novelraw Chapter 104: The Awkward Nohara Family! The Excited Nohara Family!
Chapter 104: The Awkward Nohara Family! The Excited Nohara Family!
"Dad, Mom! And... Big Brother Semashi!"
That shout pierced through the noisy voices and cold steel echoes of Tokyo Station, like a beam of warm sunlight, precisely landing upon those three figures carrying bags of all sizes, looking somewhat at a loss.
Nohara Ginnosuke almost immediately looked over at the sound. When he clearly saw that young man walking swiftly over, with a tall, straight posture and elegant temperament, that face which always bore a bit of countryside slyness and smugness instantly stiffened. Subconsciously, he straightened his back, attempting to put on the unyielding, majestic posture of a patriarch.
He strode over in large steps, heavily patting those broad, solid shoulders twice. That force, rather than father-son intimacy, felt more like checking whether the newly harvested radishes from his field were firm.
"En, not bad." He squeezed these two words out from his throat, keeping his voice deep, as if terrified of leaking even half a fraction of emotion. "Looks like you haven't been fooling around in a place like Tokyo, your bones are still fairly sturdy."
Despite saying that, beneath those thick eyebrows identical to his youngest son's, those pair of tiny eyes that always sparkled with shrewd light had long ago uncontrollably narrowed into slits. The irrepressible smile at the corners of his eyes and brows had completely betrayed his pitiful little disguise.
On that weather-beaten face floated a father's clumsy, yet incredibly authentic pride.
"You child, how have you gotten so thin?"
Compared to her husband's awkward concern, mother Nohara Tsuru's expression was much more direct.
She walked up quickly, those hands already marked with fine wrinkles by time but still gentle enough to squeeze water out of, lovingly stroking her youngest son's cheeks, her eye sockets instantly turning red."Out there, have you not been eating well? You see, your chin has even become pointy."
She muttered on and on, her voice filled with a mother's purest care for a wandering son: "However, you've really made a name for yourself now! All along the way here, so many young people on the train were discussing that 'Tales of the Unusual' of yours! And on the newspaper, such a huge section was printed with your photo! Your dad, ah, he doesn't say it, but who knows how beautiful he feels inside. He flipped through that newspaper over and over again for days, almost wearing it out to a patina."
"Ahem! Nonsense!" Nohara Ginnosuke's old face flushed red, hurriedly using a cough to cover his guilty conscience.
Only Big Brother Nohara Semashi, the honest farmer, was currently standing somewhat constrainedly to the side like a silent background board.
He looked at his younger brother surrounded by their parents, enjoying all the care. On that dark face, an emotion that was both gratifying and containing a few traces of hard-to-detect, complex older-brother feelings floated up.
"Hmph." He let out an ambiguous light snort from his nose, muttering softly: "When at home in the countryside, who knows who was taking care of you every day. Now seeing the younger one, you completely throw me, the older one, to the back of your minds."
Despite saying so, when Nohara Hiroshi's gaze fell upon him, he still broke into a grin, revealing an honest and simple smile, and nodded heavily at his younger brother. In those pure, simple eyes, there was no jealousy, only the purest, blood-connected concern.
"Hiroshi, you... have you been doing well lately?"
"Doing great, Big Brother."
Nohara Hiroshi smiled and gave him a hug, feeling the plain and reliable strength transmitting from that body, just like the vast land of Akita Prefecture.
Of course he knew that his inarticulate big brother, although always loving to bicker with him a few sentences, loved him, this younger brother, more than anyone else in his heart.
As the brothers were catching up, Nohara Semashi suddenly lowered his voice, acting stealthily, and whispered into his ear at a volume only the two of them could hear: "Um... Hiroshi ah, look, our round-trip tickets for this time, plus the bento and drinks we bought on the train, add up to exactly... thirty-eight thousand seven hundred and fifty yen. This... do you see if... it's possible to get reimbursed ah?"
"..." Several clearly visible black lines instantly popped up on Nohara Hiroshi's forehead.
He looked at his big brother's dark face, written full of "you get it," and that slight warmth of a long-awaited reunion in his heart was instantly replaced by a familiar, dumbfounded helplessness.
