(Today is my first day as head of the Komi Clan. I must make a good first impression on the current heir of the Kamiwatami Clan… Nemoto Amane. Father has characterized him as a forlorn man wrought with anxiety. The man is thirty-six years old, and still hasn’t found a partner. I fear that, when the time comes, the Kamiwatami Clan will soon go extinct…)
Oh? …Oh!
A pleasure to meet you, Nemoto Amane-sama. I, Komi Omiko, have been appointed as your new guardian.
…
(He’s trying to hide it, but I can tell that he’s taken aback.)
I… I can’t believe it.
I’m sorry?
N-Nothing.
(Amane seems flustered, and there is a red hue in his cheeks. Did I strike a nerve?)
P-Pleased to make your acquaintance, Omiko-san.
(This is very puzzling. What could be the issue?)
Nemoto-sama, we must be open with each other if we are to remain on good terms.
Ugh… Just like your dad, huh? So forward and stern… There was never much room for us to…be on good terms.
(The red hue in his cheeks has vanished…)
I’m sure my father was simply looking out for you. It’s paramount that—
Jeez, I get it! You’re gonna remind me that I need to find a partner, raise a single kid, heed Shiosuke-san’s warnings without fail… All of the spirits say that. And I’m so sick of that. At least my human friends understand!
(I certainly hope that he’s never disclosed the details about us being spirits… We still need to keep our existence a secret to humankind, after all.)
Sorry. I just…never liked your father. His presence was suffocating. Every day I went to work, I wished I’d stayed at the office a little longer just so I’d deal with him a little less. All his talk about tradition and obligation… Ugh.
(How much has Amane been bottling up?)
Which is why I have a request for you, Omiko-san.
Oh… Yes?
Can I afford to be more open with you?
Open? How so?
I don’t wanna get stressed out when I’m around you. If you’re my guardian, you should prevent that from ever happening, right?
Oh… Please don’t tell me—
I already know what you’re gonna say! You’re gonna blab about the Kamiwatami tradition again, and it’ll just stress me out, and I’ll feel even less motivated to find a wife.
You’re…stressed, are you? I didn’t think humans could be so prone to it.
All the more reason I hated your father. He assumed that humans were like spirits. He didn’t understand that we could get tired so easily, that it was easy for us to succumb to our emotions, that we needed three full meals a day… Human life is hard! And Shiosuke-san didn’t care! He just wanted to box me into that Kamiwatami tradition…like I was a means to an end!
(I’ve never truly spoken at length with a human before… I never did know that human life was so different from spirit life.)
…Nemoto-sama.
Yeah?
Far be it for me to criticize my own father’s way of life…but your perspective is enlightening.
Really?
I understand your plight. I truly do. And to that end…I shall ensure your well-being above all else.
…Thanks for hearing me out, Omiko-san. That was a huge weight off my chest.
(This was the beginning of a strange relationship…between spirit and human. I never could have predicted the trajectory our relationship would take…)