Bitter Coffee (Second chapter owed) / Kyosuke Gets Teased

Yuria had grown accustomed to their busy work schedules and absence. They rarely communicated, only exchanging words occasionally, discussing purely business matters such as parent-teacher conferences or contracts requiring signatures.

The relationship between the three of them was like that of strangers sharing a house, maintaining a distance from each other. You don't bother me, and I won't bother you, so please don't enter my private space.

For Yuria, the school festival was her private space. She had already implicitly excluded her parents from the festival, so much so that she hadn't discussed it with them. Since they wouldn't come anyway, she figured it was better not to say anything.

"We'll have a good talk."

Let's go back home and talk to those two people, and consider this a premature end to the cultural festival.

"Don't worry, I'm fine now."

She smiled and shook her head, feigning nonchalance. She had become increasingly adept at this pretense during her time with Divine Gate, and almost no one could discern the true nature beneath that facade. However, this tactic was completely ineffective against Yotsuya Miko.

Those violet-gold eyes gazed calmly at her, reflecting her anxious and confused face.

Rebellion...

Miko smooth her long hair, no, it was more like a lack of trust.

She could tell that Yuria's feelings towards her parents had become extremely indifferent, to the point that she didn't know how to behave when she saw them. There were many people like this; many reasons could cause people to feel resentment towards their parents.

Yuria is a typical example. She was isolated at a young age, and her parents were busy with work. When she needed their help the most, they avoided her for inexplicable reasons, making it difficult for her to be trusted.

Knowing Yuria's past, she easily understood Yuria's current feelings.

"That's wonderful, Yuria."

Miko sighing,

"Both your parents can participate in the cultural festival."

"... I guess so."

Yuria paused slightly, taken aback by her words, and simply turned her head away, giving a vague reply. She didn't understand what Yotsuya Miko wanted to say, nor did she grasp the reason for Miko's current sentiment. Sarcasm? No, that didn't seem like it. Then what was it?

A thought suddenly struck her, and she looked at Miko beside her.

"Miko..."

"Now that you understand, let's go to the coffee shop first. By the time you're talking to your parents, Yuria, it'll be time to bring Kyosuke back."

Yotsuya Miko stood up from her chair and brushed the dust off her clothes.

"Being able to communicate is always a good thing, isn't it?"

Her clear eyes looked at Yuria in front of her.

After the incident with the Mountain God, she had moved past the state of having to compare her misery with others, and now she no longer felt jealousy or similar emotions.

There was a time when she resented the concept of life and death, because the lack of appreciation others showed for life and death, coupled with her own anxiety about the constant threat of death, created a severe imbalance that tore her life apart. Eventually, she finally realized that such comparisons were meaningless.

If so, the only meaning is to make oneself live more consciously in this world.

She has experienced too many setbacks and regrets in her life, and these setbacks and regrets cannot be changed even with her current level of cultivation; she can only choose to accept them.

"..."

Hua suddenly understood what she was talking about, but anything she did now was superfluous, because this was a conversation between Miko and Yuria.

"I'll go pick up Kyosuke. You two can have a good talk."

With that, he turned and left their side.

Hua believed that Miko would resolve the matter, because she was Yotsuya Miko, the one with miraculous abilities who had never changed her Yotsuya Miko.

Even someone like that, when revealing their scars, probably wouldn't want more people to see them, right?

She walked with her head down, because she couldn't bear to see that scar reopened, to see that bloody past, which would make her feel sad and heartbroken.

"It's just too unfortunate that something like this happened at the cultural festival."

Hua muttered under his breath, his face full of displeasure. He couldn't help but sigh when he thought of the two people talking behind him.

These are things that always leave us feeling helpless yet have no choice but to do. After all, that's life.

As her phone vibrated, Hua took it out of her pocket again and stood still, carefully reading the series of messages her mother had sent.

"I don't know what Yuria's parents are thinking."

Even so, she found the parents' behavior strange, but after carefully reading the chat messages her mother sent, she didn't know how to criticize them. She could only say it was fate playing tricks on them, turning a peaceful family into what it is today.

"Miko or Yuria, they both had happy families, so why did such a tragedy befall them?"

I turned off my phone screen and walked towards the teaching building in front of me.

"Is this the price that comes with this ability? If so, it's better not to have it at all. I definitely can't accept this price, being separated from my family and such."

She muttered,

"I want to be with Miko forever."

