MaruMA:Gaiden02:Chapter 1

My Son is in Ma!Freelance Work!?

Boys really are boring.

Even though they're stuck to their mother's side when they're small, just when you think their voices changed a little, they start making a face like they grew up all by themselves.

When that happens, not only won't they go shopping with me anymore, they won't even try to wear the clothes I choose for them. My college student, eldest son doesn't cause me any issues, but the problem is my naughty younger son. He wears blue t-shirts every day, having inherited his father's terrible FASHION SENSE.

Despite this, I tried many things while he was little to somehow raise him like a girl.

I made everything in his room pink, I made him hold cute toys, I grew out his hair and tied it up like a bunny and sent him to kindergarten.

But it was completely futile.

Even though he was passable because he looked like me, his baseball-loving father threw him into little league so by the time he was a middle-schooler, he had become a crude outdoor type.

Well, even baseball boys are invigorating and well-mannered and youthful!- which would be nice, but... I feel like that sweaty shine's 'sparkle' is fundamentally different than the 'sparkle' I was going for.

"... ba~ck."

Without even saying "I'm", my second son opens the front door and walks all the way from the foyer to the living room. There are wet footprints left behind on the floor.

Out of the two family mutts sprawled face-up across the sofa, the older one, Cianfrocco, weaves around his legs. The younger one, Zinter, is waiting to be pet with his stomach exposed.

"Wait! Wait, Yuu-chan!"

My youngest son's name is Shibuya Yuuri Ebisu Benri.

The way it sounds, the impression it makes, and its auspiciousness are all good. I think it is a masterpiece of naming, if I do say so myself. Unfortunately, the one who named him wasn't me but a super cool, foreign fencer.

"Yuu-chan, how come your uniform is soaking wet!? If it's raining you have to tell me."

"It's not raining."

"Then why are you dripping wet? Ah, is it bullying!? Have you been bullied? This is bad. Are you being bullied at school, Yuu-chan?"

"No."

He looked embarrassed and, as if he had no choice since he had been caught, he took his right foot off of the stairs he was about to climb.

I wonder if the drainage water smell is just my imagination?

"Ew, no it's not just my imagination. Something really stinks, Yuu-chan. I don't know what happened, but take a bath. Once you're bathed, I'm going to hear all about this bullying."

"I told you it's not bullying. Um, well, I fell into a public toilet."

"What? How exactly does your entire body get soaked from a toilet? Is it a cutting-edge, shower toilet? Mama understands even if you don't hide it. Yuu-chan is cute like your Mama so jealous kids bully you in absurd ways! But don't worry, I absolutely won't tolerate bullying. Come tomorrow, Mama is going to go out to the school!"

"There's no high school student who has the free time to go around doing stuff like that! If my parents come to the school uninvited, I'm going to be laughed at forever, you know!?"

"I'm not your parent, I'm your Mama."

This is what I heard later, but it seems like my son got in a fight with some delinquents to save a friend named Muraken-kun.

But, I was almost exasperated as I pushed the dripping wet Yuuri into the bathroom.

Hey, is it really okay like this?

Overlooking the fact that he's not a pretty boy TYPE, he actually is a son I am proud of. He's a little hot-headed, but he has a strong sense of justice. His grades are bad, but he thinks quickly. He's timid, but he has bravery.

He only thinks about baseball and baseball and baseball and girls, but I think his life is fun.

Without being specifically told so by anyone, he's living while feeling with his own instincts that everything in this world is wonderful.

"Yuu-chan is a son I'm proud of. You're Mama and Papa's masterpiece."

But you know, can he really work that special job like this?

The start of it all was something I was told around twenty years ago and ever since then, my problem has still not been resolved to this very day. In other words, this:

What about wings...?

---

This is something I heard later, however.

At that time, the person in question had already decided in his heart.

It was a meeting that had happened several times since the new year and an excessively fancy cup of tea was brought to me who came twenty minutes late.

"Sorry! I couldn't really sleep well last night. Even though it's the middle of winter, by my ear a mosquito... a mosquito... mosquito..."

"Hyakuman goku?"

Kaga Hyakuman Goku?

I immediately shrunk back thinking that this person might be a man that made dad jokes.

The other person was a senior at a reasonably famous university and was a plain man without any great passions. He had a medium build without any exceptional physical features and he had a face that was hard to call attractive.

When he called out to me, my first impression was 'Ah! Little droopy eyes!' It was something terribly rude like that.

The downward tilted corners of the eyes of an Italian man are really sexy, but the drooping eyes of a Japanese person only gives a feeling of a nice personality. As such, when asked about the attractiveness of the opposite sex, Student K from the same club was several levels higher than this man.

