What If You Spoil a High School Girl Who Looks Like a Landmine? - Volume 1 Epilogue

Epilogue

 

“Mhm… Whoa!”

“Sorry, did I startle you?”

 

Morning.

As I slowly open my eyelids upon waking, a girl is intently staring at my face.

 

“Ah… Good morning, Amane-san.”

“Good morning, Kei-kun.”

 

Checking the clock, it’s 9:30 in the morning.

Today is Sunday.

 

“By the way, may I ask how long you’ve been doing this?”

“Uh… well…”

 

Her eyes dart away, and my lover gives me a vague answer.

 

“Not… for too long, I guess.”

“Is that so?”

“Sorry, I might be lying!”

 

Her confession comes quickly, but she never mentions any specific numbers.

She says that watching me sleep in the early morning has become an irreplaceable moment in her life.

 

“So, from what time?”

“Ah, let’s have breakfast now, shall we?”

 

She’s stubborn.

With a wry smile at my elusive lover, I get up from bed.

 

The rhythmic sound of chopping fills the air.

Even from behind, I can tell Amane-san’s movements are brisk and efficient.

The delicious aroma emanating from the kitchen where she stands reaches all the way to where I’m sitting at the table.

 

…By the way, the moment I attempt to stand and offer my help, Amane-san notices right away and smiles as she stops me.

Her smile resembles that of an immense tree, which makes it clear in just a moment’s touch that ‘no amount of human pushing will make it budge.’

 

“Sorry for the wait~”

 

Before long, she places the finished dishes on the table.

Today’s menu centers on grilled salmon, a traditional Japanese meal.

 

The two of us say ‘itadakimasu’ in unison and begin to eat…

A short while later, Amane-san’s smartphone rings on the table.

The screen displays the name ‘Kanon’.

 

“Ah, I wonder what she wants. I’m sorry, can I talk to her for a minute?”

“Of course.”

“…Hello, Kanon? Yes… Hehe, yes, good morning from here… Yes, yes… Oh, I don’t think it’s in the luggage you brought to Canada. Yes… Alright, I’ll send it. Huh? Okay-okay, I’ll include that too.”

 

It seems she’s requesting some items to be sent.

 

“Yes, anything else? Ask Dad and Shion too… Yes, please… Huh? Right now?… Again?”

 

Amane-san briefly glances my way.

I understand her intention immediately since this has happened several times before.

As I nod in agreement, Amane-san switches her phone to speaker mode.

 

『 Kei-san~ Good morning!』

“Good morning, Kanon-san.”

『 I knew it! You’re at Onee-chan’s house again today, aren’t you?! I had a feeling! Sorry, she’s such a heavy woman!』

“Haha, I’m always grateful for her help.”

 

The energetic younger sister, Kanon-san, frequently wants to chat with me, usually while calling her sister, Amane-san.

 

『So, well… you see…』

 

She often seeks advice about her new boyfriend.

Perhaps being her sister’s boyfriend makes me someone ideal to talk to.

I’ve told her that I’m not particularly well-versed in romantic matters, but she trusts my perspective nonetheless.

 

『I see… So that’s how guys are.』

“Well, myself and the guys around me are like that. Of course, cultural and age differences come into play.”

『No, no, it was very helpful! Thank you!… Oh, by the way, you must come to the All-Japan Junior next time!』

“Yes, I’m looking forward to it.”

『Hehe, whether I win or lose doesn’t matter. I’ve put together my best program ever! I’ll deliver my best performance and get my highest score!』

 

By the way, if Kanon-san achieves her personal best score, she will be a strong contender for the championship.

 

『…Oh, if by then I’ve broken up with my boyfriend, will you go on a consolation date with me as a reward if I win?』

 

Kanon-san cheekily continues.

 

“Kanon.”

『 I’m sorry, it was just a joke. I won’t say it again.』

 

With just a word from Amane-san, she immediately apologized in a serious tone.

 

“Amane-san… you shouldn’t tease your sister so much.”

“I just want to scare her. I’d never actually want to do it. She’s my precious cute little sister.”

