A Late Bloomer's Powerful Restart ~My Second Life Starts at a Prestigious School Where the Gender Ratio Is Totally Off, and for Some Reason, All These Talented Girls Get Attached to Me...!?~

Chapter 33.3: The Truth About Pure Beauty Amber

“My little brother kept worrying and talking to me, but I was too scared to go outside, so I kept depending on my parents.”

It probably didn’t look good to society either.

Even with the Kokonoe name, to those who knew the family, it was impossible to connect them to the Kokonoe Group.

“Seeing me like that, Dad… chose to return as the group’s successor. He thought if we became wealthy, I wouldn’t have to be afraid of other people anymore. And he was right. But I soon realized. Dad gave up his freedom… because of me.”

As a result, the family may have become wealthy.

But Sasa believed she was the reason her father lost his freedom.

“So I decided… I would become a daughter Dad could be proud of. Back then, there weren’t any children from good families around me, so I planned to pretend my truant past never happened and start over. I believed that would be my way of atoning for my sins…”

Still, the longer the period of truancy, the harder it would be to hide.

Riko had found out about it by chance… Before, she said Sasa wasn’t an enemy, so she probably kept it quiet as an ultimate trump card just in case.

That explained why Sasa, who had been almost completely shut-in during childhood, became such a sheltered young lady.

She wasn’t out of touch with the world—she simply never had the chance to interact with others.

Then, as if her emotions exploded, Sasa buried her face in my stomach.

“Dad… always listened to every selfish thing I wanted. I want to eat this. I want that. I want to go there. Even when we were poor, nothing changed. I was always happy even when we were poor… but because I was selfish, I took Dad’s happiness away!!”

Maybe this was a regret she had kept buried deep in her heart all this time.

Sasa seemed to feel guilt not so much about her own shame, but about what her father had been forced to endure.

“——That’s not true. Kohei-san definitely doesn’t think that way.”

“…Don’t act like you know! Even you, Taiki, I won’t forgive you for that!”

That’s right… From her perspective, I had only met Kohei-san once at the October meeting.

But I felt I knew that man much better than that.

That he truly loved his family.

So this was something I had to tell her.

I also… owed that man an enormous debt.

“I always wondered why you were so attached to me. At first I thought you just found ordinary people interesting, but little by little I started realizing that wasn’t it. And after hearing you today, I finally understood.”

“What… do you mean?”

“That’s why——it was me, right? Because our situations were similar.”

Both of us were suddenly treated as members of prestigious families because of our parents’ decisions.

Even though the circumstances were completely different, she couldn’t help feeling sympathy.

I won’t let her say it wasn’t true. The way she purely enjoyed games and light novels and tried to understand my lifestyle… wasn’t that because she was recalling the life she believed she was originally meant to live?

“So… on behalf of your father, I’ll say it clearly. Kohei-san doesn’t think he gave up his freedom. If it’s him, I’m sure he would say this——”

I recalled the image of the one man I respected more than anyone.

“——‘Kids shouldn’t feel responsible for that. I entrusted my freedom to you.’”

At my words, she opened her eyes wide… and large tears spilled out.

“Why… why? Why do you act like you know Dad better than I do… Why do you say things like Dad would?!”

She kept pounding her weak fists against my chest… They were the powerless punches of a fragile girl.

Sasa was still just a small girl who had only recently become a high-schooler. Even if she tried to carry everything herself, there would come a limit somewhere.

And her talent… lies in standing above others, no matter what. The light that keeps moving forward with pride and the will to become admirable.

Eventually, many people will choose to support her. But… that time isn’t now.

Right now she should still be… enjoying her freedom and learning about all kinds of things.

Before I knew it, even the painless punches had stopped.

When I looked at her, she seemed to have finally lost all strength.

“Come on, let’s go home, Sasa.”

“…Taiki, I can’t put any strength in my body.”

It was already late at night.

I somehow managed to get her back into her uniform, but she said she couldn’t move anymore and rubbed the hem of my clothes again.

Maybe she couldn’t smile properly… A stiff, awkward smile floated on her face.

Perhaps even on the way home, she still resisted the idea of depending on me.

It would probably take more time before she could stand on her own.