V5Ch3: Causal good news Part 1

Reading Settings

Translator: Soafp

---

[Shiori Kamishiro side]

“One more, please!”

Catching the sharply thrown pass, Kamishiro dribbled towards the goal. With a burst of speed, she jumped and scored a perfect shot.

“Nice shot, Kamishiro!”

She waved in response to the voice behind her, her ponytail swaying gently. The summer sun illuminated the gymnasium, but there was a different kind of heat inside.

Kamishiro continued practicing with an intensity her teammates had never seen before. She had a blessed physique, excellent athletic ability, and above all, an overwhelming amount of talent.

But everyone there understood that these traits weren’t what truly mattered.

Her smile was radiant, expressing sheer joy through every fiber of her being. She was simply captivating. Her face showed fulfillment and strong will, a sharpened individual presence.

She drew everyone’s gaze with her overwhelming presence and brilliance.

That was the current Shiori Kamishiro.

“Good job. Here, take this.”

“Thank you!”

The third-year captain handed her a sports drink. Kamishiro accepted it with a smile and bowed her head.

“So, what’s gotten into you all of a sudden? You've been working really hard.”

Of course, she had always been diligent. What had changed was her approach.

“We’re the ones who invited you, but you're like a ringer or a foreign player to us. You don’t have to push yourself too hard, you know? If you get hurt—”

“Thank you for worrying about me! But I want to do this.”

Kamishiro smiled bashfully, and the captain hugged her.

“What a good girl! Don’t transfer to another team even if they offer you a big contract, okay?”

“I won’t! Uh, Senpai, I’m all sweaty…”

“But maybe Kokonoe-kun will want you back.”

Kamishiro stopped trying to escape the hug at that name.

Originally, Kamishiro was the manager for the boys’ basketball team. After some twists and turns, she joined the girls’ team but continued her role with the boys. She was ready to return whenever needed.

“Yuki would never say that. And I think that just following his words isn’t enough. Nothing will change that way.”

She had been harshly rejected not long ago. He had said he disliked her. Considering what she had done, it was natural, and she didn’t even deserve to feel hurt.

But his ‘dislike’ was so kind. That's why she liked him so much. Kamishiro gently placed a hand on her chest.

“The way I am now, I can’t stand next to Yuki. I want to make him happy too.”

“I see…”

The captain didn’t pry further. She didn’t need to understand. Her role as a senior was simply to be there. It was the end of a time when she was infatuated with love. Connecting the past to the present and then to the future.

“Kamishiro-san, but you do smell a bit sweaty.”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!? How could you say that!”

Her tearful, blushing face was warmly watched over by the rest of the team.

“Ouch!”

“Are you okay?”

A second-year student was holding her finger. Kamishiro quickly ran over to check the injury.

“It looks like you jammed your finger.”

“Please wait a moment!”

Kamishiro went to her bag, took out some tape, and carefully fixed the injured finger.

“Heh, Kamishiro-san, you’re really good at this.”

“Well, I was the manager for the boys’ basketball team.”

Though she didn’t do anything particularly outstanding as the boys’ basketball manager, Kamishiro had learned the basics of treating injuries from Yukito.

She had always studied and looked for ways to help the boys’ team. That knowledge and experience remained with her.

“Thanks. It looks like I can keep practicing.”

“No, you can’t! Senpai, it’s best if you go home today. When you get home, repeatedly cool the injury with ice water. Keep doing that for a few days.”

“Is that so?”

“…I think it’s a minor injury. But I’m not an expert, so I can’t be sure.”

She told her senpai to go to the hospital if the swelling didn’t go down and the pain persisted, then sent her home. She also consulted with the advisor and ensured her senpai could rest from club activities until fully healed.

After seeing her senpai off, Kamishiro resumed practice, hoping there would be no lasting effects from the injury.

“Sorry, you're a team member but ended up doing managerial work for the girls’ team too.”

Kamishiro quickly stopped the captain from apologizing. It was an unexpected accident, and no one was at fault.

“I should apologize for acting on my own! But I couldn’t just leave it. If a jammed finger isn’t treated properly, it can become a serious problem, so I was worried.”

She couldn’t stand still. Before she knew it, her body moved instinctively.

“Somehow, relying on a first-year like this makes us look bad as seniors.”

