When I Brought The Lost Little Girl To Her House, The One Who Came Out Of The Front Door Was The Most Beautiful Girl In The Grade. - Chapter 64

“Now… what should we do?”

We had said we were going to look for her and left the house, but we had no idea where Natsuno might be. It was already dark, and blindly searching wouldn’t be efficient, nor could we be sure of finding her that way.

However, it hadn’t been too much time since she left, and given her small legs, she probably couldn’t have gone very far.

As I was thinking about this with a sense of urgency, Ayano tapped my shoulder.

“I might know where she is. Come with me.”

With just those words, Ayano tied her shoelaces.

“Yuusei-kun, I’m going to run.

“Wait, it’s too dark to run, isn’t it dangerous?”

“That might be true, but… still…”

“It’s okay. Everything will be fine.”

“Yeah…”

All I could do was try to calm Ayano down. Well, I might not have even been able to do that. But what I could do now was make sure Ayano didn’t get hurt.

Natsuno was kind-hearted, so if she found out Ayano got hurt while looking for her, she’d blame herself for sure.

“That… that’s really sad.”

I muttered under my breath.

After that, our conversation didn’t flow very smoothly. There were moments of silence.

The road seemed long and darker than the morning.

“I think you might know, but our last name changed.”

I replied, “Yeah, I know,” and Ayano continued.

“My mother remarried when I was in my second year of middle school. I realized that I had a new stepfather.”

As Ayano spoke, her expression grew sadder.

“But when I was little, it felt like a strange man suddenly came into our house. So, there might be some misunderstandings about my stepfather.”

“Yeah.”

“But, today is Natsuno’s birthday, and I think she knew that. He also knew Natsuno wanted to have cake.”

I nodded slightly while offering a light agreement, listening attentively to Ayano’s story.

“He’s the one my mother chose, so I don’t think he’s a bad person… but there’s still so much I don’t understand.”

I didn’t know what to say to comfort her. At times like these, I thought that guys who could speak smoothly were good men. But I wasn’t one of them.

“Ah, that’s not good! If I keep saying things like that, Natsuno will start feeling anxious too! Okay, let’s smile.”

Saying that, Ayano tried to force a smile. She seemed to be struggling.

“You don’t have to force a smile.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

Saying that, Ayano buried her face into my chest, saying, “Lend me your chest for a moment.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I, I couldn’t support Natsuno. I couldn’t speak up to my stepfather.”

It was dark, so I couldn’t see clearly, but Ayano was definitely crying.

I gently hugged her.

“Ayano is kind-hearted, that’s why you couldn’t speak up strongly. Besides, for Natsuno, having a sister like you is something that brings her comfort.”

“In other words… as long as Ayano is here, it’s okay, right? Besides… Ayano is on Natsuno’s side, right?”

When I said that, Ayano nodded slightly.

“Just that alone is more than enough, I believe.”

At that moment, I was curious about what Ayano’s stepfather had said.

He had said that he hadn’t bought a cake, but he hadn’t said there was none. And… thinking about the cuts on his fingers, I felt they looked more like cuts than injuries.

Perhaps… maybe Ayano’s stepfather was making the cake… could a person who seemed so intimidating really do something so cute? I pondered.

“Perhaps… Ayano’s stepfather might not be as scary as I thought.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, well, I mean, it’s not a big deal… Anyway, we should probably get some directions soon.”

“Oh, sorry.”

Saying that, Ayano let go of my hand. But she held onto it for a while, making sure I didn’t get separated.

What I felt from her grip was something warm and soft.

“What is this place…”

The place Ayano and I arrived at was a park.

“When Natsuno gets angry like she did today, she always comes here.”

Saying that, Ayano approached one of the playground slides within the park, and a sniffing sound as if she were crying softly was audible.

“Natsuno, want to go back home?”

“No! Both stepdad and mom hate Natsuno!”

“That’s not true, you know?”

“Even big sis!”

As she said that, I was about to reply, “Natsuno, that’s not true…” but Ayano just looked at me and said, “Yuusei-kun, it’s okay,” so I decided to stay quiet.

“Sure, at that time, big sis thought it was reasonable for Natsuno to be scolded by mom.”

“Big sis after all…”

“Because didn’t Natsuno even say something like ‘I wish I were dead’ to stepdad?”

W-was that really what happened? She couldn’t recall anything clearly due to the impact of her mom’s slap.

“Yeah…”

“No matter how much you’re angry or upset, saying something like ‘I wish you were dead’ to your sister isn’t right. When it becomes something you can’t take back, Natsuno will regret it the most.”

“Natsuno, thinks… thinks that way too.”

“There’s something I have to tell Natsuno too.”

Saying that, Ayano turned to Natsuno, and the park became silent.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be on your side.”

That was all Ayano said.

“It’s okay. Besides, Natsuno knows that big sis is always on her side.”

“Na… Natsuno…”

“Natsuno also has something to apologize for. Sorry for making big sis worry.”

As soon as Natsuno said that, it seemed like a weight was lifted off her chest, and she began to cry. But Ayano was crying even harder than Natsuno.