I was feeling unwell, so I skipped school and stayed in bed.
However, this afternoon, it was no longer the time to sleep.
“Fujisaki-kun’s uncle and a lawyer named Midorikawa-sensei are coming over,”
Before noon, when I woke up from a phone call, my mother let me know that…
My face turned red, and I felt a happy emotion.
Could it be, talk of marriage…?
My premonition turned into certainty.
My father, who was usually all about work, took the day off just for today.
Fujisaki-kun is the heir of a major corporation.
Rather than just a simple greeting, having even a lawyer attend really felt like it belonged to a celebrity family.
From the living room, I could hear the voices of my excited father and mother.
“Hey, did you finish reserving the sushi?”
“Yes, of course. I splurged and ordered the premium set.”
Our family usually only orders the “regular” set, but today it is “premium”.
Inside my head, a bright future came to mind.
That luxurious tower apartment and the promised celebrity life.
The time for that dream-like future to finally come true had arrived.
◆◆◆
At exactly 1:00 PM.
Making a heavy engine sound echo, a black luxury car stopped in front of our house.
A driver opened the door, and stepping out from the back seat were two adult men dressed in expensive-looking suits.
In the entryway where my parents welcomed them with tense expressions, a heavy voice echoed.
“Pardon the intrusion. My name is Tsuguharu Fujisaki. I serve as the guardian of my nephew, Tetsuya. …Yesterday, I received a report from him that he got your daughter pregnant. Today, I have come to offer my apologies regarding that and to discuss the matter moving forward.”
“I am Midorikawa, the lawyer. I am attending as Tetsuya-san’s absentee property administrator.”
—I feel like something is wrong.
A tense atmosphere that pricks the skin. For a chat about marriage, it feels way too heavy and gloomy.
Perhaps sensing the ominous atmosphere, my father tightened his voice and asked.
“Um… I don’t see the crucial Tetsuya-kun here. Surely you aren’t going to pull a stunt like running away from responsibility, right?”
“He will definitely take responsibility,”
Fujisaki-kun’s uncle, Tsuguharu, started speaking calmly.
“Because we hurt someone else’s precious daughter.”
Hearing those words, my father and mother seemed relieved.
“If that’s the case, don’t be so stiff! We were also rooting for the two of them to date. If Tetsuya-kun shows us he’s a man, there’s no problem at all.”
“Come on, please step inside,”
The uncle and Midorikawa the lawyer took off and lined up their shoes, coming into our house.
◆◆◆
Leading them to the living room, my mother brewed and brought out tea.
However, the only thing I couldn’t understand for the life of me was why Fujisaki-kun, who should be the main character, wasn’t here.
“Well then, let us enter the main topic,”
It wasn’t the uncle, but Midorikawa the lawyer who brought it up.
“Actually, at present, Tetsuya-san’s birth mother and our company’s president, Misako Fujisaki, is ‘missing’. Because of that, his uncle Tsuguharu has become his guardian, and I have become his absentee property administrator, placing Tetsuya-kun’s surroundings under our management.”
“Missing…? No, um, isn’t this about my daughter’s pregnancy and marriage?”
“We understand your circumstances, but right now the baby’s matter comes first…”
My father and mother started panicking.
To think that Fujisaki-kun’s mother was missing—I found out for the first time that such a huge incident had occurred.
However, Midorikawa the lawyer glared at me with sharp eyes.
“From here on is the problem between Tetsuya-kun and you, Yoko-san. …Yoko-san. You persistently bullied a student named ‘Kurokawa’ at school, together with Tetsuya-san, didn’t you?”
No way, did it get found out.
“Kurokawa-kun…”
“What do you mean by that!” my father raised his voice.
I don’t want them to know. The fact that I was bullying…
“What about Kurokawa-kun! It has nothing to do with this right now!” I interrupted as if screaming.
However, the uncle’s cold voice crushed it down.
“It has a lot to do with it. As a result of the bullying that my nephew Tetsuya and Yoko-san here participated in, Kurokawa-kun became a shut-in. And now, that Kurokawa-kun has gone missing together with my missing sister. If this comes to light, it could turn into a fatal scandal that shakes our company.”
“Kurokawa-kun… you mean Ren-kun?”
My mother muttered as if she remembered who it was.
“If I recall, he was Yoko’s junior high classmate whose parents died in an accident… I remember going to his wake.”
“That was a regrettable accident…” my father’s expression changed to one of sympathy as he recalled those days.
“Um, that’s wrong…!” I desperately searched for words to excuse myself.
“Kurokawa-kun misunderstood when Fujisaki-kun was hitting on me and got in the way… it got annoying, so I just acted a little cold to him…”
If Kurokawa-kun isn’t here, I can get away with this explanation…
“Hah…” Midorikawa the lawyer let out a deep sigh.
“Our investigation is already finished. When you were being pestered by Tetsuya-kun, he put himself forward to shield you. As a result, he was targeted, which escalated into severe bullying. …You two also broke his precious watch, which was a keepsake from his parents, didn’t you?”
“Things like that… I…”
“You cannot make excuses. We have taken detailed testimonies from multiple people. When we told them, ‘Tetsuya-kun is transferring schools anyway,’ they honestly told us everything. The contents were all too awful to listen to. If I weren’t a person on Tetsuya-kun’s side, this is at a level where I’d immediately demand compensation for damages.”
Everything went pitch black before my eyes. Everything has been found out.
“At first, Fujisaki-kun ‘forcibly touched my body’—” I finally confessed with a shaking voice.
