My Father

“Daisuke just texted me that he’s going to tell our teacher tomorrow that I ate his homework, so that’s why he can’t hand it in”

“I KNOW. HE TOLD ME HAHA”

“Am I a dog to him?”

“He said he would tell sensei that you ate his essay and I was like ‘he’s not a dog!’ Then he said ‘are you sure?’ LOL”

“Now he said he’s going to make you the excuse lol”

“BRUHHH”

“I also said you aren’t a dog”

“Thanks”

“We should confront him tomorrow”

“Yes. Let’s do it.”

The next day, Kazuyuki and Fuyumi went up to Daisuke, who was very confused at first, but when they reminded him what he had said to them last night, he was almost terrified by the power the duo had over him at that moment.

Ever since Kazuyuki returned to school, he spent a lot of time with Fuyumi. Both online and offline, they would converse about their days. They would go to the library to study, eat together during lunch, and even after school, they would walk a short distance together before going their separate ways. Nowadays, it was easier for him to find her, and instead of disappearing quickly, she would stay behind after class and wait for him. They enjoyed being together.

One day, Ami assigned Kazuyuki and Fuyumi as the lead writers for the next school newspaper. This was their first time as the lead writers, but thankfully their senpais were there to give them advice. However, they did not have enough material for their article, so they had to find out more stories. Luckily, Kazuyuki knew someone who knew about a lot of things that happened inside the school.

Kazuyuki got on his knees and begged, “Help us, please!”

“Sano-san!”

“Sano-kun! You don’t need to bow!” Nori said

“So you’ll help us?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you so much.”

With Nori’s help, they managed to fill in the article on time. After they had published it on the website, they managed to relax.

“Ah! We finally finished.”

“Yeah.”

“Wanna get something to eat? Maybe we could go to the diner near the school.”

“Sorry. I think I’ll have to skip this time.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot that you don’t like to go outside much. Sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

Kazuyuki always wondered why she didn’t like going out, but he had decided that he wouldn’t ask her about it since it was her privacy.

When Kazuyuki got home, his mother informed him that his grandparents from his father’s side were coming to town to visit them. He was quite close with them, but he hadn’t seen them since his father’s funeral.

“You’re meeting your grandparents tomorrow? That sounds nice.”

“Yeah. It’ll be the first time I’ve seen them since my dad died.”

“Oh. I didn’t know about your dad. My condolences.

“It’s fine. I don’t really talk about him a lot anyway.”

“What was your dad like?”

A proud and hardworking man, Sano Hiroshi, husband to Sano Saku and father to Sano Kazuyuki, was a well-known novelist in Japan. He had written multiple pieces, including his most notable work, “Detective at Night”. He was acclaimed for his ability to captivate readers with his thought-provoking works that delved into the complexities of what was right and what was wrong. But to Kazuyuki, he was the father who threatened his mother countless times and criticised his son for everything he did.

Behind the pages of his captivating stories lay a deeply flawed character. He had struggled to balance his literary pursuits with the responsibilities of fatherhood, leaving a poignant mark on his son. He would also lock himself in his study, cutting off contact with his family. But when he did come out, he would also treat his family poorly. Whether it was due to the stress he had as a novelist or if it was simply how he was, he was never able to properly connect emotionally with his family.

When he died due to a stroke, Kazuyuki, who was in middle school at the time, admittedly did not shed a tear for the old man. Part of him had hoped he would die sooner rather than later, but part of him truly felt sad that his father was gone. However, even with his father gone, there was still a looming shadow that haunted him. He would never be able to truly escape his father.

The next day, Kazuyuki returned home from school to find his grandparents had already arrived.

“Kazuyuki! Look how big you’ve grown.”

“Hi grandma. Hi grandpa.”

“It’s good to see you.”

“Likewise.”

During dinner, the family talked about multiple subjects, but it was when the subject of his father was brought up that Kazuyuki began to feel uneasy.

“Saku, how have you been since Hiroshi’s death?”

“Ah. It took a while to get over it, but nowadays I feel much better.”

“It must have been hard having to take care of young Kazuyuki all by yourself.”

“We managed,” Kazuyuki said in a bitter voice.

“Hiroshi was such a caring and loving man. I miss him so much.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

“He loved you and Kazuyuki so much. He would practically do anything for you if it meant protecting the family.”

That was the moment Kazuyuki snapped. Slamming his hand on the table, he raised himself from his seat.

“Kazuyuki?”

“How could you worship him like that? Do you know what he did to us? To my mum? He neglected us at every corner. He treated us as if we weren’t humans. How can you say he was a good husband and father when he never cared about his wife and son in the first place?”

“Kaz-chan!”

“No. You know I’m right, mum. He only acted like the ideal husband and father when he was in public view. All he cared about was his reputation and books. He never gave a damn about us!”

“Kazuyuki, that’s enough! Sit back down.”

“No. I’m not going to listen to this anymore.”

In a fit of rage, Kazuyuki stormed out of the house without a jacket or proper boots.

“Kaz-chan!” 

His mother called out, but he was long gone. He had had enough of hearing people praise his father. He knew the true Hiroshi, and he was not how his grandparents described him to be.

He wanted to disappear, so he let the snowy storm take him.