But he took the prize when it came to bad fashion sense and a name's impact and even today in this cloudy weather when a snow flurry could fall any moment, he's wearing yellow and green checkered pants. The cloth is clearly meant for summer.

His full name wasn't out of season, but when we were handing out fake business cards in our student club, I blurted it out.

"Shibuya... Ka- Kachiuma-san?"

"No, not Kachiuma, it's Shouma. It'd be a pain if you lumped me in with some horse racing newspaper. And you... your name is Jennifer... do you have a strange family structure?"

"Eh~, the computer fortune telling said that if I made my nickname Jennifer that it would open me up to good luck."

"Uhuh, fortune telling, huh?"

Without laughing derisively like everyone else, Shibuya Shouma(Shouma, not Kachiuma)-kun nodded with a knowing look. It might have been the reason why I was okay with a second meeting with this ordinary man who hit on me.

Anyway, on the fifth visit to a store that specialized in black tea, Shibuya Kachiuma-kun (nickname: Uma-chan) made a startling confession.

On the other side of my middle-parted bangs that were in fashion at the time, he started his confession by saying it wasn't anything special and then revealed that he wasn't human.

"Yeah, actually I'm a mazoku."

"Eh?"

As soon as I heard that, my mental image unfolded and I immediately asked a question.

"What about wings? Hey, Uma-chan. Wings."

"Huh?"

"Do you have wings?"

"No."

He gave a short denial with a stupid face that looked like he was taken by surprise.

It seems to have been a counterattack he wasn't expecting from a 22-year-old woman about to graduate from a competent women's college.

"Wha~t, you don't?"

"I can't say for sure that I don't have them, but at the very least, I haven't heard that I was born with wings-... eh wait a minute, Jennifer. Is a story this bizarre something you normally just believe?"

I wonder if he was expecting a reaction along the lines of laughing and assuming it was a joke or pretending to be interested and going along with his story for a while.

Despite that, I was in front of him unreservedly putting sugar and lemon in my tea.

"Well, is it a lie?"

"No no, it's true. Correct. No lies."

"Right? And if we're talking about appearance, there are black, elegant, flapping wings that can fly, right?"

"What's that... Is a girl's image of a mazoku like that?"

"We~ll, I wanted to touch them and find out if they're like fluffy fluffy Lord Lucifer's or like flappy bat Ougon Bat's."

Wrinkles appear between his eyebrows as if he wanted to say 'You have a screw loose somewhere?' However, it seemed like there was curiosity flickering in the depths of his eyes, close to his heart.

I heard this from him later, but it he was told 'choose a partner carefully' by his uncle on his father's side so many times it could give him a callous in his ear.

Speaking of which, had that lecture disappeared from his brain or something at my sudden question?

But you know, if I had to say, Uma-chan wasn't acting the slightest bit careful from the very first time we met.

The first time we spoke was while he was giving out information on Universiade's venue (he was a volunteer even though he's a mazoku) and I asked him for directions because I was competing in fencing. Even though it was our first meeting, he had eyes that kind of said TARGET LOCK ON.

I was conceited and assumed it was because I was beautiful, but afterwards when I got him drunk and made him confess, he said it was simply because he looked at my butt and thought that it was a splendid shape for easy childbirth.

How incredibly rude.

The topic of conversation stretched WORLDWIDE from his family to the mazoku of the world, the forgotten black tea steadily getting colder and even the lemon was stained red.

"So if you get a wife and have a child, will that child be a mazoku and human HALF?"

"I don't know. You can't tell until they're born. Me and my granddad are mazoku, but my grandma is a regular human. We still can't tell which my dad is."

With the thin and elegant spoon still clutched in my hand, I spoke up with a high voice in irritation. "Which? How vague. Isn't there some sort of mark like three 6's on your head?"

"That's way too stereotypical, don't you think? When a child is born to a blood relative, they say the elders know what they are, but... when it was me, I heard grandfather was overjoyed saying 'This one's it!' but with my two younger brothers, it was a questionable, weak feeling."

"... When you say weak, do you mean like their hair?"

"That's not it."

"Weird."

"Well even if I say mazoku, it's not like we're all that different from everyone else."

For example, my great-grandmother lived until 97, but her son in law lived past 100. We seem to have the general trait of longevity, but it's not like it's that much more than humans. If you ask 'you're a mazoku so what of it?' I can't give a clear answer, he said as he threaded his fingers behind his head and scraped his chair across the floor, ignoring the atmosphere of the shop.

After wetting my throat with the completely cold lemon tea, I asked an important question regarding international peace.

"Are the mazoku after world domination? Are you controlling the world from the shadows by leading humans down a path of evil?"

