Source
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5612jg/62/
“Sorry, I was so distraught.”
After regaining her composure, Kanata’s mother sat down on the sofa, drank the tea Kanata had made, and took a break.
“Mom, are you okay?”
“Yes, thank you, Kanata chan.”
Kanata is sincerely worried about her, and they trust each other so much that it is hard to believe that they are step-family.
It’s very different from my family.
“Erm, what Kenshiro kun and you are?”
Kanata’s mother turned to Ayaka and asked her name.
” I am Mitsui Ayaka, Kenshiro’s younger sister.”
“By any chance, are you Kanna chan’s daughter?
“Kanna chan?”
Ayaka tilts her head, not knowing Kanna-san’s name.
“No, Ayaka is my younger sister now. Kanna san and my dad are already divorced.”
I answer the question before Ayaka can say anything bad.
“I mean, why did you know about Kanna san?”
“Yes, I know, and Kenya kun too. We were both classmates in college. So is my current husband.”
Kanata’s mother’s comment solved one of my questions.
I had thought that if Soushiro san was the one my father had talked about in the past, then that was how they had met, but it seems that was the connection.
Soushiro san also said that he was remarried, and he may have been consulting with him at the right time.
“Kanata chan, could you give us a minute?”
“Eh? Why?”
“I want to talk to Kenshiro kun, please.”
I was surprised at the unexpected, but I didn’t have to turn it down.
I don’t know why, but I also wanted to talk to this person.
“Okay fine, but please call me when you’re done talking.”
Kanata readily agreed and went back to her room.
“I’m Uchida Sakura, thank you for being such good friends with Kanata and the others.”
“No, it’s my pleasure.”
I just happened to meet her today, but there’s no need to point that out.
“That kid can only focus on one thing, so it’s hard to deal with her, right?”
I couldn’t deny that she was right.
Because her personality was on full display just by looking at her all day today.
“That’s one of the good things about her, but it’s also something I worry about. So I hope you’ll continue to care for her.”
Sakura san looks really loving when she talks about Kanata.
“……You guys are really close.”
“We’re family, you know.”
“But for you, Kanata is not your real daughter.”
I realized as soon as I said it.
Ayaka, who was silent, looked troubled as expected.
“…..I’m sorry.”
Sakura san laughs gently.
I felt like I had seen that smile somewhere before.
Then she looks me in the eye and says.
“Did someone say that a parent and child who are related by blood have more love than a parent and child who is not related by blood?”
Those words stabbed me to the core.
“Kenshiro, you don’t consider someone family if they aren’t blood related?”
“……I think there is a wall, at least.”
In my case, there are layers of walls, but other people in similar circumstances must have walls, no matter how big or small.
“Yes, I think walls can be built.”
Sakura san confirms my opinion.
She continues.
“But that’s why we should face them, talk to them, and lower the height of those walls little by little. We both have to do that.”
Lowering the wall.
That was an expression I had never heard before.
Sakura san continued with a calm expression on her face.
“There is no need to break down the wall. There are things in your heart that you don’t want people to see. But if you lower the wall just a little bit, until you can see their faces, you can truly face them. Well, in my case, I got along with Kanata chan without doing that, but what about you guys?”
Ayaka, not me, answers that question.
“I think I’m already at that stage of my life ……”
“Eh !?”
I just couldn’t help but startled at Ayaka’s words.
“What?”
“No, I thought it’s weird that you were lowering the wall with that attitude.”
“What do you mean !”
Ayaka grabbed me with an angry look on her face.
I avoid it.
Seeing this exchange, Sakura san chuckled and said.
“It’ll be fine, you two are very close brother and sister !”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, Kenshiro, you’re my big brother.”
Sakura san smiles even more calmly.
That face looked somehow familiar, but I couldn’t remember it.
“Um, have we met somewhere before?”
If she knew my father, we might have met a long time ago.
I ask her,
“……No, we’ve never met before today.”
I was wrong.
After a few seconds of silence, I remembered what Sakura san had said.
