Uncle Hikigaya is Forever Young [10]

Hikigaya Ryōhei actually had a younger sister married and living out in Nagano Prefecture, though it seemed like they hadn't contacted each other in quite some time.

This morning, while lining up, he'd idly flipped through his phone call records sorted by date and discovered a contact labeled simply as "Imouto."

Apparently, she was the married kind of sister.

Their last communication was about three months ago.

Thinking about it now, the girl he'd seen standing beside a younger version of Hikigaya Ryōhei in the old photo album must've been her.

As for Ryōhei’s parents in this world, both had passed away a few years ago due to illness.

It was somewhat regrettable, but honestly, this made him breathe a little easier. Parents always knew their own children best, and now he didn't need to worry about being discovered due to drastic personality changes and strange behavior.

As for this unknown sister, they’d inevitably meet someday, right? After all, something this major had happened in his family.

As for how they'd get along afterward… well, he’d cross that bridge when he came to it.

The phone number’s area code placed her in Nagano Prefecture, indicating they didn't often see each other.

While quietly sorting out the interpersonal relationships of "Hikigaya Ryōhei," on this pleasantly sunny noon, as he walked past a certain park, suddenly—completely unprepared—

"Hikigaya Ryōhei!!! Stop right there!"

A loud shout came from his left, not too far away. His reaction was slow, taking a moment to realize that the person was indeed calling out to him.

He turned his head to look.

It was a woman.

How to describe her?

At first glance, she had an elegantly graceful figure, but upon closer inspection, he immediately noticed problems.

Her face was exhausted, pale to the point of bloodlessness, her hands and legs trembling. Her whole body shivered uncontrollably.

Her makeup… Most married women of her age rarely came out looking so bare-faced, not even bothering with minimal cosmetics. Didn't women in this country refuse to step out without makeup?

"Um, you are?" Hikigaya Ryōhei turned to face her, cautiously asking.

"Haa?! Even if you’re afraid I’ll make things difficult for your dear Kazuha, there’s no need to pretend you don’t recognize me! You're really the type of guy who can endure his own wife running off with another man, huh?! Pathetic!"

The woman seemed extremely angry, her tone merciless. Ryōhei was initially left bewildered.

But this random housewife clearly knew a great deal about his—or rather, the original Hikigaya Ryōhei’s—broken family situation. Her barely contained rage and resentment whenever she mentioned "Tōma Kazusa," combined with the words practically stamped on her forehead—"I’m a resentful woman"—allowed Ryōhei to make an 80-90% accurate guess at her identity within about one second.

Especially considering that tearful, angry phone call he'd received just this morning.

Was she the other victim here?

Oh god, trouble.

He couldn’t help but glance at her from head to toe again.

The woman’s clothes were quite stylish—a slightly wrinkled beige knitted one-piece dress that complemented her graceful figure. Her eyebrows were thin and delicate like willow leaves, eyes clear as water yet filled with endless sorrow. Her sculpted nose was lovely, her thin lips pale, matching her complexion.

This sort of melancholy, sorrowful beauty was probably exactly this.

Of course, right now this gentle-looking woman clearly wasn’t at her best, probably having neglected herself for days, or even weeks. Thus, her overall attractiveness had dropped to about seventy percent of its peak potential.

But he could tell she was inherently attractive. With a bit of careful grooming, she'd at least match up evenly against his ex-wife’s vibrant beauty in those photos he’d seen.

Looking at her, he sensed this woman had too many emotions bottled up inside, weighed down almost beyond endurance.

"Hey! I’m talking to you! Tōma wasn’t with you last night either, right?! My husband wasn't home either! Don’t you get what this means? How can you tolerate this?!"

Seeing Ryōhei standing silently, Setsuna became even angrier. Ignoring her painful stomach, she strode forward and swung her shoulder bag, intending to hit him with it.

Kitahara Setsuna was definitely not okay right now.

She was on the edge of breaking down completely.

She'd had no one to confide in for far too long, so when she finally saw Ryōhei, something inside her snapped, causing her to blurt out everything at once.

Truthfully, Ryōhei simply had no idea how to reply to her.

Join forces to make their spouses change their minds?

Please, he'd already divorced her, okay?

Even if he hadn't divorced yet, he still wouldn't try to win her back!

Divorce!

The earlier the better, honestly!

Besides, it had been a whole month since their divorce!

If those cheating bastards had acted quickly and shamelessly enough, who knows, maybe there was already a baby involved!

Any marriage that required throwing away dignity to maintain wasn’t worth it.

"Um…Mrs. Kitahara, actually, Tōma Kazusa and I are already divorced."

Ryōhei lifted his hand, effortlessly catching the hysterical woman’s weakly falling wrist, calmly and matter-of-factly stating this.

To Setsuna, his calmness bordered on absurdity—as if he were merely stating something utterly irrelevant to him.

"So, whatever she does now has absolutely nothing to do with me. You’ve got the wrong person."

"Di… di… divorced?!" Setsuna’s mind exploded in shock. This news was overwhelming. After a blank moment, she felt as if she'd been injected with some sort of stimulant, her thoughts accelerating wildly, considering countless possibilities all at once.

"If Tōma is divorced and single now, doesn’t that mean she can openly be with Haruki without any hesitation?" Setsuna muttered to herself, making Ryōhei feel slightly awkward. This woman’s brain suddenly seemed frighteningly active.

"Uh, yes." Since he’d unconsciously adopted an observer’s viewpoint, Ryōhei carelessly nodded along without thinking, irresponsibly.

Setsuna quickly imagined what would happen next. Would Haruki propose a divorce now?

They had no children despite years of marriage, after all.

Thus, no lasting bonds held them together.

Wait, even having kids wouldn't guarantee anything—just look at Hikigaya Ryōhei’s situation.

"How could you get divorced?!"

"Tōma is your wife!"

"You just handed her over like that?!"

"Didn’t you love her desperately? Go get her back!!!"

"Don’t you have kids?!!"

"If Tōma’s divorced, what about me?! What’ll I do now?! I'm finished!"

After freezing for a few seconds, seeing the strangely detached expression on Ryōhei’s face, Setsuna lost control entirely. Ignoring the sharp pain in her stomach, she rushed at him like a crazed cat, raining down fists upon Ryōhei’s body.

She should’ve been an elegant, graceful lady, yet now here she was, screaming and crying, her messy hair swinging wildly like some street madwoman.

Passersby nearby immediately assumed Ryōhei was guilty of dumping her cruelly.

After all, given their similar ages, it wouldn’t be strange if they were mistaken as a couple.

---

T/N: sigh life

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!