Chapter 104: The Awkward Nohara Family! The Excited Nohara Family!
“Father, Mother! And… Elder Brother Hiroshi!”
That shout pierced through the noisy crowds and icy cold steel echoes of Tokyo Station, like a beam of warm sunlight, precisely landing on those three figures carrying large and small bags, appearing somewhat at a loss.
Ginnosuke Nohara was the first to turn toward the voice. When he clearly saw the young man striding quickly toward them, tall and upright with an outstanding demeanor, his face, always carrying a bit of a villager’s cunning and smugness, instantly stiffened. He subconsciously straightened his back, trying to put on the dignified air of a family head, stern without anger.
He strode forward briskly and heavily patted those broad, solid shoulders twice. That force was less like fatherly affection and more like testing if the radishes freshly harvested from his own fields were firm enough.
“Hmm, not bad.” He squeezed out these two words from his throat, voice low and suppressed, as if afraid to leak even a hint of emotion. “Looks like you haven’t been fooling around in a place like Tokyo; your body’s still sturdy.”
Though he said that, under those thick eyebrows identical to his youngest son’s, those small eyes always gleaming with shrewdness had already narrowed into slits uncontrollably. The irrepressible smile at the corners of his eyes and eyebrows had completely betrayed his pitiful disguise.
On that weather-beaten face appeared a father’s clumsy yet utterly genuine pride.
“You kid, how did you get so thin?”
Compared to her husband’s awkward concern, Mother Tsuru Nohara’s expression was much more direct.
She hurried forward, those hands already etched with fine lines by the years yet still so gentle they could wring out water, tenderly stroking her youngest son’s cheek. Her eyes instantly reddened.
“Out there, have you not been eating properly? Look at you, your chin’s all pointed now.”
She chattered on, her voice filled with a mother’s purest concern for her child far from home: “But you’ve really made it now! On our way here, so many young people on the train were discussing your 《World of the Strange》! And in the newspaper, such a big section all about your photo! Your father, he won’t say it, but he’s thrilled inside, flipping that newspaper back and forth for days until it’s worn smooth.”
“Cough! Nonsense!” Ginnosuke Nohara’s old face flushed red, and he quickly covered his guilty conscience with a cough.
Only Elder Brother Hiroshi Nohara, that simple farmer, stood awkwardly to the side like a silent background prop at that moment.
Watching his younger brother surrounded by their parents, basking in all the love, a complex emotion of gratification mixed with a faint, barely noticeable brotherly sentiment appeared on his dark face.
“Hmph.” He let out an ambiguous snort from his nose, muttering softly: “Back home, who was it that took care of you all every day? The moment the little one shows up, they forget all about the big one like me.”
Though he said that, when Hiroshi Nohara’s gaze turned to him, he still grinned, revealing a honest smile, and nodded heavily to his younger brother. Those simple eyes held no jealousy, only the purest care from blood ties.
“Hiroshi, you… been doing well lately?”
“Doing great, Elder Brother.”
Hiroshi Nohara smiled and gave him a hug, feeling the simple yet reliable power from that body, like the vast lands of Akita Prefecture.
He of course knew that his reticent elder brother, though always trading barbs with him verbally, cared for this younger brother more than anyone in his heart.
As the brothers caught up, Hiroshi Nohara suddenly lowered his voice, whispering conspiratorially in a volume only they could hear: “That… Hiroshi, you see, our round-trip tickets this time, plus the bento boxes and drinks bought on the train, add up to… thirty-eight thousand seven hundred fifty yen. So… do you think… it could be reimbursed?”
“…” Hiroshi Nohara’s forehead instantly sprouted several clearly visible black lines.
Looking at his elder brother’s dark face full of “you know what I mean,” the warmth of their long-awaited reunion in his heart was instantly replaced by a familiar mix of exasperation and helpless amusement.
Yes, this was his thrifty-to-the-point-of-stingy big brother.
“Got it, got it, I’ll reimburse it all.” He waved his hand feebly.
“Heh heh, then I’m relieved.” Hiroshi Nohara’s face instantly bloomed with a brilliant, fully satisfied smile.
“Alright, alright! Stop dawdling here!” At that moment, Ginnosuke Nohara’s impatient voice rang out again.
He rubbed his hands, those small eyes flashing with the excitement of someone who’s never seen the world, like a child entering the city for the first time. With a grand wave of his hand to Hiroshi Nohara, his posture as if commanding a massive battle: “Hiroshi! Quick! Call a taxi! Take us to see Tokyo’s night view! I hear Tokyo at night is… heh heh heh…”
As he spoke, those two thick eyebrows actually twitched up and down uncontrollably a few times. That look, that expression, was full of some indescribable, suggestive lewdness.
“Especially those… places with special services! You have to take your old man to experience… ah!”
‘Smack!’
Before his words full of pink fantasies could finish, an iron fist full of anger, belonging to the housewife, whistled through the air and smashed heavily onto the back of his head!
“You old pervert! Spouting nonsense again?!” Tsuru Nohara’s face, always carrying a gentle smile, was now flushed red. One hand on her hip, the other raised high, her stance ready to deliver another “lesson of love” at any moment.
“Ow! Just joking! It’s a joke!” Ginnosuke Nohara let out a shrill wail, clutching his head and squatting down instantly. All the lewdness gone from his old face, replaced by pure survival instinct: “I… I just… haven’t had dinner yet, a bit hungry…”
Hiroshi Nohara watched this familiar scene, the black lines on his forehead deepening.
He let out a long breath, filled with deep yet utterly sweet helplessness toward his family.
