I Became Friends with the Second Cutest Girl in My Class - Chapter 96
Chapter 96 – Once Again, Asanagi’s Family (3)
The moment I realized that I was crying, everything became clear to me.
I had unresolved feelings about my family.
Accept everything that happened? Of course I couldn’t do that.
‘I don’t want you two to get divorced. I want the three of us to be together forever…’
I couldn’t say those words out loud. Not in reality, nor in my dreams.
For dad’s sake. For mom’s sake. For the sake of living a peaceful life. I had been making excuses and lying to myself.
I wasn’t envious of Umi’s family.
What I felt was regret. The regret of not being able to see this kind of scene with my family ever again…
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
But still, my timing was bad. I tried to wipe the tears away with my sleeve, but that action was counterproductive. My tears didn’t stop, instead they flowed even faster.
Daichi-san, Sora-san and Riku-san seemed perplexed. The three of them didn’t understand what was happening to me. After all, we had been having a good time and suddenly this happened.
Umi understood what was going on, but she seemed to be at a loss.
“Maki, take this first, and–”
“T-Thank you, Umi… But, sorry, I think I need to get some air and cool off my head first…”
“Maki!”
I took the tissues that Umi gave me before shaking her off and ran out of the room. I put on my shoes and left Umi’s house.
What the hell am I doing, even? I just ran aimlessly, not even heading home. I knew that people would be troubled by my actions, but I did it anyway.
“Seriously, what the hell am I doing? …They were treating me nicely but I went ahead and did all this…”
I wanted to become Umi’s lover, yet I showed her family my unsightly side like this.
It was embarrassing, shameful, lame and disgusting.
I’m so childish. I’m already at this age, but I still act like a spoiled brat.
“Maki, wait!”
“…Umi…”
I turned around to see Umi, dressed in her thin roomwear and a pair of sandals while chasing after me. She probably ran straight out of her house, ignoring her family to come after me.
“What are you doing? You’re going to catch a cold wearing those clothes! Go back to your home, I’ll be back in a few minutes!”
“Maki, you idiot! How could I leave you alone after seeing you like this?”
“…J-Just go. Don’t worry about me, I just need some time alone!”
“Shut up! Come here and follow me!”
Our age and height were the same, but Umi was much more athletic than me.
Based on our physical capabilities, it was obvious what was going to happen.
“Hah! Got you!”
“Ugh…”
She chased me up until the railway. After she caught up to me, she immediately grabbed my wrist.
She pulled me toward her side and our gazes met.
“…Idiot, your face is a mess…”
“…Sorry…”
“Don’t be… Come here…”
“Wa–”
She embraced me and pulled my face toward her chest.
Maybe it was because she was wearing a thin shirt, I could feel the warmth of her chest and because of that my heart beat even quicker.
“…This is embarrassing… I’m not a child, you know?”
“We’re high school students, we can’t drink, we can’t smoke, we’re pretty much children, so it’s fine if I spoil you like a child… Maybe…”
My face probably looked terrible because of my tears and runny nose, but Umi held me and refused to let me go even though her clothes might be stained because of me.
I could smell a sweet scent coming from her. It managed to calm me down.
“No one is around, so you don’t need to hold back. Don’t think of anything and let me spoil you, okay?”
“…Sorry…”
“The appropriate response in this situation is a ‘thank you’.”
“…Thank you, Umi…”
“Mhm.”
I decided to lean on her.
I buried my face on her chest and cried my heart out until I calmed down and sorted out my thoughts.
* * *
After I regained my composure, we decided to return to Umi’s house because I didn’t want Umi to catch a cold for staying outside for too long.
I then apologized to the three other members of the Asanagi Family who showed their concerns and went up to Umi’s room.
“Come here, Maki. My room’s a little messy, but we can talk alone here.”
“…E-Excuse me…”
She said that her room was messy, but it was much better than my room.
And of course it smelled much better too.
“Here, Maki.”
“…Mm…”
Once again, I buried my face in Umi’s chest.
