Episode 20

〜Father’s point of view〜

“You’ve done it, Shinonome kun. Because of you, the number of applications for new employees at our company has plummeted.”

“I-I’m sorry…Sir…”

The day after an article about the incident written by a reporter named Saito went viral, I was summoned by my boss at work and given a lecture.

The incident that took place at the Kisaragi household and that our family was involved in had gone viral on the Internet, and for some reason it had spread to the company where I work.

The Internet surfers found my wife’s blog and identified our  home, Tohru’s school, and even my workplace from the photos posted on the blog.

This was all the fault of that brazen reporter, Saito or whatever his name is.

He wrote the article in such a way that it was intentionally meant to cast hate on the parents.

The main topic of the article was the false accusation of my son Tohru by the scum of the Kisaragi family, but for some reason, that reporter wrote an article about the treatment Tohru received at home after the incident.

Thanks to this, the story focused on the fact that we treated Tohru like a criminal, and we were blamed by the netizens.

[Treating your son like a criminal is disgusting.]

[Toxic parents.]

[You should at least take your son’s side as a family member.]

But in that situation, anyone would have reacted the same way as we did.

I was truly angry at all the people on the Internet who were accusing us, writing whatever they wanted as if they knew everything, but I didn’t have any means of talking back to the multitude of people.

After the commotion, I went to work with trepidation, and as I expected, I was summoned by my boss and given a lecture

“Because of the backlash, the image of our company is going down the drain. The Internet is full of rumors that we are a company that produces toxic parents. There were even applications from famous universities for new employees, but they were all turned away. All that remained were insignificant people. What are you going to do about it?”

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Mostly, it’s your wife’s fault for not managing her behavior, you know? You really never know what the Internet has in store for you these days, you never know how something as trivial as that could set off a commotion. And for that matter, how is it possible that your wife’s blog contained information that could identify your place of work or your home address?”

“I’m very sorry… I will strictly tell my wife…”

“Haa…you…it’s too late after something happens…you don’t know how to manage risk…”

“I’m sorry…”

All I could do was apologize.

I heard that because of the commotion, the company’s reputation had fallen to the ground, and the number of new college student applicants and the number of job orders had plummeted.

It is estimated that the loss may exceed one billion yen.

I shudder to think what would happen if I had to bear all that responsibility.

“But…how could something like this cause such a firestorm….”

“Times were bad. In the old days, this would not have happened.”

The director looked down at the view from the window and said.”

“Do you know the term [Parent lottery]? Shinonome kun.”

“Excuse me? Parent lottery…?”

“It’s a word that has recently become popular among young people. Children cannot choose their parents, they do not know what kind of parents they will be born to, and their parents’ assets, education, and such environment will determine everything in their later life. The word that describes this situation well is a parent lottery.”

“…Haa.”

I was only half listening.

What is this [parent lottery]?

Young people these days are really spoiled.

Life is something you have to carve out for yourself.

If you are always relying on your parents, you will remain a little kid.

I can’t stand them blaming their parents for their lack of effort.

I’m angry that I am now being lectured by my boss after being burned by such a bunch of nonsense.

“According to the parent lottery theory……you are the parent of the so-called failure.”

“…Huh !? Me !?”

“Yeah. Right. You, who joined with the world to drive your son into a corner at his most difficult time, instead of taking his side, are, according to today’s youth, you seem like a failed parent.”

“D-don’t be ridiculous ! !”

I yelled at him unintentionally.

“I-I’m not a failure parent…do you how much passion have I put into Tohru’s education…?”

The director looked at me with cold eyes as I angered his shoulders.

“Then why didn’t you take your son’s side? Don’t you love him?”

“I-I love him ! Because I love him…..if he done something bad, he deserve it…”

“It was if your son really did something bad. But your son was innocent as a result, wasn’t he? I also read the article that was flamed this time, and I heard that you didn’t listen to your son’s argument at all, assumed he was a criminal, and didn’t even feed him. With this, it is no wonder the world thinks you are abusive.”

“…..”

I thought it was just nonsense from people who didn’t know the situation.

But I could not talk back to my boss without hesitation, and I gritted my teeth in frustration.

