*Ring*
My phone rang again and i saw a message from my mother.
The text said "Go buy the bread, we forgot it.".
I replied to her with a cold "Ok." but instead of going, i remained to eavesdrop.
"Ema-Chan... Let's pretend that nothing happened, okay? Jealousy is like this." My mother said.
"Jealousy?" I thought. "Ema never told me about any jealousy issues. We were 100% sincere with ourselves... That's how couple works... I should talk with her."
"Y-You're right, mother. You're right." Ema said. Her voice was still trembling but i couldn't sense a cry in her words.
*Riing*
Another message from my mother arrived , saying "No more need to buy, i found it, just come home.".
"I'm already here, open the door." I texted back.
After five long minutes, my mother opened the door and, like nothing happened, both Ema and her greeted me with an enourmous smile.
It was such a beautiful smile, that i never saw coming from them. Too beautiful to be real.
"I'm home!" I said, faking a joyful tone.
"Darling! Welcome home!" Ema smiled and clinged on my arm, nuzzling her head into my chest and then looking at me with puppy eyes.
I could see that they were still wet from a cry. I could see that she wasn't feeling well.
But still, i hugged her and gave her a kiss on her cheek.
"Eheh... Thank you, Ema." I smiled back.
"Dinner is almost ready. Come with us, we were talking about our past, and how you two met each other!" My mother said, smiling at me.
Too perfect to be real.
I decided to play along with them, pretending i was just arrived.
"Oh what a surprise!! Thank you! What are we cooking tonight?" I asked. "Because i just went to the Sakura to get some vanilla candies!" I added, while showing the package with the candies.
When i said the word "Sakura", i could feel a little tremble coming from Ema's body.
She then looked at me and stammered a few words. "O-Oh! My favorites! D-Did you take them f-for me, darling?".
Her tone of voice was kinda nervous. She was very good at acting, but i'm really good at smelling lies. She wasn't feeling happy. I could sense... Sadness , in her voice.
Her eyes were not shining like before.
"Yes. I did it only for my love!" I smiled and hugged her tight. She hugged me back, but her grip around my body was very weak and... her arms were too light, like they were trembling.
I could see that she was forcing a smile but still, i pretended not to see it.
"Oh! I love you! Y-You're so special. I can't wait to marry you..." She said. This time her grip tightened.
My mother, seeing us two, smiled and said: "Well then, lovebirds, shall we go eat? Everything's ready."
"Yes, i'm ready." I broke the hug with Ema and gave the Vanilla candies box to my mother. "We'll eat these for dessert!" I said smiling.
"Okay, i'll put them in the fridge." She smiled back and took the candies to the fridge.
"And you, Ema? Are you ready" I asked her.
"I'm... hungry." She smiled weakly, but i could see a small glimpse of happiness in her eyes... Or so i thought.
"I'm glad. Let's go have dinner then!"
We both nodded and walked towards the kitchen, holding hands.
We then all sat on the table, which was already filled with all my favorite food.
Too perfect to be real.
"Itadakimasu!" We all said, before starting to eating our dinner.
*Inside the house were me, my mother, my brother and Ema. My father died a long time ago due to a car accident.*
When we started eating, Ema looked at me and asked: "So... What happened with Arai-Sensei? She wanted to talk with you." .
I immediately blushed, remembering about the transfer student.
"N-Nothing important." I said while looking away.
Ema suspiciously looked into my eyes and with her hand , she turned my head back to her.
"What is it with that blush? Did you cheat on me with Arai-Sensei?" She said with a glimpse of jealousy.
"*Sigh* No. She only asked me to be the guide to a transfer student that is coming next week to our school-" My voice got interrupted by Ema.
A red bloodlust aura was around her.
"So? Is it a boy, or a GIRL?!" She asked, sounding like a crazy psychopath.
*I even love that side of her*.
"I-It's a girl. She's a french girl named Evangeline Beaufort." I said.
