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Chapter 5 – To Move Forward\nVolume 2\n<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide">\nIt was really good that she ate everything. But I don’t know if that change is a good thing or a bad thing. What I do know now is that she has accepted Enami-san’s feelings. What will happen after that is up to Mother Enami from here on out.\n
She reached for the glass again and drank some water.\n
Enami-san was just waiting for her words.\n
I, too, could do nothing but stand there, helpless.\n\n
“I’m tired.”\n\n
That was the only word that finally came out of her mouth. Enami-san seemed relieved and relaxed.\n\n
“Ah, then do you want to take a rest?”\n
“Yeah… I would like to rest.”\n
“Okay.”\n\n
She grabbed the dishes and headed for the kitchen to escape. She was really scared. Avoiding eye contact as much as possible, she began to wash the dishes.\n\n
“I envy you.”\n\n
The sound of her voice was almost drowned out by the sound of the water, but it still reached both mine and Enami-san’s ears.\n\n
“I’m tired already …”\n\n
Enami-san’s hand stopped. The sponges that were squeaking ceased to squeak.\n\n
“I’m really tired… I’m so tired and exhausted, I just want to sleep forever.”\n
“Mom…”\n
“Isn’t it great? You don’t have to worry about me anymore.”\n\n
Enami-san turned off the faucet. The sound of water disappeared.\n\n
“It’s good to be young. You can always get things back. No matter what happens, the energy that comes from youth will take care of it. Though it’s already late, I knew this day would come.”\n
“…”\n\n
Enami-san’s face remained downcast for a while.\n\n
“I’m not blaming you. I think it’s natural. It’s been a long time. I wonder if it isn’t strange that I stayed closed off till now. Just like what you guys have been thinking”\n
“That’s-“\n\n
I was about to argue with her, but then I realized that I had no words to say about this.\n
It’s true that I had always thought so. I wanted to find a solution to what had happened in this house.\n
But then again, this person and I are the same.\n
We are bound by the wedge of the past. No matter how hard I try to escape, no matter how much I know in my head that I shouldn’t drag it out forever, my body won’t listen to me. You can’t free yourself from the reality that the past is here and the present is there.\n\n
“It’s a lie that one can’t stay angry forever. Even if one can forget, every time one remembers, hatred and pain will well up. I want to get rid of those feelings, but my memory won’t let me. I’m getting tired of being controlled by these negative emotions, and I don’t care about anything anymore.”\n\n
Mother Enami’s eyes were closed.\n
The hand on her lap was clenched tightly. Her arms trembled a little.\n\n
“It’s not good for you to be like me, Risa.”\n\n
She opened her eyes again and looked at Enami-san standing in the kitchen.\n\n
“It’s a bit lonely, but I’m really happy for you. That’s what I really feel.”\n\n
And then she returned to that expression again.\n
It was the same lonely expression she had when she was looking up at the ceiling.\n
Finally, I felt like I understood part of Mother Enami’s feelings.\n
She’s already given up.\n
She gave up trying to escape her past a long time ago. In the past, Enami-san had been the same, and they had both been looking in the same direction. But now Enami-san had decided to move on.\n
It was a farewell, Mother Enami sensed.\n\n
“You’ve had a good encounter. Take good care of it.”\n\n
After that, she shut her mouth.\n
No one could say anything.\n
Enami-san placed the dishes in her hands in front of the sink, and last year’s desktop calendar, which must have been left there for a year, fell over.\n
Enami-san was stunned. I guess she never thought she would be hearing something like this.\n
The purpose of cooking this time was to cheer up Mother Enami. It wasn’t to tell her that they were parting ways. Instead of cheering her up, she must have felt frustrated when she saw her mother’s back curling up more and more.\n
Enami-san said,\n\n
“No, that’s wrong. I’m just trying to give mom a little nourishment..”\n
“It doesn’t matter either way. All I know is that I’ve figured it out.”\n
“You don’t understand anything. I did it for my mom, and I thought I made it with the intention of us working hard together from now on.”\n
“I’m sorry, Risa. I can’t get rid of the hatred I have for that person.”\n\n
Mother Enami looked around the entire living room.\n
When I arrived here, the situation was even worse. The curtains, the carpet, the tabletops, the broken furniture. In the end, it was only cleaned, but not fundamentally fixed.\n
The words from earlier and the scene in front of me must be the same.\n\n
“That’s why, you know. You’re the only one who can do something about it. This is the only thing I can say to you.”\n\n
Then she smiled a little.\n
It was a smile that was clearly straining.\n\n
“… I see.”\n\n
Enami-san said quietly, her shoulders slumping.\n
She resumed washing the dishes. The sound of the water coming out of the faucet could be heard. The fact that she is scrubbing the same spot over and over again suggested that she was still upset.\n
I was lost. I wondered if I should leave it like this. I was a stranger, but I wondered if I could say something from my own experience.\n
As if this was the end of the conversation, Mother Enami pulled out her chair. At that moment, I couldn’t control myself anymore.\n\n
“Please wait.”\n\n
She stopped at the halfway position she was in, as she was standing up.\n\n
Then, Mother Enami looked at me dubiously.\n\n
<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide">\nTN: only 3 chapter remaining in volume 2 main story.\n