I Quit the Going-Home Club for a Girl with a Venomous Tongue - Chapter 114

T/N: Just realized that the indexing will be weird. The timeline for this chapter is around the middle of chapter 114 of the original. This is where the progression of the story starts to differ. I’ll be following the original’s indexing instead of the revised one, so this will be the new chapter 114. FYI, this is chapter 85 of the revised version. 

Chapter 114 – Living Only for You

Asking for his condition? I didn’t have the heart to do it.

I was a mere stranger, I had no rights to brazenly ask about his condition from his family. Their pain was incomparable to mine after all, I had a conscience.

Ever since I received Tsuru’s message about him, my mood started to become unstable.

He should be fine. He would wake up one day and tell me one of his jokes again. This was Sui we were talking about, there was no way that he would stay like that forever. But, no matter how many times I tried to convince myself with those thoughts, my anxiety wouldn’t go away.

Little by little, my thoughts were dominated by despair.

I would never be able to speak to him again.

Nor would I be able to hear one of his jokes again.

And his answer, I would never find out what it was.

Sitting on my bed while hugging my pillow, I tried my hardest to drive the despair away. 

It was my fault that he became like this, wasn’t it?

I was the one who kept hurting him, hitting him like a crazed idiot. As a result of that, his body couldn’t handle the abuse anymore and broke down like this. It was written clearly in my notes that I quickly got violent whenever I hung out with him. Both Tsuru and Shirona confirmed that fact too. An intense feeling of guilt rose from inside my heart.

What a terrible person I was. My late father’s abuse should have taught me something about violence, yet what did I do to him? Exactly the same thing as what my father did.

This mood persisted for a whole week. I couldn’t concentrate on my studies at all because of it.

The only thing I could do was lay down in my bed while staring listlessly toward the sky outside. Tonight, I could see the moon floating majestically in the sky. The cicadas’ voice was the only voice I could hear. I closed my eyes and cowered. I should stop thinking. The more I think, the more I’d come to hate myself.

Suddenly, my phone rang.

I quickly picked it up and checked the screen.

Sakaki Ugin.

I put my phone to my ear.

“Arina-san?”

“…Yes.”

There was no trace of emotion in her voice. It was scary. She’ll start blaming me in a few seconds, I’m sure of it.

I braced myself for it, but her words betrayed my expectations.

“Can I meet you?”

*   *   *

Rattle, rattle.

It was the familiar sound of the train treading through the rail. I was currently inside the underground train. I noticed my reflection on one of the windows. I looked worse for wear. If Sui were to see me like this, I would be an easy target for him to tease.

Eventually, the train reached Sendai Station and I could finally get off. I walked to the escalator and went to the ticket gate.

It had been a while since I went outside, but this place still looked the same. Well, obviously there wouldn’t be any major changes in a few weeks. The lack of changes felt detestable to me, though. Isn’t the world supposed to move forward, regardless of the condition of the person that I love? Why the hell is it still like this? I’m being unreasonable, I know. Sadly, my emotion was unable to comply with my reasoning.

From the station, I went south. It was the familiar route that I always took whenever I went to school, except that my destination this time was different.

A general hospital.

I sat in the waiting room and looked around the hospital, trying to look for Sui. I knew that there was no way that he would be here, but it wouldn’t hurt to hope for it a little, right?

Half an hour later, Ugin-san appeared. It was around the time that I realized that I actually came a little too early.

“Here’s your visitor’s card, Arina-san. Wear it around your neck, please.”

After a light greeting, she led me through the hospital.

“I knew that I shoulda contacted you sooner, but things happened… I’m sorry, Arina-san, I left you hanging for too long…”

“It’s fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“Arina-san, are you okay?”

“…Yes, I am.”

To my surprise, instead of blaming me, she showed me a concerned look.

“Arina-san, you like my brother, don’t you?”

“T-That’s…”

“You don’t need to be shy, I’m a girl too, I understand your feelings. Thank you for that, Arina-san. Honestly, I’m glad that someone actually fell in love with that good-for-nothing older brother of mine.”

My answer to her words was a deep silence.

Eventually, we reached the elevator and entered it. Ugin-san then pushed the button to the fifth floor.

