Uncle Hikigaya is Forever Young [49]

Elderly people should be able to enjoy peaceful twilight years and comfortable lives.
Children should be provided everything essential to their childhood.
The sick and disabled should live in environments most suitable and comforting to them.
Those exhausted or weak should receive medical care rivaling that afforded by the richest…

And people shouldn’t live in fear simply because they've lost their jobs.

Kushida Kikyou silently spoke these words deep within her heart.

She’d been working as a low-level civil servant for nearly a year now. Although her education and abilities qualified her for a comfortable desk job at the central office of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, she'd deliberately chosen a position that allowed her direct contact with those in need.

In these days, she’d discovered helplessly how little she could do—and how much there remained undone.

Take the recent maritime disaster, for instance. The court had ruled that the government and the shipping company must pay compensation to the victims’ families.

It sounded good—at least on the news.

But that shipping company had already conveniently gone bankrupt. Through a series of perfectly legal maneuvers, their assets had vanished, leaving compensation indefinitely delayed.

The payments each victim could receive had shrunk dramatically as a result.

Of course, it wasn’t that the money from the shipping company was permanently gone. But the funds were now tangled in endless disputes—who knew when they would finally be distributed?

...

“Hikigaya-san, this is the Yokosuka Welfare Home. It’s operated by the Blue Mermaid fleet, so the conditions are quite good.”

“Yes, it looks like a nice place,” Ryōhei responded after looking around briefly.

After a one-hour ferry ride across Tokyo Bay, they had arrived in front of the welfare home’s gate.

The surroundings here were quiet. The home itself was nestled within a small, lush grove of trees. The old buildings, though worn, looked clean and neat.

Kushida Kikyou moved confidently, clearly familiar with the area—just as she'd said, she must visit often.

“...Born by the sea, guarding the sea, returning to the sea—”

As Ryōhei followed Kikyou through the half-open iron gate into the yard, two young girls around ten years old ran by hand-in-hand, chanting this poetic-sounding slogan or nursery rhyme.

“Ha, that’s unique to this orphanage. Girls around here dream of joining the Blue Mermaid fleet when they grow up,” the civil servant girl explained, seemingly believing this uncle had little knowledge about naval culture.

“Ohhh, it does sound cool!”

Actually, Ryōhei knew about this. He’d read from modern history books and the news that in this world, Japan—due to a declining birthrate and other reasons—had established the Blue Mermaid, an all-female surface fleet.

Compared to boys, standards for girls who wanted to become sailors were currently quite high.

Thus, this resulted in a scenario where cute girls with excellent seamanship skills operated massive battleships with giant cannons.

For many girls, joining the Blue Mermaid was a lifelong dream.

Even Komachi had mentioned it once.

Just then, a little girl with chestnut-colored twintails, wearing a short skirt and a blouse, entered Ryōhei’s vision. She lay on the edge of a flowerbed, looking straight over with a slightly round, baby-fat face.

Judging by her position on the flowerbed, she probably spent her days staring blankly toward the orphanage’s gate.

It must have felt awful watching friends with similar fates being picked up one by one, leaving her behind.

This, of course, was Ryōhei’s orphaned niece, Misaki Akeno—slightly younger than Komachi.

He recognized her immediately; he had studied her photo carefully last night to avoid any awkwardness today.

“Akeno-chan!”

Initially, he’d intended to say something like “Your uncle has come to visit,” but that felt a bit awkward, so instead, this casual greeting just slipped out, accompanied by a gentle smile.

If you asked him to force a sad expression, he simply couldn't do it!

Meanwhile, Kikyou warmly waved to the girl with twintails. “Hey, Akeno-chan! Look who’s here! Didn’t I tell you your uncle would definitely come pick you up?”

The dazed little girl suddenly snapped out of her trance. With a loud cry, she jumped to her feet and ran over, slender legs beneath her skirt swiftly carrying her forward as she threw herself into Ryōhei’s arms, wrapping her arms around his waist.

“Waaah! Uncle! It’s all my fault... If only I’d jumped quicker... Mom and Dad wouldn’t have—”

Misaki Akeno sobbed uncontrollably. Tears poured down her cheeks, drip by drip, soon dampening Ryōhei’s pants.

Orphans really were pitiful.

"Anyone can criticize your life, but no one genuinely cares for your future. Compared to other kids, my maturity didn't come naturally with age; it was paid for by pain and tears."

In his previous life, a friend had once said this to him.

At that moment, Ryōhei felt his heart tighten slightly. It seemed if he gave this child hope today and then walked away, it would trouble him for a long, long time.

Perhaps in one or two months, or at most a year or two, he’d completely forget Misaki Akeno.

But until then, he was sure he’d frequently recall this little girl holding him tightly and crying.

If he left now, she'd have nobody to guide her at life's crossroads, nobody to advise her.

Nobody would cheer for her successes or share in her joys. No one would teach her valuable life lessons or warn her about how to avoid painful mistakes.

Kikyou-san stood quietly beside them, softly wiping her eyes with delicate, ivory-white fingers.

She gazed anxiously at Ryōhei, clearly apprehensive.

“All right, all right, Akeno-chan. Uncle came today to take you home.”

After meeting the young woman’s eyes, Ryōhei smiled ordinarily.

Once he made a decision, he wouldn’t regret it—even if that decision wasn't exactly rational.

Whatever. Who asked me to meet her anyway?

Raising two kids was tough enough. One more… well, it wouldn’t make that much difference, would it? After all, he was a teacher by profession.

He’d faced hardship before, too.

Besides, the girl was cute enough.

Ryōhei squatted down gently, patting Akeno’s hair.

“Hikigaya-san, you really are such a good person!” The short-haired girl happily balled her small hands into fists, eyes sparkling with joy.

“Haha… Kushida-san, I’ll leave the paperwork in your care then.”

Ryōhei smiled faintly, amused by suddenly receiving the dreaded “good person card.”

The girl, whose face shone with the brilliance of polished jade, enthusiastically slapped her overly ample chest with her right hand. “Just leave it all to me!”

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This is a fan translation of 比企谷大叔永远年轻 by Stargazer All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!