Volume 2 Chapter 27

Volume 2 + Chapter 27: [Hatsuka Route] Practice, Forcing The Pace

These words were crucial for breaking through Hatsuka’s mother’s death wish, very important, yet very difficult to conceive.  

Fortunately, the words Hatsuka’s mother had spoken happened to be the most painful ones in her heart at that moment.  

With a targeted way to address the problem, even the most difficult issue becomes vulnerable.  

This was a very hard step, but also a very important one.  

It was meant to help Hatsuka fight for as much as possible, to buy her the precious time she needed to learn how to use the power of the “Spirit.”  

That, extremely valuable time.  

And the best time to refute her mother’s words was today!  

The sky was already darkening, little time remained.  

No matter how much regret or remorse one feels, after a night’s sleep, it all settles into sediment, sinking deep into the heart.  

Until it accumulates too much to bear.  

The more harshly a mother speaks to her own child, the more unbearable the pain she will suffer.  

Blood is thicker than water, a strike on the child wounds the mother’s heart.  

Those words were no joke.  

Hatsuka’s mother was a very kind person. According to Hatsuka, her mother had many opportunities to strangle her as a child.  

Yet she never chose to do so when her father wasn’t aware of the severity, in the dead of night, when Hatsuka was an infant, defenseless and utterly unable to resist.  

Why deliberately act that way when her father was present?  

Why choose the most strenuous method, strangulation, when there were so many other ways to kill her?  

Children are fragile. So fragile that people are afraid to even hold them, terrified of accidentally hurting them.  

How could a mother lay a hand on a child she had gone through so much pain to bring into the world, a child she had carried for ten months and spent every day with?  

In fact, just touching that child would melt her heart, and before she knew it, tears would flow.  

That is maternal love, the greatest love of all.  

It is precisely because she feared hurting her child that she acted.  

While she was still lucid, still in control, it was better to draw the father’s attention to the situation early. 

Through such means, to prevent something desperate from happening later when she could no longer control herself.  

And today, when Hatsuka suddenly met with her mother, her mother only clutched her head in agony and screamed.  

She did not use the hands clutching her head to strike, let alone kill Hatsuka.  

That was compelling evidence.  

To be honest, if it were a stranger, if someone in their family died, to me, it would be nothing but “none of my business.”  

It wouldn’t even leave an impression in my mind. I would simply hear the news and say coldly, “Oh, I see.”  

And then forget it as soon as it passes.  

But still, I truly despise it when people I know seek help, and I see them but don’t reach out, don’t do my best to try something, anything.  

Because although I’m a rotten person, I’m still human.  

When I don’t know about such things, it’s fine. But once I do, it disgustingly stirs a sense of guilt in me.  

When that guilt builds up too much, I fall back into a state of cold detachment.  

As if that could fool myself into thinking I didn’t care.  

But whenever I encounter something that reminds me of the matter, it etches itself into my memory again and again, torturing my spirit and emotions like a lingering death.  

I am not a good person, but I hate being someone who runs away.  

Having a clear conscience, that is my life’s motto in this world.  

It is the principle I intend to carry with me until the day I die.  

I hate trouble, so I will only teach her how to endure and solve problems.  

I will help, but only indirectly.  

In the end, how she resolves it and what she chooses is her business, not mine.  

I tore out the page I had written on and made a photocopy.  

I gave the handwritten original to Hatsuka, then held up the copy and said to her.

[Save the tears for the real performance. There’s no time for crying now.]  

[…Mm.]  

Hatsuka wiped her tears with her sleeve, stood up, and took the paper.  

Next came memorizing the contents of the paper and practicing how to say them smoothly.  

Half an hour was more than enough for a child at the age with the best memory, to remember these few short lines and decide on the tone of voice.  

In the middle of it, I heard the sound of the door opening. Hatsuka was reciting loudly but stopped the moment she heard the noise.  

[Why are you stopping?! Did I tell you to stop?!]  

My voice was stern and harsh.  

Startled, Hatsuka immediately resumed shouting at the top of her lungs.  

I noticed Teacher Shimizu slipping in quietly, but I didn’t greet her or change my expression.  

I closed my eyes and continued listening to Hatsuka’s shouts. The content was far from optimistic.  

What Teacher Shimizu thought of, it was her own business.  

I kept pointing out problems harshly, over and over, demanding that Hatsuka shout out those hurtful words again and again.  

[Stop! Time’s up.]  

When half an hour had passed, I raised a hand to stop Hatsuka from shouting further.  

Without a word, I took a warm bottle of honey water from the kitchen and gave it to Hatsuka.  

[Drink up quickly. We still need to go back to the hospital.]  

Hearing that, Hatsuka obediently drank a little faster.  

After she finished, I grabbed her small backpack and the thermos containing the honey water.  

I took Hatsuka’s hand directly and said goodbye to Teacher Shimizu, who was sitting silently on the sofa.  

[Teacher Shimizu, we need to go to the hospital. We’ll be back around nine o’clock.]  

Teacher Shimizu nodded with a smile and asked no questions.  

Outside, the sky had turned dark. I handed the backpack to Hatsuka and had her put it on.  

Then I bent down in front of her. Without a word, she obediently climbed onto my back, wrapping her arms tightly around my neck.  

Seeing that she was secure, I stood up again and started running with Hatsuka on my back.  

This was rush hour, with traffic at its peak. Taking the train was much faster than asking Teacher Shimizu to drive us.  

We ran to the station and bought tickets from a vending machine.  

Then we swiped our cards and entered the platform.  

We didn’t wait long before the train arrived.  

