View source for Act 7/Episode 20

{{#css:User:Yaycupcake/readermode.css}}
{{TextTools}}
<table class="storytable">
<caption>{{ROOTPAGENAME}}<br />Episode 20: Boyhood Collage 3 / Fushimi Omi</caption>
{{Story Nav|previous=Act 7/Episode 19|next=Act 7/Episode 21}}
<tr>
<td colspan=3>
<table class="storybodytable">
{{Line|character=Omi|border=omi|dialogue=''Because my surroundings changed so suddenly, I needed to grow up fast.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''My mother died, and dad became an empty shell.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''He managed to continue working, but he completely lost his feelings and expressions. He couldn't take care of his kids, much less care for the house.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''My brothers were still young, and didn't understand that our mom had passed away. They were just so anxious.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''Our family became four men, and a dark mood blanketed the house.<br>Even as a young child, I understood that we were teetering on the brink of collapse.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''I need to be reliable—I'm the oldest brother.<br>That's what I thought, so I told dad, leave the house to me.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''I taught myself how to clean, cook, use a knife, and make miso soup.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''Every day on my way home from school, I would go shopping for dinner. Once I got home, I'd clean, do the laundry, and make dinner.<br>Once that was done, I'd prepare dad's bento for the next day....''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''I didn't join any clubs or do any after-school activities at my elementary school.<br>I didn’t even hang out with my friends; I single-mindedly focused on household chores.''}}
{{Line}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''Those days continued until one day, something snapped within me.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''What set it off was something small.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''My brother wouldn’t eat the dinner that I made. He said, “I want to eat Mama's cooking.”<br>Of course he longed for his mother.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''Usually, I would've been able to soothe him, but in that moment, I couldn't say a word.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''The next day, after school, I bought the ingredients for nikujaga—something our mother made all the time. But I stopped in my tracks on the way home.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''I headed in the opposite direction of home, carrying the groceries with me.<br>I made it to the riverbed, sat down, and watched the sun set.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''(What are dad and my brothers doing right now? Maybe they’re getting hungry....)''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''(But my second brother always says he wants delivery pizza. They might be getting pizza together.)''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''When I thought about it like that, everything I'd been doing made me feel like a fool.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''If you put your clothes out for cleaning, you can get smooth, clean clothes.<br>Food, too—a combini lunch tastes better than the stuff I make.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''But I... every day, I worked hard, like an idiot, without doing anything I really wanted to do...<br>Before I knew it, those thoughts drove me to sleep.''}}
{{Line}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''I woke up to someone shaking my shoulders. In front of me stood a boy with sharp eyes.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''"...Hey, are you running away from home too?"''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''He was around my age. He introduced himself as Nachi.<br>Apparently he attended a different elementary school in the neighborhood.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''"I'm running away from home too. I do it all the time, though. Cuz my parents are always out late working."<br>"You're always running away from home?"<br>"Double digits now! I'm a real pro, so I can teach you all about it"''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''This professional runaway was so funny that I began to tell him why I had run away from home.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''"Sounds fine. You should skip out on that as much as you want."<br>"But..."<br>"You haven’t gotten a break up till now, so they're not gonna complain if you skip as much as you want. You should go back to it whenever you feel like it."''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''Nachi's casual words moved me.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''"Haven't you heard of a five-day workling?"''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''He got it wrong with such a proud look on his face—it was so funny that I laughed out loud.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''After laughing for a while, he asked me if I really wanted to skip out. That's when I realized that that wasn't really the case.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''Just as dad immersed himself in work, I focused on housework so I could forget the sadness of my mother passing away.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''By working hard for my family, I might have been desperately calling out to my mother in heaven.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''“We're all right on our own. You don't have to worry about us.”''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''I think I was putting my own heart at ease.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''"I think I'll hold off on skipping as much as I want for a while."<br>"Why?"''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''Maybe, one day, my brothers will grow up, and I'll stop having to worry about dad. Maybe then I'll really want to skip.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''That's probably a sign that my mother in heaven feels at ease. A sign that she's telling me, you can rest now.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''So, until then....''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''"Well then, when that time comes, I'll join you."<br>Nachi said, and grinned.''}}
{{Line}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''It was midnight by the time I said goodbye to Nachi and headed home. But my dad and brothers were all awake, waiting for me.<br>When I took off my shoes, my dad apologized: sorry for leaving all the chores to you up till now.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''He said he'd buy something at the combini, but it felt like a waste not to use the groceries I bought, so I made us a midnight meal.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''The miso soup I made then tasted absolutely delicious, and my brother said, "it tastes like Mama's cooking."<br>We drank the rest of it without a word.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''From that day on, little by little, my father began smiling again, and my brothers began helping me out with chores.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''The dark feelings that had piled up within the house began to disappear bit by bit.''}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=''—I forgot about that professional runaway until we met again in high school.<br>My escape brought my family together—and allowed me to meet my one and only best friend.''}}
{{Line}}
{{Line|character=Omi|border=omi|dialogue=I think I’m like a mother because I tried to act like my image of an ideal mother.}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=The MANKAI dorms are like a family—we live together and eat together. That’s why I treat everyone younger than me like my little brothers without even thinking about it.}}
{{Line|border=omi|dialogue=I think that’s what was throwing you off, Azami. I’m sorry. I’ll try not to—.}}
{{Line|character=Azami|border=azami|dialogue=It’s fine.}}
{{Line|character=Omi|border=omi|dialogue=Eh?}}
{{Line|character=Azami|border=azami|dialogue=You should stay as you are.}}
{{Line|border=azami|dialogue=I already said this. I just didn’t know how to react... It’s not like I hated it.}}
{{Line|character=Omi|border=omi|dialogue=—I see.}}
{{Line}}
{{Line|character=Azami|border=azami|dialogue=....}}
{{Line|character=Omi|border=omi|dialogue=You’ll help me wash the dishes? Thanks.}}
{{Line|character=Azami|border=azami|dialogue=...The meal. It was good.}}
{{Line|character=Omi|border=omi|dialogue=I’ll make your favorite dish next time. Let me know if you have any requests.}}
{{Line|character=Azami|border=azami|dialogue=...Shishito peppers on a skewer.}}
{{Line|character=Omi|border=omi|dialogue=Refined taste, huh. Then let’s have deep-fried skewers for dinner tomorrow.}}
{{Line}}
{{Line|character=Juza|border=juza|dialogue=....}}
{{Line|character=Tsuzuru|border=tsuzuru|dialogue=....}}
{{Line|character=Kumon|border=kumon|dialogue=Looks like they made up.}}
{{Line|character=Juza|border=juza|dialogue=You’re right.}}
{{Line|character=Tsuzuru|border=tsuzuru|dialogue=What kind of trick did you use?}}
{{Line|character=Kumon|border=kumon|dialogue=I taught him how to say sorry when you can’t do it with words. Whenever I couldn’t apologize to mother, I’d dodge the issue by washing the dishes.}}
{{Line|character=Juza|border=juza|dialogue=Well done.}}
{{Line|character=Tsuzuru|border=tsuzuru|dialogue=Looks like Autumn Troupe can work smoothly together now.}}
</table>
</td>
</tr>
{{Story Nav|previous=Act 7/Episode 19|next=Act 7/Episode 21}}
</table>
{{Translator|name=Healingbonds|link=}}
[[Category:Main Story]]