My Seatmate is Apparently My Wife from My Past Life; She Still Loves Me in This Life as Well

I crudely lumped them together as my new father and mother, but that’s not entirely accurate—at least, I think so.

It’s a very vague way of putting it, and I apologize for that. Asahi is the father and Sanae is the mother, which may be the case for convenience, but the reality is a bit different.

That said, it’s not as if we have a bad relationship. It’s not that I deeply despise them and refuse to recognize them as my parents. On the contrary, I don’t dislike them at all. In fact, I find them quite pleasant.

So, it’s not a problem to call us a family—in fact, we are a family. They are my guardians, and they support me.

That’s an undeniable fact, an unrefutable reality.

However, even so, I doubt I’ll ever call them father and mother. At least from my current perspective, I can’t imagine such a future.

After all, it’s only been a little over a year since we became a family. My birth parents, who also raised me, passed away a little over a year ago.

It wasn’t anything unusual, just a traffic accident.

It was instantaneous—so they say. I don’t know the details. Or rather, I wasn’t told much.

Due to the severe damage to the bodies, I couldn’t see their final moments, and my memories from that time are embarrassingly hazy.

I only remember how incredibly busy everyone around me was. Looking back, it was likely the relatives discussing who would take me in.

In the end, it was the Aimoto couple who extended their hands to help me.

I had known the Aimotos since I was young—Asahi was my father’s younger brother, and they had a good relationship.

My parents weren’t very social with relatives, but the Aimotos were different. That’s probably why they took me in.

So, through such an unremarkable and common series of events, I came to be supported by them.

They are my guardians, my family, but not my parents.

Even though they formally might be, emotionally, I didn’t see them as such—not out of hatred, but because in my mind, both Asahi and Sanae were just ‘relatives.’

Or perhaps ‘people I often saw during long holidays.’ That was indeed the extent of our relationship.

This perception, formed over fifteen years, from early childhood to my third year of junior high school, was not easily shaken.

And I was fine with that. There was no need to force a change, and it couldn’t be changed anyway.

I’m sure the Aimotos felt the same way.

So, I thought. But I was wrong.

“Uraku, we are family. We became a family. So, you can think of us as your parents.”

A few days after being taken in, hearing those words made me feel terribly nauseous.

Ah, this isn’t going to work, I instinctively understood.

They were trying to replace my parents.

That might have been a natural act as adults.

It might have been a form of compassion or kindness towards a poor boy who lost both his parents suddenly in his mid-teens.

If that was the case, then cutting them off by calling it unnecessary meddling would have been wrong. However, seeing them try to act like my parents only reminded me more clearly that my parents were no longer in this world, and it made me feel even more despondent.

Saying that I didn’t need a replacement would have been easier, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

“From today, this is your home. If there’s anything inconvenient, let us know, and we’ll do our best to address it.”

Such words of kindness felt unbearably unpleasant. No one present was at fault, yet a deep sense of discomfort rose from my core.

The new room I was given didn’t feel like my own. Even bringing and decorating it with my belongings from my previous home didn’t change that.

If I had to put it into words, it felt like I was merely renting space.

It wasn’t my home, nor was it my room; this house was someone else’s, and so was the room.

This peculiar understanding and sense of incongruity fostered a huge aversion to the Aimotos in the center of my heart.

That’s why I didn’t want to go home.

The act of returning home every day became painful, so I always killed time somewhere.

To avoid staying at home as much as possible.

To avoid seeing the two who tried to act like my parents.

Kagari’s invitations felt “convenient” for that reason.

But, to reiterate, I don’t dislike the two of them.

I feel deeply indebted to them, and I do like them. That’s only natural, and I doubt that would change unless something extraordinary happened.

However, this inevitable emotional gap kept me from becoming accustomed to this house.

No matter how much time passed, I didn’t think it would change.

“Sanae. Dinner was delicious. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome… Fufu, you always say that, and it makes me happy. The bath is ready, so you can go ahead.”

“Thank you. But Asahi should go first. I have something to do.”

“Oh, really? Then I’ll gladly take the first turn.”

The conversation was not strange. It was a normal conversation built on a carefully chosen smile and words.

Am I now acting like a proper family?

Do I seem like I’m fitting in, looking relaxed without raising suspicion from the two of them? I hope so.

But at the same time, I felt an unbearable fatigue.

Ah, I wish tomorrow would come soon.

That way, even if only for a short while, I would be free from this house.