Chapter 35
The sun was slowly starting to set and all of them were starting to get tired, so they decided to go home except for Hotaru.
"Aren't you coming with us Hotaru?" Ryota asks.
"No, I have something else I have to do." She replied.
"Oh ok, Don't stay up too late."
"I'll come with you." Shou offered.
Hotaru hesitated on Shou's offer but Accepts it anyway.
"Alright, sure."
"Get home safely tonight you two." Said Ryota as he tries to catch up with the others.
"Hm? Where's the newbie and Hotaru?" Eiko asks Ryota.
"Hotaru said she'll catch up with us later since she said she has something else to do, so Shou accompanied her."
"Oh, I see, well good luck for the both of them I guess."
"What's with that halfhearted concern."
"No reason, I'm just tired."
"That doesn't give you a reason to say that kind of excuse..."
"Oh, Shut up already."
Meanwhile, Shou and Hotaru were still walking.
"So where are we going?"
"Oh, uh, To the department store actually, I just want to look at something real quick." She replies.
"Oh, I see, take your time then."
As the two of them were walking to the department store they were suddenly called out by someone shouting at them.
"Hey!"
Both of them turned their attention to the direction where the shouting came from until Hotaru noticed that the person who was calling them out was her father along with her mother behind her father. Her mother's face looked pale and full of regret and guilt as if she killed an innocent person.
"You..." Hotaru said in shock.
"You! Who are you!? And why are you with my daughter?!" Hotaru's father yelled at Shou.
"Me? I-" Shou notices Hotaru was frozen, recalling her trauma. Shou held her hand to calm her down a bit.
Hotaru immediately clearheaded as I held her hand.
"Shou..." She whispered.
Shou looks back at her and gave her a thumbs up. Hotaru lets out a small smile as she felt at ease with him.
"You damn brat! Don't you know that it's disrespectful to ignore your elders-"
"Daughter, you said?" Hotaru replied. "You asked him what he was doing to your daughter when you didn't even treat me as your daughter."
"What are you talking about? You're spouting nonsense!"
"Then what about the times you've hit me and almost threw a bottle to my face multiple times? Was that all nonsense?"
"Tch... Shut up! You're making things up now!"
"Making things up? You disgust me, I don't want to see both of your ugly asses ever again."
"YOU!..."
Hotaru turned her back on her father and walked away, dragging along Shou with his hand.
"Are you satisfied with that?" Shou asked.
"No, Honestly I want to beat them up but, I don't want to waste my time on them, but even so I still wanted to beat them up but... The location was a bit bad so unless my father tries to do something funny by trying to hit me again then maybe I could retaliate against them."
"I see, well I guess we'll just have to wait for an opportunity to happen Haha."
"Pfft, you... Why do you want to beat them up? They're not even your problem."
"I just hate those kinds of people regardless if it's my problem or not."
"Pfft, You're really...HAHAHAHA you're really weird, what are you trying to become? Some sort of vigilante hero or something?"
"Hey, are you being too mean to me today? I'm being serious, and that's not my only reason you know. I just want to start a fight you know..."
"HAHAHAHAHA! You? Starting a fight? HAHAHAHA! I get that you've started to get used to beating people up to a pulp but I can't imagine you starting a fight."
"...Whatever."
"You're even sulking HAHAHAHA!"
"Let's just go home already."
"We haven't even got to the department store dumbass."
"Ah, right."
The two of them finally went into a department store. The one that Hotaru was actually interested in earlier was a new set of street clothes that went on sale. Eventually, she bought them anyway even though she said she was only looking. As they walked out of the store they come across her parents again but they were being extorted and threatened by loan sharks.
"Oi, old man just give us the money already."
"As I told you countless times, I don't have it right now!"
"You do know that if a client is unable to pay us back in time including interest they'll be punished right?"
"What?"
"I guess you got yourself into trouble without knowing huh? I guess that's why old people are so easy to scam HAHAHA!"
Hotaru's father notices her daughter walking out of the store and ignoring her.
"There! That girl over there! She has my money!"
"Huh? Look old man if you're trying to make me look away and run for it, it's not going to work."
"I'm telling you she's my daughter and she stole all of my money."
"Daughter? Interesting... Then I'll accept your daughter as payment, although you still owe me half of the money you borrowed as I'm only accepting her as payment for half."
"H-honey! You can't do that to your daughter!"
"Shut up bitch! Don't go lecturing me now! Don't you remember? You also became mad at her and started to blame her for how miserable you felt because of her."
"..."
Hotaru's mother bit her lip in regret and guilt and agony to the point it was bleeding as she couldn't deny her husband's allegations.
"So just shut up and let them be, besides this is the first time our daughter became useful to us as she took half of our debt."
"..."
As one of the loan sharks tries to approach Hotaru and tries to grab her arm across, she suddenly chambered her leg and kicked him with a high kick, sending him flying 8 yards.
"I guess today is my lucky day because I get to beat up my father," Hotaru said with a grin on her face.