Yes, this was exactly his frugal-to-the-point-of-cheap biological older brother.
"Got it, got it, I'll reimburse you for everything." He waved his hand weakly.
"Hehe, then I can rest assured." A brilliantly satisfied smile instantly bloomed on Nohara Semashi's face.
"Alright, alright! Stop dawdling here!" Just then, Nohara Ginnosuke's impatient voice rang out again.
Rubbing his hands, his small eyes sparkling with the excited light of someone who hadn't seen the world, like a child entering the city for the first time, he waved his big hand at Nohara Hiroshi. His posture was as if commanding a campaign of an army of thousands: "Hiroshi! Quick! Call a taxi! Take us to see the night views of Tokyo! I've heard that Tokyo's nights are... hehehe..."
As he spoke, those two thick eyebrows actually uncontrollably bounced up and down a few times. That look, that expression, was filled with a certain suggestive, wretched meaning not fit to be mentioned to outsiders.
"Especially those... places with special services! You definitely have to take your old man me to broaden horizons..."
'Smack!'
Before his tiger-and-wolf words full of pink fantasies could finish, an iron fist full of anger, belonging to a housewife, brought the sound of wind and heavily smashed onto the back of his head!
"You old shameless thing! Spouting crazy nonsense again?!" Nohara Tsuru's face, which always bore a gentle smile, had long turned completely red. She planted one hand on her hip, the other raised high, looking as if ready to deliver another hit of 'education of love' at any moment.
"Aiyo! Just joking! Just precisely making a joke!" Nohara Ginnosuke emitted a wretched miserable scream, hugging his head, instantly squatting down. All the wretchedness on that old face faded away, leaving only pure desire to survive: "I... I just... haven't eaten dinner yet, feeling a little hungry..."
Nohara Hiroshi looking at this familiar scene before his eyes, the black lines on his forehead deepened.
He let out a long breath, full of a deep, yet incredibly sweet helplessness toward his family.
"Alright, Dad, stop acting." He said weakly: "No need to call a taxi, I have a car, follow me."
...
The underground parking lot of Tokyo Station was like a giant maze constructed from reinforced concrete, the air filled with a unique scent mixing gasoline and tire rubber.
Nohara Ginnosuke walked with his hands behind his back, like an old cadre inspecting his territory, leisurely pacing among rows of steel creations flashing with metallic luster, his mouth continuously emitting sounds of amazement.
"Tsk tsk tsk, as expected of Tokyo. The cars here are truly numerous, and truly beautiful."
Ultimately, his gaze landed on a small, exquisitely rounded red mini family sedan in the corner.
The key point was that the direction Nohara Hiroshi was walking towards was also this car.
It couldn't possibly be the Toyota Crown nearby, right?
That was a grand luxury car!
That was a latest model Suzuki Alto, which in this parking lot filled with Crowns and Cedrics, appeared so plain and unadorned, so... accessible to the people.
"Oh! Hiroshi, it's this one, right?" Nohara Ginnosuke's eyes instantly lit up. He quickly stepped forward, heavily patting that smooth car body, revealing an incredibly satisfied smile on his old face.
"Not bad! Not bad! My son really has an eye! This car is compact, fuel-efficient, and the color is festive! You're doing quite well! Less than a year since graduation, and you can already afford your own little sedan in Tokyo!"
"Yes, yes, really amazing." Nohara Tsuru also followed up, her face similarly glowing with heartfelt pride.
Only Nohara Semashi, looking at that little sedan which in his eyes was still a 'luxury item', curled his lips painfully: "I think it's still better to take the subway and ride a bicycle to work. Buying a car... is too much of a waste of money."
Nohara Ginnosuke didn't even pay attention to his eldest son's 'sour words'. Like a child eager to show off a new toy, he couldn't wait to pull open the driver's seat door of that little red sedan, and sat down with a plop.
"Hey! Don't you say, this seat is quite soft..."
However, before he could finish his words, he was forcibly interrupted by a roar full of panic and anger.
"Hey! Who the hell are you?! What are you doing?! Get the hell out of my car at once!"
In the driver's seat, a man who had originally been leaning back, dozing off, was shocked awake by this sudden turn of events. He looked at the uninvited 'unwelcome guest' beside him, his face written full of anger at his private territory being invaded.
