Hikigaya, the Son-in-law of Three Surnames

"You made a cake, but don't you want others to eat it?" Mrs. Yukinoshita said with a little coldness.

"No, that's not what I meant, it's just..." I just feel that even if I made a cake for you, you would throw it into the trash can with disdain.

But Mrs. Yukinoshita really ate it, and Hachiman sat beside her, watching her eat with some embarrassment. Both her movements and her elegant posture were very similar to that person.

"What's wrong? Is there something strange about the way I eat?" Mrs. Yukinoshita seemed to feel the insane gaze and said with some displeasure.

"I was just thinking, you and Yukino are indeed mother and daughter. Even your eating postures are very similar."

"Are you... still missing Yukino?" the lady said with mixed emotions.

Hachiman placed his hand over his heart and said, "Forever."

"But no matter what, Yukino has passed away, and you still have your children to stay in the United States to take care of. Haven't you ever thought about remarrying?" the lady asked meaningfully.

The image of Rikka instantly emerged in his mind, but he quickly shook his head and said, "When Yukino passed away, I raised Liumei alone. No matter how difficult and hard it was at that time, I never thought of finding another mother for Liumei. Besides, the child is very capable. She helped me a lot at a young age. And she is in high school now. We can handle everything in life, so I don't have the intention to do that."

Hachiman said and smiled.

"What I mean is not Liumei, but your own life. Now that Liumei has grown up, isn't it time for you to pursue your own life?" said the lady.

Hachiman was surprised that his wife would care about him, but he quickly shook his head and said, "I don't have such an idea. Being able to see Rumi-chan get married is my greatest wish in this life."

The lady pursed her lips, gently wiped the cream from the corners of her mouth with a tissue, and said, "You really are a fool."

Hachiman smiled and said, "When I tore up the check you handed me, didn't you know that my brain wasn't working well?"

The lady gently pushed the remaining half of the cake towards her and said, "You can eat the rest."

"Eh?" Hachiman was a little, no, very surprised.

"What's wrong? Are you still dissatisfied?" The lady glared at him, making him afraid to speak.

"No, no." Hachiman picked up the disposable knife and fork. His wife was a meticulous person. She cut the small cake into four portions before eating and ate two of them herself, so there was no more embarrassing situation of eating his wife's saliva. However, even so, he still felt uncomfortable with his wife's action of asking him to eat the rest of the cake.

"What do you think of Yangyan's child?" asked the lady.

Hachiman thought for a moment while eating the cake, and then said, "She is not a bad girl by nature, but she is too active in her thinking and has her own opinions. So I think Madam's decision to force Kagerou-chan to accept the marriage will make her even more rebellious, so I hope you can think twice."

Madam Ke looked at him and smiled strangely: "Being too opinionated refers to... falling in love with your brother-in-law?"

Really, what a joke, Hachiman's face became embarrassed, and then he said: "That was just what Yangyan said casually to avoid the marriage. How could someone like me really be valued by Yangyan? But Yangyan's marriage, I still hope that Madam can think twice."

Hachiman emphasized again.

"Aren't you afraid of angering me?" The lady's voice became a little sharp.

Hachiman was silent for a moment, then said, "She is Yukino's sister after all, and she looks similar to Yukino. I still hope that she can be happy in the second half of her life."

"Don't transfer your regrets about Yukino onto Kagero," the lady said calmly.

"I don't think so, it's just...if I see Yang Yan smile, I will also be happy." Hachiman said in a low voice.

In the end, what Kagero said was right. He couldn't completely separate Yukino and Kagero.

"Just now, I said that the child's marriage has been decided, right?" said the lady.

Hachiman nodded.

But what the lady said next left Hachiman stunned for a long time.

"I hope that you can marry Yang Yan and become a daughter-in-law of the Yukinoshita family."

Drama within a drama: The son-in-law is actually me?

When Hachiman and Mrs. Yukinoshita left the living room to have a private conversation in the study, only Kagero and Rumi were left here.

Silence fell in the living room again, but Yang Yan's expression was obviously a little melancholy.

But when she saw Liu Mei's unchanged expression, she couldn't help but sneer: "Now you can rest assured that I can't marry my brother-in-law, but I'll be frank with you, I won't give up easily."

Liu Mei just said expressionlessly: "You think too much, I don't have that many thoughts at all."

These words seemed to be mocking Yang Yan for having "too many thoughts", but Liu Mei's expression made people feel that she was very kind and well-behaved, and she would never have such thoughts.

This is what Yang Yan hates.

"Sister Yukino's mind is always so bright and upright, she wouldn't have so many invisible thoughts. It's a pity that some people have learned the form but not the spirit. It can only be said that if there is no blood bond, there is a little difference, don't you think?" Yang Yan said softly.