The senpais nodded in agreement. Feeling awkward, Kamishiro quickly changed the topic.

“Alright, let’s get back to practice! I want to lead the girls’ team to victory!”

“That’s a lofty goal.”

The captain and others looked distant. Kamishiro laughed cheerfully at their reaction.

“We aim for the top! With relentless ambition. In other words, we are the ‘Top Girls'!”

“Wait, wait, wait!”

The members quickly tried to stop Kamishiro’s outrageous declaration. The advisor turned pale.

“Hohe? What’s wrong?”

“You can’t just call us something that sounds like a manual that would get you arrested!”

“Men might hold a grudge against us for years…”

With objections coming from all sides, Kamishiro pouted.

“But it’s a clear and cool goal… Top Girls…”

“Blame the nuances of the Japanese language.”

After being properly educated by the other members, Kamishiro deeply regretted her choice of words. Naturally, the name “Top Girls” was scrapped. Peace was restored, and all was well.

[TL: Top Girls (いただき女) = ‘A woman who gets close to a man with ulterior motives and begs for money from him under appropriate pretexts’ or ‘woman who feigns intimacy with men for money’]

---

[Shiori PoV]

“By the way, Kamishiro-san, what are your plans after graduation?”

“…After graduation?”

The casual question from the captain left me at a loss for words. I put the product back on the shelf and stepped away.

I had come shopping with the captain after being invited. This was a personal outing, unrelated to club activities.

“Given your talents, you could aim for a sports scholarship or something like that. You mentioned leading the girls’ basketball team to victory, so I thought maybe you had some goal in mind.”

A future goal. Go to university, and then… and then, what do I want to do?

I have nothing. I’m empty inside. Looking back, maybe that was obvious.

I wasn’t looking at myself; I was only looking at Yuki.

— And that had no meaning.

“Besides, there’s more to life than sports. You know that, right? Athletes spend more time not being athletes than being ones. Life after retirement is longer. Those who were deeply involved often feel burnt out afterward.”

There was a thoughtful nuance in the captain’s words.

(…Just like Yuki.)

Kind people who truly see me. Perhaps the captain was trying to put the brakes on my passionate approach. A natural respect welled up within me.

I joined the girls’ basketball team because I realized that just chasing after someone wouldn’t let me stand alongside them. No matter how much he got hurt, Yuki kept moving forward, accumulating life experiences. In a way, it’s like gaining experience points.

Because of that, Yuki can do many things and has the courage to face challenges without fearing failure.

In comparison, I had only been looking at Yuki and had done nothing else. I hadn’t built anything for myself, making my achievements seem thin next to his.

So, I tried to look beyond Yuki and started living my own life.

That was the first step. To walk proudly beside Yuki.

“Thank you for worrying about me.”

“Hmm? What are you talking about? I’m just curious about the future of our promising rookie.”

The captain dodged with a composed face. What a wonderful woman. A reliable senior I admire.

Suddenly, a desire sparked within me, clear as an electric flash in my chest.

It was still a bit hazy, but I could feel it.

It was–a budding wish. Something important, an original born within me for the first time.

Recalling the past, the answer had always been right in front of me since that day.

Yuki had been showing it to me from the very beginning–

“This is what I want to do–“

“Hmm? What did you say?”

I shook my head, saying it was nothing, and returned to shopping with the captain. But my mind was elsewhere, buoyed by a feeling of exhilaration, letting myself be engulfed by this burning hope.

My heart was racing, my vision becoming clear. It was my first experience of this kind. I felt the ground beneath my feet as I took a step forward.

Each step I took was undeniably connected to the future.

---

[Yukito PoV]

The air felt heavy. My heartbeat quickened naturally from the suffocating atmosphere, a rising sense of anxiety welling up within me.

Sweat trickled down my back, causing my T-shirt to cling to my skin. Despite it being summer, the room was chilly in contrast to the outside temperature. It wasn’t due to the air conditioning. It was the abnormality of this place.

My vision was filled with darkness. Blood splattered on the walls, a disordered room, strange writings in a notebook, and faint groaning sounds coming from outside the room. An eerie phenomenon had suddenly appeared in the gap between reality and unreality.

The imaginary world began to invade reality, and fear started to paint over my emotions.

—Once you step in, there’s no escaping.

