V2 – Episode 45 – Persuading

Chapter 4 – Persuading Mother Enami

Volume 2

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“But even though I’m trying to live my life like that, not caring about the things that don’t matter, I’ve been feeling very tired lately. Strangely, there are more things I don’t care about.”

“Is-Is that so?”

“Yes. I really want to sleep all day…I guess that’s what it means to be old.”

As I listened to her, I wondered if it was really “something she doesn’t care about”.

It wasn’t that it didn’t matter, but that she tried to “believe” that it didn’t. And the reason she did so was that it was more painful if she didn’t deceive herself. But as a result of looking away, she remained this person without any change.

“…You are the same age as Risa, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“As you get older, you will understand. Even if you don’t understand it now.”

I nodded in silence.

“The older you get, the more things you have. But it’s very rare for someone to live with everything. Everyone has to make a choice somewhere. Or, even if we don’t choose to, some things just fall out of our grasp. When you live like this, the things that are important to you as a young person may seem unimportant to you. Or vice versa.”

Mother Enami turned her head away from me and coughed twice.

“Do you understand what I’m saying?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer. I think I understood what she was trying to say, but I don’t think I understood what was hidden behind it. In the end, I just replied vaguely, “Well” and that was it.

And then. Suddenly, Mother Enami stopped talking.

“……”

She was looking at me with a blank expression. Her gaze pierced straight through me to the point of being frightening.

I panicked inwardly. I wondered if I had said something wrong. Was it wrong to reply, “Well” ?. When I was desperately trying to figure out what I should do to fix it, mother Enami laughed as if she was about to erupt.

“Fu, Fufu…”

“Ah, um, what’s it…?”

Apparently, she wasn’t mad at me. As I felt the tension dissipate, I couldn’t control the feeling of confusion that came next. I really can’t read what this person is thinking.

She doesn’t give me an answer right away. She laughed for a while, and then looked back at me.

“You are really interesting…”

“Eh?”

“You see, you show everything you’re thinking on your face.”

I remembered that Enami-san had said the same thing to me.

“Is it that obvious?”

“Yes. Even now.”

I touched my own face, but I couldn’t tell what kind of face I was making.

“Yeah, that’s true. It will be troubling to hear all this.”

“No, it’s not like that…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine…just forget it.”

Strangely enough, Mother Enami was now in the best mood ever. Maybe she was just happy that I was listening to her.

… She was also probably just a normal mother at the beginning. I was suddenly reminded of the obvious. If you only look at her now, she looks like just a kind person.

“I have taken a liking to you”

Suddenly, she told me that.

“Risa, who is not very good at socializing, opened up to you. I’m sure She likes you too.”

“… Even so, she’s always talking badly to me.”

“That’s just the way she is. Don’t let it bother you.”

When I heard those words, I realized. That her daughter was not “something she didn’t care about”.

I was relieved to know that.

“May I ask your name again”

“…It’s Naoya Ookusu.”

“I see. Naoya-kun, right. I’ll remember that.”

And now, finally.

I might have moved up in rank from “insignificant” to “not insignificant”.

“… We’ll probably be done with cleaning today.”

Mother Enami only gave a small nod.

“‘Mother might deny it, though. But, I think the reason why your cold has not gone away is that this place was not the optimal place for you. It’s clean now, but there’s no point if it gets dirty again.”

I wondered if my words had been heard. I had no idea, but I had to say it anyway.

“You may not want to be affected by trash that you don’t care about. But it’s necessary. That’s why we came here to clean it up.”

I feel as if the words are cutting through the air. It made me wonder if what we did was meaningless.

After all, I’ve only touched the surface of this person’s mind. I haven’t found or solved anything that lies deeper. This is the best I can do right now…

Finally, I said.

“Please put some effort for yourself, too.”

Mother Enami’s face lost all emotion. For this person, the messiness of the room is not important. That’s probably why she can’t understand what I’m saying.

At the end of a long silence that made me feel as if time had stopped again, Mother Enami looked away and said only one thing.

“I’ll think about it.”

I couldn’t tell if those words meant progress or stagnation.

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TN: That’s the end of the chapter… Next up is the final (among available) chapter… I might as well take a break.

IMPATIENT MTL READER

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