V3Ch1: Overcoming sadness Part 2

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Translator: Soafp

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“Auntie, until my parents come back, can I stay here with you? … Being alone really is lonely…”

After dinner and a short break, Hikaru immediately put her plan into action.

“Of course, dear. I understand. It must be lonely, right? It's scary for a girl to be spending every day alone. I get it.”

“I’ll contact your parents, so take it easy.”

Sho's parents were convinced with little effort. That was just how long and well Hikaru had been connected with Sho's family, and how good a relationship she had built with them.

“Come on… plenty of other girls live alone, right? Like in apartments…”

Sho couldn't help but raise an objection. He didn't dislike the idea of Hikaru staying, but the fact that she brought up “living alone as a girl” at that very moment felt a bit calculated.

“Sho… that's cruel. I get lonely too sometimes, you know.”

Hikaru's eyes glistened slightly with tears as she looked at him.

“Ugh…”

She was the neighborhood beauty, admired by many, and now she was looking straight at him with watery eyes. Even though they were childhood friends, Sho couldn't help blushing in embarrassment.

“Sho, don't be so mean. Just let her stay until her parents get back. You and I are both busy with work, so we're only around in the mornings and evenings anyway, right?”

His mother, of course, was firmly on Hikaru's side. Perhaps the one most taken by Hikaru's beauty and kind nature was Sho's mother herself.

“She's right. You should be kind to girls.”

And then his father chimed in too—an old fan of Hikaru since their middle school days. After the tragedy with Sho's sister, it was Hikaru who filled that empty hole in the father's heart.

“To us, she's like another daughter.”

That's how both parents saw her.

“…Fine. I never said I didn't want her to.”

With both of them backing Hikaru, Sho knew he was outnumbered. He reluctantly agreed.

Though “reluctantly,” in truth, part of him was glad. Hikaru was someone who matched his rhythm. Being with her was always strangely fun.

“Thank you so much! Then, while I'm here, I'll be Sho's Onee-chan okay? Please take care of me!”

Beaming, Hikaru looked triumphant.

“Geez… can’t be helped.”

Her bright smile made both Sho's parents—and even Sho himself—feel lighter.

“Then, about your room…”

“Ah, could I use the guest room, if that's okay?”

Hikaru quickly made her request before Sho's mother could suggest anything.

“The guest room? That's fine, but Sho's room is upstairs, so if you'd like, you could—”

“No, no, the guest room is fine! If I sleep next door to Sho, I'll never get any sleep with his snoring!”

The room next to Sho's was once his sister Saki's. Ever since her passing, Hikaru had never set foot in it again.

“…You still haven't been able to make peace with it?”

Sho's mother asked gently. Hikaru thought for a moment, then forced a smile.

“I'm sorry, Auntie. But I think I'll never be able to make peace with it as long as I live. How could I? Saki should have been alive and grown up by now. She was killed for selfish reasons. Even if Sho, you, and Uncle can find closure, I… I just can't.”

She tried her best to sound cheerful so as not to worry Sho's mother. But deep down, anger, hatred, grief, and despair continued to surge.

“I'm sorry… I wasn't being considerate. Then let's make the guest room yours from now on. We never use it anyway. It'd make me happy if such a lovely girl put it to use.”

His mother, recovering herself, smiled and suggested.

“Oh, I shouldn't… but if you're offering, I'd love to. My parents are hardly ever home anyway, and living alone in a big house is even harder mentally than living alone in an apartment. So… it'd make me happy to eat meals and watch TV together here.”

Hikaru still hadn't been able to move on. Sometimes, at night, the memories came back to her in a rush—like when she saw Saki's body, or when her eyes met with the man being arrested.

Those moments had seared themselves into her memory.

When the flashbacks hit, her emotions poured out uncontrollably—anger, hatred, sadness, despair. Her tears and trembling wouldn't stop.

It would've been easy to call Sho for help. But she never wanted him to see her like that. So she always pretended to be fine and never reached out to him during those moments.

But strangely, when she was with Sho and his family, those flashbacks rarely happened. Maybe it was because they shared the same wound. Maybe being in that space gave her a sense of safety.

“I'm sorry, Sho. I might end up coming over a little more often…”

It wasn't just for herself.

Sho was irreplaceable to her, and what she mourned most was that he too carried the same scar in his heart.

“But if I do, I'll make sure to keep you smiling.”

In the end, her greatest concern wasn't herself—it was Sho.