Father

Akira returned home, only to be scolded by his father. His father was furious that Akira hadn't come home on time while their relatives had visited.

Akira, irritated, replied,

 “How was I supposed to know they came to our house? They're just useless people. I don't want to give them any importance.”

His father snapped back,

 “They are very important to us. We should respect them from now on. Don’t disrespect them.”

Akira began to lose control.

“No one gave me their shoulder when I was broken. No one gave me a helping hand when I needed it. They're not related to me in my eyes, and neither are you.”

After some heated debate, Akira stormed off to his room and locked the door.

Akira’s father, known by most only as Kurobara, is often ignored or disrespected—even by his own relatives. After the death of his wife, he quit his job at a construction company and began working as an office cleaner. Despite holding a Master’s degree, he never told anyone about it. Akira believes his father is jobless, and society treats him the same way.

The next morning, Kurobara quietly got ready for work. Akira, still angry, didn’t come out of his room. At one point, Kurobara opened the door slightly to check if Akira had eaten but found him asleep. Before leaving, he went to his late wife’s photo, gave a gentle nod, and stepped outside. He paused outside Akira’s room, took a breath, and left.

As Kurobara stepped out, a neighbor greeted him,

 “Good morning!”

Kurobara didn’t respond. The neighbor mumbled,

“Seeing that man first thing in the morning is bad luck.”

But Kurobara didn’t care.

He made his way to the metro station. On the train, he thought about his savings and remembered seeing young job seekers at interviews. He had once been like them—full of hope.

Kurobara arrived at the office. He greeted everyone, but no one responded. They didn’t even look at him. Disgusted looks followed him, but he ignored them—he was used to it.

He entered the janitor room and changed clothes. Then, he began preparing coffee for the staff. Alongside him were two maids who handled cleaning.

He walked to the boss’s cabin with the coffee. As he was about to place the cup on the table, a worker sneered at him:

 “There’s glue on this table. I bet you’d mistake it for sugar and mix it in your coffee.”

Kurobara silently cleaned the table and finished his task. As he handed coffee to the boss, the boss asked coldly,

 “Why does this coffee taste weird? Did you put sugar or glue in it? It’s full of sweetness but has no soul.”

Without warning, the boss threw the coffee cup at Kurobara. It hit him in the chest and spilled on his face. The staff laughed. One worker whispered,

“I saw everything. Why are you still here? Why didn’t you slap him back?”

Kurobara replied quietly,

 “There’s no point. I need this job for Akira. I don’t want to touch the money my wife left behind. One day it will help Akira.”

Another worker said,

 “But you have a good degree. Why don’t you use it?”

Kurobara replied,

 “That degree is worthless now. I don’t want to go back to that life. That degree only brought problems. My wife stood by me until the end. She told me to live for Akira. So I’m doing just that.”

He waved to the worker and returned to his duties.

That evening, Kurobara finished work, changed clothes, and left for home. He walked the familiar streets, whispering to himself,

 “My life is full of darkness. I try to find light… but I can’t anymore.”

But then, as he looked up, he saw a hole in the dark clouds. A bright moonlight shone through—like a blessing from heaven. He smiled and whispered,

“Yeah… still, there is an idiot in my life.”