The Affection Multiplier - Chapter 159: Ask her honest opinion. (Patreon)

“Please, feel free to be honest with me. No, please be honest with me. You’re not okay with this, right?”

She hesitates, but nods. “I don’t mean anything against you, I swear! I just… didn’t want them to choose for me.” She bites her lip.

“Well, if I tell my parents I’m already seeing… three girls, they’ll probably back off.”

“I don’t think so.” She looks at you apologetically. “I did tell them that I knew you were seeing other people, but your father and mine agreed that it was fine so long as you officially married me.”

Oh for fuck’s sake! You knew he was speaking for you! He wants you to keep the others as concubines and marry Anzu-san so that he’ll get yet another business partner!

“Besides, my dad would just look for another person.” Anzu-san mutters to herself, but you manage to hear it.

Right. Even if you somehow manage to get out of this deal, that doesn’t stop her family from just matchmaking her with another person. You’re not sure you even can solve her problem. It’s entirely a family matter.

“Can’t you just refuse?” You ask her.

“Not without… severing ties with them” She grimaces. “And even with all their faults, they’re still my family. I love them.”

Right. It’s never that easy.

You sigh heavily once more. Your parents were probably expecting this to be a romantic way to get to know each other, but it ended up as a brainstorm of ideas to get out of the deal.

“What exactly are they expecting from us?” You ask.

“Like I said, they can’t force us legally, so they just hope we get along well enough to accept getting married. They’ll probably want us to go on dates to get to know each other better.”

“…” Dammit, you don’t like this. Problem is, you don’t like it simply because your parents are forcing this on the two of you. You’d have no issue dating Anzu-san if it was out of her own free will. No, you’d even be excited about it.

You rack your brain, thinking of a way that would stop Anzu-san’s parents from pushing her into this. She’s clearly uncomfortable, she doesn’t want to get married because her parents told her to, but she also doesn’t want to go against them.

There’s silence in the room, with you deep inside your mind and Anzu-san not knowing what else to say.

…

You can only think of one way to solve this: Use the AMA to get her parents to like you enough so that you can convince them that pushing their daughter into this is a bad idea. There are 2 big problems with this approach, however. 1) They want you to get closer to their daughter, not them. Chances to get their scores high enough would be very few, especially with you being here for only three weeks. 2) You don’t speak their fucking language, and they don’t speak yours. How do you grow closer to people without talking to them?

… 

…

Actions. Let your actions speak for you.

Now, what can you do that would make them really like you?

…

…

…

…

Marry their daughter.

Goddammit!

Alright, next best thing? Maybe just… dating their daughter? If you actually go on dates with her and treat her well, they might come to accept you, and with the multiplier, that could work well.

Maybe.

Your father has an affection of 82 and he’s still acting like this. He probably thinks this is what’s best for you. What if it’s the same for Anzu-san’s parents? However, nothing better comes to mind right now.

…

Maybe you could at least convince them to wait for her to find someone on her own? You could look for traits to help you with this. You did get 150 points just from meeting your family!

But you’re saving for the polygamy trait. Even if you were to get a surplus of friendship points, you could still convert them.

“Anzu-san…” You start, deciding to go with your first plan. “I think that neither of us are happy with this deal.”

She nods, and the sadness in her eyes almost hurts you physically.

“And I’ve been thinking, but I can’t come up with something that can solve the issue at its root.” It’s not like you can tell her right now that your plan is to… manipulate her parents? Is that what you’re doing?

She smiles and shakes her head. You feel silly thinking how her flowing hair looks really charming in that motion.

“Please, don’t concern yourself with that. I understand that this goes deeper than just this meeting.”

“So I was thinking that we should just… play along for now.” You say, sheepishly scratching the back of your head. It’s one thing to think about this coldly, but you feel somewhat bashful putting it into words. “If we do what they want us to do and then tell them things just didn’t work out, they’ll have to accept that. Hopefully.”

She chuckles. “Yes, hopefully.” It’s nice to see her smiling again, even if faintly. “Thank you. I was about to ask the same, but I didn’t think it was appropriate. I’m single, after all, but you have people you care about.”

“I know they’d be okay with this. I’ll still text them, though.” You smile sheepishly. Thankfully, thinking of your girls makes you start feeling better. Really, you’re thankful that the polygamy trait is now available, or this would’ve been a much more serious issue.

“So I have a proposal. Since I don’t know a thing about Japan and I believe you haven’t been here in a while, I’m willing to do whatever you want.”

“Huh?” She gives you and odd look.

“Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to eat, anything at all, I’m game.” You smile confidently. “Let’s not worry about this for now. Since we’re already in this mess, I say we at least have fun. I meant what I said before, Anzu-san. I really respect you, but I only know you as the school’s nurse. I wouldn’t mind getting to know you as… well, a person, I guess.” You chuckle.

