Uncle Hikigaya is Forever Young [24]

After that chance encounter the other day, Hikigaya Ryōhei knew nothing more about Ogiso Setsuna, that unfortunate victim, nor did he contact her again.

Nor did he have much spare interest to begin with.

He didn’t know if she'd manage to break free from her troubles or if she'd actually go through with the divorce.

Still, Ryōhei moved Setsuna’s number back to his contacts whitelist. After all, this woman clearly belonged to the tragic type, pouring all her heart into her husband and family. Truly pitiful.

If someday she needed help, he wouldn’t mind counseling her a bit.

This morning, after seeing the Hikigaya siblings off to their opening ceremonies, Ryōhei didn’t go straight to his convenience store job as usual, having requested half a day’s leave.
Speaking of which, Aoyama Nanami was covering the store’s morning shift today, since her own school opened on a different date from Sōbu High.

Instead, Ryōhei called a second-hand musical instrument market in Chiba.

To let them know they could come pick up the piano.

He hadn’t mentioned this matter to the Hikigaya siblings; it wasn’t necessary to burden them with such financial matters.

Asking them about it would only rub salt into their wounds anyway.

Aside from taking up space, the piano was just an unpleasant reminder of things best forgotten.

...

At last, it was gone!

Sold for a total of 89,000 yen. According to Miura Kōzō, this was the highest possible price in the short term.

Due to the economic downturn, the luxury goods market had suffered a heavy blow, with demand sharply declining and so on…

In any case, Ryōhei didn’t care much; he didn’t even want to know how much that piano had originally cost.

Keeping such a bulky object in this cramped, under-30-square-meter room had always felt awkward.

Almost as if it was deliberately placed there as a constant reminder of his shiny green hat.

So, whatever amount he got, he’d take it!

Thanks to Miura Kōzō’s connections, the movers swiftly took the piano away, immediately handing Ryōhei a thick stack of Fukuzawa Yukichis.

After seeing them off, Ryōhei sat cross-legged on the tatami, unsure whether it was the departure of the ill-fated piano or the comforting stack of cash in his hands—but the room suddenly felt infinitely more refreshing.

It’s settled: tonight, he’d buy three or four extra portions of meat to improve dinner.

After spending a few moments appreciating the Fukuzawa Yukichis, he placed them in the bottom drawer of the small cabinet along the south wall, carefully pressed beneath a few books.

Ryōhei did a quick mental calculation: together with this money, he now had roughly 1.1 million yen saved up.

That was after deducting the extra school fees for the Hikigaya siblings he'd transferred yesterday, along with next month's rent.

Of course, first he'd need to repay the money he owed Miura Kōzō. After that, he'd have just about one million yen left.

If he did nothing else, he and the Hikigaya siblings could just barely live on this money for four or five months.

“Selling that piano really was the correct choice!” Ryōhei happily smacked his left fist into his right palm.

Without this extra piano money, things would have been uncomfortably tight. Though his part-time job might have kept the three of them alive, he would have had zero spare energy or time to study new knowledge.

But now, he wouldn’t have to exhaust himself with too many odd jobs for the next few months. He’d have plenty of time to dive into modern history, making it easier to find higher-paying work.

Since it was the start of the school year, many middle schools were hiring teachers right now.

Yesterday, after getting back from his part-time job, Ryōhei had browsed numerous teacher recruitment listings on his laptop. If he studied these recruitment programs thoroughly, maybe he could slip into an opening, considering the only history he wasn't familiar with covered merely the last hundred years.

There were plenty of schools hiring history teachers.

For example:

Chiba Municipal Sōbu High School, the very one Hachiman was starting at today, was currently hiring one history teacher.

Applicants had to be under 35—thankfully, he still qualified!

Then there were Toyonosaki, Suimei, Shōnan, Suzuran, Hyōtei, Teitan, Aohara, Hakuhō, Takeshita… Wait, seemed like something weird got mixed in!

Anyway, Ryōhei found out that due to the central government’s recent educational reform, the demand for history teachers had significantly increased. This was excellent news.

His odds as an older candidate had just improved dramatically.

Indeed, one’s success was determined by personal effort, but also depended heavily on historical progre—

At this moment, Ryōhei’s phone, placed on the tatami beside him, began vibrating persistently.

An unknown number stubbornly buzzed on the screen. Ryōhei picked it up.

“Hello? Who is this?”

An adult woman’s soft, timid voice, tinged with inexplicable apology, gently trickled through the phone like running water:

“Excuse me… is this Hikigaya Hachiman-kun’s father, Hikigaya Ryōhei-san? I am Yuigahama Asuna. I’m terribly sorry, um…your son was involved in an accident. He’s at Chiba Municipal Hospital right now—”

“Hah!”

Ryōhei felt his head spin. His eyes involuntarily darted toward the drawer containing the Fukuzawa Yukichis, his heart twitching slightly.

Was Heaven itself picking a fight with him?!

“Is…is it serious?” Ryōhei quickly steadied his rollercoastering emotions, forcing himself to sound calm.

There was no choice; he was the Hikigaya siblings' father now, after all. Better get the full story first.

However, judging by this woman’s tone, perhaps Hikigaya Hachiman wasn't too badly injured… probably.

...

Yuigahama Yui’s house was very close to Sōbu High—only about a ten-minute walk away.

On this opening-ceremony morning, since she lived right by Sōbu High, she’d gotten up early as usual to take her dog for a walk.

Then, the leash suddenly slipped from her hand.

The dog chased after a passing car, and she chased after the dog.

Since this little dog had gone wild, darting ahead on four legs without regard for anyone else, Yui was soon dripping with sweat, completely oblivious to the surrounding traffic.

Just as she was about to catch her dog, an unexpected force slammed into her from behind, sending her sprawling to the roadside in a messy heap.

Then, all Yui heard was the sharp screeching of tires and the horrifying thud of a heavy impact.

Looking up, she saw a black-haired boy in a school uniform sprawled flat on his back in the middle of the street!

She suddenly felt something wet on her delicate face. Looking down, she found a large pool of blood had appeared on the pavement at some point!

Her face, brown hair, blouse, skirt—all speckled with crimson.

An accident! Someone died! Waaah! Mom!

Yuigahama Yui, utterly helpless in a crisis, felt her limbs turn icy-cold, her strength vanish, her head spinning, heart pounding wildly, completely overwhelmed and drowning in the bloody scene.
The poor girl’s eyes rolled back, and her brain simply crashed, fainting right on the spot.

Careless dog-walking leads to tears for your family!

---

A/N: Suddenly thought—if Ryōhei remarried Mrs. Yuigahama, both Big and Little Dumplings would have the surname Hikigaya. The whole family neatly reunited!

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!