 

‘I don’t want her to have a trouble with her neck. ‘

Quietly and clearly, that’s what my girlfriend said.

 

“Isn’t that right, Kanon?”

『…Kei-san, I’ve asked before, but are you really okay with having such a sh*tty(クソ), heavily bugged sense of ethics girlfriend? It might complicate your life…』

“Kanon?”

『I think I’ll go to bed now! It’s nighttime here! Goodnight!』

 

With that, Kanon quickly ended the call.

 

“Haha, the way you two sisters deceive others is identical.”

“…Are you okay with it?”

“What?”

“Your life… it might get complicated…”

“…Ahaha.”

 

To that question, I answered with a laugh.

 

“If it were to be complicated, it was long before I met Amane-san. Everything changed when Amane-san came into my life.”

 

That day.

After that, the hospital, the police, and the government got involved.

Many adults from various positions got involved with the situation.

It transitioned from the closed room of an apartment complex to a more open environment.

Various diagnoses, judgments, and decisions were made… really, many things happened.

 

As a result, now several months later, I’m living in a different place.

Living alone… though, I’m dependent on the woman in front of me.

 

“Just because things have changed doesn’t mean they’re necessarily better.”

“…Amane-san.”

“At that time, Kei-kun made a choice—no, you were forced to choose. Control, and one thing from that same control.”

(TN: Vague, but means choosing one thing or option from within a controlled or limited set of choices. It’s like saying he had choices, but all of those choices were still under some form of control or limitation.)

 

Amane-san lowered her head. Her soft hair swayed gently.

 

“…You know, the manager thanked me. He said, ‘Thank you for protecting Kei.’ It’s something he should have done, but couldn’t.”

 

I heard this story from my uncle, who is now my legal and financial guardian.

 

“…The store manager couldn’t intervene directly in Kei-kun’s situation. He feared being shunned, afraid they’d take Kei-kun away. Not just in a physical sense, but legally as well.”

 

What Amane-san said was right.

At first, my uncle would sternly warn my mother about me.

However, I think there came a point where he was given the ultimatum, ‘If you bother us more, we won’t let you see him.’

The rights between a biological mother and an uncle are vastly different.

Those words weigh heavily on my uncle.

 

“For Kei-kun, the presence of the manager and the time spent in that store were his lifeline.”

“Yes… now I can clearly see. If it weren’t for my uncle, if I hadn’t spent time in that store, I probably wouldn’t be in this world anymore. It was that important of an escape for my heart.”

“Because he understood that, the manager couldn’t move. He couldn’t move, but he did everything he could within his limits, and he always supported Kei-kun…right? You see, Kei-kun…”

 

She added, “I didn’t understand it at all.”

 

“Because that’s wrong. The manager always cared for and protected Kei-kun. So why would he thank me?”

“…”

“It should be the other way around. I should be the one thanking him. I should say. ‘Thank you for protecting Kei-kun on my behalf before I met him.’ “

 

In fact, it seems Amane-san did say that to my uncle.

I’ll never forget the look on his face when he told me.

 

“…I really mean what I say, and I also genuinely think… I’m not normal, compared to anyone. Even compared to Kei-kun’s mother…”

 

Sitting opposite me, Amane-san gently traced the back of my right hand with her finger.

 

“That woman cursed you. She cursed you, saying, ‘You have no talent at all.’ She just wanted an ‘excuse’ to lash out…”

 

She lifted her downcast face and looked straight at me.

 

“But I’m also praying. I’ve been praying that ‘you remain without much talent.’…I want an ‘excuse’ to take care of you… between me and your mother, which one is better? I wonder if one is even a little better.”

 

Her eyes held an unfathomable depth.

 

“In the end, maybe both are the same. Neither is any good.”

 

My girlfriend described herself with such harsh words…

 

“So, you see…”

 

‘It’s not that I want you to say things like ‘That’s not true’ to me.’, she continued.

 

“I’m sorry, Kei-kun, please give up. I promise to make you happy, so please give up on leaving me… I’m sorry, so please…”

 

She is a woman who does everything she can while being herself.

