Chapter 10: Sister’s apology
Translator: Soafp
I came home and tried to go back to my room without saying I was home.
I wanted to be alone for now.
“H-hey.”
But my sister started to talk to me.
What the hell, I’m tired.
“What?”
As expected, my voice was laced with a grumpy tone.
“No, it’s nothing,”
“Oh, I see.”
I said and went to my room.
My mind was a bit foggy.
When I returned to my room, I lay down on my bed.
And I was thinking about today.
The faces of the classmates, the bewildered look of the committee chairman, Shiraki’s grief-stricken and distorted face, Himari’s sad and tearful face.
It’s not my fault, right?
I thought to myself.
Knock-knock!
A knock on the door of my room.
I put my hand on the door and open it, holding back my lethargy.
“What?”
There’s my sister.
“Can you… let me in?”
“Ha? I’m good right here.”
Why did she have to come all the way into my room?
My room is not particularly interesting.
It’s a simple room with a bed and a study desk.
“Come on now.”
My sister came into my room halfway forcefully.
She sat down on my bed.
I sigh a little and ask her a question.
“So? What do you want?”
“You really don’t know why it was wrong for you to do that?”
Again.
“I don’t get it. I’m just a victim, am I not?”
When I said that, my sister made a sad face.
What’s with that face?
Stop it.
Then tell me what went wrong.
I was already desperate.
Everyone just said it was my fault and wouldn’t give me any explanation.
Why should I be the only one to blame?
It was natural for me to feel this way.
“All right. I’ll explain it to you, so listen carefully.”
She slowly opened her mouth and began to explain.
“First of all, how did you feel when Shiraki-san told you that she was lying?”
As soon as she said that, the pain of being dumped came back to my chest.
It was throbbing and I could vividly remember that moment.
“Why the hell should I say that to you?”
I had no desire to be reminded of that if I could help it.
“Just answer me.”
She looked at me squarely in the eyes.
Then I slowly opened my mouth.
“Oh, I think I was angry at them, because I thought what they did was a trampling on people’s feelings, and that it was okay to do whatever you wanted as long as you were having fun.”
“That’s what people usually think, right? And what about what you did?”
I look back at my actions.
Maybe I already knew what I was doing in my head.
I knew in my head that what I was doing was the same as Shiraki and the others, trampling on people’s feelings and doing whatever I wanted as long as I was having fun.
In fact, I was enjoying my revenge against Shiraki and her friends.
Isn’t what I did to Shiraki-san the same as what they did to me?
“…”
I was silent.
I thought my sister was right.
But I can’t admit that my sister is right.
If I admit it, I would admit that everything I had done was wrong.
That is why what I did was wrong.
She finishes her sentence.
I opened my mouth.
“Then why were you so dumbfounded with me?”
I spat out the words as if in agony.
“That’s…”
“I was taken aback and hurt for no reason. Isn’t that an act of trampling on the feelings of the people you just mentioned?”
My sister looked troubled.
“Hey, tell me. Why were you so dumbfounded with me?”
“…..I can’t tell you that.”
What’s that?
“Haa? Then whose mouth can tell me that? You were the one who was dumbfounded, weren’t you?”
“I’m sorry, but I really can’t say.”
Explain why before apologizing.
I’m not going to talk to this person anymore.
I decide to do so and kick my sister out of the room.
“Hey, wait, Yusei! Open the door!”
I lock the door and fall back onto the bed.
My sister banged on the door and told me to open it.
Naturally, I didn’t listen to her.
After a few minutes, she gave up and the door became quiet.
“What you did was also a betrayal of people’s feelings”
Her words stuck in my head and wouldn’t go away.
I can’t admit to that thought.
I don’t want to think that everything I’ve done is for nothing.
Today, more than ever, I don’t want to see my sister again.
I thought so, but living in the same house, I see her even if I don’t want to.
My parents were often away for work, and it was not unusual for them to be gone for days at a time.
So today, my sister and I were alone at the dinner table.
The menu for the day was a simple Japanese dinner of white rice, miso soup, and salmon.
“Hey, Yusei. About the question you just asked me…”
My sister started.
“I can’t give you an answer, but I do know that I made you feel uncomfortable. I mean, I really can’t say it with my own mouth, nonetheless.”
My sister’s face was dark as she said this.
“Besides, I can’t blame you for wanting revenge. I blamed you for it, as if you were the only one to blame. I want to apologize for that, too. I’m sorry.”
I was a little taken aback.
“E-Enough”
I said bluntly.
But I realized that deep down inside, I was probably a little happy.
I had never had anyone who cared about my heart before.
I felt as if my sister was the only one who cared for my heart.
It might have been my imagination.
“Hey, you, please don’t call me “you”. Call me “Nee-san” like you always do…”
“Mifuyu.”
“!!! Hey, wait!”
Mifuyu, my sister, turns red in the face and raises her voice.
What is it? Are you mad at me for calling you by your name?
“What is it?”
“D-Don’t do that…”
“Ha? I don’t care.”
Mifuyu’s face was red for a while.
I was holed up in my room, thinking about what had just happened.
“I’m sorry.”
Mifuyu’s words kept repeating in my head.
Since the day I had broadcasted the news, I had been blamed for everything.
But now, there was someone who had come to my heart and apologized to me.
I felt a little comforted by that fact.
kan
August 1, 2022 at 12:44 am“Isn’t what I did to Shiraki-san the same as what they did to me?”
No. Not even close. What they did was unprovoked. In fact it sounds like he was nice to everyone so in this case it’s not only unprovoked, it’s repaying kindness with malice. What he did was exposing that malice to the public. So what that he enjoyed it?
