Just the Two of Us in this Vast World Volume 1 Chapter 1 part8

Chapter 1 — The boundary line, the marriage between a girl and a wolf. Part 8

When we arrived at my home, I took out my key after a sigh.

There was a small garden inside the walls, nothing special for a common house. All the houses around us were like this, with evenly spaced street lights shining down on all of them. The second floor was dark, and there was some light coming out from the other side of the glass door in the living room.

It was a silent house, as though its inhabitants had been turned to stone.

I could never come to like this place.

"Where's your room?"

To answer him, I merely pointed to a room on the second floor.

"Got it." He nodded. "I'll be on the roof, call me if you need me for anything."

He kicked off the paved road and after jumping over the fence, he climbed to the roof.

I suppose he planned to sleep on the roof, though I recalled that wolves usually slept in holes that they dug in the ground, or so I saw on a TV program long ago.

Though it would be preferable if he just slept in my room.

Maybe he was just too considerate, or lacked some common sense, or he just wanted to look out for the forest.

I sighed again and, after opening the door, walked into the unlit vestibule.

I didn't even think of saying 'I'm home', before involuntarily beginning to feel depressed.

Without doing much, I headed straight for the stairs.

There was light coming out from the living room adjacent to them.

I guess my parents were there. I had told my stepfather to build a door there since a long time ago, but he had never bothered to.

I walked as silently as I could and went past it.

When no one called out to me, I let my guard down. But that was too rash of me.

The wooden floor creaked loudly.

"Oh, welcome back."

"I'm home," I instinctively answered my mother.

Inside my head, I cursed at my own carelessness. It had been so long since I screwed up like this.

I heard something fall, probably a chair being knocked over. Then, my mother screamed.

"Saki! Saki! Where is Misato-chan! Bring Misato-chan back, Saki! Return my Misato-chan, Saki! Why, why are you such a bad girl! You are just jealous of Misato-chan, why are you so spoiled! You are just like that man, seriously, I swear! AHH---"

I ran up the stairs in a hurry as I heard my mother's voice decline into senseless screams.

Once she became like that, she wouldn't stop for a while. Still, my stepfather was normally good at dealing with her.

I swear, for just how long did she plan on thinking about that dead child and going crazy like that?

If the children of her new man were so important to her, she should just lock them up in a box or something.

I ran into my room and closed the door shut behind me, then locked it and slipped down to the ground, sitting there. I threw my bag to the side and took a deep breath.

It was a desolate room, with a bleak window, a bed and a study desk by the wall, an almost empty walk-in closet, two colored boxes and a dresser close to the corner.

For me, this was my only sanctuary.

There was no one else besides me here—the voices from outside didn't intrude here either.

Solitude and silence, everything I ever found necessary.

I hugged my thighs and buried my face in them, then grasped my black hair and took countless slow breaths.

After I had gotten rid of the emotions that were plaguing my face, I lifted my head again, putting on an imaginary mask.

My gaze shifted towards the window and I thought of calling Shiro for a moment, but in the end I decided to change my clothes first.

I loosened my scarf, took my black sailor uniform off, slid out of my skirt and placed it all on the hanger next to the dresser.

Then I wore my black bathrobe with a goldfish pattern, getting ready to take a bath. I then checked the time.

I had no choice but to wait inside my room until my mother went to sleep.

Chapter end