Uncle Hikigaya is Forever Young [18]

Tōma Yōko understood her foolish daughter well.

Unlike her, Kazusa still believed in romantic things like love. Yōko, twice divorced and still living a chaotic life, inwardly sneered at this—but never shattered her daughter’s pure illusion…

Regarding matters of love, Kazusa could be childish, stubborn, and sulky beneath her mature exterior; she carried a childlike, pure heart.

Not only in love, but in all aspects—contrasting her exceptional beauty, Kazusa was also an exceptionally maladjusted person socially. Back in her school days, she spent most classes sleeping, responded rudely to anyone showing concern, never spoke to others, and exuded a thick, dark aura that made people uncomfortable.

Despite possessing such stunning looks, she gave off an unsettling air—drawing a boundary around herself, never getting close to anyone, and always wearing a sour expression as if the entire world owed her money.

That had been her daughter in the past.

Until Kazusa met that boy, Kitahara Haruki… She discovered that even someone as stubborn, as flawed from growing up in a single-parent family as Kazusa, could change for a boy. Yōko just hadn’t expected that the relationships between three teenagers could become so terribly complicated.

...

“Grandma Yōko, Papa’s been working really hard at his part-time job every day!”

Komachi ran up and tugged at Tōma Yōko’s soft, slender hand, sweetly shaking it to ease the atmosphere.

Seeing her granddaughter being so affectionate, Yōko smiled faintly.

Toward Hikigaya Ryōhei, Yōko never felt much guilt, even though the opportunity that led Kazusa back to Haruki had been orchestrated by her… From Yōko’s perspective, back then Hikigaya Ryōhei merely seized the right moment, conveniently filling the emptiness in her poor daughter’s heart. Kazusa had only chosen him out of desperation for affection after being deeply hurt.

Ryōhei was too honest, dull, lacking any remarkable talent or charm—he had no idea what women really needed!

As a husband, he was nothing but a failure!

Yet, regarding her grandchildren—whenever Yōko thought of those two, she did feel a bit of heartache and helplessness.

Strictly speaking, she hadn’t initially wanted Kazusa to divorce Ryōhei, even though she’d intentionally arranged that “coincidental” reunion between Kazusa and Haruki. But if someone said she'd deliberately pushed Kazusa into divorce, destroying her grandchildren’s family life, she'd never admit it.

To be fair, Kazusa herself had chosen what happened afterward. Even Yōko had been surprised when her stubborn, unexpressive daughter took such an extreme step. She had contacted Haruki merely to cheer her daughter up a little.

When she found out Kazusa had divorced and, feeling guilty, given custody of both children to Ryōhei, she’d been shocked—and annoyed that her daughter had given them up.

Kazusa hadn’t even discussed it with her. Indeed, that was typical behavior of kids from single-parent homes. Yōko believed Kazusa’s mistake was not fighting for the children—after all, she had both the money and free time to help Kazusa raise them herself!

A month ago, she'd tried to visit Komachi and Hachiman, but had been rudely chased away by an emotionally unstable Ryōhei, who had acted like a pathetic loser.

He’d yelled at her so harshly that she'd waited all this time before thickening her skin enough to return.

But just hearing Komachi call her “grandma” filled her with delight, sweetening her heart like honey.

Well, being called “grandma” was unexpectedly amusing.

Though it reminded her of her age, she still felt happy. How curious.

“Alright, alright. Seeing Komachi this cheerful, Grandma Yōko is relieved. Oh, Komachi, would you like to stay at Grandma’s place for a few days? School starts in a week, right? How about I take you and Hachiman on a little trip? Think of it as your final relaxation before school.”

Yōko leaned forward elegantly from her chair, gently stroking Komachi’s soft little ahoge as she tilted her head.

Maybe it was generational affection, but though she looked down slightly on Hikigaya Ryōhei, she genuinely adored this adorable granddaughter, seeing in her a reflection of Kazusa’s own childhood.

“Hmm… Komachi really wants to go, but Papa said since school’s about to start, we should stay home and review our lessons.”

“Oh?”

Yōko lovingly pinched Komachi’s soft, slightly chubby cheek, murmuring thoughtfully.

That did sound exactly like something Ryōhei would say—such a dull, tasteless man. How could youth consist of nothing but books and school desks?

Wait a second… Grandma?!

Hikigaya Ryōhei had no idea Tōma Yōko was mentally criticizing him; he was currently staring incredulously at this woman who appeared barely past her early thirties.

Was it even possible for a woman to take such good care of herself?

Well, maybe it was possible. Judging by her clearly expensive clothes and the sports car parked downstairs—which was obviously hers—she looked radiant, like someone untouched by the wear and tear of daily life.

With enough money and a carefree lifestyle, maybe a woman could maintain such a youthful appearance indefinitely.

Ryōhei didn’t realize that even Kazusa herself sometimes jokingly called her mother a "monster," due to the extreme mismatch between her age and appearance.

What exactly did this woman do for a living?

A businesswoman?

Didn’t seem like it…

Yōko, slightly surprised by Ryōhei’s silence, gave her former son-in-law another long glance.

To Tōma Yōko, Hikigaya Ryōhei had always been a simple-minded, honest, and transparent man whose thoughts showed clearly on his face. She’d never respected him, even when he’d married Kazusa and had two kids with her daughter.

Yet today, she couldn’t quite figure out this silent former son-in-law. The previous Ryōhei had been easy enough to understand—to the point of boredom… But today, his ambiguous attitude since entering the room was genuinely surprising to her. She considered herself experienced in reading people, after all.

“A silent man always has a story.” The phrase suddenly popped into her mind, but she immediately rejected the notion. A nobody like Hikigaya Ryōhei…?

As a world-famous pianist who’d flown across five continents giving concerts, she'd encountered countless people in her lifetime.

“Ahem, Komachi, remember to call Grandma Yōko whenever you need something, alright? Well, I’ll be leaving for today. Someone here clearly doesn’t seem very welcoming.”

The beautiful woman stood abruptly, smoothing out the wrinkles on her clothes before shooting Ryōhei a meaningful glance.

She wanted him to follow her outside to talk!

Ryōhei immediately understood her meaning—this was adult conversation, inappropriate in front of the children.

Hesitating for just half a second, he followed Tōma Yōko out the door.

Komachi, curious, was about to follow, but Hachiman—with his usual gloomy expression—pulled her back. Whether or not it was caused by Grandma’s visit was unclear, as Hachiman always looked gloomy anyway.

“Komachi, stop causing trouble. It’s adult business from here.”

“Uu… okay… Papa won’t argue with Grandma again, right? Last time, he said Grandma was secretly plotting bad things behind our backs. But Grandma Yōko is so pretty, speaks so gently, and even brought us presents. She can’t possibly be a bad person, right?”

“Komachi, even if you ask me that, I don't understand either,” Hachiman sighed, scratching his hair in frustration. Thinking about their mother, who’d divorced their father so abruptly, he once again realized that he, as her son, knew absolutely nothing about the woman who should have been closest to him.

“Sigh…”

The siblings looked at each other helplessly, letting out identical sighs.

Even their matching ahoge drooped gloomily in sympathy.

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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!