Chapter 9 | A Mother Who Betrayed Her Family

When I arrived home, I could hear the sound of women arguing with each other from the living room. The house is one of the few sanctuaries I have, so I don’t want it to be too noisy.

“─I know that, you don’t have to tell me every single time!”

“…Don’t talk like that, Yuuka. Eating in your sleep is bad for your health.”

“Tch… Shut up”

One is my sister’s voice, and the voice of the other is… it’s annoying.

As I was wondering whether I should go into the living room, my sister ran out from inside and we met in the hallway.

She seemed embarrassed to be overheard arguing and looked away awkwardly.

“…If you’re back, at least say you’re home. Here.”

“Yes, I’m back.”

“You’re still looking as dumb as ever…”

“You’re back and now you’re picking a fight? Don’t get carried away, okay? What?

“Haah?”

“Oh, forgive me, Nee-chan. Please put away your raised fist and don’t hit your little brother.”

“I’m tired, so I’ll cut you some slack. You should be thankful for your kind Nee-chan.”

“Thank you! You forgive your pretty little brother! I love you already Nee-chan!”

“… stop emphasizing how cute you are… so… How much do you like your kind Nee-chan?”

“Don’t emphasize the cute, I don’t like you that much.”

“…”

“I’m sorry.”

“If you’re going to apologize, you shouldn’t have said that in the first place. I mean, I don’t know what you mean when you say you don’t like me, and I really don’t…”

With a mumbled complaint, my sister went to her room. I was prepared for her to kill me over the morning, but apparently, she spared my life.

Also, the sad look on her face is very disturbing.

I mean, that woman seems to have a lot of leeway for someone who was arguing with him. Is it possible that she has a dual personality?

Even though she’s just a Yankee, on top of that, she’s a lunatic, and she’s irredeemable.

As a younger brother, I have a low opinion of her. I won’t say it in front of her because I’m afraid of her.

─While Yuuji was worrying about his sister’s fate, the woman who had been struggling with Yuuka peeked out from the living room.

When she saw Yuuji, she smiled happily.

“Welcome home, Yuuji. I finished work early today, so I came home early. Did you have fun at school? If you have any questions about your studies…”

“Don’t worry, Mom.”

“Umm, yeah. Okay, well, do you want to get some coffee until dinner is ready?”

“I’ll be back in my room.”

“Okay, well, I’ll call you when dinner’s ready, okay?”

“Okay.”

After the conversation was over, the woman Yuuji called his mother went back to the living room.

Usually, Yuuji also relaxes in the living room, but he doesn’t like to be in the same space as the woman, so he went to his room like his sister.

─The woman who was talking to him earlier is Yuuji’s mother.

Her name is Anna.

She is so young that it is hard to believe that she has a child in high school, and yet she has a beautiful appearance.

Her actual age is also very young, 36 years old, and for Yuuji, she was a beautiful and proud mother that he could proudly show off to his classmates.

But that was a long time ago.

─To put it bluntly, Yuuji now hates Anna.

The same is true for his sister Yuuka, but in her case, she is in the rebellious phase and hates her father as well. She does not have a one-sided dislike for her mother alone, as Yuuji does.

And the reason for his dislike of Anna is quite simple.

Because she betrayed her family.

Three years ago, Yuuji had directly witnessed his mother and an unknown man coming out of a hotel together.

After that, she desperately tried to explain that she was drunk and forced into the hotel and that the reason they came out together was to turn her into the police. However, it was impossible to believe her after being shown such a scene.

She also said that she had not committed the act, but even if that was true, it was unforgivable.

The scene of his mother coming out of the hotel with a man he did not know is still burned firmly in Yuuji’s mind.

Since that day, the mother in Yuuji’s mind has definitely disappeared.

If only this had not happened with Anna, Yuuji would not have been so angry with Airi.

Since that incident, he has become attentive to troubles between men and women, whether it is in a relationship or not.

Yuuji has not told anyone about this and has not allowed Anna to talk about it either.

Of course, he has kept it a secret between the two of them, a taboo even from his father and sister.

Naturally, this is not out of consideration for his mother. Yuuji was afraid of spreading the story too far and damaging the family relationship.

She couldn’t bear the guilt, and no matter how many times she tried to tell the truth, Yuuji wouldn’t allow her to do so. He believes that only he and the woman who betrayed him should be hurt.

No matter how hard she tries to convince him, he never breaks, so Anna reports everything she does to him and even has a GPS installed in her phone so that her whereabouts are always known.

She wanted Yuuji to understand that she had not betrayed her family since that day.

However, Yuuji’s doubts and fears run deep, and he is still unable to trust his mother.