I pulled Hatsuka on board and took her backpack, slinging it over my own back.  

The train was packed, people crammed against each other. I used both arms to create a small safe space for Hatsuka.  

Looking into her beautiful purple eyes, I told her seriously how important what she was about to do really was.  

[Hatsuka, whether your mother survives depends on how you perform next.]  

[If you fail to ignite her will to live, then forget about learning how to use the Spirit’s power. If the person you want to show it to is already dead, what meaning is there in learning it?]  

I was putting pressure on Hatsuka. Even if I didn’t say this to her, it wouldn’t matter.  

But if she knew she could have helped her mother and failed simply because she wasn’t up to it, I thought she deserved to know.  

Because doing this increased our chances of success.  

Feel fear. Feel panic. Feel dread.  

Only then, can a person speak words that pierce the heart, can they express emotions that move another’s soul.  

Push yourself to the brink, and then be reborn from it.  

If you don’t succeed, then leave this world together with your mother.  

Hatsuka and her mother are inseparable.  

If one dies and the other lives on alone, that kind of existence will never be possible in their relationship.  

Rather than letting Hatsuka drift through life in a daze after her mother’s death, until her mind can no longer bear it and she self-destructs, it’s better to bring the problem forward now, to stir up the conflict and magnify the issue.  

Live or die, it depends on how you choose.  

I’ll say it again.  

I’m a rotten person. That’s no joke.  

A powerful aura of “fate” surrounds this.  

Will it be a “bad end” or a “happy end”?  

Let me see for myself!  

—————————————–

We arrived at the hospital at 7:55, nearly eight o’clock.  

I pulled Hatsuka, whose mind was about to descend into chaos, step by step toward the elevator.  

[Hatsuka!]  

With a relaxed tone completely different from my earlier severity, I patted her on the back.  

[Everything I just said was a lie.]  

[Wha…t?]  

Hatsuka was a bit dazed.  

She didn’t seem to have noticed that her hand was sweating cold, growing cold, even trembling.  

I smiled and said,  

[Do you really think you have that much power to influence whether your mother lives or dies?]  

[D…don’t I?]  

Hatsuka asked in a small voice.  

[No!]  

I answered very firmly.  

[Because life and death are up to heaven. We have no control over them.]  

[So, what you’re doing now is just venting your grievances to your mother. Hold your head high and do it, that’s how you’ll get a good result.]  

I took the thermos out of the backpack, opened the lid, and put the straw into Hatsuka’s mouth.  

She instinctively took a few sips. I smiled and patted her head.  

[Is it good?]  

[…Mm…]  

Finally calming down, Hatsuka started crying again.  

She drank and cried at the same time.  

Her eyes turned red.  

I took out a prepared wet wipe from the backpack and gently wiped away her tears.  

She stopped drinking, closed her eyes, and obediently let me clean her face.  

With my right hand holding the wet wipe, I took the thermos back with my left and took a few sips myself.  

Mm… the water was warm and tasted good.  

Warmth spread from inside my body outward. Hatsuka should feel a bit better too.  

I put the thermos back into the backpack by my feet and crumpled the wet wipe into a ball, tossing it into a small trash can nearby.  

Looking at Hatsuka, who had silently opened her eyes, I smiled again and hugged her.  

[Hatsuka is great! Hatsuka is amazing! Hatsuka is cute and beautiful!]  

[Our Hatsuka is the best!!!!!!]  

[Right?]  

Pulling back, I saw her force a faint smile.  

[Shall we go? To Hatsuka’s mother’s room.]  

I took her slightly cold hand again. She took a deep breath.  

I pressed the button for the floor where her mother’s ward was located. As expected, it was a high-end floor.  

Very quiet, very luxurious, but lacking in human warmth.  

Hatsuka’s body trembled a little. I said nothing, just tightened my grip on her hand slightly.  

She looked at me weakly, her eyes wavering.  

I shook my head and said nothing.  

Hatsuka took a breath, even her inhalation seemed to tremble.  

Exhaling, she led me to the door of a hospital room.  

Just as Hatsuka was about to open the door and go in, I stopped her.  

I had her wait beside me. Then I raised my hand and knocked three times.  

[Knock… knock……….]  

Silence. Quiet.  

But I could sense someone approaching.  

The door opened, and Hatsuka’s father appeared before us.  

Seeing us, the man in the shirt silently stepped out and closed the door behind him.  

His dark eyes were filled with exhaustion. Though his appearance was very neat and tidy, you could still feel how tired he was.  

Despite his fatigue, when he looked at Hatsuka, his eyes grew very gentle. He reached out and lovingly stroked her head.  

[I’m glad you’re okay, Hatsuka.]  

His voice was hoarse.  

[Do you have something you want to say to your mother?]  

The man asked, looking at Hatsuka.  

[Mm.]  

Hatsuka nodded.  

[I see… Then go ahead. Do you want Daddy to come with you?]  

The man stepped aside, moving his body away from the door.  

[…No, thank you, Daddy.]  

After a moment of silence, Hatsuka refused the offer.  

As she let go of my hand and grasped the doorknob, she looked back at me. I gave her a smile.  

Seeing my smile, her wavering eyes gradually grew steady.  

Even though tears filled her eyes again, Hatsuka didn’t make a sound, she just let them silently stream down her face.  

With determination, she opened the door and entered the room.  

The man and I watched her go inside. When the door closed automatically.

Our eyes met again, as if by unspoken agreement.

[Translator’s Note: Please join the Gravity Tales’ Discord Server, if you want to hang out.]

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