“Alright, Dad, stop acting.” He said feebly: “No need for a taxi, I have a car. Follow me.”
…
Tokyo Station’s underground parking lot was like a huge maze built of steel bars and cement, the air filled with a unique scent mixing gasoline and tire rubber.
Ginnosuke Nohara walked with hands behind his back, like an old cadre inspecting his territory, strolling unhurriedly between rows of steel creations gleaming with metallic sheen, clucking his tongue in admiration nonstop.
“Tsk tsk tsk, as expected of Tokyo. So many cars, and so beautiful.”
Finally, his gaze landed on a small, cute red mini family sedan in the corner, with smooth, rounded lines.
Crucially, it was also the car Hiroshi Nohara was heading toward.
It couldn’t be the Toyota Crown next to it, right?
That was a luxury car!
It was the latest model Suzuki Alto, standing out as so plain and unassuming, so… approachable in this parking lot full of Crowns and Majestics.
“Oh! Hiroshi, this one, right?” Ginnosuke Nohara’s eyes lit up instantly. He hurried forward and slapped the smooth body heavily, a fully satisfied smile on his old face.
“Not bad! Not bad! My son has good taste! This car is compact, fuel-efficient, and the color’s festive! Doing well! Graduated less than a year and already owns a sedan in Tokyo!”
“Yes, yes, truly impressive.” Tsuru Nohara followed up, her face also beaming with heartfelt pride.
Only Hiroshi Nohara, looking at that sedan still a “luxury” in his eyes, winced painfully: “I think taking the subway and biking to work is better. Buying a car… too wasteful.”
Ginnosuke Nohara completely ignored his eldest son’s sour remarks. Like a kid eager to show off a new toy, he impatiently yanked open the driver door of the red sedan and plopped down.
“Hey! You know, this seat is pretty comfy…”
But before he finished, a roar full of shock and anger brutally interrupted him.
“Hey! Who the hell are you?! What are you doing?! Get off my car now!”
On the driver seat, a man who had been leaning back, half-asleep, was startled fully awake by the sudden event. Looking at this uninvited intruder beside him, his face was full of anger at his personal territory being invaded.
All this happened in a flash.
Hiroshi Nohara watched his old man’s face shift instantly from smug to embarrassed, the black lines on his forehead now dense enough to weave into a net.
He helplessly held his forehead, reached out, and pointed to the Toyota Crown Majesta next to it, which under the dim lighting emanated a steady, domineering aura like a black beast.
“Dad, that’s my car.”
At that moment, the door of that black beast was pushed open from inside.
Roji Hase, that always somewhat shy young man, hurriedly got out and bowed politely to the Nohara family.
“Good evening, everyone. I’m Section Chief Nohara’s subordinate, Roji Hase. Very pleased to meet you all.”
“…”
The entire parking lot seemed to hit pause.
Ginnosuke Nohara, Tsuru Nohara, and Hiroshi Nohara, the three of them stood frozen like weathered statues.
All three faces were filled with incredulous shock.
Their brains seemed struck by a thunderbolt, plunging into total blankness.
That car… that car that looked more expensive than their house, black, exuding a “keep out” vibe, luxury sedan… was… Hiroshi’s?
Even the driver of the red sedan who had just been roaring was now like his throat gripped by an invisible hand, unable to utter a sound.
He stared blankly at the black beast, then at the young man who got out, finally resting his gaze on the helpless Hiroshi Nohara.
His face, red from anger, instantly turned white, then green, finally morphing into a fanatic mix of surprise and panic.
“You… you’re… Teacher Hiroshi Nohara?!” He stammered in a near-dreamlike tone.
“Ah, yes. Very sorry for the trouble.” Hiroshi Nohara bowed politely to him again.
“No no no! No trouble! No trouble!” The driver jolted in fright, jumping out of the car and returning an exaggerated ninety-degree bow to Hiroshi Nohara: “Teacher Nohara, I… I’m your loyal fan! Your 《World of the Strange》, I watch every episode! So… so amazing! To… to meet you here is my honor!”
He asked for an autograph from Hiroshi Nohara, then left fully satisfied.
For this magical realist scene, Hiroshi Nohara could only smile helplessly again, pulling his now-petrified family toward his black beast.
The door opened, and a unique scent of success—high-grade leather mixed with faint cologne—wafted out.
Tsuru Nohara was seated in the spacious passenger seat, while Ginnosuke Nohara was sandwiched left and right by Hiroshi Nohara and Hiroshi Nohara in the rear leather seats spacious enough for three adults.
The car started smoothly, with almost no bumps felt.
“Haha… hahahaha… hahahahaha!”
A burst of uncontrollable, near-maniacal laughter erupted without warning from the center of the back seat.
Through the rearview mirror, Hiroshi Nohara watched his old man’s face flushed red from extreme excitement and pride, those thick eyebrows shaking up and down from the laughter, listening to that devilishly infectious laugh identical to a certain five-year-old kid.
The black lines on his forehead finally connected completely.
He could now be 100% sure.
His unreliable old man wasn’t some Ginnosuke Nohara at all.
He was just a grown-up version who could drink, chase girls, and play rogue… a big-sized Shin.
But Hiroshi Nohara’s mouth also curved into a smile.
At least in this world, he had the means to let his parents and elder brother, as well as Misae and future Shin, Akita, and Shiro.
All enjoy a better life!
Pretty nice.
“To the other rotating sushi restaurant in the next district, Hase.” Thinking this, Hiroshi Nohara said: “The chain one closer to my home. I remember you have a membership; arrange a private room for me.”
“Yes, understood, Section Chief.” Roji Hase nodded immediately.
