Chapter 25 Please, Give Me His Warmth 2 (Hatsune's Perspective)

Please, Give Me His Warmth 2 (Hatsune’s Perspective)

I submitted my withdrawal notice to Doujo High, an affiliate high school of Doukei Women University, and declined my admission to Chuho University.

Afterward, I left my family home and fled to a rented apartment I had temporarily secured.

I could have stayed and graduated high school without issue, but I simply couldn’t bring myself to do it.

“Ah… ah… ahhhhh…!”

Before I realized it, I began scratching at my own body every day.

The thought that this body of mine was built with money stolen from so many people was unbearable.

Soon, the police began visiting my apartment, repeatedly asking me about my father’s whereabouts.

Even when I told them I didn’t know, they accused me of lying and warned that hiding him would make me complicit. They didn’t believe me at all and hurled insults at me.

It was agonizing, suffocating, and so painful… I thought about dying more times than I could count.

But I was terrified of dying. I didn’t want to die… so all I could do was cry.

Eventually, the landlord told me to leave, forcing me out of the apartment.

Since the landlord initiated the eviction, I received a refund of my deposit and key money. For a while, I lived in internet cafes, working part-time to scrape by.

I eventually managed to rent a run-down, cheap apartment that didn’t require a guarantor, deposit, or key money. Slowly, I began piecing my life back together.

Just as I thought things were finally settling down, anonymous letters arrived—sent to my landlord and my workplace.

Of course, they said: [Kakizaki Hatsune is a criminal…].

In the end, my entire family was branded as criminals. Once again, I had to move and find another job.

From that point on, my life became nothing but a game of cat and mouse.

No matter where I ran, they always found me, tracked me down, and took away my safe haven.

[You criminal!]

[Atone for your sins!]

[Apologize!]

Cruel letters arrived, and curses were scrawled across my apartment door.

I was… at my limit.

If the same thing happened again, I felt certain I wouldn’t be able to handle it…

Thinking that, I moved to yet another run-down, cheap apartment.

“Ah…”

“…(nods politely)”

Unfortunately, on the day I moved in, I ran into my next-door neighbor.

Haha… If he finds out who I am, he’ll curse me, harass me, and drive me out too…

No matter how kind someone looks on the surface, their true nature always comes out—that’s something I’ve come to understand deeply over these past two years.

But.

“…That man had such sad eyes…”

Eyes so hollow, filled with nothing but despair…

The same eyes I see when I look in the mirror.

For some reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about him.

Over the next month, I somehow managed to live in peace.

But… it’s always around this time that, for some reason, my location gets discovered, and the harassment begins again…

Even though I try to prepare myself, I’m not strong enough to accept it so easily.

And then… they came again.

Two people stood outside my door, likely planning to stick up posters or graffiti.

I was terrified.

I wanted to scream and cry.

But… all I could do was silently cry and tremble, holding my breath.

Then.

““R-Run!””

The two suddenly panicked and fled. Moments later, I heard the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs—clang, clang, clang.

Peeking out fearfully…

“Ah…”

“…”

Standing there was the man who lived next door.

“S-Should I call the police?”

“…! (shaking head violently)”

At his hesitant suggestion, I shook my head vehemently.

I already knew the police wouldn’t help me.

Besides, if I called them, I’d just be forced to move again… and then…!

“O-okay then…”

After saying that, the man looked troubled for a moment before heading back to his room.

Suddenly overcome with fear, I grabbed the hem of his shirt without thinking.

Even though I knew he wouldn’t help me.

Even though I knew he’d abandon me.

Still, I wanted him to help me.

I wanted him to stay.

“…Excuse me, could you let go of me?”

“Ah…!”

…As I thought, he abandoned me.

“Ah, haha… ha…”

I sank into despair.

In the end, someone like me has no reason to exist.

I don’t belong in this world…!

At that moment, I stopped caring about anything.

None of it mattered anymore… let them do as they pleased.

I slumped against the door, laughing bitterly as tears streamed down my face.

…I don’t know how much time had passed.

My hands had gone numb, and my lips were trembling.

But none of that mattered anymore.

Nothing… mattered anymore…

“Um… You’re going to catch a cold, you know…?”

…Eh?

Why is he talking to me again…?

After abandoning me just now…

“…No, it’s fine.”

I answered curtly and turned away.

Why now… what does he want…?

“Y-you really should go back inside…”

His words made something inside me snap.

“Go back? Where? Inside the room? And what good would that do? No matter where I go, they’ll find me, chase me down, corner me, harass me in every way imaginable, and take away my place to belong!”

I poured out everything I had been holding back, directing it all at him.

My voice came out strong—so raw it felt like it would tear me apart.

“You’re just like them, aren’t you!? You think the world would be better off without me… don’t you!? Someone like me… someone like me…!”

I buried my face in my knees, breaking into uncontrollable sobs.

Haha… He’ll abandon me again, just like before, and go back to his room.

But.

“…”

He stayed by my side, silently watching over me until I calmed down.

Then, he muttered something unbelievable.

“…If it’s just for tonight…”

Impossible.

Impossible, impossible, impossible.

There shouldn’t be a single person in this world who would show kindness to someone like me.

Everyone should wish for me to disappear.

But… I clung to those words.

“…I-is that… okay…?”

When he asked if I’d prefer his room or mine, I chose his.

Because… if they came back, I wouldn’t be able to bear it…

After inviting me into his room, he handed me a coffee with milk.

It was warm.

For the first time in two years, I felt warmth.

Then, he asked if I knew those people.

There was no way I could have known them. But apparently, my refusal to involve the police had made him suspect otherwise.

And then.

“Um… may I ask, have we, uh… met before…?”

“N-No…”

“Then why did you assume I thought it’d be better if you disappeared…?”

“!?”

He asked me that.

Haha… what a sharp… person he is…

So, I revealed everything about myself to him.

About the “Kakizaki Farm” embezzlement scandal from two years ago… and how I was the daughter of the perpetrator.

Back then, maybe I thought he’d reject me like everyone else once he knew. But maybe, just maybe, I was clinging to the impossible hope that he wouldn’t.

Then… he got angry.

Ah, I knew it. He’s just like everyone else.

That’s what I thought as I tried to leave the room.

“I-I’m sorry…! When I hit the wall, it wasn’t out of anger at you, Kakizaki-san. It was because of… those people who chase you and the police…”

“In any case… What I understand is that the one who committed the crime was your father, the president of Kakizaki Farm, and you yourself… are also a victim.”

“Why? If I may say so, isn’t the one who’s at fault your father? He’s the one who should atone, isn’t he?”

“I don’t care what everyone says. At the very least, I don’t think, even for a second, that you need to be unhappy.”

I couldn’t believe it.

That someone could get this angry for me… that someone could say something like that to me…!

Overwhelmed with joy, my tears spilled endlessly as I sobbed uncontrollably…