“Speaking of which, is there anything you want to tell us?”
I ask her what it is that she has to go to the trouble of kicking Kanata out of the room to talk to us about.
“Oh, nothing important, I just wanted to see if Kenshiro kun is like Kenya kun.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You see, that person is kind to everyone, right? Isn’t that the same as not having anything important?”
“Is that so?”
“No, it’s not the case with him. Everything is important to him.:
“Well, I see your point…”
Basically, my dad can’t leave people in need.
Rather, everything in this world is important to him.
And he cannot be selective.
That’s what proves that Mitsui Kenya is a good man, and that’s what disgusts me.
“You say you know, but isn’t Kenshiro similar?”
Ayaka says, remembering.
“Is that so? Has Kenya kun been watching your back?”
And for some reason, Sakura san looks worried.
“It’s not like I’m helping anyone. I only lend a hand to those I consider important.”
After saying this, I felt embarrassed and my cheeks turned red.
Ayaka was also surprised and fell silent.
“Hmmm, you are father and son after all, you look like Kenya kun.”
“I don’t like that…”
“I feel bad for saying that, but he’s not a bad person. Why don’t you talk to Kenya kun once?”
“Huh? Did I ever tell you? That I don’t get along with my dad.”
“I can tell by looking at you.”
“…..Was it that clear?”
“No one but me would know. But I’ve seen a face that looks a lot like that for a long time.”
Ayaka listens to that statement in fear.
“Well, Sakura san and our father are just classmates, aren’t they?”
“Yes, that’s right. But–“
Sakura san says, thinking of the past.
“He was the first person I ever loved.”
[ [What !?] ]
Ayaka and I shout at the same time.
“It’s getting late now, so let’s call it a night.”
“No, please don’t try to wash it away !
Give us the details !”
“I’ll tell you about it some other time. Kanata chan, they are leaving.”
“Eh ! You guys talk for a long time !”
“Why don’t you call them again?”
“That’s true. Bye, you two.”
“No, this is not the time for that.”
I wanted to ask her for more details, but I couldn’t be in someone else’s house, so Ayaka and I headed home after all.
“She dropped a terrible bomb at the end, didn’t she?”
Ayaka said with a tired look on her face.
“That was all I needed to talk about it.”
I think back to Sakura san’s words.
I used to think that becoming a family meant breaking down walls and showing everything.
Maybe that’s true if we were a family from the beginning, but we’re not.
That’s why I don’t want to break down the walls, so I can’t walk up to each other.
That’s what I thought.
But that thought had already disappeared from my mind.
I had an honest talk with Reina.
I overcame Hananoi Misaki.
And the words Sakura san said to me, lower the wall and face them.
We can be a family without bearing everything.
Words with such meaning.
“Ayaka.”
“What?”
“From now on, I’ll face you properly. With you, with Hitomi san….and with my dad.”
I made a declaration to Ayaka who was walking beside me.
“So that we can become a family properly. It’s not too late now, right?”
Ayaka silently nodded to that question.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Ayaka’s heart was filled with a dark, unpleasant feeling at Kenshiro’s declaration of determination.
(Facing them as family? Does that mean you’re going to face me as a sister? And what if we really are a family? What if Kenshiro feels happy that I’m his sister? What should I do with these feelings of mine…..)
A dark feeling arises within Ayaka.
The feelings were uncontrollable and seemed to overflow at any moment.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A boy is standing in front of a bulletin board at the main entrance that has details of the sports festival on it.
The students passing by were slightly taken back by his strange atmosphere.
“Fuyusaki Reina, I will surely break that man’s spell from you !”
The man clenches his fist so hard that it bleeds and punches a piece of paper with the names of the first semester’s best students on it, which is also posted on the bulletin board.
The place where the man’s fist hits is inscribed “Mitsui Kenshiro”.
“Wait for me, Mitsui Kenshiro ! I’ll make sure I get you…..”
A heated battle between two men was about to begin, unbeknownst to the other.
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