Ema calmed down a little after seeing that i didn't lie to her, but i could still sense a bit of jealousy.
"I can't believe it. Why should you be the one who helps her?" She mumbled while eating her food.
"W-Well, Arai-Sensei actually recommended me to the director. I don't know why me." I said while eating.
"Ara, ara~ My little prince is popular among girls~ Fufufu~ Just like his father." She giggled.
"My father was popular among girls?" I asked in surprise.
*My mother doesn't usually talk about my father because it's a very sensitive topic for her. Since his death, she even remained single because of her love for him.*
"Ahaha! Yes. He truly was a gentleman and he had a lot of charm. He was **Really** popular. Every woman wanted to steal him from me." She said, with a nostalgic tone.
"I was really jealous when i was around him. Every woman looked lustfully at him... I was so jealous but i have so many beautiful memories of him." My mother got emotional. "Did i ever tell you about how we met each other?".
While my mother was talking, Ema's jealousy was disappearing, but still, she still seemed bothered by something.
"Yes, Mother! Tell me!" Takibi said. "I want to hear about Papa!" He added joyfully.
"So... I'll tell you..." My mother replied while cleaning her mouth. "It was during my time in high school when i first saw your father. He was always the shy type... I never cared about him since i was a very popular girl... But someday he randomly bumped into me..." She said with a confident tone.
"How is my mother talking so freely about my father...? Isn't that a sensitive topic for her...?" I thought, while i was still eating my food.
"Anzu-san, didn't you say that your husband was really popular among the girls...?" Ema asked.
"Hahaha! Yes, i said it. But he became popular after we become a couple. I literally transformed him into a man!" She laughed.
But her laugh was... trembling. My mother wasn't feeling comfortable by talking about this.
"Anyway, where was i...? Oh yeah! So he bumped into me... And, i got mad at him, but i didn't yell at him... I just... told him that he was an idiot and that he should be more careful. I remember that his face was red like an apple and his voice was trembling. He said: "I'm sorry, i'm just searching for... for the library...!" while rubbing his hair and scratching the back of his head. After he raised his look to me i saw his eyes and , without knowing, i was already in love with him... And that is how i met him... "
"Wow... What a beautiful story!" Takibi said while wiping his mouth with a napkin. "Fumihiro, do you remember the first time you met Ema? I think that it's the same thing!"
Ema looked at me with an evil smirk.
"Oh, yeah, Fumihiro, do you remember our first meeting?" She said with a gentle but threathening tone while finishing to eat and putting the fork down.
I sighed. "O-Of course i remember. How could i forget?" I said proudly.
"Tell us, son! It's been so long since we last heard that story!!" My mother said joyfully.
"Okay then." I took a deep breath. "It was a normal day of summer and i saw a bunch of bullies bullying a little girl. At the time, i wasn't as brave as now, so i tried to avoid them and walk past them. But then, i saw a poor girl crying and screaming "Stop it!!" and then my "Super-hero" instincts awoken and i ran towards the bullies with a stick and my dog to help that girl... and thanks to my courage , i saved her!" I said with a proud smile.
Ema's eyes began to sparkle. But the light in her eyes wasn't the same as every other day.
She clinged into my arm and said "So you remember !" But her body was trembling a little.
"What a couple of lovebirds!" My mother said in a playful tone. "Ema-Chan, how did you feel when he saved you?" She then asked.
She let go of my arm and started thinking.
"To be honest , i wasn't expecting someone who could save me… but when i saw Fumihiro coming for me… I was happy. In that exact moment i said to myself "He'll be my future husband" and now… here we are.
Ema clinged to me again and smiled.
"I'm so glad that someone loves my son so much…" my mother said in a lovely tone, but still, for some strange reason, i sensed a glimpse of sadness in her words.
Ema smiled back at my mother and said a strange phrase to her.