“My brother… He collapsed because of cardiac arrest. The cause was high blood pressure. Currently, he is in a coma because his brain suffers from oxygen deprivation, the side effect of the cardiac arrest. The doctor said that his cerebrum isn’t functional currently, but his brainstem and other organs are, so he is still pretty much alive… It’s just, he will stay this way for who knows how long. Honestly, I wish that everything is a poor joke…”

“…About Sui… I…”

“Yes, Arina-san?”

“He… Most likely collapsed because I’ve been hitting him…”

When those words left my mouth, Ugin-san grabbed my sleeve.

“No! It’s not your fault, Arina-san!”

“But, I…”

“Calm down and think about it clearly. Even if you hit him with all your might, he would still be fine. He’s stronger than you think, Arina-san. Even if he acted like he was in pain, that was just him messing around. He always overreacts to everything as a joke.”

“But, I slapped him in the face–”

“That is nothing for him. Like I said, even if he acted like your slaps hurt him to the point that he was dying, it was all but just an act. He called you a gorilla once, right? That was a joke. Seriously, he’s such an idiot. From the way he described you, he made it as if you were an oversized female gorilla and it shouldn’t take a genius to understand that he was just messing around.”

When those strings of sentences came out from her mouth, I started to tear up.

“Remember this, Arina-san. My brother is the strongest member of the going-home club in existence. He won’t go down from a mere mortal’s attack.”

Before entering his room, Ugin-san had a word with the doctor. The doctor then gave me the permission to visit him.

I stopped right in front of the door to his room.

Sakaki Sui.

His name was written on the nameplate.

As my feet were glued to where I stood, Ugin-san opened the door. She then entered the room ahead of me.

I cautiously followed her behind. There he was, laying down in a bed by the window.

“Sui?…”

His expression looked calm and he didn’t seem to be hurt anywhere. Underneath the patient gown, I could see his chest slowly moved, a sign that he was breathing properly.  It was as if he was sleeping. But, the presence of various medical equipment and tubes was a definite proof that he wasn’t simply oversleeping. This wasn’t one of his usual jokes either.

I sat down on the round chair beside him.

“Sui…”

Once again, I called his name.

“Whether he wakes up or not, it’s up to him. There’s still hope that he’ll wake up. Like I said, his brainstem is still functional, so his organs can still work properly, but… There’s a chance that it’ll stop working… And that would be the end…”

There was no hint of emotion when she said that. How could she be so calm when faced by the possibility of her brother dying? I was a stranger, but I couldn’t even speak properly, yet she…

“Arina-san, you should give up on him.”

I had no intention of doing so. I stood my ground and confronted her.

“And why should I do that?”
“Realistically speaking, there is only a very little chance that he will wake up. It has been a week and there’s no sign of it ever happening. In a situation like this, he would probably say something like, ‘There are billions of men in this world, so just forget about me and move on’ and I agree with that.”

“There’s still a possibility that a miracle would happen. I won’t give up on him that easily.”

“Even if that happens, he will still be affected by the aftereffect. The doctor said that he might not even remember about us and he wouldn’t be able to speak properly. There’s a chance that he wouldn’t be the same person as we know anymore.”

The way she talked… It reminded me of him…

He wasn’t an idealist. He wouldn’t talk about something like dreams or ideals. That guy only saw everything in the view of a realist. However, I was the opposite of that. I believed in dreams and ideals.

I believed that one’s dreams and ideals were a strong enough factor to change reality.

“About Sui… I love him… I really do.”

I shifted my gaze to Ugin-san. Her eyes widened in surprise.

“Ugin-san, I know that you’re saying those words to make me feel better, to make me move on with my life, but… I need him… I don’t think I could be happy without him by my side.”

“…Are you sure that you actually love him and it isn’t something like a slight crush?”

“Yes, I’m perfectly sure. Besides, I’m still waiting for an answer from him. I won’t leave him until I get my answer.”

Hearing my words, Ugin-san showed me a bitter smile as she started to tear up.

“I promised… Not to cry in front of him anymore… Yet…”

I will never give up on him.

Sui was the strongest member of the going-home club. There was no way that this would be his end. He will definitely wake up and I’ll be here waiting for him.

TL: Iyo

ED: Dodo

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