All of this happened in a flash.
Nohara Hiroshi looking at his old man's face instantly shifting from smugness to awkwardness, the black lines on his forehead were already dense enough to weave a fishing net.
He helplessly held his forehead, reached out, and pointed to the car next to it, which under the dim light, was like a giant black beast, radiating a steady and domineering aura—a Toyota Crown Majesta.
"Dad, that car is mine."
Right at this moment, the door of that black beast was pushed open from the inside.
Haseji Kakeru, that young man who always carried a bit of shyness, also quickly got out of the car, performing a standard bow towards the Nohara family.
"Good evening everyone, I am Section Chief Nohara's subordinate, Haseji Kakeru, very glad to meet you all."
"..."
The entire parking lot seemed to have the pause button pressed.
Nohara Ginnosuke, Nohara Tsuru, Nohara Semashi, a family of three, stood dumbfounded on the spot like three weathered stone statues.
Three faces were written full of unbelievable shock.
Their brains seemed to have been fiercely struck by a bolt of lightning, thoroughly sinking into a blank space.
That... that black luxury sedan, which looked more expensive than their house, radiating an 'strangers keep away' aura... is... is Hiroshi's?
Even the driver of the red sedan who had just been roaring, was now as if a shapeless hand tightly gripped his throat, unable to emit a single syllable.
He stared blankly at that black beast, then looked at the young man who had gotten out of the car, and finally, his gaze fell upon the helpless-looking Nohara Hiroshi.
His face, which had flushed red with anger, instantly turned from red to white, then from white to green, and finally, transformed into a kind of fervor bursting with pleasant surprise and trepidation.
"You... you are... Teacher Nohara Hiroshi?!" He stuttered, asking in a tone almost like talking in his sleep.
"Ah, yes. I'm very sorry for causing you trouble." Nohara Hiroshi bowed standardly again towards him.
"No, no, no! No trouble! No trouble!" That driver gave a start in terror and quickly jumped out of the car, returning an even more exaggerated ninety-degree bow towards Nohara Hiroshi: "Teacher Nohara, I... I am a loyal fan of yours! Your 'Tales of the Unusual', I watch every episode! It's too... too wonderful! Being... being able to meet you here is my honor!"
Saying so, he asked for an autograph from Nohara Hiroshi, and then left contentedly.
Regarding this magical realism scene, Nohara Hiroshi could only smile helplessly again, pulling his already petrified family members towards that black beast belonging to him.
The car door opened, and a unique scent of a successful person, mixing high-grade leather with a faint cologne, rushed against their faces.
Nohara Tsuru was arranged in the spacious front passenger seat, while Nohara Ginnosuke was sandwiched left and right by Nohara Hiroshi and Nohara Semashi in the middle of the genuine leather back seats that were more than roomy enough for three adults.
The car slowly started, so smoothly that hardly any bumps could be felt.
"Haha... hahaha... hahahahaha!"
A burst of irrepressible, almost frantic wild laughter suddenly erupted from the center of the back row without any warning.
Through the rearview mirror, Nohara Hiroshi saw his old man's face flushed red from extreme excitement and pride, watched those thick eyebrows bouncing up and down from the wild laughter, and heard that demonic laughter identical to a certain five-year-old child's.
The black lines on his forehead finally, completely, connected into one solid piece.
He could be one hundred percent sure now.
This unreliable old dad of his wasn't some Nohara Ginnosuke at all.
He was exactly a grown-up, drinking, girl-chasing, rascal-playing... oversized Crayon Shin-chan.
However, a smile also appeared on Nohara Hiroshi's lips.
At least the him of this world had the qualification to let his own parents and big brother, as well as Misae and the future Shin-chan, Himawari, and Shiro.
All enjoy a better life!
It was pretty nice.
"Go to another revolving sushi restaurant in the neighboring ward, Haseji." Thinking of this, Nohara Hiroshi spoke up: "There's a chain revolving sushi restaurant near my house, I remember you seem to have a membership, arrange a separate small private room for me."
"Yes, understood, Section Chief." Haseji Kakeru immediately nodded.