Chapter 56 End The Betrayed Man's New Beginning

The Betrayed Man’s New Beginning

I immediately realized that she was Iroha-san’s mother, but I was so surprised that I shouted, “Eh?!”

“M, Mom?!”

“Ara, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I’ve heard so much about Taichi-kun from Iroha, and when I heard he was coming to see her today, I thought I should at least come and say hello. But then I heard serious-sounding voices, and I felt uncomfortable interrupting. So I didn’t want to eavesdrop, really.”

Iroha-san’s mother, who was frantically making excuses, looked a little thin, but she was standing alone and her complexion didn’t look bad, so she seemed to be in good health.

When she entered the room, she sat down next to Iroha-san, who was surprised, and said, "I am Iroha’s mother. I heard that Taichi-kun was very helpful to my daughter at the university. Thank you for coming all this way for Iroha today.” So I hurriedly bowed and said, “Nice to meet you; I’m Sakamoto Taichi! I owe a lot to Iroha-san, and thanks to her I got a job offer, so I’ve come here today to tell her and thank you! I’m sorry for causing you trouble when you were sick.”

“Thanks to Iroha, I’ve been feeling better lately. I’m sorry for worrying Taichi-kun so much. …So, Taichi-kun, are you going to marry Iroha?”

Iroha-san’s mother seemed more interested in my proposal than in her own illness.

“Yes! I want to marry Iroha-san!”

While her mother and I talked excitedly, Iroha-san became silent, and her face turned bright red.

It reminds me of the time I asked her to go out with me, and she said yes.

At that time, while eating nabe, she had randomly asked me, “Tell me something interesting.” It was nostalgic.

“What about you, Iroha? What do you think about Taichi-kun’s proposal?”

Her mother looked excited and didn’t seem like a sick person at all.

But there’s no stronger ally than her.

I guess I had to deal the final blow.

“…Because I wanted to be by Iroha-san’s side, I worked hard for the certificate exam. This time, I promise. I will be by Iroha-san’s side. I will never leave your side.”

“But… your parents are against you becoming a teacher here, aren’t they?”

“I persuaded my parents. My father said, ‘Do your best,’ and my mother was also happy when I told her I passed the exam, saying, ‘That’s great. You worked hard.’”

“But… what will you do if I refuse?”

“I will come again. I’ll come as many times as it takes. If I give up after one or two rejections, I won’t have the courage to settle in Fukui.”

“But….”

“You know, Iroha, what do you want? You’ve been asking Taichi-kun questions all this time, but you haven’t said anything about your thoughts. Aren’t you happy about his proposal? You always talked so much about Taichi-kun. Didn’t you want to see him? Especially coming all the way here—”

When her mother asked Iroha-san, she quickly covered her mother’s mouth with her hand and silenced her.

But I heard it.

Iroha-san wanted to see me as well.

I wasn’t hated after all.

Iroha-san was probably embarrassed that I had heard her mother’s words, and her face turned even redder than before.

And Iroha-san, you haven’t said “Sorry,” “I’m troubled,” or “Please go home,” even once today.

That means you’re hesitating, right?

Just one more push, one more push.

I’ve always respected Iroha-san’s will.

But today I’m going to push my feelings.

So I decided to use my Trump card here.

“I came here with such determination because I want to marry Iroha-san.”

With all my passion and feelings for Iroha-san, I looked into her eyes and spoke.

Then….

“I understand. I’ll marry you, Taichi-kun.”

“Yossha! Thank you!!!”

Hearing my words, Iroha-san finally gave in and accepted my proposal.

And her mother was overjoyed and said, “You have to meet my husband, too! He’ll be home in the evening, so why don’t you stay the night? I will call her father!” and left the living room.

When we were alone, Iroha-san asked me hesitantly.

“Are you really sure?”

“I want to say that there’s absolutely no problem, but I’ll have to work hard to convince my parents.”

“I thought so.”

“Don’t tell me you’ll change your mind later, okay?”

“I won’t say anything like that! I’ll be Taichi-kun’s bride! I’ll go with you if you convince your parents.”

“Got it!”

That evening, when Iroha-san’s father came home from work, we sat next to each other and greeted him, then bowed our heads together and said, “Please allow me to marry Iroha-san!”.