“T-T-T–T-T-T-This is too scary, Onii-chan!”

“C-c-c-a-a-a-a-a-a-al-l-l-l-l-m-m-m-m-m down.”

“Onii-sama, you need to calm down too!”

“I see.”

I calmed down.

“Your quick switch, Onii-sama, is amazing!”

With my robust mentality, akin to a truss structure, achieving instant mental unity was a simple task. I am Yukito Kokonoe, the man who doesn’t panic over a sudden hard drive crash.

The three of us, me, Kikyo-chan, and Hiori-chan, had come to experience a summer tradition. Yes, a test of courage. The ‘courage’ in ‘test of courage’ originally referred to the liver. In other words, if you had a liver disease that required its removal, you couldn’t participate in a test of courage. (This is incorrect.)

However, we are perfectly law-abiding students. While haunted places like abandoned buildings are common for tests of courage, such locations are usually off-limits.

Taking middle schoolers to such places is absolutely out of the question. The Congo has two separate countries: the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

They were originally one country but were divided due to the dark legacy of the colonial era.

That’s why we were at the largest mission-clear type haunted house in the city.

It was made by renovating an old house, giving it an authentic and eerie atmosphere. You solve puzzles and aim to escape while being pursued by ghosts, making for a thrilling experience.

Sometimes, you even have to hide from the ghosts, blending a haunted house with an escape game.

Interestingly, the story is divided into chapters. Regardless of whether you clear it or not, you only get part of the story with each visit, encouraging repeated participation. Haunted houses have really evolved.

“Onii-chan, aren’t you scared!?”

“I’m used to this kind of thing.”

After all, there’s nothing scarier than my own life.

In the middle of the night, a long-haired woman sneaks into my bed and paralyzes me. When I go out, I encounter Yokai. I'm quite familiar with ghosts.

“Onii-sama, what kind of horrifying experiences have you been through—–“

It was past noon, but the room was dim, with no sunlight coming in and the artificial lighting barely sufficient. I illuminated the room with the flashlight we were given, but it was a rather unreliable device.

“Maybe I should have brought the refreshing handsome guy…”

His dazzling face would have brightened the entire room…

Kikyo-chan and Hiori-chan clung to my sides, trembling with genuine fear. It was quite adorable.

“I’m used to scary experiences at home.”

I said, searching for clues to escape this room. Someone needed to do something about my family, who seemed to be devoted to startling me.

“The door is locked. Well, that's obvious; it's an escape game. Got it.”

“Kikyo, what should we do?”

“W-Well, first, let's explore the room and gather information.”

We couldn't make progress if they just clung to me. We had only thirty minutes to complete the mission and escape. Even if we failed, there wouldn't be any curses or deaths, so that was a relief. We could attempt it again the same day or come back another day.

Both of them nervously tried to solve the puzzle from the hints placed conspicuously around the room. It was quite endearing. Despite the eerie atmosphere, it gave me a warm feeling.

“Onii-sama, have you already solved the puzzle?”

“Wow, Detective Onii-chan is amazing!”

I smirked at their astonishment. This was hardly a mystery.

“Listen, solving puzzles isn't a big deal. Escaping is easy.”

I pulled out a precision screwdriver from my pocket. Approaching the locked door, I jiggled the doorknob. It was a standard cylindrical lock, probably because the place was originally an old house.

“With this type of lock, it's simple. First, you insert a flathead screwdriver into the small groove between the door and the knob and lift the cover off. Next, you—”

“Please do not try to solve the problem in a way that goes against the purpose of the room.”

“Okay.”

The ghost was surprisingly polite. I decided to adhere to the rules.

“Onii-chan…”

Hiori-chan looked at me with troubled eyes. I apologized silently.

I couldn’t help it! This was the quickest way to escape, after all.

“Why do you even have such unnecessary knowledge…”

Naturally, I wanted to install a lock on my room. Though it was vetoed by the majority, considering how my sister could easily unlock something as simple as a tubular lock, it might be pointless in the end.

“Alright, let's solve the puzzle!”

With a renewed spirit, I engaged in solving the puzzle. The newspaper placed there was dated from the Showa era. It contained an article about a family massacre that happened fifty years ago. The only missing body was that of the second son.

The culprit had already been arrested and confessed to killing the second son too.

So, where was the body? The missing body that was supposed to be there.

