V2Ch1: Fate Part 5

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Translator: Soafp

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When people share a meal, little by little, their hearts open up. As Sho and Haru sat facing each other, eating the rice porridge, conversations naturally began to flow.

“Do you live nearby?”

“Yeah, less than ten minutes by car from here.”

“Then maybe we went to the same elementary or middle school.”

“We're not the same age, are we?”

“…I'm 23 this year.”

“…So am I.”

That unexpected coincidence helped erase the coldness Haru had shown when they first met.

They exchanged small talk—childhood memories, hobbies, special skills. It wasn't exactly a lively conversation full of laughter, but step by step, they began to share and learn more about each other.

“Hey… why is your house like this?”

Once the conversation had gone deeper, Sho voiced his straightforward doubt.

The way Haru was being treated didn't seem like a simple neighborhood dispute. Her house had been vandalized and left in a terrible state, while the other residents pretended not to see. Why was this being ignored?

“That's…”

Haru's expression clouded over at Sho's question.

“Ah… sorry. I know there are things you don't want to talk about. But I just thought… if there's any way I can help…”

Sho had always been softhearted. He couldn't turn away from someone in trouble, even if it was inconvenient for him. It was simply in his nature to reach out a hand.

“You really are… too kind, aren't you.”

Haru smiled despite herself, but her expression quickly darkened again. She looked torn, as if deciding whether or not to speak.

Seeing this, Sho tried to ease the pressure.

“Forget it. I was being too nosy.”

Everyone has parts of their past they don't want touched. Sho knew that better than anyone. Some people want their past to be heard, others don't.

He was about to change the subject when—

“I'm the family of a criminal.”

Haru forced the heavy words out.

“…What?”

“My father committed a crime. He was arrested, but… I guess people still can't stand having a criminal's family living in the same town.”

Haru spoke with a bitter smile.

Her words made Sho suddenly remember the time when his sister had been murdered—his family's pain, and how others had treated them. The endless questions from neighbors and the press, probing into their lives with cruel curiosity. It was like living in hell. Even as victims, they were deeply wounded—by outsiders, not just by the criminal.

(So… families of perpetrators suffer this openly too…)

Sho felt a sharp ache in his chest.

(What kind of crime…?)

He wanted to know, but swallowed the words. Haru wasn't guilty of anything. It would be cruel to rub salt into her wounds, especially since she had been persecuted simply for being related to the culprit.

Instead, he chose another question.

“What about your mother…?”

“She died. Here, in this house.”

“…Ah…”

Sho immediately regretted asking. If her father was in prison and she lived alone now, the answer should have been obvious. He even remembered hearing it once from someone connected to the police:

Families of criminals, even though innocent, are punished by society. The ones left behind either cling to each other and struggle to live… or they give up on life altogether. There's rarely a middle ground.

“…Sorry. I wasn't thinking.”

Sho bowed his head deeply.

Haru smiled faintly.

“It's fine. You don't have to tread so carefully. My life was over the moment my father became a criminal anyway.”

She said it like a joke, mocking herself.

But Sho couldn't accept that.

“Do you really think so…?”

“…What?”

“Even if your father was a criminal, unless you helped him, you didn't do anything wrong. He's the one who should carry the crime and pay for it. As for his family… well, maybe you could be more considerate toward the victims, but… I don't think your whole life has to be condemned because of him. That's what I believe.”

That was Sho's honest opinion.

He remembered the days after his sister's murder, when the killer's family had come again and again to their house, bowing their heads. He had been just a child, but he remembered thinking, Why do they have to do this so many times? A girl about his age had bowed alongside her mother over and over.

(Now that I'm grown, I can imagine how hard that must have been for her…)

“It's just… idealism.”

“Maybe. But… you did what you could, right?”

“…Did I? All I remember is bowing over and over with my mom to strangers.”

“That must have been… really hard.”

“….”

It was the first time Haru had ever met someone who said such things.

“Criminal's daughter.” “Murderer's family.”

Ever since her father's arrest, that was how she had been treated. People denied her basic rights as a human being. She was beaten, cursed as if her existence itself were a crime.

And yet—she had been the one to report her father to the police, to prevent more victims.

Her wish had come true. The crimes had stopped.

But the price was her humanity.

“…You know the phrase ‘parent gacha,' right?”

After the meal, when they had settled down, Haru suddenly spoke.