"I… love him so much… I'm so happy… I'd never hurt him. I want to marry him after we graduate"
*She never talked about something like this before, especially in presence of my mother.*
I blushed after what she said.
"M-Marry me ? Isn't it a little bit early to talk about marriage?" I mumbled.
"Why? Do you plan on breaking up with me!? I'll never let you go. And I'll never lose you to another woman." Ema said, while the grip on my arm tightened a little.
"What?!? No! Why should I break up with you? I just think that it's early to talk about marriage" I said while giggling nervously.
Ema looked straight into my eyes and said with a firm tone: "Fumihiro. I just don't want to lose you…despite everything that will happen… I want you to stay with me… and never leave me." She said.
My mother and my little brother were listening. Ema didn't care about their presence.
My body shivered after I heard these words. She was sincere. She was not lying. She really wanted to stay with me forever. But… her eyes were wet. She was holding back tears. Her body was still trembling.
"Maybe she really got emotional…" I thought in my mind.
After what some seconds to process her words, I smiled at her and gave a small headpat to comfort and reassure her , like I was saying "I will never leave you alone".
She leaned into my touch and rested her head on my shoulder and then she said "Thank you, Fumihiro."
My mother smiled tenderly at us and then she stood up, while taking my little brother's hand.
"Takibi, let's go to sleep, okay?" She said.
"Yes, mommy!!" He said happily while standing up from the chair.
My mother then looked at us and said "Goodnight, lovebirds! I hope everything will go well between you two." She then walked away from us while grabbing Takibi's little hand, and when she was at the door she said "You'll be the one to clean the kitchen today, okay?".
I nodded at her while she closed the door, leaving us alone.
Ema looked at me, directly into my eyes , as she was indirectly asking for a kiss.
She leaned in and closed her eyes.
Her lips were getting close to mine but…
"Ema, wait a second." I said while stopping her and looking down.
Her body twitched a little after hearing my words as she opened her eyes and looked at me with a surprised look. It was a mix of fear and… love.
"E-Eh…? Fumihiro…? W-W-Why didn't you kiss me?" She asked. "We always do this everyday…". Her eyes were still wet.
"I mean… you've been acting strangely today. Is there something bothering you?" I gently asked with a smile on my face, while inside my heart a mix of bad emotions were hurting me.
"You know you can tell me everything, Ema." I said while rubbing my hand on her cheeks and playing with her hair.
I always done that to calm her down during bad or stressful moments.
Instead of leaning into my touch, she twitched at my touch, like she got scared.
I couldn't ignore that reaction.
"Ema… is everything alr-" I tried to ask her.
"Yes." She said coldly.
"I've been only stressed because of school." She added.
After those words, she kissed me.
But i didn't felt the usual romance of our kisses.
That kiss was bitter.
She kept kissing me more passionately, and our tongues were dancing together like always.
"Mmm- Mmph-" The silence of the room was filled with the sound of our kisses.
After some seconds, i closed my eyes and lost myself into the kiss.
Ema's hand was caressing my chest while she slowly got on top of me.
Something was not right.
Ema's kisses , Ema's behave… it was like she wanted to forget something or like she wanted to distract me. It wasn't 100% genuine.
She then broke the kiss.
"F-Fumihiro… Please… let's go to your room. I'll sleep with you tonight. I want to." She said, while her breathing got heavier with two big ,wet and lustful eyes.
"Ema… I…~" She then sealed my mouth with another kiss.
Her hand grabbed mine, and then she gently guided it on her soft chest.
She then made my hand squeeze it.
She was trying to get a reaction from me.
In other situations, i would've already get excited… but…
"Ema, stop it." I said after breaking the kiss and removing my hand from her chest.
She looked down.
"Can you tell me what's going on? Is there something bothering you, Ema? You're not acting like your usual self."
Ema remained silent for ten seconds.
She kept looking down on the floor while getting off me.
"Fumihiro… i… i… just… I'm sorry." She said.