Several months have passed. I have attended the funeral of my folks. There was no one there for them except for me. We are a disgraced family after all. Now I own the house and the car. While I lived on my own for quite a while now, the house now feels... A whole lot emptier. Unfortunately I can't pay the rent for it, as my stipend doesn't cover the whole cost even with part time job.
However another thing I've noticed is that Yukino began to decline. She had stopped participating in lessons and had stopped turning her homework in - she become completely withdrawn, a walking corpse in the facility.
I swore that I would never talk to her ever again. But seeing her like this... Concerns me.
Biting the bullet, I finally speak to her for the first time in months.
"Oi, something is wrong?"
"?!?!?!?!"
Yukino backed away from me before blinking several times. Eventually, her withdrawn expression returns.
"... Why do you care anyway."
"You aren't the same anymore."
"I would say the same to you."
"..."
"The marriage plans are still ongoing. They won't stop. Will never stop."
"... You still chose to complain about that?"
She flinched.
"... How come you have become so apathetic? Do you really hate me that much?"
That accusation... Hurt me. No. I do not hate her. I never did. It is precisely of that love that I pushed her away. It's that love that made me want her to put in the effort to live. She didn't deserve me, a mere mongrel shackled by the sins of the father.
That man seemed to care a lot about her. Perhaps she doesn't need me anymore. Unlike me, he would at least uphold her happiness.
And so - I lied. I lied about hating her. I thought if I had confirmed her fears - she would've separated from me. Thinking of me as the lost cause.
"Yes."
Little did I know that this lie will curse me for eternity.