Episode 76 – I Shouldn’t Arguing With My Step Father….

I was sitting on the chair at the desk where the computer is placed and my step father was sitting on the bed……, nothing but the sound of the clock echoing in the room with a sense of tension.

My step father looked at me calmly, while I was puzzled, not knowing what to do or what to say.

Could he be angry about something? I thought so, but it shouldn’t be something I had done. No, I was afraid that he would find out about yesterday’s incident, and because of that, he would say something like [Are you unhappy with my daughter?] I’m nervous, wondering if he will get angry at me for something like that.

Gulp… As I’m clearing my throat, he started to speak a word or two.

“….How have you been the last two weeks?”

“Eh, uh, no, well……”

I can’t say I’ve had a good time, or anything like that, so I speak ambiguously.

 “….You can be honest with me, okay?”

I felt a lot of pressure behind that smiling face.

“………”

In the end, I couldn’t say anything, I could remain silent. Seeing this, my step father……let out a sigh.

He sighed as if he knew what was going on.

“As I expected…..”

He continued in a tone as if he was given up.

“Well, I thought it might be possible, but it doesn’t go that well.”

“What about?”

I questioned my step father’s contextless words.

“If it’s you….if it’s you who has the same name as him, you would be able to get Sora to open up to you……”

“What do you…..”

I didn’t understand what my step father was trying to say, and when I asked him back, he showed me a cloudy expression behind his smiling face.

“Kaizei Riku…”

My step father said my current name.

But it was obvious that it wasn’t me.

When I heard the same name,….I realized what was going on. I knew that my step sister had a brother, but I didn’t know his name.

So when my step father said the same name as mine, I figured it out.

“You know she had an older brother the same age, right?”

I gave a small nod to my step father’s words. Seeing this, he continued speaking.

“He had the same name as you, Kaizei Riku……and he was Sora’s twin brother. She loved him very much.

My step father looked at me distantly as if remembering the old days, and I remained silent as I listened to him.

“But he passed away. He died…..in an accident.”

I struggled to find a way to respond to him as he continued to talk, desperately trying to hold back his voice as if he were about to cry.

Of course, this boring conversation would be over if I just spat out that I had nothing to do with it. But I can’t do that.

He has his own past and I don’t have the rotten guts to deny it……

“That day…she lost her brother in an accident, also her mother, and I couldn’t heal that girl’s wounds.”

“Does that mean I should….pity her?”

I said that while looking at my step father with a glare. No, he may be the one who actually was glaring at me, but it was only natural considering what she had done to me…….

Angels and demons whispered in my mind.

I’m not sure if I’m being hypocritical or not, but it would be nice if I could be there for them. But I can’t be that unfair or mature, and I can’t forgive her for what she did.

But my step father wouldn’t know that.

That’s why I revealed my disgust.

Then my step father shrugged his shoulders.

“No….., it’s not that. It’s just that we’re taking a bet on one possibility.”

“Possibility?”

“You know who’s looking out at you guys the most?”

“…..your mother”

“Right. It was your mother who watched you the most, and it is me who’s looking out for Sora.”

“……….”

I didn’t know what my step father was trying to say.

“I’ve heard the good things and the bad things about you. I’ve heard about your past from your mother, and I’ve talked to her about Sora.”

When he said this, my step father looked at me with a serious expression on his face.

“I also know that you’re distrustful of people, stubborn, and……family oriented. That’s why I also wanted you to understand Sora’s.”

“Is that why you married my mother !?”

Hearing my step father spoke these words, anger wells up inside me and……explodes.

I was sickened because I felt like I was being used to rehabilitate my step sister.

But my step father just shook his head slowly, looked me in the eye again, and continued talking.

 “No, that’s not true. I love her. I love her like I love my dead wife, my son. And I love her just as much as I love Sora. And of course….you too.”

It’s easy to say……I love you, and I think it’s a very dubious word But he said it without hesitation.

I don’t understand the weight of those words right now.

I felt a strange and somewhat indescribable feeling of being included in the love he was talking about.

“However, it’s true that there’s a part of me that sees you as my dead son. No matter how much I try to erase it, I can’t help but see Riku in you……”

I saw something shining out of my step father’s eyes as I glanced. He too must be sentimental.

“Even though we are parents, we’re only a person. I have a weak point, there are times when I want to rely on someone. But if you don’t work, you can’t live… That’s when I met her……your mother. Another…..irreplaceable partner.”

My step father wiped away his tears and looked at me in silence.

“What do you think of Sora right now?”

I’m speechless when I heard those words.

“You can be honest with me…….”

“…..Honestly, I’m scared of her. She has said a lot of painful things to me ever since we met.”

“I see……”

Seeing me on the verge of tears, my step father approached me and put his hand on top of my head, saying [I’m sorry.].

Of course I wasn’t going to tell him. I thought it would only be a matter for me to endure it. But eventually there will be a limit.

No, maybe it has finally come…….

Maybe that’s why I was able to express my true feelings to my step father, her own father.

“That’s exactly what’s wrong with her. If she doesn’t fix it, she’s the one who will eventually get hurt. And…..so will you.”

“Eh?”

“Your bad point……. It’s great that you don’t change your mind and stick to your ideas. But it’s not the only way a person can live.”

“………”

“Your mother was having a hard time with it. You won’t bend your will even on small things. She said that when you became rebellious, you stopped talking much. That’s why people around you often shun you.”

“….., that’s.”

As I was about to say that, I’m at a loss for words.

It’s not that there aren’t any memorable moments.

The same goes for my hair…….my mother wanted me to cut it, but I didn’t. 

Even though I said that for the sake of my family’s finances, I’m afraid of exposing myself in the bottom of my heart ….I feel like it’s just an excuse for that.

However……

“Caring for others, keeping pace with others…if you can’t do that, there will be no one to help you when you need it. That’s why I left you two alone while working. Believing that if you both worked together, things would change a little. I don’t know if that’s the right answer……but I want to bet on that possibility. That’s what I thought.”

As he said that, my step father slowly stood up.

“But on the contrary, it seems I’ve put you through a lot of hardship…..”

.”…….”

I stayed silent, unable to deny or confirm it.

“There was a time when I thought about parting with your mother.”

“No way…..”

I was speechless at my step father’s words. I can’t help but think that he was going to divorce my mother because of us.

“But I didn’t choose that. As I said before, I love her….. That’s why…..”

The words that followed would haunt me for a while.

My hopes should’ve come true…..

(TL/N: This is the end of the novel for now. I think that the author is on hiatus, but I don’t know when he will come back, so I’m just going to release another web novel. Look forward to it.)