Chapter 10 - Chapter 9

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.......

A week had passed since then.

It had been seven days since I stormed into the Kutsuki residence and took custody of Aika—or, to put it bluntly, since I snatched her away.

During that time, I learned just how difficult it is to gain custody of a child who is a complete stranger to you.

You might think it would be simple since Kutsuki Daijirou had given his permission, but Aika and I share no blood relation, and I'm single.

For an unmarried adult man to adopt an underage girl is no small matter, and as expected, our request was met with reluctance by the family court.

Unlike special adoptions for children under six, regular adoptions require a legal representative.

In other words, someone who can vouch, "These two would be fine as parent and child." But neither of us had relatives we could ask to serve as representatives, so the role of legal representative was left entirely to the child welfare services.

However, even the staff at the child welfare services seemed to think that me adopting Aika was anything but ordinary.

No matter how much Kutsuki Daijirou had effectively neglected her, Aika and I share no blood relation, and we'd only known each other for a month.

On top of that, I'm single, and Aika is a girl at a delicate age.

Naturally, people suspect something other than a parent-child relationship—and in reality, we are involved physically (though of course, I kept that from the staff). From a purely common-sense perspective, the reasonable choice would be for Aika to live in a child welfare facility until she graduates high school and then become independent.

Honestly, it's a fair opinion.

An unmarried man adopting a middle school girl is beyond unconventional.

The fact that I didn't ask my own parents to act as legal representatives was partly for that very reason.

But I wanted to be her father.

Not in a sexual way—I didn't just want to hold her. I wanted to be her family.

That day, a week ago—when I saw Aika break down crying like a child after her adoptive father, Kutsuki Daijirou, told her he "didn't love her," anyone would've felt the same.

I wanted to make her happy.

I'm not arrogant enough to claim that I'm the only one who can do that, but at the very least, no one could match the depth of my desire to see her happy.

She needed a father's love.

That much was obvious from the way she was that day.

When Kutsuki Daijirou told her he "didn't love her," she burst into tears like a dam breaking. Somewhere in her heart, she must have been desperately craving her father's affection.

Even though she usually carries herself with poise.

Even though she acts mature beyond her years.

Because she's still just a middle school "daughter"—

"Hey, what do you think the new school will be like?"

"Even if you ask me, it's just a regular public middle school, so it'll probably be pretty average..."

The adoption process could take anywhere from one to six months. Given how unusual our case is, it'll likely take the full six.

In the meantime, I couldn't leave Aika at the Kutsuki residence. So even if official permission hasn't been granted yet, we've decided to live together.

The immediate problem was Aika's schooling.

After leaving the Kutsuki household, she'd spent a month homeless. Naturally, she hadn't attended school during that time, so her education had been on hold.

But simply sending her back to her old school wasn't an option—there were delicate issues involved.

For one, the school she attended, Kamisawa First Middle School, was apparently an upscale academy for young ladies. For a girl from such a prestigious background—especially one who used to live in a mansion—to suddenly return after a month-long absence would raise all sorts of questions. As her acting guardian, I couldn't just casually send her back to Kamisawa First—

That was the official reason, anyway.

The truth was, I couldn't afford to send her there.

From what I'd heard, the tuition at that school was nearly ten times that of a regular public middle school. While my salary wasn't exactly low, it was still painfully average, and there was no way I could keep up with those costs.

I could've asked Kutsuki Daijirou for the money, but neither of us liked that idea.

Aika wanted as much distance from the Kutsuki family as possible, and I had my own pride. I had no intention of begging the man who made her cry for money.

So instead, we visited a local public middle school for a tour.

Though "tour" made it sound casual, we'd already gathered most of the paperwork needed for her transfer. Today, we were here to finalize the process.

"Public middle schools really have boys in them, huh?"

Aika sounded fascinated, though it was the most ordinary thing in the world. But she'd never attended a co-ed school before, so sharing a classroom with boys was a novelty to her.

"Ah, are you jealous? Don't worry. I won't have sex with anyone but you, Dad."

"D-Don't say things like that in public!"

Flustered, I scolded her, and Aika stuck her tongue out mischievously. If any students or teachers overheard that, she'd be expelled before she even enrolled.

