“I see… So you spoke with our father.”
“Yes. He told me a few things, and praised me.”
A while later, the tour of the three heads of families through the academy ended, and Yuugo made his way to the workshops where his brother was working.
Also, the combat miko accompanied their fathers, and Ryuuga and Ramy were forced back to the hospital from where they escaped, so only Yuugo returned.
Phi spoke, seeing his brother looking a little happy, but somewhat lonely.
“…I’m sorry. I heard he was coming, but I didn’t know how to tell you…”
“You don’t have to apologize. It was my bad behavior that made me get disowned.”
Yuugo now understood why his little brother was acting strangely when he delivered the materials, and smiled awkwardly.
He thought about how he struggled with whether or not to tell his disowned older brother that their father was visiting the academy, and sighed as he thought about how Phi was troubled by many things.
“It really showed me that I troubled him and you.”
“That’s not true. It’s true that there’s a lot of commotion in the family, but it’s not all your fault…”
“But that wouldn’t have happened if I acted normally. I feel responsible…”
It was not the person currently inside Yuugo who did it, but since he decided to live as Yuugo Clay, he thought he had to carry the responsibility.
If he accepted the praise Eugene gave to his son, he had to also accept the abuse and responsibility… Thought Yuugo as he squinted, and a concerned Phi responded.
“Are you okay? You shouldn’t blame yourself…”
“…Thanks.”
Yuugo pat his little brother’s head, and said goodbye before returning to the dormitory.
Along the way, he stopped and looked up at the setting sun, and the red sky.
(Father, little brother… Do I have the right to call them that…?)
He knew he should not accept Eugene’s praise and Phi’s eyes full of respect.
He was living as Yuugo Clay, but he was actually Yuugo Kurei from another world. He was not their son and brother.
If he told them that, it was highly unlikely they would believe it.
They would think he had gone crazy again.
It was unavoidable, but he was still lying to his family and friends.
At the same time, he wondered what happened to the original owner of that body, as he lightly pressed his chest.
“…”
When he faced Eugene and called him father without thinking… He felt as though a will other than his own had surfaced.
He might have unconsciously whispered it. That was possible. But… What if someone else inside him said it?
The original Yuugo might not be gone, and instead laying dormant inside him.
He could wake up for some reason, and then… Would the current Yuugo lay dormant?
There was so much he did not know. He thought about this numerous times, and always reached the same conclusion.
But every time it felt like the family of the original Yuugo cared about him, he blamed himself for pretending to be him.
“…What should I do? I really don’t know…”
He would be happy if his friends, family, everyone around him acknowledged him.
But at the same time, he could not turn a blind eye to the fact that he was lying.
As he asked himself those questions again and again, he wondered where he was going, as if making fun of himself, as he walked with the setting sun behind him.
All he could do now was make sure he did not betray the expectations of the people who acknowledged him… Although he could not shake the feeling that just living that way was doing that already, he decided strongly to keep on living tomorrow.
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