Beyond The Bad End - Chapter 21
Chapter 21
Haru’s POV
I think I had done nothing but study in my room all day since I broke up with Maki in October.
My father no longer allowed me to go to the restaurant because my grades were dropping.
I only went to school and went back home every day, I never went anywhere.
Even though all I did was study all day long, my grades were still dropping.
I was once again reminded how important Maki and my work at the restaurant were to me. I felt more and more depressed, but there was nothing I could do. So, I just decided to escape from reality by studying.
Because of it, not only my grades, but also my physical condition were dropping drastically.
I often felt nauseous and fatigued at school that I became a regular in the infirmary.
Kataoka still cared about me as usual. Talking to her at school and exchanging messages with her on the phone really helped to distract me. She was such a great help, I’m grateful of her kindness.
She was the only person I could tell everything to.
One night, in the middle of November, Saki-san and mom began to fuss about something.
‘I had not told my family that I had broken up with Maki, so perhaps it has something to do with that?’
As I was wondering so, my mom stormed into my room and yelled at me.
‘Haru! Be honest! Tell me the truth!’
‘What is it all of the sudden?’
‘Maki-chan is pregnant!’
‘Hah?’
‘Don’t play dumb with me! You got Maki-chan pregnant, didn’t you!?’
‘No, it wasn’t me!’
‘Don’t lie to me!’
‘I told you, it’s not me!’
My mom came up to me and slapped me on the face.
She hit me without knowing anything, I got mad at her, so I yelled at her back.
‘I told you it wasn’t me! The last time I had sex with Maki was in July! We haven’t done anything since then! Moreover, I always used contraception! If you think I’m lying, go ask Maki about it! She was cheating on me with another guy! She dumped me last month!’
When my mother heard so,
‘No way, there is no way this is true, right?’
She said so with a pale look on her face.
‘I’m not lying. Kataoka told me about Maki’s affair, and I went to see it for myself. The other guy told everyone that Maki is his girlfriend. I guess he thought that since we went to different high school, I wouldn’t find out about it.’
‘Is everything you said true?’
‘I told you that I am telling the truth!’
‘Do you know who the father of that child is?’
I was accused of something I didn’t do and suddenly got hit. Because of that, I got angry and unintentionally revealed everything. However, it was something that Maki should have told herself, I have no right to tell anyone about it. I shouldn’t tell my mom who the father of that child is without Maki’s permission.
‘What did Maki say about this?’
‘She doesn’t want to talk to us at all.’
‘If that’s the case, I can’t tell you anything more than I already have.’
‘…okay. I’m sorry for hitting you, Haru.’
‘It’s fine. It can’t be helped that you suspected me. I was her boyfriend after all.’
‘I’ll try to talk to Maki-chan again.’
‘Yeah.’
Even I was shocked about it.
‘Is Maki really pregnant? I didn’t know you were that crazy about Sudo.’
I thought so to myself.
The next day, Saki-san took Maki to the hospital. Saki-san told us that she had been diagnosed as eight weeks pregnant.
Saki-san came to the restaurant that evening, my mom told me to go to the restaurant as well.
When I went to the restaurant, they had closed the curtain and temporarily closed the restaurant.
Saki-san said that Maki had told her everything.
Maki’s high school classmate, Sudo, invited her to a date, which led to Maki being threatened and forced into a relationship with him. Maki had no choice but to do everything he said.
Sudo’s demands quickly became more and more greedy that it became unbearable to Maki. That’s why she started to skip work, it was too hard for her to see me or my family.
She was afraid I would find out about her relationship with Sudo that she distanced herself from me.
Even after the summer break was over, Sudo continued to force Maki into a relationship with him. Sudo also refused to use any protection since then.
Maki was crushed by her own fear of being caught, and she didn’t want to see me suffer anymore, that’s why Maki chose to break up with me.
After Maki broke up with me, she began to hate everything in her life and started to shut herself in her room.
‘Wait a minute…Maki was threatened?’
‘Yeah, I’m sure of it. I checked Maki’s phone while listening to her, that Sudo really threatened Maki.’
‘Why…why didn’t you tell me anything about it, Maki…’
I started to feel nauseous, I started to feel dizzy…
‘Haru! Get a hold of yourself!’
My grandfather yelled at me and smacked me on the head with all his might.
My mom and Saki-san began to discuss whether we should report this to the police or not.
‘First of all, think about Maki-chan’s feelings. Let’s ask her what she wants to do about this.’
My grandfather told me so. Then we went to Maki’s apartment, leaving father to take care of the restaurant.
When we got to the entrance,
‘Don’t go inside, because Maki-chan will have a hard time if she sees your face. Wait here.’
I waited in front of the door as my grandfather told me so.
On the hallway, I got down on my knees, I had no strength in my body.
Shock is not the right word to describe how I felt that day.
‘How hard it was for Maki when she said goodbye to me in the park that day? How was my attitude towards her that time?’
I wondered so in my mind.
It’s me who was the biggest scumbag for not being able to notice and do anything when my precious girlfriend was suffering, and worse, I even resented her for it.