"Well even we are putting hard work into controlling things. On one hand we buy and sell plots of land, on another hand we intervene in financial speculation."

What?

Those are just regular economic activities.

"Eh~? You don't seduce beautiful women and make them betray their husbands or steal children and suck their blood?"

"Stop, that's not a mazoku, that's a demon."

Comparing mazoku and demons, I try calling up an image of a typical demon. Um, a goat's beard, a goat's horns - was it the horns instead of a beard? Or was it both?

What about the fingers and toes? It doesn't seem like they would have a face, torso, and legs of a goat but then only the fingers and toes were like a human's. But, you can't seduce beautiful women with hooves.

And the university student talking to a beautiful woman (me) is saying that they don't seduce.

"Ah~ I'm confused. I don't get it at all!"

"Actually me, my father, my grandfather, my grandaunt, my great grandmother, her father and his brother only understand it vaguely. There are lots of us mazoku throughout the world, but I've never met something called a demon."

"No way! Then there's no confrontations or disputes or virtuous battles?"

"Well for starters, we can't do that if there's no opponent."

"That's true. That sort of thing is group vs. group... Ah!"

Something occurred to me at the word 'group' and I braced myself and asked a question.

"Then who is the TOP of Uma-chan and your people's group? Is there actually a Maou?"

In a tone as if that question was an easy one, Shouma-kun said proudly, "There is. I've met him several times. That actor, um, who was it? The one in Taxi Driver. Ah, that's right! Robert De Niro - he looks just like him. There's no way he's the real one, though."

This happened a bit later, but De Niro played a human-like Maou in a movie along with Mickey Rourke.

That aside, it seems that I have again greatly defied his expectations. Not only did I easily accept the truth, I'm overjoyed at hearing a favorite name.

"Wow! The best Maou is De Niro? Then what about Al Pacino?"

"He's suspicious as well."

"Then, then, ah! What about Sean Connery? Tommy Lee Jones?"

"Those ones are kinda angel-y."

"Then what about Kevin Bacon?"

"You know if you're even asking about him, are you just asking about your type?"

This might be hard to believe, but at that time Kevin Bacon was at the level that Brad Pitt is at now.

"Hey now, this is starting to get fun! I mean, even though there's someone who looks just like a Hollywood actor as the Maou, there are mazoku like normal Japanese, droopy-eyed Uma-chan, right?"

"That's right."

"And then you don't know if children are mazoku until they're born, right?"

"That's right."

"But, you can't say for sure that there aren't any wings."

"... I'm sorry that part isn't for sure."

In the end, I ended up coming back to my first problem and I spun my teacup around on its saucer meaninglessly.

Even though that was what I wanted to know.

At this point, I absolutely want to see the back of his child. No, I'd rather be there when it is born. Then I would be able to confirm if they were fluffy wings or flappy wings and then I'd want to ask for a photo in commemoration.

In order for that to happen, he'd need a household and I'd have to maintain an ideal friendship with him at least until JUNIOR is born. For even better preparations, I'd have to develop a friendship with his wife as well. After all, there's no way I'd be let into the delivery room unless we had a fairly close relationship.

"... Kachiuma-kun."

"It's Shou~ma-kun."

"That's right, Uma-chan. Um, would you like to go out with an older girl?"

He answered vaguely after tapping his cheek with his index finger and mumbling for about two seconds.

"I'd be willing to."

"What does that mean? You want to? You don't?"

There was a true demonic plan forming in my heart. At that moment, I ignored the feelings of those involved. I mean, I really wanted to see the wings!

"By any chance are you trying to set me up with another woman... maybe your older sister?"

"Ahh, my mind might have been read by a mazoku."

"We don't have that kind of special ability. You're very clearly making a face that says you're planning something."

My plan failed in just ten seconds.

I collapsed forward onto the white table and imagined the mystery I was unable to unravel. There might just be little ones attached like Kewpie-chan or maybe one person in a million will have elegant black wings.

Who shall I leave the future research to? Um, to those researchers in the future I cannot yet see, I want you to find an answer before the people who came before you die.

After looking at my whorl of hair for a little while, Kachiuma-kun started the conversation again with an amused voice.

"Hey."

"Wha~t?"

"Why am I being set up with another woman in the middle of a date?"

"Well I wanna see if a mazoku baby has wings as soon as possible. My older sister is 29 and she says every day that she can GO! at any time if only she had a partner."

"Then why don't you find out yourself?"

"That's... It won't work. I'm not a mazoku."

"What a coincidence. Luckily, I'm a mazoku."

"Yeah, but I'm uneasy with an older man... Wait, Uma-chan and I are the same age, right?"

"Ah, I didn't get into university on the first try so I'm a year older."

