The Goddess Needs A Break!

A light drizzle replaced the once heavy downpour that covered the skies. There was just enough rain for an umbrella to be required, but not too much that it was overbearing.

Yuta Takebayashi looked to his right and realized that he was walking home next to the most beautiful girl in his school.

Marie Tanaka was known as the goddess of his school and was an untouchable existence. Well, that was true until today.

"Hey hey, what's your favorite type of ice cream? I really like rocky road!"

"Uh... Vanilla is pretty good."

He was just having a casual conversation with her as if she was his best friend of ten years. After he had befriended her, Marie surprisingly got really close with him.

"Ah, I used to be a vanilla fan when I was younger. It changed to rocky road when I entered middle school."

Yuta had somehow gotten roped into going to Marie's house. He would even have to meet her parents, who were both home at the current moment.

Most people would be scared of meeting the parents of the opposite gender, but this didn't apply to Yuta. He knew that their relationship was nothing more than just classmates.

"Are you really okay with me coming over to meet your parents?" Yuta carefully asked. "I mean, I just met you a few minutes ago."

"It'll be okay~" Marie shrugged. "I can tell you're a good person."

Yuta didn't know where Maria's bottomless faith in him came from, but he felt that she was a bit too naive for her age. Letting a person of the opposite gender into her house was a bit too risky in his opinion.

"It should be right around the corner... Ah! We're here."

Marie happily pointed towards her house with a proud expression. "Big, isn't it?"

The house that she pointed at was indeed impressive. Compared to all of the other houses in the neighborhood, Marie's house looked like a mansion.

It was obvious that a talented architect and artist had carefully designed this house. From the outside, the home looked incredibly cozy and warm.

"Yeah, it looks beautiful."

Yuta began to get nervous about what type of people her parents were. Various thoughts and ideas circled around his head before he shook his head to clear these intrusive thoughts.

Assuming stuff about people beforehand was never a good idea.

"They should be in the living room," Marie opened her bookbag and shuffled around a few books and papers to find her keys. "Finally found them! Let's go inside then~"

Marie unlocked the door and invited Yuta inside. After taking off their shoes, the two headed to the living room.

"Mom! Dad! I brought a friend home!"

Marie happily skipped to where her parents were sitting and opened her arms wide. As if knowing exactly what she wanted, her parents embraced her in a warm hug.

"Welcome home, Marie. How was school today?"

"Did you manage to find anyone interesting~?"

Marie's father and mother warmly welcomed her home.

In Yuta's eyes, both of her parents looked like incredible people. Although they were both people with a daughter in high school, they both looked relatively young.

The father had a shorter yet still slightly messy haircut with a bit of stubble on his chin. Yuta could tell that he worked out a lot due to his fantastic posture and the way he carried himself.

Those ripped muscles hidden under his work clothes were no joke. This was a man that had honed his body to the very physical peak of humanity.

Jokes aside, the father seemed like a very kind and gentle man.

On the other hand, her mother could be mistaken as a goddess. Marie was already very pretty, but her mother was in a completely different league.

Long blonde hair that flowed all the way down to her waist, a beautifully sculpted face with every minute detail perfected, and an overall motherly aura that wouldn't lose to anyone else. This was the person known as the goddess's mother.

"Oh? Is that your friend you brought over?"

"Yep!"

Marie's father noticed Yuta and walked over to him to shake his hand. "Takei Tanaka, thank you so much for taking care of our daughter."

I just met her today, but...

"It's nice to meet you, sir. Yuta Takebayashi is the name that my father and mother gave to me."

Yuta stiffly answered and nervously shook Takei's hand.

"Pfft, so awkward," Marie laughed.

Her mother flicked her forehead for being rude. "Don't be mean to your friend."

"Owwie, sorry~"

After he finished introducing himself to her father, Marie's mother came up to him and wanted to shake his hand as well.

"Hello hello~ Akari Tanaka here! It's a pleasure to meet Marie's friend from school."

"Once again, I'm Yuta Takebayashi. I'll be in your care."

"Oh, how polite~"

Once the formal introductions were finished, everyone headed over to the couch area to sit down.

"Where's Akira?" Marie suddenly asked.

Takei shrugged. "He's at a friend's house for a sleepover today."

On the way here, Marie had told Yuta about her little brother who was about half her age. He was an energetic little boy that had fun with just about anything.

Looks like I can't meet him today.

Akari returned from the kitchen with four cups of tea and carefully set them down on the table. She then went over to the cushion next to Takei and sat down with a plop.

"Hey hey~ What type of girls do you like? I'm sure Marie would be interested," Akari looked at him with the eyes of a mischievous person.

On the other hand, Marie didn't seem to be amused by her mom's actions. "M-Mom! You're embarrassing me in front of my friend..."

"It's only because this is the first time you brought a friend home. Also, he's a boy so mom is very interested in what type of guys you like~"

"Ahhhhh! I knew I shouldn't have brought him home!"

Marie seemed to be having a bit of trouble handling her mom, which made Yuta chuckle since the image of Marie as an unobtainable flower was slowly being replaced in his mind.

"Honey, you don't have to tease her so much," Takei said as he gently rubbed Akari's head.

Akari's face instantly melted with pleasure. "Auuuu... she's too fun to teaseeeeee~"

Rather than parents, these two looked like a clingy couple in high school. This was surely not the impression that Yuta thought he would get from them.

"Are they always like this?"

"Pretty much."

Yuta and Marie just sat back and waited for the endless sugar fest to finish. Marie was already used to this since it happened on a daily basis, but it was something new for Yuta.

Once the sugar fest ended, Yuta coughed to clear the air and answered Akari's question.

"Kuhum... To answer your question, I like smart and kind girls. Personality definitely comes first."

"Wow~! Full points for that answer!"

Akari happily clapped her hands because Yuta had given her a perfect answer.

Takei gently smiled and winked at Yuta. "If that's your type of girl, then Marie should be sufficient. She's smart and nice, am I wrong?"

"Dad!"

Marie got out of her seat and puffed up her cheeks in displeasure. Her face was a beautiful shade of crimson red, which made it obvious to Yuta that she was incredibly embarrassed.

"Well... you're not wrong."

"!"

Yuta honestly admitted to Marie being a beautiful and kind person since he knew that it was true. However, that carried a different message as well.

"H-He called me beautiful..."

"You'll have to fight me for my daughter's hand in marriage!"

"Ara? We're going to have grandchildren already?"

At this very moment in time, Yuta had but one singular thought on his mind.

What is wrong with this family?!

—

Welcome to the afterstory!

Serious-san: We managed to survive the apocalypse...

Sugar-chan: Thank goodness~