My Rental Boyfriend Is My Boss?! - Chapter 23

Chapter 23. The Squirrel in His Hand

“Yeah. I heard it was originally from a samurai family.”

“What?”

Michiru was taken aback by the unexpected words. She had always thought that his taciturn and intimidating appearance was like that of a samurai, but she never thought that he really had samurai blood in him.

While Michiru didn’t hide her surprise, Kamijemori remained indifferent, as if it were something else.

“In the past, I was strictly disciplined by my grandma. If you are a man of the samurai family, who is to become the head of the Kamijemori family, you could be beaten with a wooden sword for speaking out so… so I couldn’t say something like this.”

He looked at the squirrel in his hand and chuckled.

‘Yeah, that’s why…’

The fact that he hid it so well was probably the result of being suppressed since childhood. In recent years, it’s not uncommon for men to like cute things and women to like cool things, but his upbringing didn’t condone it.

Regardless of his level of trust, no matter how much he thought that Michiru would never deny it, his deeply rooted values probably prevented him from saying it.

The haze of unconsciousness cleared, but at the same time, imagining Kamijemori as a child made her heart ache as if it were being pinched.

At least Michiru didn’t have the kind of parent who denied her the opportunity to do whatever she wanted.

The fact that Kamijemori bought a lot of stuffed animals and goods may have been a reaction to his repressed feelings at that time.

“When my uncle, who left home early, came back for New Year’s, he would gather the kids together at night and secretly show them anime. Maybe he wanted them to have some childish fun in their strict life of education. It was then that I realized that I had never felt such strong emotions when I watched these two cartoons. I didn’t even know such strong feelings existed. It was a shock to… me, and at the same time, I respected them. Maybe it’s a little like longing.”

Kamijemori lovingly stroked the squirrel in his hand.

He wore an air of serenity, but Michiru’s heart was not clear. She felt like she could hear his words again, that he wanted to change.

The education he had received for the sake of his family must have robbed him of his childishness and not allowed him to smile. Michiru couldn’t even imagine. The fact that Kamijemori was free now seemed to be the best thing that could happen to him.

“That… house…”

If he was going to become the patriarch of the family, would he quit his current job when the time comes and return to his parents’ home to take over the family?

‘I don’t like that…’

Michiru couldn’t help but mention it out of anxiety, and Kamijemori shook his head.

“Oh. When I was in college, I found out that my grandma had passed away, and everyone was sick of being tied to the family. It’s not the time to be talking about bloodlines. I had already run away from home, so I went back to the funeral and was told about it. I could live my life as I liked. But they told me to come home once in a while… like a normal family. But I don’t know what a normal family is anymore.”

Michiru shook her head and smiled as Kamijemori laughed in annoyance.

“There is probably no such thing as a normal family anywhere.”

Michiru didn’t know what a normal family was either. But she smiled because she thought that’s probably what Kamijemori’s home was. Kamijemori narrowed his eyes dazzlingly and nodded, “I see.”

“So, you like Kimmy?”

Then she must have been the savior of the young Kamijemori. When he looked at her with a different kind of affection, Kamijemori followed suit and looked down at his hands.

“Such a lovely creature with a sad past, but a powerful heart. Who wouldn’t love to see twins who live such a life and smile so healthily?”

“… Uh, the human who gets attacked every night…?”

“In the end, he also changed his mind and built a grave for his victims with his friends in the forest. You haven’t seen the 72 year old short film “The Forest Avenger”?”

“Yeah, well… I haven’t had time to watch it, and… it’s really old.”

“I saw it on a VHS tape.”

“Hahaha…”

Michiru felt like she wanted to watch the more talkative Kamijemori for a while longer, but it was already late. Michiru yawned a little as the fatigue of playing around all day began to take its toll on her.

She yawned a little, “Come on, please go to bed. Tomorrow is… Sunday, but you’re probably tired, so you should get some rest. You’ve done a lot of driving.”

Michiru urged Kamijemori to go to bed as well, but he looked at Michiru suspiciously.

“No, wait. I can’t show you the movie, so let me explain.”

“What?”

Michiru had a fierce bad feeling about this. Before she could answer, Kamijemori sat up from the bed and went to a nearby low table.

“Do you have any paper? Listen, first of all, back in 1938, the first animated short film by Denny was born.”

“No way.”

Michiru looked up at the ceiling.

“Look, there’s paper. There are many characters involved, so I’ll explain them in order. The main character of Denny Land is…”

“… Denny.”

“Yes, you read that right. His first appearance was in the animated short Magical, and he was initially only a minor character.”

Apparently, Michiru was not going to be able to sleep for a while yet.