Telling himself that everything would be all right was no good and that was hard for Yuuji too.

Yuuji fully understands how hard his mother has been working since that day, how much she regrets it, and how much she is trying to improve their relationship. Yuuji fully understands this, too.

From that day on, she no longer drinks alcohol, even though she used to love it.

Even so, his heart still rejects it. It’s a problem he can’t really control by his own will.

“I’m out of luck…if only I hadn’t taken that road because it’s a shortcut… and I wouldn’t have met my mother…”

Yuuji lies in bed and stares at the ceiling.

He resents himself for having accidentally seen his mother in that place that day.

Yuuji thinks that if he had not met his mother in that place, he would have known nothing about it and they would have been able to continue their parent-child relationship as before.

But Yuuji shook his head and told himself that it was no use thinking about such things.

─Yuuji thought he would pass the time by playing with his phone until dinner was ready, but he suddenly felt like eating the pudding his sister had given him.

It is said that eating something sweet is a good way to calm down, and that may be true.

Because right now Yuuji is craving sugar with a vengeance.

“─but I don’t want to go to the living room. What shall I do?… Oh, yes!

I’ve got an idea, I’ll send my sister to get it.

I went to my sister’s room.

I opened the door without knocking. I’m afraid she’ll get angry, but I’m sure she’ll forgive me if I apologize. She looks like she’s a bit of a softy.

“Sis! I’ve got a favor to ask you, from your adorable little brother!”

“What? Hey, don’t open the door so suddenly!”

“Huh.”

“Don’t smile like that!”

No, no, no, Nee-chan, I don’t think you should be lying on the bed in your uniform, do you?

She was in a hurry to hold up her skirt, but her legs were facing this way, so I could see her perfectly. It’s too late to turn red now.

“Sis… even if you were surprised, it’s not like you’re going to say, “Iyaaaaaa!” It’s not cute. And if you’re going to lie on the bed, you should at least change out of your uniform. I would never do that.”

“Oh, you! Okay! You’ve got some balls! Get over here!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t think you can expect me to forgive you every time you say you’re sorry?”

“What? This time it’s not good…?”

“Pfft.”

“Don’t laugh at me! Oh, by the way, sis, you know that pudding you gave your cute little brother this morning? Go get it for me.”

“There are so many things I want to say, like don’t ignore my anger, or go get it yourself, or how long you’re going to drag out the cute little brother story, but…”

—Breaking off her words, Yuuka continued with a mysterious look on her face.

“You should stop hating on mom, okay? That’s it, isn’t it? You don’t want to see your mother, so you’re asking me to do it for you.”

“It’s none of your business…”

“No, it’s actually my business, and you’re asking me to be your errand boy right now.”

Yuuka paused for a moment.

Then she continued, choosing her words carefully so as not to hurt her sensitive brother.

“I don’t know what happened between you and mom, but you don’t really hate your mother, do you? ─Well, I may not be able to convince you when I say this, but in my case, you see, I don’t really dislike mom, you know. It’s a rebellious thing.”

“………”

I can’t take it back anymore.

I’ve seen enough of that.

And I don’t understand what you mean by “perceived rebellion”? I think it’s rebellion because of the adolescent’s unaware filial piety.

I just wonder what would happen if I told Nee-chan.

Would she side with Mom, or would she hate her from the bottom of her heart as I do?…

……

I don’t want it to go either way.

So it’s definitely a secret. I shouldn’t tell anyone about that day. I hope my mother and I can sacrifice ourselves. That way we can protect our family.

But how to mislead my Nee-chan…

Yuuji didn’t know what to say and fell silent.

Watching this, Yuuka let out a sigh.

She seemed to sense that further prying was not a good idea, and decided to change the subject.

“Yuuji, give up on the pudding.”

“What? Why?”

“I ate it earlier because I was pissed off with your attitude this morning.”

“What? You ate it?”

Ah, huh… I warned you not to eat while sleeping…!!

Damn! I didn’t know that there was foreshadowing in that conversation, even Yuuji Sakamoto’s eyes couldn’t see it.!

“It was super tasty. It’s really great. It didn’t come with a high price tag of 490 yen.”

“490 yen? What is that? It already looks delicious just from the price alone, but why did you eat it? I’m really dying to eat that pudding What should I do?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t think you can expect me to forgive you if you’re honestly sorry?”

“Oh! We’re like a pair of sisters and brothers who have been saying the same thing since a while ago!”

What? What is this woman?

I’m really pissed off.

After that, Yuuji, who really wanted to eat the pudding, went to a convenience store to buy it.

While eating the 100-yen pudding, he thought of the gorgeous 490-yen pudding he was supposed to eat.

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