“Yeah… like the idea that whether you're born lucky or unlucky depends on your parents, right?”

“Mm. I always hated that. I thought—if your parents have problems, then it's up to the child to work hard and live in a way that's problem-free. That's what I believed…”

Haru washed the dishes, including Sho's, as she spoke.

“But now… I really do think the parent gacha is real. If my father hadn't been who he was, my mom wouldn't have died, and I wouldn't be living like this. I could've had friends to hang out with all day, go eat out, go drinking, go shopping… ordinary things. But for me, they're out of reach.”

The ordinary life Sho took for granted was something Haru could only dream of.

And Sho's chest ached again.

“…Why don't you just take the plunge and step out?”

“…Huh?”

Sho couldn't bear to watch Haru like this. What he was about to say would surely take a lot of courage for her. But even so, he wanted her to try.

To break free from a life chained down by her parent.

“I didn't even know you were the family of a criminal until I met you. Isn't that what it's like? The neighbors know because you live close by. And then there are the gossipers, the so-called investigators online who just dig into things for fun. But most people—when they hear someone's been arrested—don't go out of their way to expose the whole family. I think that's the minority.”

“That's…”

Haru hadn't thought of it that way.

Even if it was only a small number of people, she knew what it felt like to be cast out by neighbors, to have strangers know her face, and to be insulted, slandered, and even assaulted for something that wasn't her fault.

“That's why… maybe try going somewhere a little farther away from here. Stretch your wings, start from there. Well, I know it won't be easy right away, but… once you've had time to sort out your feelings. You can't live shut-in like this forever. And more than anything… I just think it's too cruel for you.”

“…Too cruel? For me?”

It was the first time anyone had said that to her since her father's arrest. That someone actually cared enough to speak to her this way—she hadn't felt that in so long.

The only one who had cared since her father's arrest was her mother.

“Yeah. You're still young, and yet you're not allowed to do anything. Isn't that cruel? There's still so much you could be doing.”

The man in front of her still thought of her, even knowing she was the daughter of a criminal. That fact alone made Haru happy.

“…That's the first time anyone's said that. Since he was arrested…”

Everyone else only saw her as the daughter of a criminal. People her own age looked at her like she was garbage.

“…Sho, how do you see me? You still think of me as…?”

“…A girl my age.”

“…That's it?”

“What else should I add? If you want me to tack on something more, I can try.”

Sho smiled at her as he said this.

“…You're really…”

“Hm?”

“…No, nothing.”

Sho really was strange, she thought. Did this man really have no prejudice at all? Could there really be someone who, even after knowing she was the daughter of a criminal, still treated her the same?

“Sho, you're a weird one.”

“Weird? I'm normal, aren't I?”

“No. Definitely weird.”

Haru broke into a carefree smile. Sho was captivated by it.

“You… can make that kind of face too, huh?”

“Ah…”

Haru was startled by his words. She was smiling. Not a forced one, not a fake one, but a real smile. How many years had it been?

“T-this is… just a polite smile.”

“Is that so? Just a polite smile, huh…”

Though she tried to cover it up, Sho only laughed.

“Even if it's just a polite smile, you look better when you're smiling.”

At his gentle smile, Haru's heart pounded.

“Sh-shut up. Leave me alone.”

“And that rough, boyish way of talking… that's not really you, is it? Feels unnatural. You should drop it.”

“This way of talking is…”

Haru had started acting rough and boyish to protect herself. Once the malice began, she realized she couldn't go on as she was.

If she acted feminine, who knew what kind of humiliation she might suffer? She had to be strong. Even if it meant throwing away her womanhood, she had to live strong or else she would never survive this society.

That was why she spoke and acted this way now.

“…Well, when the time comes.”

If only everyone were like Sho. Haru pressed down that wish deep inside her.

“…Well then.”

Sho glanced at the clock. He had been in Haru's house for two hours already. It was well past midnight.

“I should head home. Thanks for making all this for me… it was delicious.”

Sho put his hands together in thanks and stood up.

“H-hey…”

(If you'd like, come visit me again…)

“Hm?”

“…Never mind. Thanks for helping me today.”

She could never say the most important things out loud. Even before her father's arrest, it had always been like that.

She might never meet another man as kindhearted as him again. And yet, the words she needed to keep that connection just wouldn't come.