Knock, knock.
Along with the knock came Yuzuki's mother's voice. "Yuzuki? I need to talk to you about something."
The door slowly swung open...
Episode 36: Uesugi Yuichi's Monologue
At the same time, in a residential neighborhood in Tokyo.
On the second floor of a two-story detached house, an episode of Alien Baby Hikari-chan was playing in a bedroom.
Takaki Egawa, a high school sophomore, was watching the anime with rapt attention.
He'd even ignored his parents when they called him to dinner just a moment ago.
On the TV, Yuzuki Sasaki's voice rang out. "No, otherwise... I'll run away from home."
When he heard Yuzuki say those words, he slammed a hand on the table, feeling as if she'd spoken for him. "Yeah! You should run away from home! Don't stay in that awful place anymore!"
Takaki Egawa and Yuzuki Sasaki had been through similar things.
His father disapproved of his son being obsessed with anime and games, and they often fought about it. The two of them had just had another argument.
What Yuzuki said struck right at Takaki's heart. He'd always wanted to leave home.
But he hadn't.
Why not? Simple.
He was scared.
He was afraid of both his parents' double-team beatings and the harsh blows of society.
The only way he could keep living was to hide in his room and rage helplessly.
And running away from home...
Most kids who'd been pressured by their parents had entertained the thought at one point or another.
Takaki Egawa figured that, given Uesugi Yuichi's relationship with Yuzuki Sasaki, he'd probably let her stay with him for a few days.
As a high school boy, he didn't realize how serious the situation was. At the thought of running away from home, he actually got excited, practically buzzing with anticipation.
He was even thrilled by the idea that the anime might show them living together.
But, to his surprise, Uesugi Yuichi smiled and turned her down.
On the TV, Uesugi Yuichi sat in a chair, wearing a handsome, mature smile.
"Sasaki, I know you're a smart girl, so I hope we can have a proper talk."
"I'm not going to brush you off with something like, 'You'll understand when you're older.' I want to discuss this with you."
Yuzuki Sasaki said nothing, hugging Hikari-chan tightly.
Then he shifted gears.
Uesugi Yuichi's deep voice rang out. "Actually, I think your parents went a little overboard, but I can understand where they were coming from."
You've got to be kidding!
Takaki Egawa shouted inwardly.
He didn't actually say it out loud, because Yuzuki had already said it for him.
"Mr. Uesugi... are you joking?"
Yuzuki couldn't accept it either. She complained, "My parents are so barbaric, and they're so harsh to me. The way they treat me makes me wonder if I'm even their real daughter."
"That's right!"
Takaki Egawa slapped his thigh, wholeheartedly agreeing.
But Uesugi Yuichi couldn't help laughing at that. "Ha ha, Sasaki, you really are still a child."
Yuzuki: "?"
Takaki Egawa: "???"
Smiling, Uesugi Yuichi patted Yuzuki on the head. "Sasaki, your parents aren't as bad as you think. Just consider this: if they were really such harsh parents, would they have let their daughter take art classes?"
Uesugi Yuichi was very level-headed. He didn't blindly take Yuzuki's side just because she was his student.
Yuzuki muttered, "But now they're against it."
Yeah, yeah! Takaki Egawa nodded over and over, completely caught up in the scene.
Uesugi Yuichi smiled and shook his head. "Don't think of your parents as perfect people. They have plenty of flaws, too. A lot of the time, when you think they're getting angry because they don't like you, the truth is... they—"
He said with an amused smile,
"—just don't know how to express themselves."
Uesugi Yuichi smiled. "Sasaki, children should also try to understand their parents."
In the room, Uesugi Yuichi spoke with Yuzuki patiently, carrying himself with the grace of an older man.
His gentle tone and mature gaze had countless female viewers glued to their screens.
Meanwhile, the PTA members put down their phones.
"...But, but can't they understand me, too?"
That sort of reasoning didn't convince Yuzuki.
Y-yeah... Takaki Egawa agreed again, this time with less conviction.
When he heard Uesugi Yuichi say that her parents simply didn't know how to express themselves, he suddenly remembered the look in his father's eyes whenever they'd argued and he'd stormed back to his room.
What had that look meant?
He clenched his fists and, for the first time, began to think about it.
...Come to think of it, Dad's hair seemed to have been turning gray lately. Or had it?
Takaki Egawa's breathing slowed. He stared fixedly at the television.
Onscreen, Uesugi Yuichi leaned back in his chair, raised his face, and closed his eyes.
A violin track composed by Ayako Ishikawa played at just the right moment.
A while later, Uesugi Yuichi opened his eyes and said calmly, "Sasaki, it was only after I met Hikari-chan that I understood what it felt like to be a father."
"Do you know how many nights I woke up to his crying? How many nights I forced myself out of bed again and again, worried he'd get cold, just to pull the blanket over him?"
The screen flashed to several memories of Uesugi Yuichi frantically taking care of Hikari-chan.