Chapter 292 Bitter Coffee (The Second Chapter I Owe)

On the other hand, the conversation proceeded much more smoothly.

Adults have many things to worry about on their own, but when it comes to their children, they want to confide in someone.

Yotsuya Touko looked at her elderly father, who was telling her about his daughter, and silently took a sip of her coffee.

A perfect balance of bitterness, followed by a subtle sweetness after the lingering bitterness.

Although the four of them didn't say anything, the students noticed something amiss and deliberately gave them a secluded corner to talk.

During the conversation, the students only served them coffee and did nothing else to disturb them.

The conversation proceeded naturally, unaffected by external influences.

Mrs. Nimodo rarely spoke; she looked at her husband beside her and let him say everything. The middle-aged man initially spoke cautiously and calmly, but then he finally relaxed his guard and spoke to the two mothers in front of him about his troubles with his children.

"... And so, we were at a loss as to what to do about our daughter, completely unable to find anything to talk about. She didn't tell us about this school festival; it was only because of the publicity that my wife and I realized there was such an event at the school."

"I see."

Yotsuya Touko put down her cup and looked at her parents. Compared to comforting Yuria's daughter by comparing her own experiences, she wasn't so easy to talk to.

"That's truly a regrettable thing, isn't it, Mrs. Yurikawa?"

"Huh?"

Mrs. Yurikawa put down her phone and quietly slipped it into her handbag on her lap. While Yotsuya Touko and Yuria's parents were chatting, she wasn't idle either; she typed in information she knew on her phone on the table and sent it to her daughter. She hoped this would help her daughter and Miko comfort Yuria on the other side.

"Me? I think it's actually okay. There was a time when my relationship with my child wasn't very good, it seems... well, I think it can be resolved through good communication."

She was about to recount her experience, but when she thought about the specifics of it, she felt it might have the opposite effect.

It wasn't a big deal. A long time ago, when Hua started eating a lot, she saw a news report saying that children shouldn't be allowed to overeat. So she paid special attention to Hua's food and made her much less. During that time, Hua disliked her a lot. Hua, who was still very young at the time, even wondered if the family was short of money, which caused her to eat even less and have little energy to attend school.

Seeing her child grow thinner and thinner each day, she finally realized something was wrong. She took the child to the hospital for a checkup, and the result was malnutrition. After a full-body examination, she understood that her child wasn't overeating, but simply needed to eat a lot due to her constitution. After returning home from the hospital, Hua cried for an entire afternoon upon learning this, and it took a long time to comfort her. For the next month or so, every time she saw Hua, the little girl gave her a cold shoulder. During that period, their relationship was truly strained.

As for what happened afterward... it seems she specifically went to learn how to make some desserts and dishes to make up for it, which finally calmed Hua down.

Honestly... does saying this really make any difference? More likely, it just makes others think I'm being naive, right?

"Yes, communication can solve problems, but the problem is... the parents never even considered communicating; they just thought the child was too young to talk to."

The cold words came from Yotsuya Touko's mouth. Compared to the two people in front of her, her own experience could probably be considered a lesson.

"Compared to the two of you, we mothers don't think too much. Money? Status? Or the idea of not wanting our children to suffer? These are all too far away. What can truly bring us closer to our children is simply our presence."

"It may be rude of me to say this, and you two may think I'm a shrew who doesn't understand etiquette, but if I may be so bold, your actions have been truly appalling, so appalling that it's come to this. You love the child? Do you know what Yuria thinks?"

The coffee was laid out on the table, everything was calm. Mrs. Yurikawa, sitting next to Yotsuya Touko, couldn't help but gape, feeling that her words were incredibly aggressive and rude. But deep down, she thought that a good mother would say such things. She would be willing to understand and empathize with someone else's child.

"The reason I stood in front of Yuria was because I saw it in her eyes—I saw alienation, I saw that subtle hint of disgust."

She picked up her coffee, took another sip, and tried to calm herself down. She was afraid that if she continued to speak according to her emotions, she might lose control and hit someone.

"At that moment, I was thinking: what could have happened? What terrible thing could have happened that would make this child want to distance himself from or even hate his parents? So, I wanted to have a good talk with Mr. Nimodo. and Mrs. Nijimutou to clear up the misunderstanding. But—"

The cup was set down, and its bottom struck the white porcelain plate with a crisp sound.