 

Today, just like when we first met, she was dressed in a style called ‘Jirai-kei’ (Landmine type).

But in my eyes, the one with the landmines was me.

Inside me, buried deep where most couldn’t see, was an explosive——my mother herself and my foolishness for not cutting ties with her.

On that day, Amane literally kicked the landmine far away.

 

“You’re not normal, Amane-san.”

“…Yeah.”

“But normal people, being normal, couldn’t have come to that room at that time.”

 

The reason she became aware of my situation was due to actions that weren’t legally or ethically right.

 

“Normal people, being normal, couldn’t do what was done to my mother.”

 

I shudder to think what would have happened otherwise.

 

“…Kei-kun. I might never be normal.”

“Yeah.”

“But I will make you happy. Always. Just trust in that.”

“Mhm… like some kind of binding spell to a monster?”

“Hehe, yes, like some kind of binding spell to a monster.”

(TN: Monster/supernatural being. Binding spell/contract/ covenant/oath.)

 

With that exchange, we resumed our meal that we had inadvertently stopped.

Amane’s cooking was, as always, delicious, but…

 

“…Ah.”

 

My chopsticks slipped, failing to grasp the side dish.

Whenever I made a mistake during a meal, it was a cue for something.

 

“Here, Kei-kun.”

 

Amane picked up my portion with her chopsticks and offered it to me.

I ate, and she picked up the next piece.

Eat, then the next——

 

“Um… Amane, can we skip this rule?”

“Sorry, I don’t understand. I still struggle to understand human language…”

“But you’ve been living in human society for eighteen years, haven’t you?”

“Have I? Anyway, what do you want to eat next, Kei-kun?”

 

——As days went by, with us calling each other by first names and dropping the formalities, our bond grew deeper.

But I realized the things I could do for myself were steadily decreasing.

She does everything for me right before my eyes, so I’ve stopped doing this and that.

My life keeps getting more comfortable.

 

Regardless of my will, the brain learns.

It learns that if I don’t have to do things, it’s better if I don’t.

Eventually, it even cuts back on the capacity allocated for those skills.

This cycle is progressing slowly but surely. The evolving brain, once changed, never returns to its original state.

I know this, but still——

 

“…Hey, I wonder who’s really spoiling whom here?”

“Well…”

“Right now, from the outside, it might look like Kei-kun is the one being spoiled, but in a way where I’m allowed to spoil Kei-kun, I feel like Kei-kun is really spoiling me.”

 

Come to think of it, our days with Amane began with her wanting to be spoiled and me wanting to spoil her.

In a way, this might be the most perfect realization of that desire.

 

 

“Thank you, Kei-kun. I’ll do anything for you in return… though that would mean I’d also be benefiting again.”

 

Amane says with a joyous look.

I can’t deny that I find immense comfort in her devotion.

Even now, unexpectedly, there are times when tears start flowing, unstoppable, just like when she once took care of me when I was sick.

….for me, towards her who says she’s being spoiled by spoiling others, I was indeed spoiled by her.

 

This might be some sort of perpetual motion machine; it’s undoubtedly codependency.

 

‘True partners support each other equally, both being independent’— surely, proper and upright people would say so.

They’d argue our mutually melting, dependent relationship is inappropriate and unhealthy.

But I’d leave the righteous and proper actions to those righteous and proper people.

Those who can find happiness that way should pursue it.

We who were both twisted in our ways can mend each other’s flaws with a twisted approach.

 

“…? Kei-kun? What’s wrong?”

“No… haha, I’m just worried that I’m going to be so dependent on Amane-san so much that I even want her to help me to breathe; that’d be problematic.”

 

I joked, and she blinked a few times.

 

“Well, about that… hehe.”

 

She gazed at me with eyes that seemed to trap me in a prison with no way to escape.

 

“Hehe… hehehe.”

 

That joke is definitely going too far. It’s a bit much.

…Without saying anything, she laughed with a long ‘Niiiiii.’

(TN: ニイイイ, Niii is a Japanese sound effect that is often used to depict a particular kind of eerie or unsettling laugh or grin.)

 

 

 

 

***

TL: Hiraeth