, and then you understood his actions.”

Eriri suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment.

When Eriri first faced Kobayashi Sora, her strongest feelings were powerlessness and helplessness.

Kobayashi Sora's methods are too numerous; you never know what else awaits you.

The counterattack method that he had finally come up with was easily countered by him in the next moment.

Finding that all resistance was futile, they could only resign themselves to their fate in frustration.

"Ah—! What a pity!" Eriri lamented belatedly. "If I had discovered it sooner, I wouldn't have been manipulated by him."

If I could possess the ability to see through the essence of things like Megumi Kobayashi... then I wouldn't be myself.

Eriri is very self-aware.

Through close observation, coupled with Kobayashi Megumi's frankness and the influence of Kasumigaoka Utaha's thinking, Eriri took nine years to figure out the way Kobayashi Sora and Kobayashi Megumi interacted.

Just as Kobayashi Megumi could not catch up with Eriri's drawing skills in a short time, Eriri could not easily master Kobayashi Megumi's observation skills.

“Although you seem to have come to some incredible conclusion, from your perspective, I may have some amazing abilities and have done something remarkable.” Kobayashi Megumi stroked her daughter’s soft hair, her eyes like water, “But from my perspective, I just met him, and then, just as he approached me, I slowly approached him.”

“You guys are pretty fast,” Eriri corrected, “Your child is already so big.”

Kobayashi Megumi blushed slightly. "As I was walking, I just wanted to run a few steps."

“You knew what kind of person Sora was from the beginning, and because of your existence,” Eriri said, resting her chin on her hand, “we saw another side of him that we hadn’t seen before.”

Xiaolin Lan blinked. "So...it was Mom who showed you how great Dad is?"

Eriri paused for a moment, then laughed. "That's how it is. Do you know how your mother did it?"

"How did you do that?"

Eriri replied softly, "Because she is a very good person, that's why Sora became a better person for her sake."

Ran Kobayashi turned to look at Megumi Kobayashi, "Aren't you really going to hug your godmother?" Her godmother was trying so hard to praise her mother.

Kobayashi Megumi: "Hmm..."

Eriri: "Don't hesitate!"

Chapter 731 Fourfold Happiness

Splash splash ...

The sky was overcast and rainy, and the wind howled.