You see her biting her lip. “I know it’s the best we can do right now, but… I don’t know, it still feels awkward.”

Deciding unilaterally that keeping the focus on how weird the situation is will just make things worse, you do your best to make things more comfortable for her.

“What? Am I too young for you?” You say in obvious fake offence.

“Wha-” She seems taken aback at first, but immediately notices you smirking and smiles before laughing. “Oh, quite the opposite. I worry I might be too old for you.”

Lady, you have NO idea.

“Nonsense.” You laugh. “Hey, if it helps, think of it as doing me a favor. If I’m free during this break I’ll have to babysit by little sister every day.” You laugh.

“Heeheehee. Very well.” Anzu-san giggles, trying her hide her smile with her hand. “So, you’re okay with anything?”

“I am.” You nod. “But I still remember how much you recommended the food.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that!” Her eyes glitter with excitement. “If there’s one thing I was excited about coming back here, was the food!”

You both laugh together before settling for a comfortable silence. She seems like such a nice woman. She deserves to make her own choices. You won’t make any moves on her. Hell, you won’t even look at the AMA! You’ll just try to make the best out of a bad situation while you attempt to help Anzu-san get out of this.

“David-san… Thank you.” The nurse say with a melancholic smile. “I was really worried about this meeting. I knew what I was coming here for, but I didn’t know what kind of person I’d meet. Thank you for being so understanding.” She bows in her seat.

Honestly, her thanks and the bow make you kind of uncomfortable, so you decide to deflect it.

“Hey, is it really necessary to refer to each other with honorifics? I know it’s expected, but it feels really awkward…” You smile wryly.

“I’m afraid so.” She giggles softly. “If not, other might think we’re really close, and our parents wouldn’t believe things didn’t work out.”

“Ah. Right.”

Damn. Well, you’ll just have to bear with it.

After a few minutes, your parents return. Anzu-san informs them with a very neutral tone that the talking went well and that you’ll be spending some time together during your stay here.

The Fujiwara family leaves, the parents looking satisfied even though they barely spoke a word to you. You get the feeling your father painted you as a decent enough guy and that was enough for them.

“David,” You father stops you in one of the hallways. His tall figure, confident posture with his hands in his pockets and his deep voice as imposing a presence as always. “Come to my office. I’ll explain everything to you now.”

“Save it.” You answer, trying to stand your ground in front of him. “Ms. Fujiwara already explained everything. You really have it all figured out, don’t you?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were dating someone? Three people, no less.”

“You never asked. Besides, I’m not sure I want to say anything anymore. For all I know, you’ll investigate them to see if you can make a profit out of them.”

“So, you’re opposed to a relationship with the Fujiwara daughter?”

“Yes.” If simply out of spite. “But I’ll play along for now. I meant what I said about her. I have nothing against her, and I don’t want to make her look bad in front of her family. I just hope you don’t have something like this in store for Martha.”

“No man has yet been born to be worthy of your sister.” He says with the same straight face. He changes to topic back to you immediately, though. “You should know that neither your mother nor I are against your relationship with other women while you date Fujiwara Anzu.”

“…”

“I told you before. You’ve grown, David. I would like to have you working with me and your brother. This electronics chain might be small, but I believe that with the right studies and guidance, you’ll be able to turn it into something greater.”

“…”

Dammit. You feel a mix of a sting and warmth in your chest.

Martha has always had your father’s unconditional love. Jonathan has always been able to meet and even surpass his expectations.

How long have you wanted to hear something like this coming from your father? Not expectations of you, but trust and pride.

“You’ve always had a cool head, but now you also carry yourself with the confidence you always lacked.”

Fuck, someone please shut him up. The resolution you’d built up is coming down.

“When you’re done with Hayes Academy, I would like you to come here and finish your studies.”

…

Come here? To Japan? And what about Emma, Mia, Megan, Emily and Sophia? Is he already making decisions for you again?

“…”

You need to cool your head. You can’t have this conversation now.

“I’ll think about it.” You say, surprising yourself.

Five minutes ago, there would’ve been nothing to think about. You would’ve refused, even if that would’ve made your father change from offering to an ultimatum.

“Very well.” Your father nods. “You have an extra week off from school. Try to enjoy yourself.” He says, walking past you as you just stay there, a mess of thoughts in your head.

Incredibly enough, you find yourself taking your phone, not to check the AMA, but to make a call.

You navigate the menus until you find what you’re looking for. You take the phone to your ear. In a few seconds, you hear the other person picking up.

“Now this is a surprise. You don’t call me often. What can I do for you, little brother?”

“Are you busy? Can we talk?”

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