Chapter 31: The Fuyunagi Family
Once we’d finally calmed down, we passed through the living room and went into the main room.
An unexpected guest, Fuyunagi-san’s mother, had appeared, creating an indescribable tension in the air.
For some reason, Fuyunagi-san’s expression looked a bit stiff… or at least that’s how it felt to me.
“Sit anywhere you like. Barley tea is fine, right?”
“Ah… yeah, thanks.”
Fuyunagi-san took out a bottle of iced barley tea from the refrigerator and brought over two cups on a tray.
“Sorry, I ended up making you see something unpleasant.”
“Ah… yeah.”
“Fufu, that’s where you’re supposed to say ‘That’s not true’, you know? I didn’t expect you to just honestly say ‘yeah.’”
“Ah… sorry.”
“It’s fine. That’s what I love about you.”
Fuyunagi-san is too straightforward; she keeps saying “I love you, I love you” without hesitation. It is as if she is running a bargain sale of love.
“Somehow, it doesn’t really feel like the right mood to ask you for feedback on the cookies anymore… My mom really has terrible timing.”
“Um… can I still… ask?”
“What? Do you want to know something?”
“Of course I want to know. A girlfriend’s arranged marriage talks aren’t exactly something her current boyfriend can ignore.”
“Oh my, that’s unexpected. I thought you wouldn’t care about my engagement talk at all, Taku-chan. I’ve seen so many unexpected sides of you today — it’s been a refreshing day.”
“Don’t tease me!”
“Okay, okay, I’ll explain, alright~?”
Fuyunagi-san took a sip of the barley tea and then began speaking.
“My family, the Fuyunagi family, is, as you can imagine, bound by troublesome customs. We were apparently famous industrialists who built a considerable fortune and reputation, but now we have declined to the point of being just an ordinary household.”
“Ah… I see?”
“But because of our glorious past that they can’t forget, the family has become a place filled with troublesome people clinging to traditions and formalities without any substance.”
“…”
“My mother was raised in such a troublesome environment. Despite being born in Heisei, her mind is dominated by old-fashioned values from the Taisho and Showa eras.”
“Families like that… really do exist, huh…”
“Right? Surprising, isn’t it~? And so, in their desperate attempt to restore the family’s honor one way or another, they ended up landing on arranging their daughter’s marriage.”
“Well… that’s the classic route.”
The classic route for fallen nobles to return to their former wealthy status is through marriage alliances with upper-class families.
Nobles who struggle to regain their former status would offer a young, beautiful girl as a sacrifice to propose a marriage to upper-class nobility—this is a recurring trope in fantasy light novels.
At this point, it’s just a standard trope.
But what are the chances of running into something like that in the real world?
“This arranged marriage talk probably has that kind of background too… Ugh, it’s so annoying~! Hey, Taku-chan, did you know?”
“About what?”
“Those guys who grew up pampered in a rich family environment, they’re all worthless trash, you know?”
“Trash…”
“They’re sheltered, ignorant, completely clueless — yet they’ve got this pointless pride, acting like ‘I’m doing you a favor by being your boyfriend!’ All you can see from them is that kind of selfish, empty bravado. That’s why I hate men who are only handsome.”
“I-I see…”
So that’s the reason Fuyunagi-san has that strange hostility toward handsome guys…
“Ah… don’t misunderstand. Being rich doesn’t automatically make someone handsome. There were plenty of hideous, disgusting pigs too.”
“R-Right…”
“Since they could just throw money around, they never bothered taking care of their appearance, and women who only cared about money would flock to them anyway. Thanks to that, there were tons of filthy, unkempt rich boys with zero sense of cleanliness.”
“That’s… well… uh…”
“My mom and grandfather kept forcing me to ‘get along’ with those trash ever since I was little… to me, it was nothing but a huge nuisance.”
“What about your father?”
“No… my father is on my side.”
“Really?”
“Yes. My father married my mother and even took her family name, Fuyunagi. He’s extremely capable—great at his job and earns a high salary—so neither my mother nor my grandfather can openly interfere with him. Though… their demands are so ridiculously high they seem delusional, so my father is always struggling with them.”
“Ahaha…”
“And the only reason I’m able to live on my own now is thanks to him. He told me, ‘Shizuku should do as she likes. Choose your own boyfriend, your own friends, and your own life.’ He’s the one who helped me escape from that shitty household.”
“You have a good father.”
“That’s right. So within my family, the only one on my side is my father.”
Listening to her, the only thing I could think was how unbelievable it is that such a troublesome family actually exists in real life in the Reiwa era.
Everything is outdated.
Born and raised in such an environment, it’s no wonder Fuyunagi-san has developed a twisted personality.
By the way, there was something I wanted to clarify.
“You’re not planning on going through with that engagement, right, Fuyunagi-san?”
“Hah? Obviously not. Were you even listening to anything I just said?”
“I was just checking. You might’ve suddenly turned into a new kind of tsundere, you know.”
“There’s zero dere in me. It’s all tsun. And even calling it tsun is way too soft.”
It seems there’s no chance of her getting swept away by some random rich guy after all.
Whether that’s something I should feel relieved about…
Well, I guess that depends on what happens from here on out.
Character Summary (non-official)
- Majima Takuma / Taku (真島 拓真 / タク) — Taku is an utterly average high school boy in both appearance and ability. His hair and uniform are always neat but unremarkable, giving him the classic “background character” characteristic.
- Fuyunagi Shizuku (冬柳 雫) — Fuyunagi Shizuku is a stunning black-haired high school beauty with a mature, graceful aura. Her long, silky hair, elegant posture, pure and innocent atmosphere, and impressive figure—including her large chest—give her an appearance so gentle and comforting that a tired working adult might instinctively want to cling to her and call her “Mama.” Her looks alone make her feel like a UR-rarity heroine. At school, she’s admired as a pure, wholesome, and almost ideal girl—popular among girls, constantly confessed to by boys, and always at the center of her class. In private, however, Shizuku reveals a selfish, bratty, and emotionally unstable side. She’s clingy, easily upset, mentally fragile, and relies heavily on her boyfriend for emotional support while demanding secrecy and setting controlling conditions in their relationship.
- Sakurada Nagisa (桜田 凪咲) — Sakurada Nagisa is a gyaru and one of the central members of Fuyunagi-san’s friend group. With light-brown hair, piercings, and perfectly applied bold eye makeup, she has a flashy style but is undeniably beautiful—cute enough to stand out even among the popular girls. Sado Kengo’s current girlfriend.
- Natsume Kano (夏芽 華乃) — The class president. A dignified, serious beauty whose pure appearance gives her a charm distinct from Fuyunagi-san. She prioritizes efficiency, logic, and rationality above all else, resulting in a rigid, no-nonsense personality that makes her unpopular with most classmates.
Sado Kengo (佐渡 健吾) — A high-spec soccer club member who once acted as Shizuku’s fake public boyfriend. He is now Sakurada Nagisa’s actual boyfriend.
- Katou Susumu (加藤 進) — The textbook “protagonist’s best friend” character. He’s a founding member of the self-proclaimed “Unpopular Men’s Club”. Although he’s extremely jealous of Takuma for landing a girlfriend like Fuyunagi—thus “betraying” the Unpopular Men’s Club (a group Takuma never actually agreed to join)—Kato remains loyal to him despite both his jealousy and the negative public opinion surrounding Takuma.
- Fuyunagi Reiko (冬柳 澪子) — Fuyunagi Shizuku’s mother.
- Fuyunagi Kanemasa (冬柳 兼政) — Fuyunagi Shizuku’s father.