Chapter 20: I Wonder What Sins Such a Person Must Have Committed Against Their Mother Or In Their Past Life

I Wonder What Sins Such a Person Must Have Committed Against Their Mother Or In Their Past Life

For the past month, I've visited the Hanabi residence almost every day.

Winter break ended quite some time ago, and Valentine's Day is just around the corner. It's the season when chocolates start appearing in various stores, and the atmosphere seems a little sweeter.

Naturally, with that much time having passed, final exams are just around the corner. Exams start at the end of February, so about two weeks away.

Sumire wanted me to at least let Kagari take the tests...

But I just couldn't even meet her face to face.

"Kagari-san, can we just talk for a little while? Even if it's just through the door or on the phone, okay?"

"..."

Like this, I continued calling out to the impersonal door of Kagari's room every day. Of course, the result was nothing. I still hadn't heard her voice back.

"Just a little while would be fine, okay? I'm not asking you to come to school or take a test, so let's just chat together today."

"..."

"Sigh..."

How can I put it, I'm so depressed.

Ever since I started high school, everything had been going smoothly the way I wanted, so it's been a while since things haven't gone my way.

I remember the second half of middle school being like this too. Back then, I was constantly on edge, and Karen would ask me things like, "Yuri, you're in such a bad mood. Are you on your period?"

Honestly, I don't really care if Kagari repeats a year or drops out of high school.

Because with Kagari's mother, Kasumi, it seems like things aren't going to go in an interesting direction. At first, I thought it would be cute if Kagari went from being a hikikomori to a hikikomori NEET, but a NEET whose existence is tolerated by their family isn't a loser in society, they're just a winner.

Even if their mother doesn't pay them any attention, a person who can survive without any inconveniences or the need to work is a happy person. What's there to enjoy about a daughter like that? Even if she rebels and says to Kasumi, "Give me money to go out and have fun!" Kasumi will definitely plaster a grin on her face, hand over the money, and show no interest in her at all.

A monster that is kept to death isn't a monster, she's just a Chihuahua. Chihuahua Kagari. 

So it looks like there's no way I can lay a hand on her anymore, and I don't really care what happens to her...

"Yuri-chan, it's about time you stopped and came to the living room! I've made some tea!"

For some reason, Kasumi seems to have taken a liking to me, so I can't stop.

"Ah, sure! I'll be right there!"

I answer Kasumi's call and move away from the silent door.

It seemed like Kasumi really wasn't interested in Kagari.

The other day, when she noticed me talking to the silent door, she said, "Instead of wasting time there, let's come over here and chat." We spent about two hours there, five minutes talking about Kagari, and the rest chatting nonsense, which was a crazy schedule.

So maybe I shouldn't have come to this house in the first place. 

Kasumi often says things like, "Sensei told me that Yuri is attending school diligently," and makes it clear that she's in close contact with my homeroom teacher. I wonder what kind of lies she'll tell her if I stop going because of this. I'm sure Sumire's impression of me will be ruined, more or less. She'll think I gave up halfway through.

This could get in the way of my activities at school, so I can't do anything about it. The reason I'm able to move around relatively freely at school is because the teacher has a good impression.

So I have no choice but to stop by every day after school. And the other day, she finally called me in, even on the weekend.

And it's also to volunteer to clean up the local park. It wasn't really a call, more of an invitation, but I couldn't say no after seeing myself in her eyes at the time. It was clearly the first time I'd met her, and those were her appraising eyes.

"Well, Yuri-chan, see you tomorrow~♪"

"Yes, Kasumi-san, I'll come again tomorrow."

"Come on, you don't have to be so formal. You can think of my house as your second home♪"

"Haha, no way."

After this sort of conversation at the front door, I leave the Demon Realm.

--Sigh.

The air outside really does feel so good. I feel like I'd been drinking filthy river water just a moment ago.

I've gotten to know Kasumi-san a bit over the past month of our relationship, and she's that kind of person. She tries to force her ideals on others.

I'm sure her indifference to Kagari-san stems from that same feeling. Even when we first met, she kept comparing me to Kagari and praising me, saying how great I was.

To her, what she wants in a child is polite, cute, competent, and obedient. I'm sure there are many other requirements, but these are all I can tell for now.

As for the volunteer work the other day, she was probably waiting to see if I would refuse her invitation to volunteer unpaid on my day off. And the moment I refused, I was no longer her ideal, and suddenly became an object of indifference.

To her, Hanabi Kagari is probably no longer her daughter.

She's just something that spilled out of her uterus when her egg and her husband's sperm combined. While most people define her as their child, she's discarded that definition and simply sees her as someone who fell between her legs.

Conversely, her definition of a daughter is the ideal child I mentioned earlier.

In other words,

"Me, huh...?"

Right now, I'm probably recognized by Hanabi Kasumi as her daughter. Blood ties don't seem to matter to her. 

If someone is simply excellent, polite, cute, and obedient to her, she will love and pamper them as a child.

That is not my definition of a monster.

When I say monster, I mean a being who cannot control their immaturity and indiscriminately hurts others.

But Hanabi Kasumi is different.

That is not her immaturity. It is not that her immature mind refuses to accept anything less than perfection.

She uses her mature adult mind to screen others.

She is completely human; she suppresses her desires with reason.

If I were to compare the difference between her and a monster to a human being, would sexual desire be appropriate?

Monsters are beings who lose their sense of self to their insatiable sexual desire, and indiscriminately violate anyone of the opposite or same sex they pass by.

Meanwhile, once they becomes aware of their sexual desires, they will try to satisfy them by any means necessary, such as offering drugs, dangling money in front of the target, or threatening them.

A clear human sign: reason precedes desire.

Let me state this unequivocally.

Hanabi Kasumi is a human, but a psychopath. A severe one, at that.

It's hard to believe that such a person could conceive a child. At the very least, it's not the kind of love-driven marriage and childbirth that a normal human would experience.

(Really, I have caught the eyes of something troublesome...)

Running away is easy. After all, she'll lose interest in me if I show her something less than ideal.

However, if the timing happens before Kagari's problems are resolved, it could become extremely troublesome. That's the problem. 

"... It hasn't come yet."

I quickly take my smartphone out of my pocket and check my notifications. But there's not a single message there.

I just dropped a piece of paper with my contact information through the gap in her door, but there's been no response.

I should have thought of this option from the beginning, but I guess I was too upset about the strange situation we're in.

But even if I keep calling out to her in front of her room, it's probably not going to get me anywhere.

Right now, all I can do is hope that she notices the piece of paper and gets in touch...

Author Note: 

Yuri is being unusually passive.