They were unwilling to invest more effort in their children, unwilling to spend extra money, and even less willing to understand their children's pain and difficulties.
What they wanted was not a person who could cry, laugh, and hurt. What they wanted was a perfect AI they could throw into school, one that would automatically function and grow, never make mistakes, achieve excellent grades in every exam to satisfy their vanity, rise above others in the future, and repay them in return.
The most laughable part was that if a child truly managed to do all that and even surpassed their parents, some terrible parents would instead become jealous of their child and suppress them.
Because they had begun to fear you, fearing that they would no longer be able to control you.
"..." Wakaba Mutsuki fell into a long silence, as though Qianyi's outrageously rebellious words had struck her into a shutdown.
"Alright. Rather than going to school while on the verge of an emotional breakdown and continuing to put pressure on a valve that's already near its limit, why not go do something everyone likes?" Qianyi withdrew his hand and slipped it into his trench coat pocket, his tone as casual as if he were deciding what bento to eat tonight. "Go home, bring your guitar, and let's go play in a band at STARRY with Hoshika. As for the classes you missed, I'll help you make every bit of them up tonight."
"But..." Wakaba Mutsuki's brows formed the faintest, rarest crease as she instinctively wanted to object to this crazy opportunity that lay beyond the bounds of "normal" and "natural." But Qianyi gave her no chance to argue.
"No buts." Qianyi cut her off directly, his tone leaving no room for doubt. "Since no one is taking