She told me to not hold back for today so I obeyed her for now. I still had to apologize once again to Daichi-san and the others though.
I couldn’t remember the last time someone tried to spoil me like this.
“…Maki, are you still troubled about the matters with your parents?”
“Mm… I thought I’d gotten over it, but apparently not…”
I apologized to mom in my heart because I had to break my promise here. I decided to tell Umi about everything. The divorce, my exchange with dad and the time when I ran into Nitta-san.
Umi looked surprised when Nitta-san’s name came up, but other than that, she didn’t give out any response. She listened to everything while occasionally patting my head.
“…I see. You did great, Maki. Come to think of it, you’ve been busy since the start of December, haven’t you? Planning out the Christmas gathering, Seki’s idiocy, the final exam, the upcoming Christmas party, Minato-san and your parents quarrels… You have to deal with a lot of things, huh?…”
“Half of those are the things I started though.”
“Right, but you’ve been pushing yourself, so it’s fine for you to stop enduring everything by yourself. I mean, if this didn’t happen, you would probably keep everything bottled up, right?”
“…Maybe…”
I would probably spend the rest of my life lying to myself, hiding my true feelings and pretending not to notice them.
Luckily that didn’t happen thanks to this girl in front of me. And thanks to her, now I’m being pampered like a child…
…Honestly, I don’t know which one is worse, living in misery or embarrassing myself in front of the person I love…
“Anyway, don’t think too much for now. Relax, get a good night’s sleep and eat your fill after you wake up, you’ll feel a lot better after that. You haven’t been sleeping much lately, have you?”
“Mhm… But I think I can have a good night’s sleep tonight…”
“Is that so? Then, go to sleep. Leave the rest to Mom and I.”
If she said so, then I wouldn’t hold back.
I still had to apologize to her whole family tomorrow, but that could wait until after I regained my composure.
I guess the dogeza practice I did with Nozomu could come in handy later.
“Then, good night… Thank you, Umi…”
“Mm. Good night…”
Maki, I’ll always be by your side…
Umi whispered something in my ear as I fell into a deep sleep in her arms.
TL: Iyo
ED: MaltedBarley
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Meteor
Many people says that his father is the one at fault but tbh both his parents are at fault. Their selfish quarrel led to their divorce which left a huge impact on Maki. Both decided to saperate out of their own selfish reasons and say that maki wouldn’t understand when they themselve failed to see their own child’s selfish demand to be with his both parents.
Tsurgy
Well this is good, he finally let it out
Vdisco
Hhmm… vejo possibilidades de merdas!
BakaSID
I like this a lot but it’s boring that there is no other POV’s
Sengoi
best girl
Usagidon
Seeegggss
Sengoi
chill dude
gabs1bb3
Looks like the root of all problem is Maki’s mother. After the dad lost custody of Maki and gave her money to raise him properly she just got stubborn and became irresponsible, not giving him enough time and affecting him mentally. You can see from the scolding she got from the father and her mental state now. ….
ephemeral
hard agree. she ruined her and her son for worthless pride
ShionVaynex
It’s a bit unfair to put it on the mother.
Maki probably figured it out. As noted he saw his father as pathetic in the restaurant.
I think how things came to is because of the father.
Father is being treated with by his subordinate who is in love with him.
And like maki did with umi.
The father developed a soft spot for her.
But this lead to.
Either the father comparing mom with subordinate.
Or mom calling out on that subordinate.
And the father reacted not well. As if his integrity was questioned. Leading in to fights and eventually divorce.
Meteor
I think she was worried, just like how he replace her with another women in the time span of one month, and he’ll probably marry his subordinate and eventually have kids with her. What are the chances that he won’t support them financially if that happens.
Kiyotaka Ayanokoji
I understand why he cried but man, if I ever cried in front of my girlfriend’s family especially the first time meeting them, I’d actually end myself. The amount of embarrassment alone would kill me because of the utter shame. Thanks for the chapter.