Chump
August 1, 2022 at 1:48 amOn one hand I want to say that he’s overcompensating because he’s a teenager who hasn’t learned to understand his emotions of what exactly he is feeling, nor does he control them well in such a situation. He hasn’t lived long enough to gain experience of the real world of adults and how it is so much worse than the petty social drama stuff that happens in highschool between cliques, friend groups, whose dating who, and such. And let’s be honest, we’ve all been through that angsty overly dramatic highschool drama. And it makes us feel like we’re gonna die, its the end of the world where there’s nothing but despair. Only for us to look back on it years later in our twenties to realize just how silly and overdramatic it was. Or to go to a class reunion and see that the school bully actually ended up maturing, growing up into a semi-reasonable human being who you don’t absolutely hate. This isn’t to downplay entirely what the MC went through, he did indeed find himself in a shitty situation.
There are few things someone can do to me that I find worse than lying, especially if its a severe lie and not something as simple as a white lie about a christmas present. Which is why idc if that girl really does like him and was influenced by her friends to make a mistake that she regrets, she’s better off being kicked to the curb. Tough luck. Learn from this mistake and don’t f**k it up again when you meet another boy you like.
I’m the type to only give my trust once. And if you lied to me, be prepared to spend a very long time trying to work hard to gain my trust back. I’ll admit its a flaw of mine, having a hard time trusting people is as much a flaw as it is to be too trusting and sometimes I am too blunt because I’d rather be straightforward than talk in circles. If I was in the MC’s situation. I would become indifferent after this instead of seek revenge. By indifferent I mean I would draw a firm line in my consciousness that I shall not pass. I would perform the minimal required social etiquette so as not to seem like a rude person in the eyes of others. But I would never be more than a stranger/acquaintance to the girl. Never pursuing a relationship of even just friends. I’d only work with them for group work if I was forced to and had no other alternative.
On the other hand. I’ve seen stuff like what the mc went through happen irl to people I know, but worse. People whose true selves aren’t aligned with how they act in public around others. While it may seem trivial, its not. People can only wear a mask and pretend to be someone that they aren’t for only so long. Even the best actor will slip up eventually, its human nature. Its just a matter of how many years they can act before the mental strain wears them out, and they break down and have an outburst of emotion after a highly emotionally charged, stressful, negative event . Ever wonder why old people are so blunt and state their opinions regardless of how offensive they can be? Its not necessarily going senile. Sometimes they are just tired of spending a lifetime of wearing a mask, and finally let go speaking their true thoughts, even if it offends people.
Our MC here. Personally, I find his situation as kind of meh. He was lied to. Yeah it hurts. That week long relationship was real to him, and when it comes to being hurt, no one can hurt us more than the people we are closest to because we care about them. It’ll probably take some months for him to learn from that event, and come to peace with what happened, and move on with his life. That being said, would I have gone to broadcast the conversation and try to ruin someone social standing just because they’ve hurt me? Not necessarily. I don’t quite think the situation warranted it. He suffered, he deserves better. But at the same time. I do think there is such a thing as taking the victim card too far. I don’t think he has quite reached that state yet, and I hope he doesn’t. The broadcasting of the recording was sketchy. But its 2022 irl right now, people do that all the time nowadays, we see it all the time on the news with “karens” for example being recorded. Sorry any karens in the comments. The example of the people that make your name (even if they aren’t actually named karen) have a bad reputation in society come to mind first as an example. While I don’t necessarily agree with it. Broadcasting people being stupid to the rest of society in order to shame them is pretty common nowadays. Hence, why I find the situation sketchy but not exactly weird or strange.
As for the sister, counselor, friend, etc. Yeah they are all dumb af. While the mc could possibly be taking the revenge and victim card a little bit too far imo. They are just stupid. You don’t go to someone who has the legitimate right to feel like a victim, because they are one, and start talking and using words in a way and tone of voice that would insinuate its 100% all his fault simply because he overcompensated in his reactions to get revenge because he thinks it will make him feel better. Talk about miscommunication 101. While the teens can be sort of exempted from this because they haven’t matured socially, only partially (I always saw highscool as one big social experiment where teens can learn how to act in society, with minimal consequences, detention etc, instead of stuff like prison in the real world).
The counselor or any person whose an adult for years, not fresh adult like 18, or 21 or whatever specific countries legal age is. But an adult whose had years in the real world and has experience in society (which sucks) under their belt, should not have any excuse. They should know better. Especially if they are a counselor. They are trained for stuff like this.
Whelp. There’s the end of my wall of text. Srry bout that. Some of the characters were getting on my nerves with this story. Back to reading depressing stuff on the website now I guess…
StonksCoffee
August 1, 2022 at 4:08 amTo the MCs discredit, no one forced him to put on his mask. He did that himself. I don’t disagree with his revenge, but he doesn’t know how to manage relationships. He became disproportionately hostile to people for smaller issues than the breakup. Now it seems like he’s having a mental break. He shares some similarities to that one girl in another soafp translation that started as a victim but became the bully.
Gatts
August 1, 2022 at 4:15 amThank you for the chapter !
pezantri
August 1, 2022 at 8:54 amAs expected, the sister didn’t really have a leg to stand on, but it’s good she got her s**t together a little bit. Yes, the MC’s retaliation may have been a little excessive (though I don’t really believe that), but calling it a ‘betrayal of feelings’ is totally untrue. The relationship broke, HE was betrayed, there’s no obligation for him left to uphold, it’s just eye for an eye.