"I see... Ah, but it's still no good! It's too irresponsible to raise a mazoku human HALF as a SINGLE MOTHER!"

They might be an incredibly big eater, or at other times they might cry with supersonic waves. The moment I take my eyes off them, they might go out into the yard by themselves and grab lizards and mice and try to snuggle up close while saying 'Praise me! Praise me!'

Ah, it's impossible alone!

"Then we must get married."

"But they might skewer lizards and frogs on tree branches and just completely forget about them, you know!?"

"Isn't that a completely different species? I certainly didn't skewer anything on tree branches. Are you talking about shrikes? You're definitely talking about shrikes, right? I'll say this once again just in case, let's get married."

Huh?

A count started in my head. The numbers increase one by one and in the end, they stop at 5.

"But Kachiuma-kun, today is the fifth time we've met?"

"So you counted that before our ages? Okay, then since it's only the 5th time, let's start with getting engaged."

"... Wa-wait a second."

Shibuya Shouma put his elbows on the table and leaned forward so that his hips were slightly hovering above the seat. His right arm was extended in my direction in a pose like he was challenging me to an arm-wrestling match.

He had little droopy eyes that looked more like Hanshin's Mayumi than Stallone and a what-are-you-so-happy-about smile.

"O- on the fifth..." With all my fingers trembling with the tension before a match, I grabbed the mazoku's wrist. "I'll take that spirit of proposing on the fifth date!"

READY, GO!

"Alright! Then let's get married, Jennifer!"

"... I'm sorry, Uma-chan... I'll tell you my real name..."

I was almost entered into the family register as Shibuya Jennifer.

---

Things went fairly smoothly and the two of us got married six months ago.

Even when my eldest son was born in a state hospital in Arkansas, with steady eyes, the first thing I asked was as follows:

"... W-... wings...?"

"... Unfortunately..."

In front of his wife who was frustrated to the bottom of her heart and swearing to try again, my husband's droopy eyes apologetically drooped even more.

The Shibuya family's grandfather who rushed over from Japan was very pleased with the birth of his first grandchild, but he didn't tell me or my husband whether our son was a member of the mazoku.

When Shouri was over a year old, the company finally called all the Japanese workers back to Boston and we ended up living in a house in the suburbs.

But, there was one problem.

The big, old, and good city was the home of the Red Sox and it ended up re-igniting my husband's passion for baseball.

Whenever he had free time, he would take my eldest son to the ball park and buy goods, show him games, and line up for autographs - all in order to raise my son to be a baseball lover like his dad.

However, the only things Shouri showed any interest in were the popcorn and team mascot's costume. Even though he had a near-brainwashing childhood education, to this very day I have no idea why he turned out to be an ordinary honors student instead of a baseball lover or a sports lover or costume lover.

My son told me this later, but the team mascot was apparently more scary than it was cute. It seems like the standard for determining cuteness was quite different in between Japan and America.

On a cloudy morning that seemed like it could snow, my husband called me from work to tell me that he was going to meet Bob for the first time in a while.

"Who's Bob?"

"I told you, didn't I? The Maou that looks like De Niro."

"Why is he 'Bob' even though it's the Maou!?"

"I don't know. He always makes us call him that. When I got to the office, there was a sudden appointment there."

His nickname is Bob and he made his own appointment. What a frank and peasant-like Maou.

"No way! Then you've finally been summoned to His Majesty the Maou's castle, right?"

My husband answered dubiously from the other end of the phone.

"We're meeting at a place where you lose the ability to taste the food if you ask the price. Even though he's a king, it's not like he's sitting on a throne in a castle. He's kind of always flying around the world. Being an international investor is troublesome."

I wonder if that's for world domination?

"You're going to eat? Then I'll come along too, of course."

"No, it's lunch so I'll go alone."

"Eh? In America, with a society where people take their wives along everywhere to an astonishing degree, from drinking parties to home parties, you were told to come alone?

"Uh, yeah."

Despite the fact that no one was listening, I adjusted my hold on the receiver and completely lowered the tone of my voice.

"... Isn't that a little suspicious?"

"What is?"

"I mean, this is a country where lovers who might split up at any time bring along their partner, not to mention properly married couples. But even so, he chose you for lunch without your wife accompanying you. He's a bit suspicious."

"Is that suspicious?"

"It is! He might be ge- ge- ge"

"No Kitaro?"

What kind of joke are you telling at a time like this?

"No! Maybe he's gay!? No~, what do I do? My own husband is being lured into Hallucinations! Are you listening? If something happens, you have to tell me. "

"... Somehow, darling, you seem to be having fun."

"H- how rude. I'm worrying about you."

