Uncle Hikigaya is Forever Young [66]

Not that Hikigaya Ryōhei ever deliberately spied on the Yuigahama household—though, from where he stood, their windows were indeed clearly visible.

Perhaps her husband was just often away on business?

Like Kōzō, for example.

He shrugged lightly, pushing aside his fleeting curiosity.

Mrs. Yuigahama was such a gentle and kind person, her speech always pleasant; Ryōhei had no intention of casually speculating about someone like her.

This morning was dedicated to cleaning the house; time to get to work.

The two younger children could help gather small items and arrange things here and there, but the main tasks still fell to Hachiman and himself.

Truthfully, Nakano-san really hadn’t taken much when he'd moved out.

Valuable appliances could still be sold for money, but the old furniture and miscellaneous items weren't worth much in this economic climate.

Nakano-san had been in a hurry to return to his hometown; staying here an extra month would’ve cost his family dearly in living expenses.

His parents’ old place back in the countryside already had everything he needed.

Not all of his things would be useful to Ryōhei, so the first task was sorting out what to discard.

Meanwhile, Akeno and Komachi enjoyed themselves immensely, treating this new home like a treasure hunt, helping Ryōhei discover potentially useful items.

The two girls enthusiastically emptied drawers and cabinets onto the floor, digging through piles and occasionally squealing with delight upon finding little treasures.

Before the bankruptcy, Komachi had certainly never lacked toys, but almost everything had been left behind when they’d moved out.

In these past two or three months, Ryōhei hadn’t bought her any new toys, either.

Most of the old furniture was still usable and had been kept. If replacements were necessary, that would come only after he received his salary from Sōbu High. For now, they had to make do.

Next were clothes left behind by the Nakano family. Items that couldn’t be used were sorted, neatly folded by category, and packaged by Hachiman.

These would later be sent to the community service center in Chiba, where Kushida-san worked—surely, someone there would need them.

Come to think of it, when Ryōhei had passed through Chiba Park recently, he'd noticed some unemployed, homeless people had already gathered there.

Some looked elderly and pitiful.

Then came books, papers, small trinkets, and other useless junk…

By the time everything was finally sorted out, Hikigaya Hachiman had made four or five trips between the garbage disposal area and their new home.

Though a bit tired, seeing the new place grow brighter and cleaner even brought out a rare, slight smile from him. It felt as though a heavy stone on his heart had gradually eased away.

After dropping off the last batch of trash and wiping sweat from his forehead, a thought quietly surfaced:

Honestly… living like this with Dad, my little sister, and cousin—working hard together—might actually be something worth being proud of.

If their days continued like this, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

...

Mrs. Yuigahama had spent the morning on her usual trip to the nearby market for groceries and daily necessities.

Yuigahama-mama wasn’t particularly fond of shopping. As a young mother, she actually preferred staying at home if given the choice.

But her daughter was different—whenever Yui accompanied her shopping on weekends, she'd chatter endlessly along the way.

Every time this happened, Mrs. Yuigahama would genuinely think: “This daughter of mine can really be noisy sometimes.”

It certainly wasn’t her first time noticing her daughter's particular traits. Rather, Mrs. Yuigahama understood her daughter very well.

Perhaps because of their single-parent family situation, though Yui appeared lively and cheerful on the surface, deep down she still struggled with feelings of inferiority, often overthinking every little thing she did.

Or rather, she was overly sensitive, somewhat glass-hearted, easily affected by others' opinions, and quick to feel targeted; outwardly carefree, yet bearing heavy emotional burdens.

Mrs. Yuigahama knew well—on one hand, perhaps because Yui’s father had passed away before she was truly old enough to remember, her daughter seemingly never expressed much regret about lacking a father.

On the other hand, perhaps Yui herself hadn’t realized it, but those very flaws in her personality might be the result of lacking the attention and care a father would have provided.

However, knowing this didn’t mean Mrs. Yuigahama had any clear solution to help her daughter overcome these issues.

Fortunately, Yui was still young, and these problems weren’t so serious yet.

In the end, she still had her mother to watch over her!

...

Normally, a task that would’ve taken an hour had doubled in time thanks to her daughter’s dragging along.

By the time Mrs. Yuigahama carried her basket loaded with fresh produce and Yui followed with two plastic bags, it was nearly half past ten.

At a corner roughly a hundred meters from their house, Yui—who'd been cheerfully holding her mother's hand—suddenly stiffened, swiftly ducking behind her mother's shoulder as though frightened.

“Oh! Hikigaya-sensei! Ah, and Hachiman-kun, Komachi-chan, Akeno-chan too! Is your family heading out somewhere?”

Before noticing her daughter's reaction, Mrs. Yuigahama had already seen their new neighbor, Hikigaya Ryōhei, approaching with a group of kids, just turning around the corner.

“Hello, Yuigahama-obasan!” chimed the two girls in unison.

Komachi and Akeno politely greeted her together, their adorable, sweet manners instantly warming her heart.

Hikigaya Hachiman paused briefly before offering a slight bow as well.

“Hello, Yuigahama-san! Returning from shopping, are you? Yeah, we spent the whole morning cleaning, so I've decided not to cook lunch today. I'm taking the kids out for a meal.”

“Haha, your children are all so polite and well-behaved! Yui, you see your teacher here—why don’t you greet him properly?”

“H-Hello, Hikigaya-sensei!”

The bun-haired girl’s cheeks flushed pink as she hurriedly stepped out, her posture stiffened nervously.

Observing the warmth and liveliness among Hikigaya-sensei and his kids, Mrs. Yuigahama couldn’t help but feel a small pang of envy.

Though they'd interacted only a few times, she could clearly see Hikigaya-sensei was a man patient with children—perhaps that was just a fundamental quality for a good teacher!

“No need to be so formal outside school! Yuigahama-san, please don’t be too hard on your daughter…”

The two adults seemed to hit it off a little, chatting pleasantly for another minute or two before finally bidding farewell.

Still hiding behind her mother, Yui sneakily glanced toward Hikigaya Hachiman. However, the dark-haired boy didn’t look at her even once.

Not deliberately avoiding her gaze—but genuinely not looking at her at all!

Isn’t he way too cold!?

She herself was more or less a popular girl, okay?!

Plenty of boys enjoyed talking with her!

...

“Mom, Hikigaya-sensei seems like a nice guy… Why did his wife divorce him?”

Afraid her mother might scold her again, Yui quickly rubbed her shoulder against her mother's arm, quietly asking once Ryōhei had walked farther away.

Hearing her daughter's words, Mrs. Yuigahama was momentarily stunned, just about to ask Yui where she'd heard this from—when her eyes caught sight of a strikingly beautiful woman with long, waist-length black hair and a tall, model-like figure ringing the Hikigaya household’s doorbell.

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This is a fan translation of 比企谷大叔永远年轻 by Stargazer All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!