Gave Everything Up - V1C8

Volume 1, Chapter 8: Worst Birthday Party Ever

 

After finishing off from my part-time job, the time a little after 8 o'clock.

 

I entered the house while holding a bag from the convenience store in my hand. Inside were sandwiches, onigiri, and some salad.

I bought quite a lot of food, probably because I hadn't eaten anything since yesterday. It was thanks to the manager that I was able to buy so much. I was grateful to him.

 

Maki-san, who arrived as soon as I entered the house, called out to me.

 

"W-welcome back, Manato."

 

Nana then was the next one.

 

"W-welcome home. Onii-chan."

 

If I was greeted, but I didn't greet back, I would be a failure of a human being.

 

"I'm back. Maki-san. Nana-san."

 

I took off my shoes while calling out their names, and headed inside. The two of them had contorted expressions again. Really, what happened?

Oh, right. I took my wallet out of my pocket and offered Maki-san the cards necessary for withdrawing money from the ATM.

 

"Here, I'm giving this back."

"Huh? B-but if you don't have this..."

 

I understood what Maki-san was trying to say. I was sure she was thinking about how I was going to run out of food. But she didn't need to worry about that.

 

"It's okay. I started a part-time job today, so I will prepare my own meals. So, please give that card to Nana-san."

"P-part-time?"

"Yes. That's why, please understand that I might arrive home a bit later from now on."

"Y-you don't have to do that, you know? I have some money, and if you want an allowance, I could give that to you..."

 

I didn't want it. I didn't need that kind of money that was just handed out to me. If Maki-san didn't have to spend on someone like me, there was nothing better than that.

 

"No, I'll be fine."

 

I returned a short reply.

 

"I-is that so..."

"Onii-chan...um, I'm sorry!"

 

Just when I thought I was done talking with Maki-san, Nana-san suddenly started to deeply bow in front of me.

 

"Nana-san?"

 

I was baffled because I wasn't able to read the intent of her action. Why was she suddenly lowering her head?

 

"I know you won't forgive me if I apologize now, but still, let me apologize! I'm really sorry!"

 

Like I was saying, what was she sorry for?

 

"Um, why are you apologizing?"

 

And so, I frankly asked her that.

 

"...For ignoring Onii-chan these past six months."

 

So it was that.

 

"It's fine, I don't care about that anymore."

"Huh?"

"It's true, you know? Because that isn’t important now."

 

It truly didn't matter. I gave up everything, and I didn’t care about anything.

 

"You’re fine, with this?"

 

Nana-san stared at me with a puzzled expression.

 

"Yes. To put it in words, I don't have any feelings for you two anymore. It's something called indifference."

 

It didn't matter to me what they did nor where they were. No one would care about other people's actions that much.

That was how I felt about other people.

 

"Right...indifference..."

"Onii-chan..."

 

Strange. Why did they care so much about me when I was supposed to be unimportant to the both of them? It would be easier if we didn't interfere with each other.

 

"R-right! Manato, Mom made dinner today, so let's all eat together, okay?"

"Y-yeah! Mom made dinner today after a long time!"

 

Even though I bought this with great effort...but I couldn't just waste and have them throw that away after they went through the trouble of having made it for me.

 

"...I understand."

 

I requested that of her so much, but she never followed, but now she did. I sat down on a chair in the living room, not being so enthusiastic about it. By the way, I put the things I bought in the fridge.

 

""Thanks for the meal.""

"...Thanks for the meal."

 

I said my customaries a bit later than the two. Today's dinner was fried chicken. Fried chicken was my favorite food.

 

I grabbed one of the pieces with my chopsticks and threw it into my mouth. Then chewed. The fried chicken I remembered back when I was kid was very tasty.

But now, I couldn’t taste any at all. I was kind of sad about it.

 

After finishing such a tasteless meal, I suddenly heard a popping sound. As I gradually recovered from being startled, I realized that it was popper. But why a popper?

 

""Happy birthday!""

 

...

 

"Um?"

 

It didn't make any sense anymore. Why now? It was already two days late. ...Come to think of it, I went to bed right after I got home yesterday. I hadn't eaten anything since that morning, so I wanted to sleep it off.

 

"Manato, thank you for being born into this world."

 

Maki-san said something like that, but I couldn't help but think that it sounded flimsy. She hadn't shown any kind of indication of that until now.

 

"I'm glad that you're my big bro."

 

Nana-san continued. But how could that possibly be? Who was the idiot that was going to believe such words after being ignored for half a year, huh.

 

"...Thanks."

 

I wanted to get out of this uncomfortable situation as soon as possible.

So, I tried to end the conversation appropriately.

In the end, this sickening event lasted until the next hour.

 

They served cake and asked about school. They were smiling the whole time, but it looked like it was forcefully plastered on their faces. What the hell. If they were going to make a face like that, then they shouldn't have done this in the first place, right? Please stop already...

 

Today was the worst birthday party of my life.

⸻⸻⸻ (ﾉ*ФωФ)ﾉ ⸻⸻⸻

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