Decision No. 32

  "Everyone's wearing pajamas and sitting on our sofa, isn't it clear enough?! One hand pointed at the girl who was sitting on the sofa with an air of not caring, and Mukou Kai's face turned red with anger. "Do we have to wait until this girl strips naked and appears in Shin'ichi's bed before we can call it a fact, with solid evidence?!"

  "Dad!"

  "Anada!"

  Sachiko and Suzuha both let out a loud cry at the same time, their eyes wide with shock and incredulity.

  "Listen, listen, would someone say this about their own son? Is this man out of his mind?"

  He glanced at his wife and daughter, but as soon as the words left his mouth, Sugiyama Kaoru regretted it. No matter what, Sugiyama Seiichi was still his son; how could he not know what kind of person his own son was? He was furious at the moment, and the words that came out were like spilled water, impossible to take back.

  Kōmura Seiichi still stood at the entrance, his downcast eyes filled with a subtle bitterness, very sour and astringent.

  His father seemed to dislike him even more.

  It's always like this, he stands at the door, they sit inside, what a good family... He is forever the one excluded, even now when the topic of their conversation centers around him, there is no room for him to chime in.

  "Alright, it's settled then. Where does that child live? After lunch, you can send her back home. It's not good for a girl to be living in someone else's house..." Kokomura Rinne made the decision with a faint smile.

  No matter what, that girl is an outsider. No matter what happened between her and our own son, it's better to cut ties cleanly while they're still young. If they continue to get entangled, who knows what will happen.

  Maybe they should also consider moving house...

  "Mom..." Kōmura Seichi looked at Kōmura Suzune with difficulty. To send her back home, she had to have a home to begin with. That child didn't have a home!

  "Okay, okay. Brother, just listen to mom... or else dad will get even angrier!" Satsuki ran over to Seichi's side and clung to his arm, wheedling him. She could tell that their father was already on the verge of losing his temper, and if her brother said anything more out of line, he would definitely be beaten by their dad... That had happened once before, and it was enough! She didn't want to see her brother being beaten so badly by their dad again that he couldn't even get out of bed... That could practically be called domestic violence!

  He looked at his sister, and those purple eyes were full of worry. Since when did he become a brother who would make his sister worried and afraid?

  What a total failure!

  He looked up to see his father still frowning with his arms crossed, while his mother kept making eye contact with him, signaling him not to go against his father's wishes. The girl on the couch remained silent, but suddenly put down the "Grimm's Fairy Tales" in her hand, looked up and stared at him with sparkling eyes.

  "I'll go pick up her stuff." He puckered his lips, and as he said this, the inorganic blackness in the girl's eyes settled down, just like when he first saw those eyes.

  Deep blackness was like a pool of lifeless dead water, she stared at him blankly, but looked like a dead person.