Chapter 82: Happy birthday, Michiru.

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Translated and Edited by: luccayn.

Common Honorifics:
-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.
-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.
-chan: A common suffix among people you're close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it's cutesy and childlike.
-senpai: A common suffix and noun used to address or refer to one's older or more senior colleagues in a school, workplace, dojo, or sports club.

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Michiru’s POV

“Hello.”

He had been smiling since the first time we met. Pure and innocent, even though he’d been abandoned by his parents and come here all alone, he hadn't been jaded. If anything, he didn't even know how to become jaded—he hadn't learned how to be twisted. And yet, he knew that he was alone.

He was that kind of child, one who seemed strangely enlightened.

“What's your name?”

“I don't know, Chisato-chan. My mom… she died.”

Intuition—especially a woman's intuition—is surprisingly reliable. The moment I saw this child, the moment he smiled, I understood that he wasn't a stranger to me.

“Ufufu. What is it, onee-chan?”

It was a strange way to laugh.

Somehow enlightened, as if he could see through everything—a cheeky kind of smile. Yet for some reason, I felt an odd sense of familiarity. As if he was mimicking the way I used to smile like that.

It was then that I realized.

Ever since I became self-aware, I hadn't smiled even once.

“Onee-chan, did something bad happen?”

“…Yeah.”

“I see. That must be tough.”

A question that sprouted from hesitation brushed through my mind and quickly took hold of my thoughts. He called me onee-chan. While he called other children by their names, he called me onee-chan.

He had understood it, too—that he and I were siblings born in different places.

—Then, should I let this child suffer the same pain as I did?

“Hey, you. I'll give you a name.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You're Kakeru—because you're Michiru's little brother, you'll be Kakeru.”

“Ufufu, I'm happy. That's a nice name.”

As I held the delighted Kakeru in my arms, I thought about what was going to happen to me tonight. It was to prepare myself for being embraced by that shady man. And yet, the more I thought about it, the more I realized there was no guarantee that even offering myself to him would truly protect Kakeru, and no matter how I struggled, I couldn't come up with the best course of action.

Expose that man's lies?

It would be pointless. The people around here blindly believe not in God, but in the priest. Even if the outcome—being here—was the same, the process that brought us here was different, so even if they found out the teachings were false, nothing would change. To put it bluntly, the way they are saved doesn’t matter to them.

They have nothing else, so they offer their bodies as compensation. I understand the logic. It's because both the priest and these women have accepted that part of the deal that no doubt has arisen. It’s a kind of coercion, almost like forced values disguised as consent. This church is built on the delusion of women who believe that, because they've exposed everything, they won't be betrayed.

…Acknowledging that would mean admitting that my mother and I are the same kind of person, wouldn't it?

“Happy birthday, Michiru-chan.”

Night had fallen.

I was made to sit on the bed and the face of the priest approached me. The indescribable queasiness was unbearable, and every time he touched my body, my body stiffened with fear. He licked my cheeks, touched my breasts, and I could feel his fingers moving up my inner thighs and into my shorts.

I… I was just scared.

…Can I truly call what I gain by enduring this happiness?

“Kakeru…”

In that instant, I struck the priest over the head with the thick Bible that had been laid out on the side table. For the first time in my life, I made a decision.

Ignoring the priest as he clutched his head, I adjusted my disheveled clothes and ran to the boys' dormitory. As I ran, trying to remember which room that child slept in, I caught sight of Kakeru sitting at the end of the hallway, gazing up at the moon.

“I believe in you, onee-chan. Because you’re the one who gave me a name.”

Seeing that Kakeru had understood everything, I didn’t hesitate for even a moment—I grabbed his hand and fled the church.

It was simple. I decided that Kakeru was someone I had to protect more than even a mother would. I was the one person who must never betray this child. If I suffered, it would end up scarring his heart. That's why, for Kakeru to be happy, I couldn't allow myself to fall into unhappiness.

Through a town blanketed in snow, I ran and ran. Through the biting cold air, I just kept crying as I ran. Over a mountain, along the bypass, and finally, at dawn, we arrived at a small architectural office.

“Please. Let me work here. I'll do anything.”

What saved us was the fact that we met the man called the owner before the police could catch us. Apparently, he ran several companies in addition to this office. With a cup of cold green tea in front of me, I bowed my head and begged him to at least not call the authorities. And then he said something unexpected.

“Starting today, you can live at my house. Your looks alone have value. I'll do something about the church too.”

And so, Kakeru and I came to live in the Tsukino household. It wasn't ability, but sheer luck from birth that saved me. I knew that if the balance had shifted even slightly, things wouldn't have turned out this way. I understood that. In the end, I also understood that ‘Father’ was no different from any other man.

I knew all too well that his actions weren't born from pure goodwill!!

But even so, there was no other way to survive. I had no choice but to rely on my natural gifts. And if those who believe are the ones saved, then it's far easier when money is part of the equation. If ‘Father’ was going to use me to make money, that was simpler for me.

He saved our lives, no matter what form it took. That's what mattered.

Love doesn't exist in this world. Loyalty? That’s a fantasy. People only survive by using and being used. Pure feelings can never be born between strangers—affection exists only between those tied by blood.

That's why even the events at Shirayurigaoka Academy didn't mean much to me. Men are all the same. It couldn't be helped, not when I was a powerless girl. The reason men desire women isn't love—it's lust.

Just like how my mother depended on the priest, I depended on ‘Father’. The only difference was that he happened to want money instead of my body, and that was more convenient for me. There's no real difference. Just a mother and daughter doomed to follow different gods down the same path.

…That's why I wanted a friend.

A friend I could believe in—one who would never betray me. Someone who would need me not for my talents, but simply because I was me.

I wanted to believe I wasn't like my mother. I wanted to build a relationship where we could depend on each other, no strings attached. Because I wanted to protect Kakeru, I wanted the confidence to do so. That's what a friend would give me. I wanted to feel, truly, that I had the strength to live!!

That was all I wanted. That was everything to me.

Men are all the same. Even if they pretend otherwise, they only see the body. They can never know what's inside me.

So I needed to try harder to be seen by girls. If I had to give everything for that, then I would. If it meant gaining a trustworthy friend, if it meant gaining peace of mind, I'd overcome any hardship!

Until I met Takatsuki Shinji, and heard those words, that's what I believed.

—That's why I believe in it. Because that's the happiest thing in this world.

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T/N: So glad she managed to hit the priest before it went to the point of no return…

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