In the end, he hurriedly went to the restaurant alone and had a lunch where his sense of taste didn't work for the first time in a while.

This is what I heard later, but Maou Bob was more dignified than an actor you see on screen and he was wearing a black suit and black sunglasses.

I wanted to meet him once, but since I had been denied by the other party, I laid in wait until my husband came home and relentlessly drilled him for the details about what happened.

He said that at the same time my husband made his greetings and sat in his chair, Maou Bob jumped right into an innocuous topic.

"It looks like the Red Sox are doing well, aren't they?"

"They're doing so-so."

In truth, His Majesty the Maou liked American football more than baseball so this was only polite chatter.

Wonder if the reason he's directly taking his inferior's interests into consideration is because he's about to press a troublesome issue?

There was one other unknown guest in the private room supplied by the restaurant besides my husband and Bob.

"Shibuya, he is Lord Weller, a guest of mine."

Since the other party didn't move to accept his handshake, my husband drew back his hand. After all, he had long, dark brown hair and there was not a sliver of friendliness floating in his light brown eyes.

Apparently, even though appeared to be much younger than Shouma-kun, about 17 or 18, in actuality he had easily lived five times as long.

After hearing that, I stamped my feet in frustration and felt bitter. Looking like a high-schooler after passing 80? If a beauty technique so enviab-... dreadful exists in this world, I absolutely wanted to hear all about it.

The young man who had been introduced had eyes drenched in a deep, dark emptiness as if he hated his own existence.

I heard this later, but that was because just before coming to this world, he had lost his beloved someone, among other things.

I see, you might get eyes like that.

After hearing that Lord Weller was a mazoku who came from another world, my husband received a new shock.

"I thought that maybe this was how it was for regular people when I confess by saying, 'Actually, I'm a mazoku.'"

He repeated this sentiment several times, so since I didn't remember any shock from his COMING OUT, I felt like I had done something bad.

Anyway.

He couldn't not ask the reason after hearing the shocking truth of 'Another world!'

"Oh, what is he here to do after deliberately coming from another world?"

"He came here to protect the soul of the future Maou."

"... You mean your successor?"

"No, this isn't about Earth. It's the person who will eventually become Lord Weller's master," Bob explained slowly while peeling an egg over a finger bowl. It looks hard to peel with his long white fingernails sticking into the egg white. Thin bits of calcium fall into the water. "That soul is planned to be your child."

"Hah?"

My husband had been completely engrossed in wondering why a boiled egg was served with French cuisine and ended up making an idiotic sound after being suddenly presented with a family issue. Thinking that he was talking about Shouri, he panicked and tried to protect him in his own way.

"No, my son already has his own soul."

"That's not it, I mean a life that will be born in the future. When do you plan on having your second child?"

"Well, I have to discuss that with my wife."

"It should be as soon as possible. When your second child 'forms' in this world, it will probably house the Maou's soul from the other world. Of course I believe you know this, but all souls go through a repeating cycle of rebirth-"

"I'm sure I understand that. Grandpa clearly and repeatedly taught me, after all," Shouma hurriedly interrupted Bob.

Long story short, that lesson seems to be that souls are constantly recycled and if it's scrubbed clean, even if the ball of light was all used up by someone in a previous life, the next baby can use it again.

That is something that can never be verified to be true or not while you're alive, and also, a novice like me can't even begin to imagine how the souls are booked.

Of course, that went for my mazoku husband as well.

"There's nothing to worry about. It will go well when the time comes."

Think of it as someone else's problem.

"So why did you bring it to far-away Boston and not your own country? Not only that, why did you choose my family from the tons of mazoku all over the world?"

"There seems to be some reasons. However, I haven't been told them and I don't intend to ask." Bob, who looked like an actor, narrowed his eyes meaningfully. "This is an important soul that will eventually become a king. They're sending it abroad - and to another world where the society and culture is different. That requires significant resolve and, conversely, a significant reason. Under those circumstances, the other side gave us their faith and entrusted it to us. Shouldn't we try to meet their expectations?"

"I guess so, but..."

A school professor would be one thing, but to defy the king of the underworld of all people is something I absolutely could not do. However, my Shouma-kun is quite bold and on principle delves right into the part he doesn't agree with.

"Why my family? There are beautiful couples everywhere out there in the world who are more wealthy and skilled."

"Oh? I heard from your grandaunt that your wife is a wonderful woman."

"Even so!"

Upon learning the details, I thanked Bob's tolerance. If a brazen youngster exploded at the most powerful person of his species, it would normally end in execution for improper behavior.

From a Maou ATTACK, or a Maou CLASH, or a chubby pudding Maou persecution.

"How do you know that my place is the best without an exam or an interview?"

