Parent and Child Only on the Family Register
Eventually, Hana-san announced their separation.
Takeshi was very upset by her cold attitude…which was different from her usual soft manner.
“Wait, wait a minute…you’re kidding, right? Mom, you’re, seriously——you abandoned me? I’m still a minor and you’re asking me to live on the streets…!!!”
“I’m not kidding. I’m serious. But I’m not asking you to live on the street. I’m shocked…You’re good at playing the victim.”
“But because…you’re saying that Mom will make me unhappy, right? Then you’re the perpetrator.”
“Yes. I never said I was a victim either. Of course, I know that, and I’m going to make you unhappy…But Takeshi. Just because I’m the perpetrator does not make you a victim. You are a perpetrator, too.”
Victims and perpetrators.
If we look at it from that perspective…would I, who was complicit with Hana-san, also be classified as a perpetrator?
In this situation, the only one who can be called a clear victim is——Ichika.
She is the only one who just got involved.
“Maybe I should be unhappy, too. If you were an only child…I would have chosen such a life. But I have Ichika. I will never, ever let that girl be unhappy.”
If Hana-san is sad, Ichika will be sad too.
You should never hurt an innocent girl.
So Hana-san made this decision.
“If I protect you, I cannot protect myself. So I decided to stay away from you, who can only hurt me. I don’t want to make Ichika any sadder.”
For her daughter, who is caring and kind to her mother.
And also for Hana-san herself.
For both of them, Takeshi is too harmful.
So the best choice is to leave him.
“But as I said before, I won’t let you live on the streets. I have enough money for your several years of living and for your tuition. I’ll leave you a bank book, and you can use the money from that account as you wish. You can also use this house to live. Ichika and I will leave.”
Hana-san seems to have no regrets.
She seems to have no qualms about Takeshi and this house.
“This house was originally…given to me by that man in exchange for you and Ichika’s support. It was always disgusting…Every time I see the traces of that person’s existence, bad memories come back to me. I feel sorry for Ichika, who has lived in such a house since she was born…but it’s refreshing to be away from it.”
I guess she had to put up with it all these years for the sake of her children.
It seems that was also the reason why she readily agreed to leave.
“So? No money and housing problems, what else do you have to worry about?”
“…I don’t know if it’s enough! You don’t have much money anyway, do you? Because of you, single parents, we’ve always been poor!”
“Hah…how can you say such a thing to me who has worked hard even as a single parent? I don’t care anymore…but I have enough money. You can rest assured. If it’s not enough, it’s how you spend it. I will not get involved anymore. If you ask me for money, I will never help you. Make sure you understand that.”
Takeshi often complained that he was poor.
Hana-san never spared any money for her children. But she never spent money on herself and put it all into savings. I heard that if they wanted to go to college, she worked hard to make sure they could go.
So she seems to have enough money for Takeshi’s living expenses and tuition in the future.
As long as he has a normal life, Takeshi will not live on the streets. If the money runs out, it will be Takeshi’s responsibility, not Hana-san’s.
“According to the family register, we are still parent and child, but apart from that, you and I are strangers. Takeshi…I’m sorry so far. I’m sorry for being a single parent, for making you feel poor, and for being an unworthy mother. You are free from now on.”
The only words of farewell are apologies.
Thank you——the absence of these words indicated that the relationship between Hana-san and Takeshi was over.
What she endured because he was her child becomes unforgivable when he becomes a stranger.
That is why Hana-san cannot thank Takeshi.
Because she has already lost her love for him——