Chapter 45 The One I Always Longed For

The One I Always Longed For

Maybe it’s wrong for me to get involved in the Itsumi family’s problems.

But there are things I can only say because I am a stranger.

“I think it is wrong to think that it is normal to be hurt just because we are family.”

If I don’t say anything, Hana-san will surely continue to be hurt. Seeing Takeshi’s arrogant behavior, it is hard to believe that he will not cause something in the future. At that time, Hana-san will probably be hurt even more.

After being betrayed by that guy, I started to look at Takeshi’s humanity with a cool head. If I take away the filter of childhood best friends and look at Takeshi as he is…I will find that he is just a plunderer who only cares about his own profit.

It’s better to stay away from such a person.

It’s also dangerous to antagonize him. He’s such a dangerous person that you’ll lose money just by getting involved with him.

“But. But I have a…responsibility to raise him.”

“…responsibility?”

“Yes. I’m a mother, so I have a duty to take care of my children…and besides, I raised my hand too, so it’s mutual——”

Hana-san was looking for different excuses to forgive Takeshi.

This woman is too kind and too righteous.

She’s a person who can’t be satisfied unless she makes someone happy, even if it means sacrificing herself.

But I want to stop her.

“It’s not mutual. Hana-san’s weak slap…and Takeshi’s violence are not the same.”

The sound was made, but Takeshi didn’t show any sign of pain.

Because a slap from Hana-san doesn’t hurt.

With her small body, she’s far too weak to hurt a high school boy like us. Besides, Hana-san probably couldn’t even slap with all her might. It was a very weak slap.

In retaliation, if a high school boy of our stature ever laid a hand on a petite woman…If Hana-san had been hit, she would’ve suffered injuries that were not small.

You would never be able to see the mutual there.

“Please calm down. I don’t think you should give up on Takeshi either.”

I’m sure that Hana-san will never be able to make that decision.

Because she is too kind, she would never do such a thing.

I know that very well.

I also understand that this aspect of Hana-san is a wonderful part of her.

So I’m not trying to deny her.

“Nurturing and showering love are not the same thing…You see, I grew up healthy even without my parents’ love.”

It might be a little sad.

Once you become a high school student, you don’t necessarily need your parents to help you grow up.

Yes, I’m grateful for my parents and they are irreplaceable. I think they are precious treasures and I admire them.

But because of that, I can say this.

Even without my parents, I’m growing up on my own.

“As long as there is a minimal living environment, children will grow up.”

If you say that it’s the responsibility of parents to let their children grow up.

All you have to do is prepare that part properly. If it’s up to junior high school, then it’s not enough, but Takeshi is already in his second year of high school…he’ll be 17 this year, and he’ll be an adult next year.

If you’ve taken care of him until he becomes an adult, isn’t that enough?

I think it is.

That’s why when I was in the second year of junior high school…When my grandparents who raised me died, I refused when relatives who lived far away offered to take me in. I had a place to live and money to live on, so I decided that I could survive well enough on my own. My relatives have been supportive, and I’m still living a life without inconvenience.

“And…parents are human beings, too. They don’t have to be perfect…Even Hana-san has the right to be happy, right? So——I don’t want you to have a hard time because of someone else.”

“…I can be happy too?”

“Yes. Hana-san, please be happy too…Also, please remember that there are people who will be sad if Hana-san is hurt.”

I put a lot of strength into the hand I was holding.

Then Hana-san…gripped my hand with even more force.

Hana-san is a good person who thinks only of others, so perhaps my words asking her to think of herself for the sake of others too had a great effect.

“When I get hurt, I make others sad?”

“Yes. Takeshi is not Hana-san’s only child…Chika-chan cares for Hana-san very much too.”

Unlike Takeshi, Ichika has grown up to be a kind-hearted girl, having grown up with a lot of love from Hana-san.

And Ichika is not the only one who wishes Hana-san happiness.

“…How about you, Takumi-kun?”

“Even I——of course feel sad when Hana-san gets hurt.”

She is the one who has always been kind to me since I was little.

For me, who has no mother, she was the one I always longed for.

Now that I have become deeply involved in this way, I no longer think of Hana-san as a stranger——