"I heard opinions from a wide variety of intelligent people and then compared and examined several selected couples. In the end, I arrived at the conclusion that you and your FAMILY were suitable."

"Without even informing me or my wife who'll become a mother?"

"I apologize about that. I didn't have the time."

"... I really can't understand. And also, I don't know if I can properly raise a prince in a poor, commoner's household like mine."

After silently glancing at Lord Weller, the current Maou of Earth tilted his glass of perrier.

"Come now, I chose you so you have to trust me a little. I'll tell you, but what they want is black hair, black eyes, passion, guts, and a sense of justice. That and average intelligence. There were a few more unique conditions, but after taking them all into account, I'm entrusting it to you, Shibuya, as a Japanese person. There's no need to raise them in another country instead of Japan in an upper class society. If they had some ridiculous ideas of being from a chosen people, we'd end up being embarrassed. Raise them as a normal child. As a son or daughter of the Shibuya family."

"As an ordinary Japanese person?"

"That's right."

My husband gazed into the Maou of Earth's eyes after asking if he was serious, but it didn't look like he was joking.

Afterwards, Bob left and Shouma-kun ended up all alone with the unsociable guest from another world.

I don't know about the beauty standards of the other world, but the person called Lord Weller Conrart would probably end up amongst a considerably handsome class of men no matter what land he was thrown into on Earth. If my husband's aesthetic sense is to be trusted, he would immediately increase the female audience if he was cast in a movie and even if he was just walking around he would undoubtedly receive amorous glances from many girls.

That is, if he were to smile.

If you cast out an aura of intolerance and self-hatred, not even a single puppy will come near.

As he poked at his dessert with a price you can't tell the difference in taste, Shouma asked a question to the person he had just met.

"Is your stomach upset or something?"

He met his gaze for a moment, but he didn't give a friendly response.

Looking closely, there was thin silver in his eyes like stardust scattered around.

"Why do you have such a pouty face? There are tons of interesting things in the world."

"That has nothing to do with you."

Regardless of him having an unidentifiable accent, his English and voice was rather nice when forced to talk. With that appearance and that face and that voice, the girls definitely can't leave him alone.

But, my husband didn't care about that.

"It does have something to do with me. Have you been to the ball park? If not, shall I take this opportunity to show you?"

"... I have to verify that the soul that is to become our king is born as your son. As such, I have to stay in this world until then. However during that time, I have no intention of having any unnecessary contact with you or your wife. Please do not meddle."

"You're a really boring guy."

There's no way Lord Weller is an unrelated party.

The soul my - of course, me (Jennifer) - son or daughter would use was brought from another world by Lord Weller. After this, my son or daughter would go to that world on business and he would serve as their guardian since they would be the future Maou, right? Well, they'll somewhat be a king, so there will be an even more distinguished guard attending them, but even so, Lord Weller will be one of the bodyguards at least.

This really has nothing to do with anything, but my child has amazing life success before they're born.

Scratching his head without caring about where he was, my husband frowned which was unusual for him.

"You know, it's a problem if the first time my child sees you, you're making such a boring face. Am I going to feel like entrusting my child to a man with a such a negligent and insincere face? At this rate, there's no way I'll be able to convince my wife."

"I'm not neglige-"

"Listen!"

Shouma pushed away the plate Bob left behind and bent forward about 50 centimeters across the table. There are spots here and there on the white cloth were sauce splashed. Bob is a little bit clumsier than the real Robert De Niro.

"You listening? Promise me. When you meet my wife and child, absolutely do not make this boring face you're making now! If you show them that attitude even once, I won't let my child go to that world no matter how much you ask. Even if someone more important like the current Maou or the Big Maou grovels with their forehead on the ground, I'll never hand over my child to you!"

Even though he looks young, he's stacked on the years of a grandfather so he has courage and nerves of steel. He won't be pressured by a young man around thirty like me. Even so, he must have felt something because Lord Weller agreed shortly.

"Understood."

"... Okay. Shall we enjoy the fun things in Boston so you remember how to smile? We'll start with baseball."

"No, I have no intention of-"

"Ah, Bob is going to take care of this bill so it's okay. Hey, Conrad." The outsider jumped in his seat. "Where did you learn English?"

I repeatedly questioned my husband when he got home trying to find out in what way Lord Weller was handsome, but Shouma-kun was so excited about that day's homerun, he didn't care at all about the appearance of his companion.

His appraisal was simple: He'd be handsome if he smiled. Just that brief comment.

---

Some time after that, I conceived my second child and was desperately sticking out my thumb on a Boston corner.

Despite still having time until the due date, I started having contractions when I was out and I was struggling to grab a taxi.

