V3Ch2: Change of Heart part 1

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Translator: Soafp

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A lonely morning.

By now, she was used to it.

The house her father had insisted on designing himself. Since her mother died, Haru had been the only one living in this house.

Even if she went outside, there was no destination. She couldn't even walk calmly, constantly aware of the eyes around her. Whenever she noticed someone looking at her, a feeling of being blamed would overwhelm her.

Why had things turned out this way?

Why did she have to endure this?

Ten years ago, to prevent any more girls her own age from becoming victims, Haru reported to the police that her father was the culprit.

She knew full well that her father's arrest would lead to the situation she was now facing.

Her father had committed cruel acts.

He had selfishly murdered seven girls, all around her own age.

Even if he were arrested and sentenced, that crime could never be fully atoned for.

She understood that.

She had reported her father out of a sense of justice. She expected nothing in return. She believed that surely, the world would understand her feelings. Her mother and she were victims too.

She had believed that.

But the harsh treatment didn't end after a year. Not for one year, but for many, many years.

Her mother became an outcast in the neighborhood, repeatedly subjected to words far harsher than anything Haru herself endured.

“Let's endure this together. Someday, surely, people will understand us too.”

Yes, she had lived on, encouraging herself with her mother's words, but the heart that had always supported her mother broke sooner than Haru's own.

When Haru saw her mother's broken state, something inside her own heart shattered.

It sounded like glass breaking.

It sounded like a pile of dishes shattering.

It sounded like wood splintering, or like new furniture being smashed—a dry, snapping sound.

A feeling that everything around her was breaking, one after another.

Haru understood at that moment.

Ah… this is the sound of a heart breaking.

From that day on, Haru abandoned her emotions.

It was because reacting to bullying and unreasonable things only amused those around her.

It was because showing her feelings made her heart hurt, made it break.

Thinking this way, Haru perhaps tried to feel as little pain as possible.

It was all her father's fault.

Her father had killed seven people, following only his own whims.

She sometimes blamed her harsh life on him.

But each time, she would ask herself:

Why had her father changed?

In Haru's memories, her father had always been kind.

Even when she had been selfish, he had smiled gently at her.

And when it mattered, he had been someone she could rely on.

Her memories were always filled with laughter shared as a family.

That was all Haru could recall.