What an elaborate setting. Maybe the second son was actually alive.

Piece by piece, I organized the information from the clues. As I unraveled the mystery, I drew closer to the truth of the incident. The culprit and the body… The setting was surprisingly well thought out.

Speaking of mysteries, the cliché is a dying message, but the idea of leaving behind a complex, coded hint at the moment of death, requiring advanced deduction skills, was rather amusing.

“Hiori-chan, come here.”

“Did you find something, Onii-chan?”

When I beckoned, Hiori-chan came over and peered at what I had found. The newspaper from the time of the incident and the notebook with incomprehensible writings. If we carefully decoded them, we should be able to solve the mystery.

“Hmm, what could this be for?”

I took an item out of the drawer I opened and handed it to Kikyo-chan.

“I-I’m so dumb, I can’t figure this out at all…”

“Even if you get possessed, Maki Jagai-sensei will handle it, so don't worry.”

It’s good to have an exorcist acquaintance.

“Onii-chan, have you already solved it!?”

I had, but solving everything myself would spoil the fun. Besides, we'd probably fail the mission. We were still in the first room, but the whole old house was the stage.

Even after leaving this room, we had to clear the living room, kitchen, bathroom, and even go upstairs. We had spent almost fifteen minutes already.

Thirty minutes was too short to clear everything. This place was likely designed for multiple playthroughs, where you gradually make progress.

“Gah! This feels slimy and gross, Onii-chan!”

“O-Onii-sama, is this a human finger!? Eek! There's a hand tapping on the window!”

Battling through the scary experiences and searching for answers, Kikyo-chan and Hiori-chan finally solved the puzzle and escaped the first room after exactly thirty minutes.

“This is really difficult.”

“Not fair, Onii-chan, help us more!”

Kikyo-chan looked dejected, and Hiori-chan was pouting.

“I must admit, the fear made me… have a little accident.”

“Kikyo-chan, does that mean you…?”

Leaving the dim old house, we were greeted by the blazing summer sun for the first time in hours.

“Meeting a moralist reminds me of Sensei.”

“That was more of an immoral act, Onii-chan…”

But it couldn't be helped. Fear is a natural response, and you can’t blame someone for that. Despite the fear, they both did their best. I had only given minimal hints, but they might not have needed my help at all.

“You solved the puzzle well enough. Next time, we'll try again.”

Hiori-chan smiled brightly, no longer upset.

“Yeah, let’s come again, Onii-chan!”

“Next time, let’s bring more people.”

There was a limit to how many could join at once. More participants meant more active discussions and easier puzzle-solving.

“Then I’ll bring Onee-chan! Lately, she’s been gaining weight from all the desk work and was shocked after her bath.”

I imagined a chubby Hinagi. It would be cute in its own way.

“Alright, I’ll bring some cake for her.”

“As expected of Onii-chan!”

Hiori-chan regularly divulged major secrets about Hinagi. Their sisterly bond was likely improving, despite the occasional slips of poison. Please get along, sisters.

As Hiori-chan and I talked about Hinagi’s weight, I noticed Kikyo-chan looking down, her expression dark. Maybe the weight talk had been insensitive.

“Are you tired? Should we rest somewhere?”

“N-No, it’s not that…”

“What’s wrong, Kikyo-chan?”

Hiori-chan asked worriedly, peering at Kikyo-chan's face.

“Will there be a next time for me? I'm scared. I’m afraid this fun time will end, and I’ll return to the usual days of nothing but hardship.”

She spoke as if convincing herself, clinging to a faint hope, tears falling one by one.

I definitely won't sympathize or offer easy comfort. That won’t help. Such thoughts…

“That’s not right, Kikyo-chan!”

“Hiori-san?”

Hiori-chan took Kikyo-chan’s hand, her eyes filled with a strong will.

“Whether there’s a next time or not is up to you, Kikyo-chan! You decide for yourself. No one else can do that for you. If every day is hard, you’re the only one who can change it!”

She said what I wanted to say first. Left with nothing to add, I swallowed my words. But maybe this was for the best.

Hiori-chan’s words would resonate more. Running away isn't a bad thing. Sometimes it’s necessary. Asking for help is important too.

But continually running away won't solve anything. Eventually, you might lose all your escape routes and become too scared to face things.