Unfortunately my husband was out of the office and I couldn't even get in contact with the woman secretary with the name that had an 'A' in it. Even if I was encouraged over the phone with 'it's okay' and 'good luck,' it wouldn't do me any good.

I tried to call an ambulance from a public phone, but I was refused by them saying that they don't transport people to private hospitals. Is asking to be brought to a physician I know such a selfish request?

The taxis would not stop for me and I cursed all of the yellow cars in Massachusetts. Despite the middle of the summer not being as hot as Japan, my whole body was covered in a disgusting sweat.

Now that I think back on it, I was a sweaty Asian with a furious expression waving my right arm around like I was insane. Most people would have pretended not to have seen me. Even the drivers would want to refuse me.

I thought about having an acquaintance drive me, but Mrs. Magritte, the neighbor watching my eldest son, was super old and her driving was sketchy. My friends in the COMMUNITY were all at work and all the kind people I met volunteering were homeless.

The friendships I can rely upon could bring me to tears.

It happened when I gripped the can of mace in my bag thinking that at this point, it didn't matter if it was just a regular car, I'll hitchhike or carjack - I'll do anything!

A supposedly heartless, yellow car approached from far away and stopped next to me. The tall young man who stepped out walked around the car with a long stride to kindly open the door for me.

"Please, if you don't mind sharing."

"Ah, thank you. I'm fine with sharing or even riding standing up. He'll be born any minute now."

"Born... that's serious."

The young man who sat down next to me after getting in through the door on the other side was wearing a white polo shirt and jeans. No matter how you look at it, that was an outfit a student would wear. There was a long, thin case leaning against his side and he had the body proportions of a sportsman.

I was about to ask him if he did fencing, but my contractions got strong again and I cursed without meaning to and bent my back.

"You're bold."

"Oh no, right now, did I use some profane word?"

"Not at all. It was something very cool like a Viking war cry. But, it seems like we need to hurry. Before the time between gets short."

"Driver, take me to Clementaiko Memorial Hospital!"

My companion corrects me with Clemens Memorial Hospital and the taxi finally takes off.

"It's to the point where I want to take care of- no, give birth right here!"

"Please don't worry. If needed, I can help. I was present at my younger brother's delivery."

"Your younger brother gave birth? Was he born? Ah, no, pretend you didn't hear that. Anyway thank you. I was really about to throw down the gauntlet there. Ugh, you shouldn't give birth in the middle of summer! It's hot and you sweat and you can't eat cold things and your makeup melts right off - I'm a mess and ugly!"

"I hadn't noticed. You're still a beautiful woman. So much so that I stopped the taxi without thinking."

After he said that and smiled at me, it was all so eloquent that I ended up troubled. His dark brown bangs were a little long and the tips were about to touch his eyelashes. There were small silver flecks in the smiling eyes below.

Even though he was such an eloquent and handsome man, there was a light scar on his right eyebrow. It was probably a sword wound. It was impressive that he was passionate about training, but you had to be sure to wear protective gear.

He gave me an enchanting smile and gently gripped my hand along with my handkerchief.

"Getting through summer makes a strong child, so births in July are celebrated. I think they will cha- no, they'll become a wonderful person."

"... Thank you. You're the nicest person on Earth. If this child had a brother like you, even he would be at ease. But his older brother is still a little one and it's guaranteed that these two will be mischievous brats... That's right, what's your name?"

"Name?" For a moment he gazed sadly into the distance thinking of something distant, but he immediately met my gaze again. "In the home I was raised, July is called Yuuri."

Once again, that sounded like it would be used in some shoujo manga.

Shibuya Yuuri.

Doesn't that sound nice?

---

I heard this later, but while I was put on a stretcher and rushed into the hospital, he seems to have vanished along with the car without asking for the taxi fare.

My husband charged into the hospital in a panic and got yelled at by all the nurses he passed because he was running full speed down the hallways.

Since I unabashedly vowed to try again, the first thing I said this time was decided.

"... Wi-... wings...?"

"N-not at all, unfortunately..."

"Ahh, what a disappointment!"

My husband comforted my by saying 'Wings don't matter, do they?' as he showed me our second son who was still red.

He's panting as much as I am.

"Even I, as the more knowledgeable one, have never, seen, a mazoku, with wings, okay?" Usually, in times like this, parents, wouldn't care about anything else if the child is healthy, wouldn't they?"

"But~"

My second son was having a pink band wrapped around his ankle while being held by a NURSE.

"This child's name is Yuuri-chan. It has a sparkly feeling like it would be used in a shoujo manga, right? So, I thought that GORGEOUS wings would suit him like an angel character! ... Well, not an angel, but maybe a mazoku."

