Source
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5612jg/16/
“Kenshiro, can I have a word?”
The night I discovered that Ayaka was being bullied, I was relaxing on the sofa in the living room when Mitsui Hitomi san, who was supposed to be in her room, spoke to me in a reserved manner.
Hitomi san is my current stepmother and Ayaka’s biological mother.
“All right.”
I replied in a strangerly manner.
“Thank you. Actually, it’s about Ayaka, isn’t she acting strange lately?”
“I don’t know about that. I don’t think so.”
I’m sure it’s probably due to the bullying she’s been receiving, but I’m going to keep my mouth shut.
“I’d be fine with that. For some reason, I feel like her smiling face looks awkward. Maybe I’m worrying too much.”
I should say that she is indeed a mother.
She never overlooks the slightest change.
Ayaka seems to have a good mother.
“I’ll keep an eye on her.”
Hitomi san said, [Please do] and returned to her room.
I said I would watch her, but I wondered what Ayaka thought about it.
She is a proud person.
I doubt she would think it’s a good idea to be saved by someone like me.
This thought interfered with my conscience.
The next morning, I glanced at Ayaka’s shoe box and found that yesterday’s dirt and garbage were gone.
She must have cleaned it herself after that.
For the rest of the day, I observed Ayaka as much as I could.
There were a few things I found out.
Four girls from the same track team were bullying her.
And the people around her are unaware of it.
Ayaka is probably hiding it so that they will not worry.
Otherwise, the boys in the track club would have made a move.
Well, there is a possibility that the reason why they are bullying Ayaka is also caused by those boys….
Ayaka’s expression was also somewhat dark.
It makes me want to ask why I didn’t notice it until now.
When I look at her with the understanding that she is being bullied, I can clearly see that she is pushing herself too hard.
Come to think of it, on the day of the interview, it looked like she was looking for something.
Maybe she is hiding things or something.
The fact that she is being so spectacularly bullied and her friends don’t notice must mean that Ayaka is really good at covering things up.
I don’t know if it’s right for me to interfere with something that she doesn’t want people to know about.
When I returned home with such thoughts in my mind, I found someone who was not supposed to be there.
“Yo ! Welcome home.”
It was my dad, Mitsui Kenya.
“….Why are you here?”
“Is this the kind of thing you say to your father you haven’t seen in a long time? I mean, this is my house.”
“That’s not what I meant. I didn’t hear anything from you.”
“Obviously. If I call you, you won’t come home. Do you know what it’s like to be a father who can’t see his beloved son?”
He said with a laugh.
That kind of attitude is what gets on my nerves.
I couldn’t take it any longer, so I walked past him and started to go to my room.
“Hey, can I talk to you for a second?”
I was about to go up the stairs when I was stopped.
Without waiting for my reply, he continues.”
“I heard something happened to Ayaka chan?”
“What do you mean?”
I guessed he heard it from Hitomi san, but I thought he didn’t know the details, so I pretended I didn’t know anything.
“Don’t play dumb. You know the situation, right?”
He says it proudly, as if he wants to say that he knows everything about his son.
“Even if I did know. So what?”
“Help her. You’re her brother.”
“Brother you said….. It happened all of a sudden a year ago. Besides, we’re not at the age where we can get along as siblings.”
“Is that really your excuse for not moving?”
I said in disgust, and my dad gave me a serious look and got right to the point.
“You’re always afraid of getting involved in something, aren’t you? Well, maybe it’s my fault…”
“…No one wants to get into trouble.”
“That’s true. But Ayaka is family.”
“She’s yours. Not mine.”
To my dad, Ayaka is his daughter, but to me, she’s a stranger.
“You’re no better than me if you keep talking like that.”
My anger grew and I tried to argue with him, but nothing came out.
I opened the door to the living room and went inside.
“What an asshole father.”
He really pisses me off.
He knows me so well.
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