“But I have nothing! Nothing to be proud of, nothing I can grasp with my own hands!”

She stretched her small hands as far as she could, but couldn't reach what she wanted.

A girl who had been denied everything by her mother, living in fear and losing confidence. Yet, she couldn’t hate her mother, feeling bitter and trapped.

Not knowing what to do, she sought salvation. Everyone wants to become someone. So who will acknowledge that?

When will they acknowledge it? She looked for an ally and found me. But I can’t always be her ally. I can’t be the one to protect my little sister.

Watching my little sister’s tears, I quietly picked up my phone.

---

I parted ways with Hiori-chan and was about to head home, but I couldn’t leave Kikyo-chan looking so pained. It was already late afternoon, but there was still plenty of time.

“Is there anywhere you want to go?”

After a moment of thought, she gave an unexpected answer.

“I want Onii-sama to show me around the city!”

“Is that it?”

She nodded. I had been thinking of taking her to some entertainment spots like a movie theater or bowling alley to cheer her up, but she had a surprisingly simple wish.

Although this town doesn’t have any particularly notable spots, I thought of something.

“Shall we go? Do you want to hold hands?”

“Yes.”

Hesitantly, her small hand overlapped with mine. Feeling her warmth, it felt so natural, like we were truly siblings.

[Kikyo PoV]

“Is this childish?” (Yuki)

“It’s fine because I’m still a child.”

“That’s true. I’m still a minor too.”

I gripped his hand tightly. I didn’t want to let go of this warmth. I felt his small steps matching mine, and it warmed my heart.

We walked towards our destination. Time flowed slowly.

“It feels like something like this happened before.”

“I feel the same way.”

A little lie. I actually remember it clearly, the time we walked like this. Perhaps I had longed for this since then. I envied my friends who had siblings. They probably envied me for being an only child. It’s a case of wanting what you can’t have.

If I had an older brother or sister, how would my life have been? Would my mother have been kinder to me? Or would she still have been exasperated with me?

“We’re here.”

Onii-sama stopped at an unremarkable place. The sky was dyed red with the twilight. I looked around, but there weren’t many people. I only saw an old man walking his dog. There weren’t any monuments. Was there some historical significance to this place?

“This is where I got rejected by my childhood friend.”

The natural tone of his voice almost made me miss it. After a moment, my brain processed it.

“Onii-sama did?”

“Well, I guess I was aiming too high.”

A bitter memory—or maybe not. Onii-sama seemed completely calm, without any emotional fluctuation, as if it was natural to him.

“Alright, let’s head to the next place.”

My mind was filled with questions. Why had he brought me here? Was there some deeper meaning? I hesitated to delve too deeply. Following his lead, we crossed the pedestrian bridge.

“Stop. I fell from here and broke my arm. Honestly, that hurt. I'm glad Shiori was okay, but be careful when going down the stairs, okay?”

“Yes! Um… are you alright now?”

It was a question I already knew the answer to. Onii-sama didn't look injured at all.

“It happened a few years ago. Let's move on.”

We descended the pedestrian bridge and walked a bit more. Sure, I had asked him to show me around the city, but this didn't seem quite right.

I couldn't bring myself to say it, though. However, I was beginning to understand that perhaps he was showing me his history. We were tracing his life, his memories, and he was sharing them with me.

The next place we stopped was a park. It was a plain, ordinary park you could find anywhere.

“They removed it now, but there used to be playground equipment here. I fell from it and got seriously injured. I still have the scars. I feel really bad for showing Yuri and her friends such a gruesome scene. I hope it didn't traumatize them.”

We left the park and walked a bit more before my brother stopped again.

“After that, I was kidnapped here. I thought they were taking me to the hospital. I still don't know what that was about… They let me go right away, but it's an eternal mystery.”

“Uhm, I can't follow your story, Onii-sama…”

I anxiously voiced my concern, but he didn't seem to mind at all.

“It's like a town where a boy detective would pop up.”

“It feels like there'd be incidents in both the morning and the afternoon.”

As we continued, he kept showing me around the city, just as I had asked.

“I cut my leg deeply here once and had to get seven stitches. Dr. Reizei scolded me really badly.”

“There are too many bloodstained spots!”

“Maybe I'm just prone to accidents. Do you want to see the scars?”

“I'll pass!”

