Chapter 50: The Luckiest Thing

Chapter 50: The Luckiest Thing

The following procedures were indeed very long. Statements, preserving evidence, and taking Kazama Sakura’s mother to get an injury assessment.

Of course, they also first had to move everything out of that home and temporarily move it to Kazama Sakura’s aunt’s home.

Leaving aside whether that place could be lived in when it was such a mess, the main issue was that something like that had happened only that evening. Whether it was the neighbours’ gazes or the painful memories left in that home, neither would let anyone sleep.

Yatsuno Gen stayed with them the whole time and did not remain uninvolved.

It was also because of this that Kazama Sakura’s mother had the chance to speak with this boy.

She hesitantly looked at this boy with his distinctive temperament and said softly,

“Thank you so much for today, Yatsuno.”

Yatsuno Gen shook his head. “It was nothing. Mainly, Kazama’s senior from her club told me that something seemed to have happened to her and that her phone couldn’t be reached, so I came straight over.”

There were still many things she wanted to ask, but she chose to ignore them.

She had already sensed the special relationship between her daughter and this boy.

After all, from childhood until now, Kazama Sakura had actually always been a good girl. She did not defy her parents, had no bad habits, and would not get mixed up with strange people.

Although this boy could also be described as a kind of strange, he was not the kind of strange that made people dislike him.

He behaved maturely, made decisions very decisively, even had skills like that, and had a good relationship with the police...

That could no longer be considered within the range of a normal high school student. Besides, her daughter had also told her that his grades at school were consistently in the top three of the whole year.

She even vaguely felt emotional. How could her daughter have met a boy like this?

It seemed her daughter’s luck was much better than hers.

The woman had considered things very clearly. She also had no extra thoughts. In truth, by now, she had figured things out.

In the past, she had thought that since her daughter was so beautiful, marrying into a good family in the future would not be a problem. But after what happened with her husband, she realized something. So what if someone married well? Once passion was worn away by time and the essence of human nature was exposed completely, they would still be unhappy.

Besides, this boy looked so pleasing to the eye.

She said,

“I’m truly grateful that you care about Sakura so much.”

She also did not intend to ask anything about his family and the like. Those things were meaningless. Happiness lay between two people. She believed that if a boy like this truly liked Kazama Sakura, he would not let things outside the two of them affect her.

Kazama Sakura looked at the boy’s expression cautiously, her face somewhat flushed. She seemed worried that this boy would, just as he did when dealing with her, habitually pretend not to hear whenever a key issue came up and change the subject.

But this time, Yatsuno Gen looked at her mother and smiled as he said,

“Not at all. A girl like Kazama has many people willing to help her. She’s just used to carrying things alone. She always thinks she’ll trouble others, but actually, she doesn’t know that she deserves to be treated well.”

“...”

Kazama Sakura lowered her head.

She really wanted to tell this smiling boy that it was not actually like that at all.

It was not that people who deserved to be treated well would meet good things and obtain happiness.

The fact that she could encounter luck within misfortune was entirely because he was by her side.

After taking the two of them to Kazama Sakura’s aunt’s home and helping move their things.

Kazama Sakura’s aunt seemed to be doing fairly well and was unmarried, living alone. Of course, Kazama Sakura and her mother would not stay in this home for too long. They would soon have to look for a new place.

Living in their original home was not very suitable. After the property was divided, it might be sold. After all, the memories inside were hardly pleasant.

When everything was handled and Yatsuno Gen was preparing to say goodbye.

Kazama Sakura’s mother took the initiative and said, “Sakura, go see him off. He helped us so much. You mustn’t be too neglectful.”

Kazama Sakura’s face flushed slightly, but spending some time alone with him was indeed what Kazama Sakura hoped for, or rather, what she had been impatiently waiting for.

“I know... Let’s go.”

“Mm.”

Yatsuno Gen merely looked at her and smiled. That smile was one that saw through everything but did not say it aloud.

It made Kazama Sakura’s cheeks remain red the whole time. But this was good too. At least this way, she would not think too much about what had happened that evening, would not think about why that man, despite clearly being her father, had shown her such a ferocious expression.

Night had already covered the entire city. The streetlights in front of her aunt’s home were brighter than the road in front of her own home.

Walking along the road, Kazama Sakura stood beside Yatsuno Gen and said softly,

“This place isn’t far from school either, but if we rent a place later, it might be farther away. I’ll have to get up even earlier from now on.”

It seemed like a small complaint, but this was not grumbling. Yatsuno Gen understood. It was a kind of outlook toward a new future life.

But that was not what Yatsuno Gen wanted to talk about.

He did not echo her. Instead, he asked,

“Why didn’t you tell me first when something happened today?”

Kazama Sakura froze for a moment. She had not expected the issue she had been hesitating over, and had even planned not to mention, to still be brought up by him.

And so directly, leaving no room to escape.

