Uncle Hikigaya is Forever Young [31]

Hikigaya Komachi had been gloomy, visibly downcast, for two or three days ever since her mother, Tōma Kazusa, had dropped by.

Ryōhei, being an adult with plenty of experience from his past life, understood children's minds pretty well.

He didn’t even need to ask to know exactly what Komachi had spoken about with her mom—one glance was enough to see the full picture.

This cheerful, innocent child was obviously still clinging to some hope that her parents might reconcile.

Sigh... Poor thing.

Well, Ryōhei wasn't angry at all.

It was understandable. For a child Komachi's age, having such humble, fragile hopes was completely normal. Rather, it would be far stranger and far too mature if she didn't have those hopes.

So, even though Komachi had been deliberately avoiding him these past few days—perhaps afraid of being lectured—Ryōhei genuinely had no intention of scolding her.

Wanting to be a single mom or single dad was truly a technical job, requiring an iron will, complete preparation, psychological resilience above average, and an unyielding spirit and perseverance.

Ryōhei felt that any single mom or dad who successfully raised their kids to adulthood was a hero of extraordinary strength—practically superhuman.

It wasn't that the original "Hikigaya Ryōhei" was useless. After all, everyone had times of despair, something outsiders could never fully understand.

In these two days since Kazusa left, Ryōhei had seriously thought it through.

Reconcile with Tōma Kazusa?

Ridiculous!

Just imagining it made his skin crawl!

Reconciliation was impossible. Impossible in this lifetime!

A forced marriage would never be good for the kids, anyway.

Besides, although she was indeed beautiful, he really couldn't force himself to be nice to that kind of woman anymore.

He wasn’t some eighteen- or nineteen-year-old boy anymore; even though he still appreciated a pretty face, he understood priorities far more clearly now.

Ryōhei felt that what hurt children of divorced parents the most wasn’t the divorce itself but the never-ending fights afterward, parents weaponizing the children against each other, endlessly pulling and tearing. Each such incident was like rubbing chili powder (and not even clean chili powder!) into a wound.

Why chili powder and not salt? Because salt could disinfect, whereas parents doing that would only cause the wounds to rot further.

That was why Ryōhei decided immediately that day—just walk away and refuse to talk to Tōma Kazusa.

In a while, after Komachi’s mood improved, he would find an opportunity to make things clear.

"I'll find you a nice new mom in the future."

Though these words might seem cruel, choosing the lesser of two evils was necessary. If anyone was to blame, it was her girlish-hearted mom who’d abandoned her good life.

The current Hikigaya Ryōhei was definitely not someone who hesitated and suffered unnecessary chaos.

...

Recently submitted résumés hadn't all sunk without a trace.

Maybe his age on the résumé wasn’t a plus, and he couldn’t list any teaching experience, but a degree from Tokyo Gakugei University was still enough to earn him a chance at a trial lecture.

From there, it would be down to luck.

If the interview required him to lecture on history from a century ago, he might still have a chance.

"Dad has an interview today. You two stay at home. Komachi, if you’re going out to play, make sure you tell Hachiman beforehand—where you’re going and when you’ll be back."

This weekend was the scheduled time specified by the interview notice.

To ensure his energy, Ryōhei had gone to bed two hours earlier last night, a rarity lately since he'd usually spent two or three hours each night reading.

In the morning, he found the original Hikigaya Ryōhei’s suit and put it on.

Fortunately, this suit must have been bought before the body had grown a beer belly.

Otherwise, even his currently fit self wouldn’t have been able to wear it.

Although he wasn't exactly unable to afford a new formal suit right now, buying a good one would severely drain his limited funds.

After repaying Miura’s loan and covering daily expenses, his savings had dwindled sharply once more.

He was still struggling just a few millimeters above the poverty line.

"Do your best, Papa!" Komachi encouraged him at the entrance, raising her tiny, pink fist. Another weekend had arrived, and her spirits seemed fully restored.

At first, she hadn't liked this current house very much. It felt shabby, nowhere near as nice as their previous home. Thankfully, Komachi was fundamentally optimistic and obedient.

"If things work out, we can move to a bigger house," Ryōhei gently stroked Komachi's soft hair and playfully pinched her still baby-fat cheeks.

"Ah, Komachi doesn't really want a bigger house anyway! Hehe!" the little girl giggled, comfortably swaying her head beneath her father’s hand.

Meanwhile, Hikigaya Hachiman remained the same as always, perpetually half-dead-looking, to the point that even sharing the same twenty-odd-square-meter room made it easy to selectively forget his presence.

Probably some kind of adolescent psychological issue. At least he was low-maintenance.

...

Out of ten résumés he'd sent out, this junior high was the first one that had responded with an invitation to interview.

Hopefully not the last one.

Riding the train, Hikigaya Ryōhei silently prayed.

He kept his mindset realistic, not expecting to land a history teacher position on the first try.

Finding a job was tough.

"Life is like this—it's better not to hold preconceived notions, but rather to try your best and persist slowly. Dreams seem no longer like stars on the horizon, glittering yet unattainable. Instead, they appear within reach." Someone once said this.

All right—Ryōhei didn’t believe any of that empty motivational garbage.

Life was cruel. Dreams hardly ever came true, and effort rarely paid off.

All roads might lead to Rome, but some people were born already in Rome.

No matter how diligently you worked, it might not even measure up to a random fart someone else let out.

This seemed closer to reality.

The original "Hikigaya Ryōhei" had probably collapsed mentally precisely because of his mindset, not because his circumstances had truly become hopeless.

After all, he had obedient, understanding kids, decent friends, and still some strength left in himself.

It must have been the overwhelming feeling of loss that destroyed him.

The middle school interviewing him was pretty far from Chiba. It took over half an hour on the train, plus a bus transfer before finally arriving twenty minutes ahead of schedule at the target school.

"Hello, I'm Hikigaya Ryōhei, here for the interview. Here’s my documentation."

After presenting his printed admission slip to the security guard at the gate, Ryōhei smoothly entered the rather prestigious-looking junior high school:

Teitan Junior High.

Everything afterward went smoothly.

Today was specifically for teacher recruitment, so many applicants were gathered in a designated waiting classroom.

Most were young, but there were a few middle-aged people like Ryōhei as well.

Times really were tough.

When it was time, applicants were divided by subjects into different classrooms for a professional knowledge written test.

Ryōhei received his exam paper. Glancing down, he saw only four essay questions:

[1. Briefly summarize the history and current status of the Britannian Empire.]

[2. How would you evaluate William V’s current policies?]

[3. What impact did the establishment of the State of Shun have on the Far East geopolitical landscape?]

[4. Design a lesson plan for a new class themed "Blue Mermaid."]

He exhaled.

I can do this!

---

T/N: first gundam names... now code geass? gulp

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!