Arina's mother turned her gaze down.
Her lack of reaction took me aback since I expected her to be surprised after hearing her daughter's confession.
Arina frowned at me. She was probably wondering if she misspoke somewhere. Her action was understandable. After all, if I were in her mother's shoes, I would probably laugh her confession off and say something like, 'You're too old to act like a middle schooler.'
"So that's what this is all about…"
"Have you already figured it out…?"
"No. But you're my daughter, even if you tried to hide it, I'd notice everything, you know?"
Arina's mother was smiling when she said that, but I could see grief in her eyes. It wasn't an expression one would love to see.
On the other hand, Arina was puzzled. Her eyes were unfocused. She was probably trying to think of a response. I poked her leg, trying to tell her to get her act together.
"…Do you remember back when it first started?"
"Yes…"
Her mother, once again, turned her gaze down and went silent for a few seconds.
"Back when you were in the sixth grade throughout the eighth grade… I realized that you weren't the Arina that I knew, but I knew that you were still you."
"W-Wait, are you trying to say that except for those three years, I was the Arina that you knew?"
"Am I wrong?"
"I don't know. I have no memories of my life before the ninth grade… By extension, I also don't know what happened to me before my sixth grade."
Arina's mother was sharp, she found out about the truth just by observing her. It was probably her love toward her daughter that made her able to do it.
But, Arina's story about her lack of memory was too much for her to bear. After all, those were the precious memories that she made with her daughter and now, she found out that they were lost…
Her mother then, bursted into tears.
"Forgive me, Arina…"
"Wait, mom? Why are you crying? There's no need for you to cry… Huh?…"
Seeing her mom like that, even Arina began to shed tears. Seeing both of them, I felt out of place. Did someone throw me into a chaotic realm by mistake? What was going on here anyway? Could anyone explain to me what was happening?
It hurts to see them cry like this, so I decided to speak up.
"Arina, you should go to your room and calm yourself down first. After that, you can come back here."
"…Mm…"
Arina slung her bag over her shoulder and stood up.
"Sorry…"
As she walked past me, she put her lips to my ear and whispered that to me.
I made sure that she was out of the living room before I started a conversation with her mother.
"Let me set this straight first. We're not in a relationship or anything like that, so please don't worry. I'm just here to help her fix her attitude at school."
"Firstly, sorry for crying all of a sudden… Is something wrong with Arina at school?"
"If I may be honest, she is a problem child. She kept hurling insults toward everyone and refused to communicate with anyone. How should I describe her? …Anti-social, maybe?"
"Is that the truth?…"
"Yes. In fact, I'm here because a teacher requested me to help her out… Also, I know that I might seem impolite, but, may I ask what happened to her in the past? If it's hard to say, Ma'am, you don't need to talk about it. I don't want to create unnecessary discord between your relationship with Arina-san after all."
"Arina's past, huh? …So, she forgot all about her past… It's probably for the best…"
"…So far, I've talked to two Arina-sans, the one we just talked to and the other Arina-san who was around back when she was in the sixth grade. The two of them had something in common, the lack of memories. From what I've seen, is it safe to assume that the first one is the original Arina-san that you've known since birth, Ma'am? I couldn't get the answer out from her since she convinced herself that she is a newborn personality"
Hearing my question, she had a troubled look on her face. 'Should I tell him everything or keep my mouth shut?' I could see from her face that she was struggling with that question.
I really didn't want to pry into this, but I had a feeling that things wouldn't change unless I did.
I pushed the feeling of guilt out of my heart and asked her once again.
"If you don't feel comfortable saying it out loud, then, you can write it down in a letter, Ma'am. Also, I swear that I'll never tell anyone about this. You can trust me on this, after all, I've never told anyone about Arina-san's mental state. When you've decided to write it down, you could send the letter to me at a later date, I could pay for the shipping fee."
"Don't worry, I'll give the letter to Arina later. I'll put it inside an envelope so she can't take a peek."
"Alright… But if you're reluctant to do it, please, don't force yourself to write it, Ma'am. After all, your and Arina-san's feelings are my priority."
"Thank you, Sui-kun. Please, take care of Arina for me."
"Yes. I'll do my best."
"But, Sui-kun, why do you care about her so much?"
I wondered why. I liked Arina, but not as a girl. She was an interesting person and I enjoyed talking with her, but I wasn't that attached to her.
Maybe I just wanted to help her? I've been living a rather lethargic school life for so long that I enjoyed the moments I had with her.
I didn't mind lazing around like a corpse while being mocked by my sister, but, I've come to realize that messing around with someone after school felt more meaningful.
Ever since my encounter with the girl named Hiwa Arina, I could feel that changes were happening to me.
I liked Arina. Maybe that was the reason why I wanted to help her. I didn't care about what would happen between us next, I just wanted to help her with all I got. That was my honest feeling.
"I help her because I want to… Is that not a good enough reason?"
"Hehe… That's amazing… I'm glad that Arina befriended a wonderful person like you."
* * *
I left the Hiwa household without saying goodbye to Arina.
It felt so refreshing. After all, I finally realized what kind of person I truly was.
Later on, I received an envelope from Arina.
Inside of it, was her mother's letter.
After reading through the content, I felt a pang of regret. The content of the letter was, simply put, horrible.