On Sunday evening… I escaped from the house of captivity.
“…haha, how ridiculous.”
I was back in my apartment, but I still felt the allure of those girls who trapped me in that house, just like the protagonist in the original story.
I regretted it deeply, but this was my only home… and I had to go back eventually.
“Here’s the spare key. You can come over anytime.”
“Or better yet, why don’t you bring your luggage and stay with us? My mother and I are always waiting… but we might not be able to resist and come to get you♪”
They made it sound like I was welcome anytime, but maybe they had other plans.
“…Fuh”
Still, I was glad to have left that house.
For me, the “house of captivity” was a place where I would lose sight of everything else except those girls and their endless love for me.
There was a part of me that liked that idea, but after experiencing it for real, I realized their love was more intense than I could handle.
“…I’m a second-year high school student, almost summer… I’ll probably be caught again by summer vacation.”
As I muttered that, the doorbell rang. I looked through the peephole and saw a man in a suit.
His face triggered a memory from Arashi’s life.
(Why is he…?)
The face and name matched in my memory.
This man was Kagetaka Gundo… Arashi’s father.
“…”
I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t home, so I opened the door right away.
He gave me a disgusted look and said right away,
“You’re still as ugly as ever.”
“… that’s quite a greeting.”
I replied sarcastically. His eyes widened, but he quickly snorted.
He was probably used to talking down to Arashi whenever he saw him, and he never expected any backtalk.
“Why do you have to be like this when Yoshiya and Kana are such excellent children? I have to check on you even if we don’t live together.”
“If you don’t like it, why don’t you just leave?” I snapped.
“Haa? How dare you talk to your father who came to see how you’re doing?”
He glared at me. …I felt sorry for Arashi for having such a parent.
He didn’t care about how he was doing. He only felt obligated to visit him. He didn’t love Arashi at all. So, it didn’t matter how Arashi changed, he would always look down on him.
“I made a promise to take care of you until your graduation day, but it seems like I can’t even bear the thought of having a son like you right now, especially during Yoshiya’s crucial time. Can’t you understand the burden you’re putting on me?”
I stood there, looking at my father with disbelief as he continued to spew his hurtful words. But I refused to let him bring me down. With a determined expression, I took a step forward and pushed him away.
“Just go, please. I don’t want to hear it anymore.”
As he stumbled backwards, I slammed the door shut and locked it, not wanting to hear another word from him. I could hear him knocking on the door, but I refused to let him back in. This was the last straw. I was done with his toxic behavior.
“I can’t believe he’s like that…I thought that only happened in dramas and manga.”
I muttered to myself. I doubted there were any real fathers who acted like that, but it seemed like my whole family was like that. They hated me for being different from them. It was annoying and hurtful.
Well, I didn’t want to see him either.
I didn’t care if we cut ties after high school. He never treated me like a son anyway.
“…But I still feel angry and sad. It’s too early to sleep, so let’s go for a run!”
So I decided.
Oh well…it wasn’t a big deal, but running always made me feel better. It helped me clear my mind and forget about my problems.
I enjoyed exercising, so I quickly changed and went outside again.
“… Is he really gone from here?”
I checked that my father was gone and ran out of the apartment.
Earlier, Shirayuki had invited me to exercise with her, but I declined. She might scold me if she found out… but it doesn’t matter.
“Hah… Hah…”
I was panting, but I still had energy left.
I had improved a lot since I started, and the stamina I gained from being with Shirayuki and Hisui also helped.
(That was a pretty good workout, after all.)
S*x also makes me sweat and use my muscles.
I understood what Shirayuki meant by feeling good and sweating during exercise.
I ran nonstop until I reached the park bench where I usually rest. I got water from a vending machine and drank it, but then my phone rang.
“Hisui?”
I answered Hisui’s call while panting.
“Hi?”
“Hello, Touma-kun? You sound like you were exercising.”
“Oh, you noticed?”
“I did. You’re exercising even though you turned down Shirayuki… Fufu, she’s going to be mad at you for sure, but you’re diligent.”
“…Thanks.”
I liked being complimented by Shirayuki, but more so by Hisui.
They were both important to me, but maybe I saw Hisui as a mother figure in my heart, and I wanted her maternal affection.
“Your praise makes me happy… Thank you, Mother.”
As a test or just for fun, I said something to Hisui and her voice completely changed.
“Mother…mother!? nhhhhaah!! It’s amazing Touma-kun, call me more, more, more!!”
“What was that voice just now?”
I could clearly hear a voice that sounded like she had reached climax…
Hisui coughed on the other end of the phone and it seemed like she called me simply because she was worried about me.
“When feelings are truly mutual, the worry is all the greater. I was thinking of you just now… and it seems like Shirayuki is the same? She’s just staring in the direction of your house from the living room.”
“Umm…”
“That’s scary, isn’t it? You almost want to say that it’s a bit too heavy.”
I can say that, probably. But still, feeling this heavy love so comfortably is different from what’s normal… yeah, I feel pretty good.
“Thank you, Hisui. I was feeling a bit down, but now I’m feeling better.”
That was actually thanks to my father’s visit, but Hisui seemed to have caught on to that and sounded sad.
“What happened?”
“Well…”
She was cold, but she wanted to know everything, so I told her.
“I see…I was told a certain amount about your home situation, but to have someone who’s your own family say something like that… they’re trash, aren’t they?”
“Uh, well, it doesn’t bother me that much.”
“I get that. But when I hear something like that, I want to hug you right away.”
“I’ll definitely take you up on that.”
“Yeah, you should. “
After talking a little bit more with Hisui, we hung up the phone.
By the end of the call, I had completely pushed my father to the back of my mind and I didn’t think about it much after I got home… but because of Hisui’s voice, the night felt strangely lonely.
▽▼
Arashi’s family was elitist.
His father Kagetaka was a department head at a large corporation. All the members, including his son Yoshiya, who had entered a famous university, were successful. Only Arashi was a failure.
(Really, he ruins my mood every time I see him… I need to focus. Today is an important business negotiation.)
Kagetaka had come to negotiate with his company’s president today.
It was a crucial negotiation that would decide his company’s future. It depended on the other party’s will, but Kagetaka was confident in himself.
“Are you nervous?”
“No, I’m fine.”
He banished his son from his thoughts.
The boy was a disgrace, a failure, and a fool. He faced the door of the meeting room, where the potential client and the president were waiting.
“This is our chance to grow our company. We’ve made many proposals before, but they always turned us down. Now we finally have an opportunity to impress them.”
“Yes, let’s not waste it.”
Kagetaka and the president exchanged confident words and entered the room.
They saw a beautiful woman who greeted them with a smile.
“Welcome, I’m Hisui Hououin.”
She was the current head of the Hououin group.
However, for some reason, Kagetaka felt a chill on his spine, but he didn’t know why.