But Liumei was still drinking tea and eating snacks, and seemed not to have heard what her "aunt" said.

Feeling coldly treated, Yang Yan snorted harshly, then walked up the stairs to return to her room, but before leaving, she said while blowing the wind again.

"Do you think the content of the conversation between my brother-in-law and mother is related to your life experience?"

"Are you really Sister Yukino's child, or are you just an abandoned baby?"

After irresponsibly stirring up other people's troubles, Yangyan returned to her room.

Gently, the teacup in Liumei's hand fell onto the carpet.

Liumei slowly raised her head and looked upwards. That was where the study was.

....................

"I hope that you can marry Yang Yan and become a daughter-in-law of the Yukinoshita family."

Hearing Mrs. Yukinoshita's words, the knife in Hachiman's hand fell directly to the ground.

"I, I didn't hear it wrongly. Madam just said that Yang Yan's marriage partner is actually..."

"Yes, it's you." Mrs. Yukinoshita said calmly.

Hachiman also realized his own gaffe, so he took a deep breath and said, "Why!"

Why were you so opposed to Yukino marrying me back then, and even didn't chase her back after she got married? But now that Yukino is dead, you are taking the initiative to marry your sister to me?

Hachiman did not deny that there was a moment in his mind when he thought, if you had not opposed the relationship between me and Yukino, then Yukino would not...

"Nothing in the world can go as planned. If I had known that Yukino would rather have a terminal illness than speak, do you think I would be so heartless?" Mrs. Yukinoshita's voice was a little tough and sad. Hachiman seemed to have forgotten that the woman in front of him was a relative who had been with Yukino longer than he had.

His heart softened all of a sudden.

Hachiman lowered his head and said, "I know what happened back then was an unfortunate tragedy, but if that's the case, why did you still marry Yangyan to me?"

Mrs. Yukinoshita looked up at him and said, "Because of your persistence over the years, because you raised Rumi alone, and because you have always missed Yukino, are these reasons enough?"

Hachiman couldn't help but frown, not quite understanding what the lady meant.

Madam was not in a hurry and slowly explained, "You just said that Yangyan is a smart child. She is very capable and even as capable as Yukino, but she is too erratic. She will definitely inherit the Yukinoshita family in the future. I have never planned to marry her off. The previous blind date was just to scare her. So here comes the question. Yangyan will get married and have children after all, but with her personality, she needs to find a man who can perfectly tolerate her, who can tolerate the criticism of "marrying into the wife's family", and who has no bad intentions towards Yukinoshita. Do you think it will be easy to find a man?"

Then, the lady pointed at Hachiman himself.

He is not very capable but has self-awareness. While deeply in love with Yukino, he also loves her and her whole family. He raised the little girl alone and never coveted anything from the Yukinoshita family.

Although he had many shortcomings as Yukino's son-in-law back then, he is almost perfect as Kagero's son-in-law now.

"After the elder sister died, marrying the younger sister off as a successor was also something that many wealthy families in ancient times would do. Why do you think they did that? First, it would leave a lot of dowry, second, it would maintain the in-law relationship, and third, everyone knew each other well, so there was no need to worry about being cheated or deceived."

The lady said softly, in fact, she valued the third point more, Hachiman's Buddhist and stubborn nature.

"Aren't you worried that after I marry into your family's family, I will really take over the Yukinoshita family in order to take revenge on you?" Hachiman said with a wry smile.

"You won't," the lady said affirmatively.

"Why?" Hachiman seemed a little indignant.

"Because if you do this, Yangyan and Yukino will be sad." The lady said softly.

Hachiman immediately wilted. Well, this woman really had a hold on his weak spot.

But he still shook his head and denied it: "I've already said that I have no intention of remarrying, and there will always be a Yukino in my heart. This is not fair to Yangyan."

Madam laid back on the big chair and said, "Are you talking about Yangyan turning into Yukino at night?"

Hachiman's eyes suddenly widened: "How did you know?!"

This was the original purpose of Hachiman's coming to the Yukinoshita family. After all, as a mother, Mrs. Yukinoshita must know more than Hachiman.

"Do you really believe that the souls of the dead can possess the living?" she asked.

"I...I didn't believe it at first, but Yuki...Yoshiro claimed to be Yukino, and she knows a lot of little secrets that only the two of us know."

Hachiman argued somewhat forcefully.

"Little secret, are you referring to the time you went to the wrong place the first time, or the mole on your right buttock, or the time when you were so poor on your first date that Yukino had to pay for the milk tea?" The lady said with a teasing expression, looking relaxed.

Hachiman's scalp suddenly went numb. He looked at his wife as if it was unbelievable, feeling embarrassed and shocked.

Being told the secrets of my love affairs with my wife by my mother-in-law is a socially fatal scene...