After hesitating for a moment, she lowered her head.

“Because I felt like I’d be troubling you too much. And this was originally my own family’s matter. I thought it wouldn’t get too serious...”

Yatsuno Gen shook his head. “Indeed, you can handle some trivial little matters on your own. But you already knew your father had this tendency, so you should have paid more attention. Even the people closest to you can, in situations you don’t know about, turn into someone you don’t recognize at all, or even someone who hurts you.”

Kazama Sakura raised her head slightly and glanced at Yatsuno Gen. “Would you become like that too?”

Yatsuno Gen froze for a moment, then laughed irritably. “You’re applying it to me now, are you?”

Kazama Sakura cutely stuck out her tongue, then moved a little closer to the boy. “Don’t lecture me anymore... I know I was wrong. In the future, if something happens, I’ll tell you first, okay?”

Such natural softness was something Yatsuno Gen had not expected.

She seemed to be getting more and more obedient.

And she was even rubbing against him.

Had she really turned into a puppy? Seeing that her owner was unhappy, she used this kind of clumsy way to please him.

Yatsuno Gen glanced at her. “Now you know how to be obedient?”

Kazama Sakura nodded repeatedly. “Mm, mm, mm. You know it. I listen to you the most.”

She looked like a puppy waiting for its owner to praise her and reward her by patting her head.

He clearly knew it was not quite right to do this, as if he were encouraging her process of self-taming. He had never thought of taming anyone, nor did he hope anyone would become the way he wanted to see them.

Precisely because these girls were themselves, they appeared to possess vivid vitality and naturally released their own beauty.

But after hesitating for a moment, Yatsuno Gen still reached out and stroked the girl’s head.

Feeling her hair being caressed, even though it was not a particularly forceful motion, and not like the more domineering, more forceful display she faintly hoped for, it still let Kazama Sakura feel the warmth she was so infatuated with.

She was a stubbornly growing blade of grass, needing the nourishment of sunlight and rain. And the warmth he gave her seemed to be all of that.

She contentedly rubbed her head against the boy’s palm. Her long hair covered part of her face, yet one could still seem to see the satisfied upward curve of her lips.

After patting her head, Yatsuno Gen withdrew his hand.

He said softly,

“With solid evidence, your father should face imprisonment. After all, he did something like threatening personal safety with a knife, so it probably won’t be less than a year. But even if he receives psychological counselling and you apply for a personal protection order, you still can’t let your guard down.”

“You’re worried that after he gets out... he still won’t come to his senses?”

A trace of worry appeared on Kazama Sakura’s face.

Yatsuno Gen nodded. “There’s that possibility. Don’t forgive him too easily. Try not to be alone with your father in the future, even if he seems full of regret and cries to you.”

Although he said this, as if giving people hope, Yatsuno Gen felt in his heart that someone like Kazama Sakura’s father would not have any good transformation.

For certain people, such an outburst was the key that opened the door. Because of it, he might completely release the shackles restraining him and become a monster who ignored emotion and morality.

After all, the matter had caused no small disturbance. His career would be affected, and perhaps he would simply give up on himself and act with the thought of dragging everyone down with him.

Because that evening, Kazama Sakura and her mother had both been present in Kazama Sakura’s home, and divorce procedures were also involved, Yatsuno Gen had not had the chance to do something more excessive and give him a lesson that would make him thoroughly reform, or even regret coming into this world.

But that did not mean he would forget this person.

If a miracle happened, and he truly behaved himself in the future, then fine. But if not, if he still tried to do anything else, Yatsuno Gen would tell him just how lightly that punch had landed.

“Mm, I understand. Then if he appears in the future, can I tell you?”

Kazama Sakura tilted her head and asked cautiously.

“Of course you can.”

Yatsuno Gen answered.

“Will it cause trouble for you?”

“No.”

“Will it make you think I’m a very weak girl? Will you think I have no opinions of my own, and that I rely on you for everything?”

She completely voiced the things she was worried about.

Yatsuno Gen looked at her in amusement. “Do you really think what happened before doesn’t count as trouble? Maybe I really am someone who doesn’t like trouble, but that doesn’t mean I can turn a blind eye to your affairs.”

Looking at the boy’s smiling eyes.

The streetlight fell on him. In the quiet black night, she could hear her surging heartbeat.

She no longer hesitated and turned around.

Thump.

All at once.

She hugged the boy tightly, just like when she had hugged her mother back then.

Yatsuno Gen did not move.

Then he heard her voice beside his ear.

“Do you know? Many times, the trivial things in life, their quarrels, and some other things all pressed down on me until I couldn’t breathe. I would often feel that every unfortunate thing in the world had descended upon me. But now I’m sure I’m a lucky person. Do you know why?”

“Why?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“How mean.”

“Hmph.”

She closed her eyes, greedily breathing in the boy’s scent.

In her heart, she said softly,

Because meeting you is the luckiest thing in this life.