Meteor
It was totally unconscious, just like how we blink without thinking about it 😅.
Probably.
I think I understand it now, a few chapters ago when Maki said “But today [Maki’s father] is the most pathetic adult he’s ever seen” Maki wasn’t being stupid or ignorant of it being completely morally correct as the relationship started after the divorce. No, he was being selfish. Maki always appreciated the family moments they share together and loves his parents dearly. However when the family he loved separated, he went into a state of shock, denial and finally blame. He found out that his father is in a relationship, he blames it on his father. This showed his lingering feelings and the fact that he hasn’t accepted the family had already separated. His father wasn’t pathetic, Maki was just being an unreliable narrator and him still not accepting and moving on.
I think a quote from How to Raise Your Regressor sums this up the best “So what? Are you going to blame the table lamp for having a more fulfilling life than you?”. This quote is very special to me as I feel it fully sums up the flaws of blaming others. Yeah blaming helps relieve but does it do anything?
Am I angry towards Maki? No. I am happy. I’m happy the author shows Maki’s flaws as a human and his human reaction in the state of denial. Furthermore this chapter shows that Maki fully understood his lingering feelings with the help of Umi. With this, Maki will accept his family situation now and come to terms with it.
Thank you for translating this novel and this amazing chapter.
durende
This take makes the most sense to me out of all the takes here – nice
Drundea
Dogeza training is paying off lol
Thanks for chapter~
MG1T30
~~~ Thanks for the meal !
Thanks for the chapter!
mighthose
Oh. I know well how maki feels but i got over it by college.
Kiritsuna
Ahhhhhh, now I know the feelings I was having towards Maki… He was acting like your usual rom-com heroine.
They went against the rules, the running thing is supposed to be the other way around.
In all seriousness, after this chapter, I’ll repeat. I don’t know the reason people got mad at Maki because of how he was acting towards his family. Not everyone can act the same in that situation, do people not know about empathy?
At least recognize that he recognizes he’s acting like a brat.
P.D: As always, thanks for the translation Iyo <3 and editor-san as well
bunnybacon
His reaction is excessive to the point of being far-fetched. In terms of being “empathic”, he would have seen his family falling apart and seen them being unhappy to the point where he was dreaming about it. Its unbelievable to assume that their life was sunshine and rainbows before suddenly they got divorced. Then, despite both parents trying their best for his sake, he reacts with “I hate him”. This new chapter makes more sense. Cry for the loss of the family cohesion you desire, but the finger pointing and sudden hate on his father is going too far particularly considering the relationship they previously had.
Iyo
i think i have to clear this out
he doesn’t hate his dad, he was just disappointed at his indecisive attitude, during that time when he said he hate his dad, it was a spur in the moment thing, basically his emotions blinded him at that moment and made him spit those words out toward his dad, as evidenced on the very next chapter, he still loves him, that’s why he didn’t straight up say ‘i wanna be with mom’ inside the dream
there are too many comments saying things like this and completely missed the point of the dream scene, though to be fair, the raw has so many implications like this and it’s really hard for me to convey it in english, so you could blame me for that
i usually give out explanations in the discord, so if you wanna ask me about those things, you can just ping me there
Kiritsuna
Ah, maybe it’s because of that that I was having trouble understanding the raws… Yes, let’s put the blame there jajajaja.
I had a feeling he truly never hated him, after all he was still thinking positively about his father. We all had a moment in which we exploded and said/did something over the top
Kiritsuna
Ah, maybe it’s because of that that I was having trouble understanding the raws… Yes, let’s put the blame there, it’s not because I’m still not good at Japanese, jajajaja.
I had a feeling he truly never hated him, after all he was still thinking positively about his father. We all had a moment in which we exploded and said/did something over the top.
I still don’t think his reaction was excessive nor far-fetched, not everyone has the mental maturity to think things rationally or control their feelings. And everyone has different ways of dealing with that kind of stuff. The important part of all this is that he finally started accepting things.