Chapter 51: 51

It was decided that I am to start living at the academy’s dormitory after being discharged. I say dormitory, but in reality it’s actually a rental in an apartment near the academy. It has auto-lock doors and a concierge, not a caretaker, is always on the standby so it’s not only safe, but also provides a sense of relief. But there are no sound proof rooms. My plan is to use the piano room in the academy to practice. Though there are no music departments, the academy has a piano room in it. Just as one would expect of a distinguished academy.

 

It was arranged for me to have a helper to assist me until the casts on my arm and leg are off. I am having my father pay for all the costs. I have entrusted everything related to such matters to Lawyer Tamaru. My father is still unconscious, and the landlady is also still hospitalized.

 

Just as I was about to finally relax after taking care of arrangements after my discharge, Shiroyama-sama, whose existence I had forgotten hitherto, shows himself. No, he’s coming to visit. Together with Katsuragi-sama.

 

“Kujouin Reiko!”

 

Thus I hear him calling out to me, together with the sound of the opening door, soon after which I find him running to the bed and hugging me tight.  After which he starts crying.

 

“The piano, you’ll still be able to play, won’t you?”

 

Ah, Shiroyama-sama has been worrying about me as a pianist.

 

“I believe I will be able to.”

 

Before I could answer, Shiroyama-sama was already being peeled away by Katsuragi-sama.

 

“I returned to Japan for the competition, only to find out that you are not competing. They told me that you’ve been injured and is under hospitalization.”

 

This is the first time I have ever seen Shiroyama-sama speak so much. For some reason, I find myself impressed that he can speak in such long sentences.

So Shiroyama-sama has been abroad. I see, so it is just as Sakurada Yuria-sama said; he usually lives abroad. … I wonder if he has enough credits at the academy.

 

“Yes, while unfortunate, I have withdrawn from the upcoming competition. But I will enter into a different one once my injuries are healed. Still, I have no intentions to compete with Shiroyama-sama. After being injured, I have realized just how much I have been relying on the piano until now. Fufufu, I am addicted to the piano. Even now, I cannot help but want to play.”

 

There is this story where the old man, being devastated that Snack Akemi has closed up shop, felt as if he has lost a place precious to him and wandered around town while drinking alcohol from a box. That is exactly how I feel at present. … No, that’s not it. I feel more restless than that, as though I HAVE to play the piano no matter the cost. I can’t stand this feeling! Speaking of, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures is also included in the tablet Madenokouji-sama got me. I find myself fantasizing that my own mother, much like Joseph’s mother Lisa Lisa in Part 2, is actually alive and had no choice but to give me up due to circumstances. Though in reality my mother’s death is already registered in the family registry. I wonder if it is possible she is actually alive though, just like in Sakigake!! Otokojuku. If so, I am sure Comrade Yoshio will be glad too. Ah, Comrade Yoshio will then be my stepfather! How wonderful.

 

It is a first for me to not have touched the piano for such a long stretch of time and I long for its sound and its touch so badly that I feel like I might go insane.

I feel that I might have come to understand just a small portion of how utterly devastated Mari-sama must have felt. For a pianist, the inability to play is a suffering beyond words. To Mari-sama, the piano was her everything. Had she not been such a perfectionist, I believe she would have been able to play for much longer. But she was incapable of compromise. It is for such a reason that Mari-sama would not show her performance to anyone but me. She would not allow anyone else to listen, not even Fuki-san.

 

“For real? You’ll really be able to play as you did?”

 

Shiroyama-sama asks me this, with tears falling. I give him a nod while smiling.

 

“I will attend your winner’s concert, so do be sure to take first place.”

“In the concert, I will dedicate a piece to Kujouin Reiko.”

 

How should I reply? Dedicating a piece to someone sounds like it might have deeper implications to it, but Shiroyama-sama is one who lets doves perch on his head. There shouldn’t be any deeper meaning to it. I nod.

 

While smiling, Shiroyama-sama alights a light kiss on my left hand, the one fixed in a cast.