He spoke nonchalantly about these harrowing experiences. Despite the painful memories, he seemed unbothered. Seeing him like this strangely put me at ease, and I started to enjoy learning about this part of his past—though I knew I wouldn't be able to talk about my own so freely.

If it were me, could I speak about it as naturally as he did? With such a tragic past, I might have sunk into despair, resenting and envying the world, unable to bear the sadness, and long since reached my limit.

As I ate the crepe we bought together, I looked up at Onii-sama's face, his expression utterly normal. Driven by an impulse, I voiced my question.

“…Wasn't it hard for you, Onii-sama?”

“Hard?”

He looked up at the sky as if he couldn't understand, pondering for a moment before continuing.

“The world is inherently unfair. Wishes don't come true, hopes are crushed, expectations are betrayed. That's just the way it is—like how we can't choose our parents.”

His words pierced my heart. Tears welled up. I didn't want to accept what he said. Such a world was too—

“It's too cruel!”

I knew there was no point in lashing out at him, but I couldn't hold back my emotions. That's when I realized I wanted a different answer. I wanted him to say he would save me, that he would be my ally and protect me.

“Is it wrong to have ideals…?”

I wanted to rely on him more. I believed he would indulge me. I wanted him to be mine and mine alone.

But he was always busy, constantly meeting people, working on something, even at home. The time I got to spend with him was more precious than anything else.

He was loved by everyone—by stepmother, by stepsister. He was admired and relied upon. Hiori-chan had said it:

“Onii-sama will make things right.”

Everyone depended on him—just like I did. Even Father.

Father never intended to show his face to Onii-sama. Considering everything that had happened, it was understandable.

But he had no choice but to rely on him. The same went for Mother. She needed Onii-sama, not me. I couldn't save her. Even though we're family, even though it's my family.

“I don't know! I don't know what to do or what I want!”

I didn't know what the right answer was, or what I wanted to become. I was just drifting along, voicing my selfishness to Onii-sama. A bothersome, annoying, and terrible little sister.

He listened quietly to my outburst, his large hand gently landing on my head.

“You need to strengthen your mind.”

His words were both harsh and kind, making my heart ache. It was as if he could see through my weakness, and I felt ashamed.

“It's about time the old man shows himself.”

“Eh?”

I couldn't see what he was looking at, and that frustrated me. Even Mother would turn to him for help, making me painfully aware of the difference between us.

“Let's go home.”

I nodded silently, unsure of what the future held, as we walked into the unknown darkness.

---

---

“What is the meaning of this, Ouka? I will not approve of an adoption!”

The old man appeared in front of us the next day. The fact that he came alone possibly indicated that Tsubaki-san was either unwell or deliberately left behind to avoid a confrontation with Kikyo-chan. Regardless of the reason, this turn of events worked in my favor.

I invited him into the living room. He looked different from when I had seen him outside the apartment last time—there was a noticeable weariness about him.

Perhaps he hadn’t been sleeping well, which made sense considering his only daughter was being proposed for adoption.

Originally, the adoption was my idea. I stopped my mother from arguing back, taking it upon myself to deal with him.

“My little sister wants to get away from you two, her toxic parents.”

“Toxic parents, you say!?”

He grabbed my collar, but my mother and sister were ready to explode. Their anger was palpable.

“You should be aware of that yourself.”

“Tch!”

He released me angrily. I couldn’t let him take Kikyo-chan back.

“Yeah, yeah, toxic parents!”

I taunted him roughly.

“You b*****d!”

His anger was about to reach a boiling point. My mother and sister had already passed theirs.

“You should keep your distance for a while. If you don't, your daughter will truly come to hate you, and you’ll lose everything. Is that what you want?”

For a man who had already given up everything else, losing his wife and daughter was not an option. They were his entire world.

“…May I see Kikyo?”

He squeezed out the words, looking defeated.

“Alright, but you only get thirty seconds.”

“What!?”

I went to get Kikyo-chan from my room, where I had told her to stay hidden. At the sight of her father, she looked momentarily relieved but quickly masked it.

“Kikyo, you—”

“So, Mother didn’t come to see me after all…”

“That’s not true! Tsubaki is just too stressed to move—”

“I don't want to hear it! I hate both of you!”

She slammed the door and locked herself back in the room. Perfect.