"What!? Why has he so suddenly been named out of nowhere?"

I mean, we did talk about how since our eldest son has an auspicious name like Shouri that we should give our younger child a name like that. But our solid list of names didn't have Yuuri on it, so it seemed like Shouma-kun was shocked to the core.

"A student who let me share his taxi told me that July is called Yuuri."

"... Was he German? Hey, was that guy a man who had a pessimistic air about him?"

"Hmm, he was ridiculously handsome and he was a fencer who was so refreshing it was like a cool breeze whipped past."

He was muttering while idly rubbing the video camera that he had brought in his haste.

"... After saying all that, was it really okay that he wasn't here for the birth...?"

It seems like there was something else worrying him more than me deciding on a name for our son without consulting him.

"Hey, Uma-chan, when the fencer in the taxi said Yuuri, stars scattered, sparkling in my head. I think he appeared there to tell me about Yuuri."

"What? W-wait darling, that's not... isn't that just your imagination?"

Confronted with a confused Yuuri Papa, I remembered the tradition of a country somewhere.

Did you know? A godfather is a GODFATHER. They send gifts at every anniversary and if the real parents become unable to, they have to take responsibility and raise the child themselves.

He disappeared like the wind, so that probably won't even occur to him.

---

My son lazily came out of the bathroom with Cianfrocco wrapped around his legs as usual.

I made my best frown and pointed at the sofa in the living room.

"Yuu-chan, come sit here a minute."

"... Why?"

"Mama is sad."

The corners of my second son's eyes don't droop that much, possibly because he looks more like me. Widening his already round eyes even more, Yuuri sat down as if he had been mentally overpowered.

Next to him, Zinter was lying on his back as if to say 'Pet me, pet me!'

"W-why are you using polite speech?"

"You come home with a soaking wet uniform and you won't even tell me the reason."

"I told you, I fell into a gutter-"

"There aren't any drainage gutters in the neighborhood that a high school student can completely fall into."

"... Ah! Uh, umm, actually it was into a paddy field!"

"The ones around here have been empty since the year before last."

"Ah..."

"Listen, Yuu-chan."

I push away the happy-looking Zinter and sit next to my son. I've learned the most effective POSITION from being a parent for many years.

When I get close to him in this position, my kid 80% gives up.

"I'm not talking about having to send your uniform in for cleaning or that it's a waste of money. Mama is sad that you won't tell me what happened at school."

"N-nothing happened at school."

"You told me a lot of things up through middle school, didn't you? Like that your SECOND LOVE was a girl from the literature club, that you lost to an anime character, that you were the only one who didn't go to peep in the girl's bath on your school trip, or that you got labelled as a fag the next day."

I can hear a voiceless scream coming from next to me.

"Listen, Yuu-chan. When it comes to bullying, it is overwhelmingly the perpetrators fault and the victim isn't guilty at all."

"Like I said..."

After taking in a deep breath, Yuuri confessed everything in a slightly shrill voice as if he had steeled himself. It might be because he's trying to hurriedly say it all, but it's still cute how his voice breaks every once in a while.

"I'll confess! Today, while I was coming home on my bike, a glasses-type that was in the same class as me in second and third year of middle school, Murata Ken, was being bullied by two people who were also in the same middle school and were wearing checkered pants in who knows what country's style. I was a supporter unable to overlook it, but I was the only one who was retaliated against and shoved into a western toilet, however unbelievably even to me, I was washed away to a country that was like Niigata-Russia where I was almost killed, ended up engaged, forced to duel and almost killed... and when I regained consciousness, I was collapsed in a public bathroom... the police were there..."

"Wow."

"No, I didn't get into trouble with the police myself. I mean, if I had to say, I was the victim after all."

"... Yuu-chan." I pick up his jacket he had discarded on the floor, gave a long sigh, and made my ultimate grieving face. "If you're going to go that way, you have to tell me a smarter lie."

I will never forget the shocked expression he made at that moment. Whenever something painful happens, I'll will probably remember my son's face now and laugh to myself.

I mean, when boys' voices get a little deeper, they start thinking their mothers are annoying and won't even come along shopping. They won't wear pink and flowery clothes, and they won't spend some fun time having afternoon tea together.

Boys really are boring.

So, I won't get in trouble for teasing my son using this innocent method.

He's this cute, so he'll definitely get a girlfriend at some point and won't talk to his Mama anymore.

But you know, I wonder if he can really handle that special job.

My son is in Ma!Freelance work, after all.

This is proof I found afterwards.

Together with his shirt and socks and a wrinkled handkerchief, there were black string panties in the washing machine.

Yuu-chan, Mama is sad.

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Forward to Let's Meet Again in Shin Makoku