Startled, I find myself letting out a weird cry.

 

“I would like to be able to listen to your playing soon.”

 

Still, I wonder why Shiroyama-sama calls me by my full name. Once again, Shiroyama-sama is pulled away from me by Katsuragi-sama.

 

“Sorry, Rei-chan! Mihael, after hearing about you, went ballistic at home. Not knowing what to do, his father contacted me. I thought he would calm down after seeing you healthy, so I brought him here!”

 

Shiroyama-sama’s parents, please get a hold of yourselves. Though I reckon they have never had to discipline him much, seeing that he is said to have been mild mannered hitherto. To me, Shiroyama-sama is just like a dog yet to be disciplined, always barking at something. Right, Akemi Mama from Snack Akemi used to take a cute little dog on walks; though the poor dog would be on a tight leash. I recall that dog would bark everywhere too.

 

In my opinion, such a Shiroyama-sama is still far better than Katsuragi-sama. He does not eat what is mine without permission, after all!

 

“Is that so? … I have heard that Katsuragi-sama and Shiroyama-sama has been tight since long ago; what do you think of his current state? Though I do not know how he used to be, I have heard from Sara-chan that Shiroyama-sama used to be calmer, no?”

 

I cannot believe that doves perch on his head.

 

“Yeah, Mihael has metamorphosed! He’s leveled up!”

 

What is he saying?

 

“I’ve metamorphosed!”

 

What are these two saying…? Nothing is making any sense. As I am frozen in place, someone tells me that new visitors have arrived. After hearing who it is, I hesitate on what to do.

 

“Rei-chan, what’s with your expression? Just who came?”

 

Katsuragi-sama may be a childish prince character, but he’s sensitive to the subtle changes a person’s feelings might undergo.

 

“It’s Takanashi-sama and Yuuki-san…”

 

Hearing this, Katsuragi-sama furrows his brows.

 

“Mihael, you go home. I’ll stay here.”

“I don’t want anything to happen to Kujouin Reiko. I’m staying too.”

 

I am glad the two of them are here. I don’t wish for Takanashi-sama to once again raise his hand against me. I don’t wish to have my freedom of movement taken any more than this.

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Feeling slightly nervous, I wait for the two of them.

After a while, a knock comes at the door, and I tell them to enter.

 

Takanashi-sama and Yuuki-san enter the room in a line. The both of them look as if they feel out of place. I do think that they need not come to visit if they do indeed feel that out of place.

 

“Did you come to visit me?”

 

Since neither of them is speaking up, I venture to initiate conversation. They reply with a vague yeah. Katsuragi-sama and Shiroyama-sama are seating in the sofa, monitoring us. That’s right, what they are doing is monitoring.

 

“Thank you for going out of your way.”

 

I tell them smiling, but Yuuki Miu-san instead utters the following:

 

“I’m telling you, it’s that being above matters attitude of yours that is so unpleasant! Why can’t you just speak normally?”

“… If you are uncomfortable, do feel free to go home. Why are you always getting triggered by me? I personally would rather you ignore me if you hate me so much.”

“You really are so unlikeable!”

 

At this point, Takanashi-sama is holding Yuuki-san back. He then bows down deep, with his head to the floor.

It is so sudden that I find myself unable to speak.

 

“Ryou, what are you doing!? Hey, lift your head!”

 

Yuuki-san grabs Takanashi-sama’s shoulders and tries to get him to stand, but Takanashi-sama stays unmoved.

 

“I’m sorry. I heard everything from Fuki-baachan. Yesterday, I told Fuki-baachan, who’s hospitalized, about the Kujouin home being wrecked. Fuki-baachan does not watch the television, instead only listening to Shirasagi Mari’s recordings all day long, so she did not know of the landslide. When I told her of it, she became deathly pale and asked me if Reiko-sama is fine. I told her I don’t know, and she tried to leave the hospital…”

“Eh!? Is Fuki-san okay? How is her condition?!”

 

I ask him so eagerly that I can feel myself leaning forward. I would have fallen from the bed had Katsuragi-sama not catch me.