When her father heard my story, he looked at me with a terribly scary face and asked, “I’ve heard from my wife, but is it really true?” So I answered, “Yes! It’s true!”.

Then he smiled and gave us permission to marry, saying, “I understand. Please take good care of Iroha.”

My trump card was to convince her father the most.

It seemed to have a great effect.

The night Iroha-san accepted my proposal, she apologized for the time we had separated and told me her feelings at that time.

As she had written in the letter, she was quite weak due to her mother’s health problems and university, and when I came to Fukui to meet her, she was more shocked than happy.

She was afraid that if she depended on me, I would give up my own life and come live with her, and with her strong sense of responsibility, she thought she shouldn’t tie me down in such a rural place with old customs and values, so she decided to break up with me without consulting me.

That’s right. If she had consulted me, I would have made the decision she feared. Knowing that she couldn’t consult me.

But in the end, just like me, she couldn’t forget and spent her days regretting and feeling guilty, and when she saw my message saying I was coming to meet her, she couldn’t send a rejection reply and just met me.

Even though things turned out the way Iroha-san was worried, she told me while we were sleeping together in her room, “Thanks to Taichi-kun’s always positive attitude and words, I was able to realize what is most important to me.”

I also had a lot of trouble thinking about things, but when I finally thought, “What’s most important?” I realized that “There’s no one else I want to spend the rest of my life with but this person.” Then I could see what I needed to do to make that happen. It took me a while to realize this, but Iroha-san also realized it after meeting me again and seeing me like this while she was filled with regret.

By the way, she said clearly, “I haven’t given up my dream of becoming a teacher yet,” so I promised to support her fully.

After the final exams in February, I was allowed to live with Iroha-san’s family, moved in, and prepared for my job.

In March, after I graduated from university, I received a letter from my family’s home.

Inside the envelope was another envelope and a note in my sister’s handwriting that said, [I received a letter from Chika for Taichi, so I’m sending it to you].

The envelope from Chika was addressed to [Sakamoto Taichi-sama] in neat handwriting.

When I opened it, there was a letter inside.

The contents were congratulations on my job offer in Fukui and a report that she had also received a job offer in her hometown.

She thanked me for inspiring her to become a teacher.

She thanked me for changing her heart after I left her.

And she apologized for the scolding and physical fight we had on the last day of my teaching practice, concluding with the words [Be happy].

Chika is grateful to me, but I didn’t do anything.

She just rebuilt her life on her own, without my knowledge.

And to be honest, I don’t hate her anymore.

I understood that the last time we had a big fight, she was trying to scold me like she used to.

The look on Chika’s face at that time was the same as when she scolded me in junior high school, saying, “If you want to go to the same high school, study hard until you die!”

And in the middle of March.

I was unexpectedly assigned to the elementary school that was Iroha-san’s alma mater.

The first day of the new school year is April.

Finally, the day my teaching career began.

That morning, Iroha-san saw me off at the front door with a beaming smile.

“Please do your best and come back safely.”

“I will!”

Iroha-san was so happy that I had become a teacher at her alma mater, and she cheered me on with all her might.

I was happy about that.

I became the teacher of a third-grade class.

There were only eight students in the class, and according to Iroha-san, there were more students when she was there, but there was still only one class per grade.

I was full of anxiety about being assigned as a teacher in my first year, but I was full of spirit.

I nervously walked from the teacher’s room to the third-grade classroom, and as I stood in front of the open door, I heard the children screaming and making noise inside, so I took a deep breath.

After calming down, I entered the classroom, and everyone became quiet and focused on me.

“Okay, everyone, please take your seats….”

Then I stood at the teacher’s desk and used chalk to write my full name in large letters on the blackboard.

After I finished writing, I turned to the students and greeted them loudly.

“Nice to meet you all! My name is Taichi Mizunami. I’m a new teacher, so I’m still new to this. But I’ll do my best to learn a lot and have a lot of fun with all of you in this third-grade class for the next year so that I can become a great teacher. Please take care of me!”

When I finished my greeting, all eight students greeted me with applause.

The End.

tl: Thank you so much for reading until the end! Apologies for any mistakes in the translation.