“Kurokawa-kun, who was watching that, stepped in between us. Because of that, Kurokawa-kun became targeted and started getting bullied. After that, I ended up dating Fujisaki-kun… so I couldn’t stop Fujisaki-kun’s violence and I joined in on the violence too. I’m sorry…”
“Yoko… you, what have you done?” my father and mother looked at me with cold eyes.
“Apologies to us are unnecessary,”
The uncle started speaking.
“The problem is the fact that the top of our company has gone missing, and her son was engaging in bullying. And that the victim disappeared at the same time. If the mass media gets a whiff of this, it’s game over—we’ll become prime targets. Therefore, we have decided to have Tetsuya voluntarily withdraw from high school as of today and go work at ‘Fujisaki Fisheries’ in Hokkaido.”
“Eh…? Fujisaki-kun is going to work in Hokkaido…?”
No, my head cannot keep up.
“Um, what about Tetsuya-kun’s future as the next president…?” my father asked as if clinging to hope.
The talk about arranging a post for my father would also disappear with this.
“Even though he is my nephew, that guy has neither talent nor the drive to make an effort.”
In the uncle’s tone, there wasn’t an atom of affection for his own kin.
“The Fujisaki Group is a family-run business, but it is a publicly traded company. We are not so foolish as to seat an incompetent person in the president’s chair just because they share the same last name. The original Fujisaki family considers ‘being talented to be the baseline’. Graduating from T University is normal and the absolute minimum. Furthermore, talented individuals become graduate students or study abroad to graduate from famous top-tier universities in those countries. Just squeezing a high school dropout into ‘Fujisaki Fisheries,’ which normally only hires college graduates, is already the absolute maximum favoritism I can show as family.”
“Please wait!” my mother let out a scream-like voice.
“Then what happens to our daughter! You’re going to take responsibility, right!?”
“Yes, therefore there are two choices,” Midorikawa the lawyer opened a document.
“The first is marriage. In that case, we will have your daughter also drop out of high school and fly to Hokkaido together. We will have you live together with Tetsuya-kun in a family dorm of Fujisaki Fisheries’ employee dormitories. Please rest assured that the welfare benefits are solid.”
“___It’s not a tower apartment?”
A voice slipped out from my mouth.
The uncle chuckled through his nose.
“Ha! That is company housing exclusively for executives. There is no way a regular employee and high school-graduate laborer like Tetsuya can live there. Tetsuya’s starting salary is 180,000 yen. Take-home pay is about 140,000 yen, with a family allowance of about 10,000 yen. There is no way someone like that can live in a tower apartment.”
“That’s…”
“Let me continue. The other choice is the acknowledgment of the baby and a financial settlement. Midorikawa-sensei, what is the market rate?”
“Yes. The compensation for damages in this case is at most 2 million yen, and child support is around 50,000 yen per month. If you choose not to give birth, we will take that into account and offer a higher-than-average 3 million yen.”
“Don’t screw with me!” my father slammed the desk and stood up.
“If we marry, live on 140,000, and if we break up, settle with a pittance!? Isn’t this no different from settlement negotiations with some random high school-dropout freeter!”
“That’s right! This is too much! We acknowledged the marriage because he’s a corporate heir!”
Against my enraged parents, Midorikawa the lawyer stated flatly without changing a single expression.
“Hotta-san, I would like you not to misunderstand. Tetsuya-kun is a person who can no longer stand on the public stage. And your daughter, who participated in the bullying of Kurokawa-kun, is equally guilty. Considering that responsibility, I believe we are showing unprecedented sincerity. Employment at a company that normally only takes college graduates. Covering the compensation for damages that the person cannot pay. And even granting you the ‘freedom of choice’. …I am sorry, but there is no time. If possible, can you decide right here and now?”
“Even if you suddenly tell us that, our daughter’s future is on the line, please let us think about it a little!”
“Hotta-san, that is why I am saying there is no ‘time’!” the uncle’s eyes flashed sharply.
“Depending on your choice, if we don’t get the two of them out of this town before the media moves, it will be too late. If the facts are reported first, everything is over.”
“Um…” I asked with a fading voice.
“Then, is Fujisaki-kun no longer rich or anything…?”
“As it stands, yes,” Midorikawa the lawyer answered calmly.
“However, President Misako’s missing person report has been accepted. If 7 years pass like this, it will be treated as death by a ‘Declaration of Disappearance,’ and there is a possibility that Tetsuya-kun will inherit the estate. Alternatively, if President Misako is found, there is a possibility he will return under her protection once again. …However, there are too many uncertain factors, so honestly I do not know how it will turn out. I am holding the will, but it cannot be opened until the time comes. How things turn out is up to God alone.”
“Then…” my father and mother lost their words and slumped down into their seats.
“I am sorry, but you have no choice but to judge based on this situation and these conditions. …It seems it is impossible in this setting, as expected. Give us your answer by tomorrow. Farewell.”
Leaving behind only those words, the two of them left.
◆◆◆
A quieted living room.
The delivered premium sushi sits emptily on the table.
Why did it turn out like this?
A dazzling tower apartment. A celebrity life that everyone envies.
I just “wanted to be happy,” that was all.
I wanted to smile in a world without hardships with Tetsuya-kun, me, and this baby in my stomach.
Even though that was all it was.
Probably, whichever path I choose, I feel like I can no longer be “happy.”
“Yoko, we have something to talk about after this… but for now, let’s eat this sushi.”
“That’s right, I’ll re-brew the tea.”
We have to decide by tomorrow.
The taste of the sushi that should have been delicious… for some reason didn’t taste delicious, and the three of us just silently and wordlessly ate.