re:Happiness | Cell Phone Novel

unhappy story | xxv - xxviii

  ・・・ xxv ・・・

His father remarried shortly after.

In the span of a few weeks,
Ao had two new people added in the family register.

Fujiwara Monica became his new mother.

At the same time,
Fujiwara Ame became his new sister.

The lonely, empty house seemed livelier now.

After that, things changed again.

His father started to laugh once more.
Smile once more.

He looked happier.

It was almost as if the him from the past was slowly beginning to come back.

But... of course, things did not end up the way Ao hoped it would.

Because although his father had turned better than before, it was only around Ao's new family that he did.

  ・・・ xxvi ・・・

Whenever Monica or Ame weren't there, Fujiwara Kyousuke would return to ignoring his son's existence.

Every time the four of them were together,
he would sometimes glare at Ao and shake his head.

'You are not needed here',
was what he seemed to be saying.

In the end, Ao was treated like an outcast.

In the end, he was considered a stranger.

In the end, he was still clearly hated.

In the end, it still didn't change the fact that it had been his fault.

Ao couldn't do or say anything.

Because even though he hated that his father had replaced his mother so easily,
he didn't want to ruin anything more than he had.

I have no right to interfere.

All he could do was quietly accept what was happening.

I'm just someone who causes unhappiness.

It's better if I stayed silent.

So he did.

  ・・・ xxviii ・・・

Fujiwara Ame was older than Ao by only two years.

At first, he was wary of her existence.

After his mother had disappeared,
Ao turned into a quiet child who never did anything that caused any problems.

In order to gain his father's acknowledgment,
he tried to become a child that a parent wanted to have.

He studied.

He stayed obedient.

He remained polite and timid.

Of course, in the end,
his father still didn't look at him.

During those years, Ao never once thought of having another sibling close in age.

Now that he suddenly did, he was unsure of what to do.

He remembered his father's hateful glare. The unspoken words.

In the end, he decided to detach himself from her.

He didn't want to cause any more problems.

Ame, however, thought differently.

She was determined to grow close to Ao.

In every free time that he had, Ame would approach him and try to start a conversation.

At night, she would even visit him in his room sometimes.

Every day, Ame always made an effort to make a connection with him.

Ao, on the other hand, didn't understand why.

  ・・・ xxviii ・・・

"Do you hate me?"

Ame suddenly asked this question.

It was a month after they first met.

They were in his room.

Ao was on his desk. Ame was kneeling by the bookshelf.

He stopped writing.

"No... I don't hate you," he said.

She titled her head.

"Then why... do you seem so distant?" Ame asked. "I feel like you're...  trying to avoid me. Is it because you don't want a sister?"

"..."

A moment of silence passed.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three.

Ao finally spoke up.

Instead of an answer, he asked another question.

"... Why are you doing this?" he asked.

"Is it because we're family now? Because you think that you're supposed to take care of me since you're older?"

That question seemed to take her aback.

Ame looked at Ao, unable to answer him immediately.

There was a look of surprise on her face.

Ame stared at him in the eye.

"... Of course it is," she said, finally.

"But... that isn't the only reason."

In that moment she suddenly flashed a wide, bright grin.

"You looked lonely. That's the other reason."