The old man crumpled to the floor, clearly shocked by her strong reaction. He had never faced such a forceful rejection from his daughter before.

“What a terrible mother, truly. Not even coming to retrieve her child when she's been taken away. If she had come and tried to convince Kikyo-chan herself, maybe her sincerity would have gotten through.”

I looked down at him, mercilessly delivering my words.

“No, that’s not it… Tsubaki has been bedridden with shock; she genuinely can’t move.”

“That’s irrelevant. Results are all that matter.”

The rejection from his daughter was a critical hit to the old man’s already weak mental state.

With his psyche nicely shattered, it was time to move on to the main topic. Standing around like this wouldn't accomplish anything. It was time to achieve my objective.

“Alright, let’s go.”

I took his arm and helped him to his feet. He looked at me suspiciously.

“As I said, this is human compensation. If my little sister is adopted, then you’ll have guardianship over me.”

A world-first exchange of children. Maybe I could evolve with a link cable?

“Eh? Wait, Yukito. What are you talking about—”

My worried mother hugged me tightly.

“Are you really going?”

“I’ll be taken care of for a while.”

Her hands were trembling. Her anxiety was palpable through the beat of her heart. Even if the old man became my legal guardian, I would still be my mother's child.

“…I’ll trust you, Yukito. So, make sure you come back. Otherwise, I might end up killing this man. I couldn’t bear a world without you.”

A single tear rolled down my mother’s cheek. Before I knew it, her lips were almost touching mine. Before I could pull out “Mom Treats” from my pocket, she kissed me.

“…Mm… Mmm… Mmm—!”

I struggled, but it was futile. The old man watched, stunned.

“Now it’s my turn.”

“Wait, calm down—I’m tired of this pattern, mmm… Mmm—!”

This time it was Yuri-san who kissed me. Her technique was improving, frighteningly so. I was left breathless and dazed. Exhausted, I was drained.

It’s just a few days away, but everyone was so worried.

“Um… Are you guys always like that?”

The bullet train was comfortable. It seems the old man was not in good enough shape to drive here. He asked his question hesitantly, and I decided to enlighten him.

“Of course not.”

“Really?!”

Yes, indeed we are. For some reason, the old man seemed troubled. Wait a minute, has his brain been destroyed?

Even though they're divorced, seeing his ex-wife kissing another man right in front of him might make him feel as if she had been taken away. Even if that “other man” is his son, it's not surprising. The poor old man's brain had been broken. Unless he's touched by something kind, recovery is inevitable.

“Do you still have lingering feelings for mom?”

“What nonsense. Of course not. …But no, there’s no way that could be allowed for someone like me. Either way, I'm a person who should be hated and resented. It's a pointless thought.”

“Mom said she can't stand you on a physiological level.”

“Ugh.”

That hit him hard.

“Oh, and my sister feels the same.”

“Kaah!”

Another blow. From our perspective, this is the natural relationship with the old man. Harsh as it may sound, he doesn’t qualify as family.

“So, what are you thinking?”

Despite being on the brink of collapse, the old man tried to understand my intentions. Hahaha. He probably never expected a counter-move involving adoption.

Although it was just a bluff, no one could foresee the current situation where my little sister was going to the Kokonoe family and I was heading to the Touren family.

Keeping a distance is one reason, but the quickest way to resolve the issue is to go directly to the main target for negotiations.

“Before that, there’s something I want to ask.”

“What is it? I’m exhausted. I don’t intend to hide anything anymore.”

Slumping deeply into his seat and sighing, the old man prepared to answer my one remaining question.

“Why did Tsubaki suddenly push Kikyo-chan away?”

That was the one thing I couldn’t understand. The reason for the sudden change of heart. And the old man appeared before us, even though it was a foolish move with no chance of success.

“She didn't push her away. She lost sight of her.”

With his eyes closed, the old man began to speak, filled with regret.

The old man’s small lie was that his marriage to my mother had already broken down before he got involved with Tsubaki.

To reassure Tsubaki or perhaps as an excuse to himself, the old man told this insignificant lie. The Touren family also backed up this lie.

At the time, Tsubaki was so depressed and mentally ill due to DV and power harassment from her ex-husband that she was seeing a psychiatrist.

