Chapter 424: My Redemption

Knock knock knock.

"Who is it?"

"It's me," Rinji said. "We met yesterday."

At the sound of Rinji's voice, soft footsteps came from within, and the door opened.

Amano Hina peeked out, looking at Rinji standing outside.

"It's you, Rinji."

"Yeah. I followed the address you gave me."

"Come in."

"Sorry to intrude."

Rinji stepped into the room.

The place Hina lived in was about the same as where Shirogane used to live—very small and cramped.

Still, despite its size, it had everything necessary and was kept neat and tidy.

As Rinji sat at the dining table and glanced around at the room's layout, Hina brought him a glass of juice and set it before him.

"You really startled me. I didn't expect you to come looking for me just one day later."

"If I scared you, I apologize."

"No, no, I was just saying. I was just surprised, that's all..."

Hina had already sensed it when they met yesterday. Rinji seemed to carry a strong sense of guilt toward her, to the point that he spoke very carefully.

According to him, her father and he were friends. Though Hina found it odd that her father's friend was only a year older than her, the feeling Rinji gave off was genuine.

She didn't suspect him of being a scammer or anything. A rich boy from Shuchiin Academy didn't really have a reason to deceive a poor girl like her.

"Um... where's your little brother?"

"Nagi? He's still at school."

"I see. Then have you already started summer break?"

"Summer break?" Hina paused, then smiled.

"You mean school? I don't go anymore. I'm the eldest in my family, so when our mother fell gravely ill, I had to start working. School just... wasn't an option."

"It's really come to that...?"

Rinji clenched his fist.

Because he had left Japan back then, the Amano family had suffered so much.

Thud.

Hina lightly tapped Rinji's head with a notebook, snapping him out of his guilt.

"I told you, stop making that face," Hina smiled. "This isn't your fault. You don't have to carry all this pressure alone."

"...I could've prevented this," Rinji said in a low voice.

After learning about Hina and Nagi's situation, Rinji couldn't forgive his past self for running away.

Calming himself a bit, Rinji asked, "Hina, after your mother passed, have you and Nagi been living alone?"

"Yeah."

"Didn't any relatives offer to take you in?"

Hina's expression turned somber.

"You know how it is. Adding a child to the family means an extra burden. Even if we had relatives, they didn't want the added expense... Some did offer to adopt us, but only one of us. That would've meant separating me and Nagi."

"So you turned them all down?"

"Exactly. Life's tough, but staying together with Nagi matters more." She smiled brightly.

"..."

It was worse than tough. Her situation was worse than Shirogane back then.

The Shirogane family was also poor, but at least there were three people working to make ends meet. It was tough, but they got by.

But Hina wasn't like that.

Her brother Nagi was still in elementary school, and she was the only one working. A middle school girl finding legal work in Tokyo was nearly impossible. The jobs she could get were under-the-table, like when she faked her age to work at McDonald's.

She had been found out and fired.

If she hadn't run into Rinji during the Hoshin Festival, she might have ended up working in a hostess club just to survive.

Someone from such a place had indeed approached her before. Who knows if they even realized the cute girl they were recruiting wasn't even old enough for high school.

All in all, Hina was extremely grateful to Rinji for lending her a helping hand.

"Actually, this time I came because it concerns your future," Rinji said. "I hope you and Nagi can come live with me in the Minato Ward."

"Huh?"

"Your current life is just too exhausting. I can't stand by and let this continue."

Rinji looked at the surprised Hina.

"Of course, it's just a suggestion. If you really want to stay here, I can still help you in other ways. Don't worry about money—there'll be regular living expenses transferred to your account. But I suggested moving to Minato because I go to school at Shuchiin, and it'd be easier for me to look after you two."

"Well… this is a pretty big deal," Hina said hesitantly. "I need to talk it over with Nagi when he gets home."

"No problem. Whatever you decide, I'll support it."

Rinji smiled.

"It's almost time for school to end. Let's go pick him up."

"Okay…"

Feeling warmed by Rinji's sincerity, Hina nodded.

Then, with a slight blush, she looked at him.

"Um… thank you so much for helping us. I feel like we're burdening you a lot."

"Not at all. For me, not being able to help you would be the real burden."

Rinji spoke with a tinge of sadness in his eyes.

"When I returned to Japan a few months ago, I remembered that Uncle Amano passed away on this land. I really wanted to ask him back then why he couldn't trust me a little more… and also, did he resent me for hiding my identity?"

Rinji cradled his cup as he spoke. Hina quietly listened beside him.

"Of course, as you know, he's no longer here. I can't ask him those questions. So I could only decide for myself… that I would never let his family suffer again."

Rinji looked into Hina's eyes.

"This is my redemption."