“If you had treated your son with love, this incident would never have happened in the first place…..the flames are still raging…if you stay in this company, the flames will only spread more and more……then the company will fall and we will have to cut the heads of our temporary workers because of you.”

“T-that’s…”

I looked into the director’s eyes and guessed why I had been summoned here today.

“D-don’t…i-is that what you are saying?”

“Yes, that’s right. For the sake of the company, I would like you to voluntarily leave the company, Shinonome kun.”

“…….”

I could not believe what I was being told.

I have devoted more than 10 years of my life to this company.

All that effort…all that hard work and hard-earned position will be brought to nothing with a single…..backlash.

Such a thing should never have happened.

“N-no, I refuse…”

I had unintentionally said that.

I defied the director and refused to leave the company.

“Hmm? You think you have the right to veto?”

The director looked at me with eyes that saw something strange.

I said, aware that my voice was trembling.

“T-he law protects me…”

Under Japanese law, it is difficult to immediately dismiss a full-time employee for an unjust reason.

Even though there was a commotion, that was not my intention, and perhaps it was weak material for firing me.

I managed to cling to my current position and confronted the department manager with the law as a shield.

“I see.”

The director nodded.

“I understand. I will continue to employ you in this company.”

“…Haa.”

I let out a sigh of relief.

Good.

I had to try to make a stand.

My position and my present life were protected for the time being.

The company would probably treat me like a tumor for a while, but time would pass and I would be forgotten.

While I was feeling relieved, the director tapped me on the shoulder and whispered in my ear.

“With that, Shinonome kun. I’d like to entrust you with a new job starting today.”

“Pardon me…? A new job…?”

A chill ran down my back as the director grinned at me.

“then, Shinonome kun. I’ll leave it to you. You alone will sort the garbage in the warehouse here. That’s your job from today on.”

“…W-wait a minute, Sir !? Are you kidding !?”

I followed him to the warehouse next to the company, where I was told I would be entrusted with a new job.

There I found scrap wood, rusted heavy machinery, and raw garbage from the head office.

The air was bad, the smell of decay was in the air, and I felt dizzy, as if I were going to pass out.

The director held his nose and pointed to a sky-high pile of food scraps.

“Please separate that and throw it away. I’m counting on you.”

“Please wait ! This is the kind of work I’m  supposed to do……?”

“Hm? What is it? You want to keep your job here, don’t you?”

“……”

I desperately pleaded with him, but he said mercilessly.

“If you can’t do the work you’re told to do, you don’t belong here.”

“But this kind of work…I can’t…”

This is the kind of work that low-income blue-collar workers do.

It was not the kind of job I, a white-collar college graduate, would do.

I offered to work at the head office, but he wouldn’t hear of it.

“I can’t do it, this kind of work…”

“If you want to skip work, that’s fine. But of course your salary will go down, and it will be a good excuse to get you fired. And this time, the law won’t protect you, either, will it?”

“No way….”

“Then, I’m counting on you. What? Garbage disposal is a noble job. All job is honorable. Right? Well, good luck.”

With that, he left the warehouse.

I was left in the smelly warehouse, stunned for a while.

“No way……..why am I like this…ugh…”

I frowned at the stench of decay that wafted through the air

Dressed in a suit and wearing gloves, I approached the piles of food scraps with trepidation.

[Choo-choo ! ! !]

[Ch-ch-ch-ch ! ! !]

“Eek !?”

Something moved in the garbage pile.

I jumped back, and a gray rat peeked out of a small hole.

I had always hated rats.

Ever since I was a small child, I was traumatized by a rat that entered my clothes through a gap in my trousers and gnawed on my stomach.

“I-I can’t…not like this…”

I had been working in front of a computer in the air-conditioned environment of the head office, and there was no way I could sort trash in such a stinky, cramped place surrounded by rats during the summer.

After all, I could not even touch the garbage until working hours.

A few days later, I finally couldn’t stand the situation any longer and went to my boss’s room.

“Sir…I have changed my mind. I am resigning from this company.”

I couldn’t stand the way the director treated me, almost like an outcast, so I submitted my resignation.

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