Then the lady said with an unchanged expression, "You may not know that Yukino has always had the habit of writing a diary. In it, she recorded everything from the time she met you to the time she fell in love with you. She left this diary at home. Although it is in Yangyan's hands, it is not that I have not read it. As for what you said about 'Yukino' knowing all the details about you, it is just that Yangyan read the diary and used this information in his mind as part of his imaginary personality. That child actually has schizophrenia."

The lady looked at Hachiman with some pity: "Once dead, there is no resurrection, Hachiman-kun."

Play within a play: Studying in the United States

"Once dead, there is no resurrection, Hachiman-kun." Mrs. Yukinoshita said somewhat cruelly.

"If possible, I really hope not to hear this news." Hachiman said dejectedly as he sat in the chair.

The beautiful dream that he had carefully cherished in his heart was gently shattered by someone, making him feel a little powerless.

Mrs. Yukinoshita said coldly: "Perhaps Yangyan really feels that she is possessed by Yukino. This is what she hopes in her heart. There is nothing strange about it."

So, Yangyan didn't deliberately deceive her, but she really thought that she was Yukino when she woke up at night, which was a symptom similar to schizophrenia.

Then...is what she said, that the daughter studying in the United States is not her own, also false?

Hachiman asked this question directly, because back then, only his wife was by Yukino's side.

But to his disappointment, even his wife shook her head gently and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't know either. When Yukino was in the hospital, she was indeed pregnant. She didn't lie to you. But I heard from the doctor that even if Yukino was pregnant at that time, there was a high probability of miscarriage. Then the child disappeared for a while, and when it reappeared, she was holding a baby girl in her arms." Mrs. Yukinoshita said.

Did Yukino not want anyone to know the answer? Or was this a signal that Hachiman should raise Rumi well and not care about blood ties.

Hachiman paused, looked at his wife, and said seriously: "Even what you just said was taught to you by Yukino, madam."

The lady's expression froze for a moment, then she showed a look of appreciation and said, "I don't know what you are talking about."

In fact, at this point, Hachiman already knew what Yukino meant, but the sorrow of losing again made him unable to help but ask.

"Who else in this world might know the truth?"

"Didn't I just tell you about Yang Yan's matter?" the lady reminded.

"Are you talking about, that diary?" Hachiman remembered the diary that Mrs. Yukinoshita had mentioned just now. The diary that recorded Yukino's past was now in Yangyan's hands. Now it was the only one that might contain clues.

Seeing Hachiman preparing to leave, the lady asked, "So, what do you think about the son-in-law thing?"

"I..." The image of Rikka appeared in his mind and Hachiman shook his head.

"Let me think about it." But in fact, he had already planned to refuse. It's just that he was not good at rejecting others on the spot, especially when the person in front of him was Yukino's mother.

The lady simply said: "Don't forget, you owe us, the Yukinoshita family, a daughter."

Those few words pierced Hachiman's heart like a knife.

When he opened the door, he felt something strange, as the door should have been closed just now.

..................

As Yangyan had to maintain activities during the day and night, her body was always in a state of lack of sleep. So the first thing she did when she got home was to catch up on her sleep. When she woke up drowsily, she found someone had entered her room. Yangyan subconsciously picked up the small knife next to her for self-defense.

"Brother-in-law?" she asked softly.

"It's me." Outside the gauze curtain, a petite figure and a familiar voice made her sober up a little, and she let go of the knife.

"What? It's you. What do you want to talk to me about? Also, didn't your brother-in-law teach you to knock on the door before entering?" Yang Yan said with dissatisfaction.

No matter who you are, it would be unpleasant to have your privacy invaded by someone you don’t like.

Then, she heard the sound of the door lock being unlocked from the inside. It was so quiet that Yangyan even felt a little uncomfortable and oppressive.

Yang Yan immediately jumped up and said, "What do you want to do?"

But Liu Mei rushed over at lightning speed. When she wanted to pick up the knife for self-defense, she waved her hand and knocked the knife away. Then, that seemingly small body burst out with incredible strength, holding her up tightly, making her unable to move, and then covered her mouth.

Yang Yan saw that there was something frightening in Rumi's expressionless eyes.

"Yangyan, Yangyan, it's me. Are you sleeping?" Outside the door, she heard her brother-in-law's voice calling out, but her mouth was covered by Liumei and she couldn't make any sound. She could only struggle and hum or squeak, but the sound could not be heard because of the door and wall.

Brother-in-law, save me!

Yangyan's inner cry did not receive any response from reality.

"Strange, did he go out?" The brother-in-law outside muttered to himself, and then, accompanied by the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs, Hachiman gradually moved away.

Yang Yan glared at Liu Mei fiercely. He didn't expect that her skills were quite good and she even knew joint techniques. It seemed that she was just pretending to be well behaved in front of her brother-in-law.