Next Target, 400PS!
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Haruno hadn't expected her mother to cave so easily. She figured they'd be arguing for hours.
"What? Do you really think I'm that unreasonable?" Fumino asked, noting Haruno's surprised expression.
"No, of course not!" Haruno quickly put on a flattering smile and sidled up next to her mother. "You're as kind-hearted as you are beautiful, Mother. How could you ever be unreasonable? Hehe!"
"Hmph!" Fumino let out a soft snort, but she didn't push her daughter away. Deep down, she was still curious about the secret Haruno was hiding.
"W-Well... isn't this nice!" The most awkward person in the room right now was undoubtedly Mr. Yukinoshita.
He had assumed he would need to step in to mend the rift between mother and daughter. Instead, they just ignored him. Fumino and Haruno chatted as if he were invisible. He was the father, yet he felt like a total outsider in his own home.
"..." Hearing his voice, Fumino merely shot her husband a passing, dismissive glance.
Back in their youth, Fumino actually had some affection for the man. But as time went on, her fierce ambition began to show. She evolved into an iron-willed businesswoman. Her only goal was to elevate the Yukinoshita family to the next level and turn them into a true financial conglomerate.
In stark contrast, Mr. Yukinoshita lacked any real drive. Most of the time, he was perfectly content with the status quo. To Fumino, his complacency was practically a sin.
She had pulled massive strings just to secure him a position as a local councilman. And what did he do with it? Nothing.
He showed zero initiative to climb the ladder. He was in the exact same spot today as the day he took office. Plenty of his juniors had already been promoted, but Mr. Yukinoshita's rank remained stagnant.
Of course, lack of ambition wasn't his only issue—it was also a matter of competence. As a man who married into the family, he simply didn't have the talent for cutthroat politics.
"I—" Meeting his wife's cold gaze, Mr. Yukinoshita opened his mouth to speak, but Fumino immediately cut him off.
"If you have nothing to add, go rest."
"Well then, Mother, I'm going to bed!" Haruno chimed in without a second thought.
Thanks to Kai's Reverse Cursed Technique, she wasn't in any physical pain, but she still craved a good night's sleep. After working so much forced overtime, she could finally get some real rest.
With that, Haruno headed straight for her room, tossing her father a token greeting on the way out. She didn't even give him a chance to reply.
It couldn't be helped. Even though he was her father, their relationship was distant at best.
In her memories, he was practically a ghost. There were a few times when she was little that she tried asking him for help. Fumino was a brutally strict mother. When Haruno failed to meet expectations, Fumino disciplined her ruthlessly—scolding her, hitting her, and even withholding meals on a few occasions.
But turning to her father was useless. Mr. Yukinoshita would just play dumb or pretend he didn't see anything. He never dared to stand up to Fumino.
Over time, both Haruno and Yukino lost whatever affection they had for him. They maintained basic surface-level politeness, but they rarely ever talked to him.
Once Haruno left, Fumino and Mr. Yukinoshita were the only ones remaining in the living room.
"Well, a friend invited me to go fishing, so I'll just—" The suffocating atmosphere was too much for him to handle. He stood up, eager to escape.
However, the moment he moved, Fumino's voice pinned him down. "Fishing? Is this a colleague?"
He knew exactly why she was asking. After a moment of hesitation, he honestly shook his head. "No, it's an old classmate. You actually know him, he..."
Mr. Yukinoshita had married into the family because he and Fumino were college classmates. They even shared a desk, which naturally brought them closer back then. He was about to remind her of the man's name, but—
"Enough!" Fumino snapped before he could finish. "How many times do I have to tell you? Cut ties with useless acquaintances."
"Your priority is networking with your colleagues. How else are you going to advance? Or do you think becoming a local councilman is the finish line?" She glared at him. "You are a local politician. You're a nobody in Tokyo. Don't you want a seat in the capital?"
Anyone listening would think she was scolding a child, not speaking to her husband. Mr. Yukinoshita could only lower his head and sit in silence, not daring to talk back.
'Why do we have to go to Tokyo? What's wrong with staying right here?'
He desperately wanted to say it, but he lacked the courage. He knew Fumino's temper. Voicing that thought would only earn him another vicious lecture about his lack of ambition.
"..." After lecturing him for quite a while, Fumino finally stopped.
Seeing her husband sitting there like a block of wood, a flash of deep disappointment crossed her eyes. "Forget it. I'm going to bed."
It wasn't the first time she had given this speech. It was useless. He was never going to change. Realizing that talking was a waste of breath, Fumino let out a slow, tired sigh. She stood up and headed to her room.
"Phew!" Long after Fumino disappeared, Mr. Yukinoshita finally let out a heavy breath.
He stood up from the floor and numbly walked back to his own bedroom. It was true. Even though they were married, they hadn't slept in the same room for years.
He couldn't even remember when they started sleeping in separate rooms. Was it after Yukino was born? Or even earlier?
Not that he cared. He actually preferred it this way. Being alone in his room meant he didn't have to worry about getting scolded. It was peaceful.
'Why? Why do I have to be ambitious??' Thinking back to the living room, he felt a crushing wave of frustration.
Over the years, his feelings for his wife had mutated into fear. Every time he faced her, his hands and feet went numb. It wasn't a normal reaction for a husband to have toward his wife.
"Sigh!"
Maybe he was just numb to it all, or maybe he knew he had zero power to fight back. With a heavy sigh, he closed his eyes, just wanting to clear his head.
"If you hate her that much, why don't you just kill her?" In the dead silence of the room, a chilling, ethereal voice suddenly echoed.
"WHO'S THERE?" The sudden voice made Mr. Yukinoshita freeze. He shot up in bed, looking around defensively. He didn't see anyone. Was he hearing things?
"Why not kill her?"
He had just convinced himself it was an illusion when the voice whispered again. This time, as the words sank in, Mr. Yukinoshita's eyes glazed over. His pupils lost focus. The phrase kept echoing relentlessly in his mind.
'Why not kill her!'
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"It really is great having a big family together like this!" During lunch break in the Service Club, Kai suddenly laughed as he looked at the girls gathered around him.
Aside from Yukino Yukinoshita and Hitori Gotou, Marin Kitagawa and Megumi Kato were also there today. It seemed they had fully recovered from their 'illness'. Counting Kai, there were five people in the room, turning the usually quiet Service Club into a lively hangout.
"Yeah! I know, right?" Marin, always the outgoing one, agreed without a second thought.
"Hanging out together is the best!" She flashed a bright, infectious smile. Her sunny personality easily lifted the mood in the room.
"..." Sitting next to her, Megumi Kato shot Marin a faint, deadpan look.
'You just like doing group activities in bed. I won't even bother exposing you.'
But thinking back to their wild session, Megumi couldn't help but lower her head to hide her flush. She had to admit, she kind of enjoyed that feeling too.
"Oh, right! Kai, want to come over to my place to play games after school?" Marin asked cheerfully. "I found a brand new game! Megumi is coming too!"
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