 

“Calm down, Rei-chan. Takanashi, sit down and talk. I’ll allow it.”

“Eh, this has nothing to do with-“

“Just sit already!”

 

When the childish prince character Katsuragi-sama threatens someone, it can really be intimidating. Though I think that Madenokouji-sama’s the truly terrifying one. He is, after all, able to handle Katsuragi-sama.

Takanashi-sama sits and continues talking.

 

“Fuki-baachan told me the true story. What I heard from Grandpa were mostly lies. But Grandpa was the one who saved me. I can’t believe he would lie…!”

 

This is not what I wanted to hear. What I want to know, more than this, is Fuki-san’s condition. I tell him this and Takanashi-sama replies that she is alright. I wonder if she really is.

 

“Is Fuki-san really okay? Would it be okay if I visit her once I am discharged?”

“Kujouin-san, do you still like Fuki-san, even after how she treated you?”

“I do not understand what you are saying. Fuki-san was the one who raised me; I am in her debt!”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t be able to forgive her! Right now, I can’t forgive her!”

 

Continuing this, Takanashi-sama starts retelling what he heard from Fuki-san. Yuuki-san seems like she knew nothing of it; she looks flustered. I wonder why she came with him. Is there an unwritten rule that couples must always be together? If so, I don’t need a boyfriend. Though I don’t see any prospects either.

 

Fuki-san appears to have told him everything; that she did not spend any money on me, that she made me do the majority of house chores, and that she had me look after Mari-sama in her sickness too. And that she orchestrated matter such that I was bullied at school. It would appear that the one who had made fun of my schoolmate’s kimono was not Mari-sama, but Fuki-san instead. Hearing this, I lose my composure.

She told Takanashi-sama that in the first place, she never did anything for me.

 

“Even so, she did raise me. Though I myself do not know on what basis I am saying this. But I do recall walking with Fuki-san holding my hand, and Fuki-san tying my hair. We also cooked and cleaned together. Though I did indeed take on the majority of the burden after I became able to do things myself, for I wanted to let Fuki-san relax, is that not a normal thing to do? How can you let a senior handle all the housework?”

 

Takanashi-sama looks at me dumbfounded.

 

“You were hit by your own grandma, no? Because of Fuki-baachan.”

“It was normal for my grandmother to hit me with a bamboo ruler. In everything, she educated me by hitting me. I was even hit for matters such as my choice of words, or the movement of my fingertips. If I were to think of an instance where I was hit due to Fuki-san, it must have been when I wore hand me downs from somewhere? Or perhaps I had eaten sweets received from somewhere? In both cases, Fuki-san gave me something. I recall Mari-sama hitting me until I cried, calling me a filthy beggar. How nostalgic.”

 

I was deep in reminiscence when Takanashi-sama abruptly stands up from where he was seated.

 

“You, there’s something wrong with you! You were abused! Fuki-baachan told me that wishing to be alone with that Mari-sama or whoever she was, she often threw you out! Even with that, you’re still defending her?”

 

Ah, so I was a hindrance to Fuki-san. I was such a hindrance to her she could not stand me. I truly was nothing more than Mari-sama’s baggage.

I was hoping that perhaps, just maybe, Fuki-san had treasured me, even just by a little. But that appears to not be the case.

 

“… It is thanks to her throwing me out that I was able to learn a lot from the other adults around. Indeed, since we spoke mostly in English in the house, I was able to learn Japanese while outside. I can even pick mountain vegetables and disassemble wild boars. I am also good at cooking local dishes.”

 

For some reason, I appear to have started crying. I wonder why.

I do not understand.

 

Is it because I had hoped that perhaps Fuki-san actually loved me?

Instead, Fuki-san had thought me unpleasant. Is it because I found this truth out?

 

I had been averting my eyes from reality. I was hated by Fuki-san.

Translator’s Note:

I’m a liar. Sorry I couldn’t keep my promise. I am trying to make it up. But hey, for now, enjoy this painful chapter.

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