Chapter 71 The Calm Before the Storm

The Calm Before the Storm

——Anyway.

This weekend might’ve been relatively relaxing.

Hana-san and Ichika were also as usual, maybe because they knew that Takeshi wouldn’t come home.

Fortunately, things are going well thanks to his absence. We were able to move Hana-san and Ichika’s daily necessities without being disturbed.

This will allow them to live without having to go to Itsumi’s house. Since their luggage is minimal, they’ll be able to move out of my house easily when they find a new place to live.

Everything is going well.

However, it was kinda scary.

It’s like the calm before the storm.

That’s why I feel the need to prepare carefully.

“…Hana-san, can I talk to you? Chika-chan too, I’d like you to listen to me because I have a few things I want to discuss with you two…”

Sunday night.

Hana-san and Ichika, who were a little restless, and I had this conversation.

“About Takeshi, I mean.”

The reason for their uneasiness since this evening.

I dared to bring up the subject of Takeshi…who might come home tomorrow or even earlier.

I guess they couldn’t get Takeshi out of their minds yet. When I mentioned his name, their expressions became tense.

But that’s exactly why…I want to talk about it properly.

When Takeshi returns, how will we tell him about this move…

“I’ll talk to him first.”

So as not to hurt Hana-san and Ichika.

I’m the one who should do my best for that.

I’m not part of the Itsumi family, but because of that…I can give my opinion from a third-party perspective.

If it’s Hana-san, Takeshi will get emotional, so it’s no good.

If it’s Ichika, she’ll be pressured by Takeshi, so it’s no good as well.

Then the best decision still is me.

“So there’s something I want you two to help me…”

Of course, I know it’ll be hard if we only rely on my own strength.

So I will rely on the two of them to help me…as calmly as possible and minimize the damage.

I’ll make sure that Takeshi accepts the separation from Hana-san and Ichika. If we can do that…the danger to them would be less.

We can no longer let a selfish person like Takeshi hurt Hana-san and Ichika.

Maybe because of their relationship as brother and sister, Ichika may still be able to deal with Takeshi indifferently, but Hana-san…who is a parent, will not be able to do so.

If they make a proper break here, it will brighten both of their lives later on. If so, this is the time to do it.

…And so I talked to Hana-san and Ichika for a while. It’s Sunday night…School starts tomorrow, so it wouldn’t be strange for Takeshi to come home at any time, but in the end, Takeshi never came home today.

Even in the morning, he had not come home.

So it would be during the day on Monday…or later, that he would come home.

So Ichika and I went to school, and Hana-san went to her part-time job as usual.

And after that,

When I came home after school and looked into Takeshi’s room from my room…the curtains in his room were open.

It seems like the time has finally come——