"For the first few days, I barely slept at all. I was either changing diapers or feeding him. Whenever he showed signs of discomfort, I panicked. I wondered if I should take him to the hospital, but I didn't dare, afraid they'd discover something was wrong with him."
"It was a real mental ordeal."
"Mr. Uesugi..."
Yuzuki hugged Hikari-chan, who was smiling without a care in the world.
Uesugi Yuichi continued. "There's a lot more parents have to think about when raising a child."
As the tearjerker music played,
he said slowly, "The biggest pressure is probably providing for the family. Everything from food and clothing to housing and transportation costs money. You have to work hard to earn a living, while worrying that you'll grow distant from your child."
"A father puts up with everything at work and acts meekly and deferentially, all so his wife and child can have enough to eat. Even when he has a little extra money, he can't buy the things he likes. Instead, he thinks about buying new clothes for his child or bringing home some treats they usually can't afford. Just seeing his family smile makes him feel content."
Uesugi Yuichi's gaze grew distant. It seemed he wasn't speaking only to Yuzuki, but also to himself.
"Mothers have it tough, too. Every day, they're the first in the family to get up and make breakfast, so their husbands and children have the energy to go to work and school. Day in and day out, they make breakfast, clean, make dinner, and handle relationships with the neighbors."
"They carefully budget the household expenses, and sometimes they have to steel themselves to refuse their child's pleas for a toy, even though they want to give them what they ask for."
"When their children get a little older, they worry about their grades at school, or whether someone might bully them."
"Once their children are grown, they start thinking about their future marriages. Then their grandchildren are born, and they help raise them, too. They really do spend their whole lives working hard for their families."
Uesugi Yuichi wore a faint smile.
He looked at Yuzuki. "Sasaki, do you think your complaints are really justified? I'm not saying children have no pressure, or that they have to obey their parents unconditionally."
He pointed to his heart and smiled.
"I just hope you'll think carefully about this. Has it really reached the point where running away from home is the only way to end it? Do you really have to hurt each other like this to solve everything?"
Yuzuki's eyes glistened with tears as memories flashed across the screen.
Her mother got up early every day and carefully prepared her lunch.
Her father left for work early every day and came home exhausted in the evening, too tired to even talk to his daughter.
Takaki Egawa was stunned, but he stubbornly refused to give in.
It wasn't just Takaki Egawa. Families all over the country sat in silence in front of their televisions.
This was the power of family bonds.
Family was the most moving kind of love, one that most people could relate to.
Parents in countless households fell silent as those words laid bare the truth of their hearts.
Countless children watched the scene, feeling a lump in their throats.
Episode 37: Men Silent, Women in Tears
The man on the television continued,
"If they didn't care, who would spend time lecturing you?"
"If they didn't want you to have a bright future, who would know their advice was hard to hear and still take the trouble to warn you?"
"Sasaki, I know you're smart. You're not a little child anymore. I'm not asking you to forgive them for everything. I just hope you'll try to understand your parents. Don't start an argument or make a scene every time something doesn't go your way, demanding that your parents give in."
"Sasaki, don't take advantage of their love to indulge every whim. Believe me, you'll regret it someday."
Uesugi Yuichi sighed. "I've made mistakes in the past, so I know how terrible regret can be. It'll haunt you every moment of every day. Even if you try to forget the bad memories, you'll only remember them more clearly. You might even recall every last detail, until they become weapons you use against yourself."
"As your teacher, I don't want you to end up like me."
Yuzuki wiped away her tears. "Did something happen between you and your parents, too, Mr. Uesugi?"
"...That was a long time ago."
Uesugi Yuichi fell silent for a moment, then said slowly, "Maybe, in a child's eyes, parents have always been so strong. They're forever the same people from childhood who held your hand and strode along at a brisk pace, or scooped you up and ran like the wind. They seem like heroes who can do anything."
"But parents grow old surprisingly fast. How many young people notice the gray hairs quietly appearing on their father's head, their mother's back no longer straight, or the pain that seeps into their bones whenever the weather turns cold and rainy?"
"The sad thing is, children often don't realize this until it's too late to make things right."
"But then it's already too late for regrets."
"All you can do is burn a few sticks of incense at their graves and say, 'I'm sorry,' even though it's pointless."
Uesugi Yuichi said this with a self-mocking smile.
Yuzuki Sasaki knew he was talking about himself.
In front of the TV, Takaki Egawa stared blankly at Uesugi Yuichi's pained smile.
At some point, his clenched hands had loosened.
His face was wet with tears.
"Damn that background music...! How can it be so heartbreaking?!"
Takaki Egawa's voice was hoarse. He wiped away his tears, then suddenly sprang to his feet and rushed out the door.
So many things came to mind. His father often argued with him, but he always bought him the things he wanted.
And there was the helpless look in his mother's eyes whenever he drove her away after she nagged him.