A week had passed since we stormed the Kutsuki residence, and her habit of calling me "Dad" had fully settled in.

I'd been making an effort to call her "Aika," but honestly, I still wasn't used to it.

"Hey, we're getting stared at."

Since it was Saturday, classes weren't in session, but students involved in club activities were scattered around the school grounds and hallways.

Baseball players practicing their swings on the field. Track team members stretching in the corridors. But every single one of them was staring at us—no, at Aika.

"Wait, that's Kamisawa's uniform, right? Why's a rich girl like her here?"

"Whoa, she's crazy pretty. Is she transferring here?"

"Her dad's so young! He looks like he's in his twenties."

Occasionally, I was mentioned too, but most of the attention was on Aika. The boys on the sports teams, in particular, had all but stopped their practice to gawk at her.

In short, Aika was beautiful.

Her mature aura set her apart from other girls her age, making her stand out even more. Add the uniform from an elite girls' school, and it was no surprise she was causing a stir.

"They said you look young. No one would ever guess you have a middle school daughter."

For some reason, Aika seemed delighted by this. Realistically, there was nothing unusual about a man my age having a thirteen-year-old daughter. I had plenty of friends who'd married at twenty and had kids.

But unfortunately, I've always looked younger than I am, and no one would ever believe I was the father of a middle schooler.

At best, they'd assume I was her much older brother or cousin.

But the truth was, we weren't actually parent and child. To avoid unnecessary rumors, we had to act the part as much as possible.

Though I had no idea what "acting like father and daughter" even meant.

Before long, we reached the faculty office. The teacher assigned to Aika was an older woman who seemed deeply puzzled by the fact that we didn't share the same last name. But in this day and age, few people pry into private family matters, and Aika was officially enrolled as a student at Kitanishi Middle School.

Once we got her uniform and textbooks, she'd be ready to start attending.

"Do you think you'll be okay at this school?"

I wanted to hear it from her directly. If she didn't like it, we could look for another school. I'd even move if necessary. Right now, nothing in my life took priority over Aika.

"Of course. As long as I'm with you, Dad, I can live anywhere."

Her smile made my heart skip a beat. The way she could say things like that without hesitation was one of her charms—something I'd only recently begun to appreciate.

Even though we'd started this pseudo-family life, we were still strangers in many ways.

But we had time to learn. All the time in the world.

"Hey, that's Kamisawa's uniform, right? Are you transferring here?"

A girl stood in front of us.

Short, boyish hair and sun-tanned skin. Her sleeveless uniform and short shorts left no doubt—she was on the track team.

Her features were handsome in a tomboyish way, but the curves of her limbs and waist left no question about her gender.

She was taller than Aika, and her confident demeanor made her seem like an upperclassman, but the "2-A" on her chest revealed she was the same age.

Normally, class numbers were printed on school-issued gym uniforms, but for some reason, she wore hers on her track gear. Did she wear her club uniform during P.E. too? If so, she was quite the free spirit.

"Yeah, but what's it to you?"

Aika wasn't one to back down, but she took half a step back from the sudden appearance of the track girl.

"Don't be so defensive. I was just wondering why a rich girl like you would end up here. Is this your dad? He looks way too young for that."

Caught off guard by the sudden question, I stiffened. She was sizing me up, standing uncomfortably close. Her revealing uniform made her well-developed physique all the more obvious.

"Yeah, so what? Is that a problem?"

Aika, who had been retreating just moments ago, now stepped between me and the track girl. Her hostility toward the stranger was unmistakable.

I'd never seen her so openly aggressive before.

"Problem? Not really… I just figured I'd say something before I come by to introduce myself properly."

"Huh?"

With that cryptic remark, the track girl returned to her training.

What did she mean by "introduce myself"? They weren't even in the same class yet.

"Dad, you're not allowed to get charmed by other girls, okay?"

For some reason, Aika was in a bad mood. She'd been so cheerful earlier, but a girl's heart was impossible to understand.

In the end, we left without learning the girl's identity. Aika would start attending in a few days, and we had a mountain of preparations to make.

We didn't have time to dwell on minor mysteries.

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