For her, the old man was a savior. The Touren family, Tsubaki’s parents, were pained by her situation. They were overjoyed when they saw her improving thanks to meeting the old man.

Tsubaki needed the old man. This meant she needed him much more than my mother ever did.

Therefore, the Touren family paid a large sum of money to my mother. It was like a penalty fee, showing their utmost sincerity toward my mother.

Nevertheless, infidelity is infidelity. The Touren family welcomed the old man’s resolve to abandon everything, pay an enormous amount of alimony, and sever ties with his relatives and parents. They secretly justified the lie.

They thought that even if the lie were to be exposed eventually, by then, Tsubaki would have recovered. They needed time, and that became a reality.

Tsubaki found out about us. The children her husband had abandoned.

Tsubaki, who had always felt inferior to her talented siblings, started to educate Kikyo-chan enthusiastically. There was a sense of rivalry against her siblings and us.

She wanted to prove something. Compared to her brilliant siblings, who were expected to take over the family business, she was allowed to live freely and was pampered.

What Tsubaki truly wanted was not freedom but her parents’ expectations. Time passed with her harboring resentment, and now the old man had children—us.

Tsubaki didn’t want to lose. She feared being compared. Thus, she continued to provide a thorough education to her only daughter, Kikyo-chan.

During these days, I unexpectedly became famous. Naturally, I caught Tsubaki’s eye, and she burned with intense jealousy.

“Ah, am I going to lose again? A life of miserable defeats.”

Even though she knew it was just paranoia, the shackles of her feelings bound her heart.

The expectations on Kikyo-chan grew, becoming an unbearable pressure. Despite viewing me as an enemy and rival, the old man worried about Kikyo-chan, who was getting worn out, and Tsubaki, who was delving deeper into education. He investigated me.

Tsubaki also found out—about my circumstances. There was a time when Sekka-san seriously considered taking me in, believing I was being abused.

I didn’t care at all, but the fact remains that there was a period when their relationship had deteriorated that much. Tsubaki lost her way.

She had entrusted everything to Kikyo-chan, determined not to let her walk the same path of a loser as she did.

However, learning that she had made me unhappy and abused by taking the old man away from me, she could no longer view me as an enemy.

Instead, she couldn’t bear the guilt of stealing someone else’s happiness and foolishly thinking she was the only unhappy one.

That’s why the old man suddenly said he wanted to take me in and appeared before us. This was also Tsubaki’s will.

She sincerely thought of taking me in as a stepmother if I was being abused. She was probably a kind person at heart, just mentally fragile. My mother, sister, and I are mentally strong, likely due to my mother’s family lineage.

The hand extended in salvation—there was no malice in it, only good intentions. The one troubled by this was Kikyo-chan.

Up until now, she had been given a rigorous education to carry on Tsubaki’s will, but she had lost its meaning. She had been raised to not lose to anyone, only to realize there was no one to compete with.

The sense of futility that everything had been for naught weighed heavily on her.

Tsubaki didn’t know how to deal with her daughter. Kikyo-chan was a reflection of Tsubaki herself, a mirror image.

Tsubaki had given everything to her, entrusted her with her all. But even when she noticed the cracks in that mirror, it was too late to do anything about it. Tsubaki suffered immensely.

And then, the old man sought me out. It made sense—if I went to his house, I could become an ally to Kikyo-chan and fulfill Tsubaki’s wish for atonement.

In reality, though, I wasn’t being abused and I loved my family dearly. The old man and his family had no way of knowing that.

My reaction to hearing all this was quite straightforward:

“What a load of nonsense.”

“Humph, indeed. I won’t deny it. What have we been doing all this time…”

Tears welled up in the old man’s eyes. He too was suffering from a life that had gone completely awry. He had given up everything, only to have even the one happiness he sought slip through his fingers.

“Basically, you just want to make up, right? I’ll figure it out somehow. After all, it’s for my little sister’s sake.”

I had always thought that people who use “basically” to summarize things never really do a good job of summarizing. It’s one of those words that untrustworthy people tend to use. There’s no need to use “basically” at all.

“Yukito, how can you be so…”

The old man’s eyes showed a mixture of disbelief and fear, as if he couldn’t understand what he was seeing.

“I’m tired of Yatsuhashi…”

I had eaten too much on the train. My mouth was too sweet. I wondered if they sold any tea bottles around here.