My youth romance is always confusing

"Wow~"

The door of the Ministry was opened.

In the club room, Yukino and Mitsuki were doing their own things.

Yukino was confirming that there were no mistakes in the report she submitted today, while Mitsuki was reviewing her elementary school textbook.

Although there was no communication between the two, the scene looked unusually harmonious.

Yukino sat on a stool with her long hair draped over her shoulders, concentrating on revising the report in front of her. Her face was no longer cold and aloof as usual, but rather as serious as ever.

Xiao Meiyue didn't seem to be as gloomy as before. Her legs were shaking gently under the slightly high stool. Occasionally, she realized that she was violating etiquette and would correct her sitting posture from time to time, but sometimes she couldn't control her body and started shaking again.

The sound of Hachiman opening the door woke up two people, one big and one small, who were immersed in their own world.

Yukino's ears twitched and she was startled at first. She looked up to confirm who was coming and then lowered her eyelids that were raised due to the fright.

"I don't remember ever saying that you don't need to knock when entering the office."

She put down the pen in her hand and looked at Hachiman who was standing at the door.

"Feel sorry."

If it were any other time, I might have exchanged some sarcastic remarks with her, but today, I wasn't in the mood.

Yukino raised an eyebrow not expecting Hachiman to give in so quickly.

"Is the job internship over?"

"Now that I'm back, it's naturally over."

Since I was leaving soon, I didn't put down my backpack or pull out the chair like I usually do.

Looking at Miyuki's profile as she packed her things, I didn't know how to tell her about that.

"Yuigahama-san isn't coming today?"

"Her words, she has something to do and went home today, so she asked me to tell you something."

——Something’s wrong. When did this guy become so easy to talk to?

Taking a sip of the cooled black tea on the table, Yukino suppressed the doubts in her heart.

She felt what was different about the boy in front of her.

Seeing the way he kept looking at Xiao Meiyue, she felt a sense of disharmony.

Yes, it is disharmony.

It's like putting a raw egg in a thermos. This shouldn't happen from any angle, but it happened anyway.

"Really? Yuigahama-san has been a bit lazy lately. Is it because the midterm exams are over?"

Holding the notes in her hand, Yukino recalled what happened during the study session they had held before.

At that time, Yuigahama was the most miserable person at the whole table. Now that she has finally finished the exam, she may have gone home to indulge herself.

"Really? Isn't that guy usually lazy and sloppy?"

I stood beside Mitsuki and waited for her to clean up.

Just now Yuigahama said that he had something to do, but he didn't seem to be in a hurry. What could it be?

Miyue packed very quickly, and before long she had put all the books and notes on the table into her schoolbag.

The little girl stood up and put the chair back in place, then followed Hachiman naturally with her schoolbag on her back.

Yukino's eyelids twitched when she saw this natural performance.

"Sister Yukinoshita, let's go."

When they arrived at the door, Hachiman didn't say a word, but Mitsuki said goodbye to Yukino first. Her crisp voice no longer had the awkwardness from a few days ago.

It seems that after spending the past few days together, Mitsuki has let down her guard towards Yukino.

I held Mitsuki's hand, nodded to Yukinoshita, and walked out of the club room.

Since today is a job internship, most of the classes are empty right now, because it’s basically time to go home after the internship.

I had to come back because Mitsuki was in school, and those guys who were planning not to go back to school were already thinking about which Saizeriya to go to for dinner.

After crossing the sparsely populated playground, Miyue and I walked quietly on our way home.

Miyue didn't notice anything wrong. After all, they rarely communicated with each other when they went home.

As the sunset was not too late, a brother and sister, each with their own worries, returned home.

The house was unusually quiet today, probably because I came home a little early and Komachi hadn't finished school yet.

But it’s just as well that there are fewer people, so that I can explain things to Mitsuki properly.

Silently watching Mitsuki change into slippers and walk into the living room, I opened my phone to confirm the message from my dad, rubbing the back of the phone with my thumb.

Sure enough, it was correct.

That Mr. Chonggong has passed away.

I turned off my phone and turned it on again, but my mood didn't change at all. I still felt so heavy that I didn't know how to tell Miyuki about this.

Every time I wanted to call her, my mouth felt like it was zipped up and I couldn't utter a word.

Watching her gradually integrating into this family, I feel from the bottom of my heart that this child is really sensible.

But God is often unfair. Some scumbags can live to be ninety years old, but good people die early.

The saying "Good people don't live long, evil people leave their mark for thousands of years" actually makes sense.

But the message from my dad forced me to tell Miyue the news.

Because tomorrow is the funeral.

As Mr. Takamiya's daughter, she had the right and obligation to attend the funeral, even though she was still young.

Finally, after making up my mind countless times, I called out to Mitsuki who was about to go to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

"Mizuki."

Hachiman's hesitant voice interrupted Mitsuki's actions. She put down the rag in her hand, turned around and looked at him with her big eyes.

"What's wrong? Hachiman."

The address was no different from before and made Hachiman feel guilty for no apparent reason, but since it had come to this, he had to say it.

I took a deep breath.

"There's something I want to tell you."

Maybe it was because Hachiman's tone was too heavy, Mitsuki also became nervous unconsciously.

She even started to worry about the thing that was in the deepest part of her heart day and night.

That was the reality she didn't want to and was most unwilling to face.

But this silent atmosphere made her worries become reality bit by bit.

"Mr. Chonggong... passed away."

When I said this, I almost had to bite my back teeth to muster up the courage to say it.

Although I didn't look at Yueyue's expression at the first moment, I knew without a doubt that she would definitely not be able to accept this reality.

"Father...died...Father...died?"

After hearing the news, Mitsuki, unwilling to accept the reality, covered her head with her hands.

“Father…Father…”

The originally high-pitched voice suddenly became low.

It's like a bird that chirps a few times and then becomes sad.

At this moment, the girl lost the reason that supported her to survive.

In the past, she could deceive herself and numb herself, thinking that all this was only temporary. After her father recovered, she could go home, back to the home where they lived together. At that time, she would remember the Hikigaya family who had helped her these days.

But now, this dream has been ruthlessly shattered.

She walked back to her room step by step, like a zombie, closed the door, and didn't make any sound.

Seeing her like this, even I felt a little distressed.

After that, Mitsuki didn't even come out for dinner.

Actually, it’s normal. I can’t eat when I’m in a bad mood, let alone her who has gone through such a big change.

Komachi looked at Mitsuki's door with some worry while holding chopsticks. The ahoge on her head that had been standing upright now drooped down.

"Mizuki-chan, are you okay?"

I raised my eyelids and swept the tomatoes in front of me into my mouth.

Tomatoes, which used to be like poison to me, now became no different from ordinary food under my heavy mood.

"How can it be alright? It's not like I didn't write something of that level in my homework."

But like this, not eating anything for a whole night is definitely not an option.

After all, as long as people live in this world, they have to follow the laws of physics and physiology.

"Don't worry about it. Just leave the rest to me."

My mom is not coming back today. She must have gone to help my dad with the funeral arrangements. After all, the aunt is a woman and cannot work with a man all night. In the past, she could work in two shifts without overlapping schedules in the hospital, but the funeral is rushed, so that’s not possible. This time, it should be my mom and dad who help with the arrangements.

After signaling Komachi to go back, I walked to Mitsuki's door with dinner.

One push.

It was locked.

Maybe she really needs a small space now to make herself feel safe, but this won't work.

Not to mention whether it would cause psychological problems, you would suffer from hunger alone.

More importantly, she has to attend a funeral tomorrow.

Take her there no matter what.

Otherwise, she will be the only one who regrets her whole life.