"I realize I was wrong, because this isn't a misunderstanding at all. It's entirely the parents' fault, and I can't think of any reason to excuse you two. Just because something like this happened at the elite school? And you were ostracized by those students? So you two blame it on not having enough money or status?"

"No... actually..."

Mr. Nimodo gritted his teeth, intending to tell the truth, but before he could utter those words, Yotsuya Touko stopped him again.

"I know Yuria can see those things. That's why I'm so angry."

Yotsuya Touko sighed softly,

"The most tragic thing is that you know nothing about that kind of thing. Do you have to wait until that child is hurt and dies before you realize that what you did was wrong? If you think about it carefully, it's actually quite normal. After all, such a thing would be terrifying for an adult too. It's perfectly normal to subconsciously distance yourself from that child out of that fear and shirk your parental responsibilities."

"..."

The man remained silent, while his wife beside him was already in tears, the tears flowing uncontrollably.

"So, it's all our fault after all?"

"Mrs. Yotsuya, isn't that going too far?"

Seeing the two people hurt by her sharp words, Mrs. Yurikawa began to feel sorry for them. She leaned close to Yotsuya Touko's ear, but Yotsuya Touko had no intention of softening her tone.

"Recognizing your mistakes is only the bare minimum; what you owe is the care you've given this child over the years. This isn't something I need to remind you of. Aren't we all parents?"

She drank her coffee again, bitter coffee.

A tough stance is like the bitterness of this cup of coffee; it's the bitterness that brings one back to their senses.

Chapter 293 Kyosuke Gets Tricked

"Ah, it's our turn."

Yotsuya Kyosuke looked up at the reception desk. The two older women beside him tried to ask him a lot of strange questions, but he ignored them all. Feeling bored, Yamazaki and Morino took him to queue for the haunted house.

After the initial queue, the flow of people had thinned out slightly. Although they didn't know how long they had waited, it was finally their turn.

"Well, is it alright if we bring this kid in?"

"Of course, no problem, but... he's Yotsuya Miko's younger brother?"

The students at the reception desk asked this question, and looking at the children who were still quite young, a hint of worry suddenly appeared on their faces.

"He's so young, he should still be in elementary school, right? Is it really okay for him to get in like this?"

The haunted house remains excellent even after Yotsuya Miko left, and it's still quite thrilling for many visitors.

"There shouldn't be any problems, right? After all, there are two of us leading the way, nothing will happen."

Yamazaki patted Kyosuke on the shoulder and said something provocatively.

Are you scared?

"Of course I'm not afraid!"

Although they heard many tourists screaming and felt a bit nervous about the haunted house, the child's competitive spirit was immediately ignited by what the green-haired older sister next to him said.

"See? This kid says he's not afraid."

"If you keep bullying him like this, be careful when Yotsuya comes back and gives you trouble."

"How is this bullying him? Okay, okay, let us through quickly, otherwise the tourists behind us will start complaining."

Hearing this, the students at the reception desk could only shake their heads and let the three of them into the haunted house.

After thinking about it carefully, she realized there was really nothing to worry about. Morino and Yamazaki were both students in the class and were very familiar with haunted house designs. Haunted houses are only scary when you're unfamiliar with them; once you're familiar with them, they're not so frightening. Besides, Yamazaki and Morino were known for their bravery and outgoing personalities in the class.

Rather than worrying about whether the three people can get out of the haunted house, I'm more concerned about how scared the little boy will be.

"Speaking of which, as expected of Yotsuya's younger brother, he's quite good-looking too."

He muttered something to himself, then put the thought aside and went to prepare stamps for the next tourist.

As Yotsuya Kyosuke entered the haunted house, he couldn't help but swallow hard. Looking at the dark red scene before him, he couldn't help but imagine what terrifying Ghosts lurked in the shadows. Even the cold wind that brushed past his shoulders gave him goosebumps and Creepy down his spine.

Children his age are most prone to wild imaginations. Even a dark, inconspicuous object can be imagined as a terrifying monster.

But...

Yotsuya Kyosuke looked at the two fearless older girls beside him and forced himself to appear fearless as well. After all, as a boy, he couldn't show weakness in front of girls.

"The atmosphere of this haunted house is really, really good."

As he spoke, his eyes caught sight of a certain spot, and he immediately conjured up another monster in his mind. He quickly looked away, as if to show that he wasn't afraid, and walked ahead of Yamazaki and Morino.

Completely unaware that Morino and Yamazaki behind him were about to burst out laughing.