Have Mercy, ■■■■, on Me 5

Once again in the present, at a park near ES

Hiyori: And that’s the story of my fateful encounter with Nagisa-kun!

Subaru: Ah—hey, Daikichi! I know you’re happy to be at the park, but that doesn’t mean you should just take off like that!

Nagisa: ...He must be very happy to play with Bloody Mary after so long.

...Fufu. Bloody Mary seems to be enjoying herself, too ♪

Hiyori: Oh, come on! No one’s even listening to me! What foul weather!

Hokuto: I was listening to you.

I’d already heard most of the story about Ran-senpai’s past, but now that I’ve heard it again, it really was a shocking encounter.

Hiyori: Thank you, Hokuto-kun...! I knew an upstanding boy like you would listen to me properly!

Subaru: Hey now, don’t get all bent outta shape, Ohii-san. I heard you just fine, too!

It’s just that Daikichi is going a little bit crazy, so I was having a hard time!

Hiyori: It’s not fair to blame it all on Daikichi-kun. An owner is responsible for his pet’s misbehavior!

Subaru: If you’re gonna go that far, then it’s the same with Mary, yanno.

She and Daikichi are both getting riles up, and Nagisa-san looks like he’s really going through it, too.

Hiyori: Mary’s a special case! It’s been a long time since we’ve taken her for a walk, so it’s only natural she’d have so much pent-up energy!

Subaru: Whaaat? It’s not fair if Mary gets special treatment!

But whatever, I give Daikichi special treatment all the time, too.

But I definitely was listening to you, Ohii-san. Got it?

It was kinda unexpected. I just assumed you and Nagisa-san hit it off from the very start.

But it sounds more like you weren’t all that interested in him back then.

Hiyori: Well, back then Nagisa-kun was just some creepy kid who barged into my house all of a sudden.

You wouldn’t be all buddy-buddy right away with someone under those circumstances, right?

Hokuto: I suppose so. But even still, it seems a little harsh.

Did you think Ran-senpai was annoying for taking up all of your time?

Hiyori: Wouldn’t anyone feel that way? I was just a middle schooler back then.

As a kid, time to yourself is the most valuable thing you can have! Other people usually come second, you know?

Besides, I already knew Nagisa-kun would leave the manor eventually.

Subaru: ? What do you mean by that?

Hiyori: Just what I said. We were just holding him temporarily until we found foster parents for him.

If he wasn’t going to stay here forever, why would I want to get deeply involved with him?

Hokuto: ...That sounds pretty lonely, I have to say.

Hiyori: I still feel the same way, though. I’ve told you this before, haven’t I?^[1]

I decided to be the “problem child” to make my brother look better when he eventually restores the Tomoe family to its former glory.

Hokuto: Really? It was so long ago I barely remember it. But I think we had a conversation like that?

But you laughed it off back then, didn’t you? Something about there being no complicated, tragic backstory like that.

Hiyori: Well, obviously. It’s not even a little bit tragic.

If someone had forced me into that role, then sure, but I chose that for myself, entirely on my own.

It will be my brother who inherits the Tomoe Foundation in all its decline. It’s simply impossible for me, as the second son, to have a chance at that.

But the world of the aristocracy is full of people always trying to undermine each other.

There are plenty of forces working against my brother, and that means my position is something they can exploit to no end.

Which is why I decided to become something that would make their attempts to do so a fool’s errand.

That’s my resolve: to become an incompetent, carefree second son, utterly useless to everyone around him!

Hokuto: ...Is that not a tragic backstory?

Hiyori: Ahaha, you call this sad? When there are so many kids out there suffering far crueler, far more hopeless fates?

Hokuto: ......

Hiyori: Well, it’s nonsensical to try and compare fortune like that.

Anyway, that’s been how I made my way through life as the Tomoes’ second son.

Since I knew that we would eventually part ways, I assumed that a healthy distance between us was most appropriate.

Though I can’t say for sure what Nagisa-kun thought of me back then.

Nagisa: ...I don’t think I thought anything at all.

Hiyori: Fufu. Really, now?

Nagisa: ...Yeah. During that time, I didn’t have the mental capacity to think about Hiyori-kun.

...I had been suddenly thrown out into the world; everything was too bright and colorful for me to handle.

...I was entirely overwhelmed trying to process such an expanse of information. I could not spare a thought for anything else.

...Hiyori-kun described me as a baby, and it was true. At that time, I was fundamentally an infant.

...The sights I saw, the sounds I heard, the textures I touched. I absorbed it all and learned from it.

Hokuto: Hm. How do I say this... even after hearing the story in detail, it’s difficult to process.

Subaru: Ahaha, you always overthink things, Hokke. You’re way too serious~

Hokuto: Mm... then were you able to understand it all, Akehoshi?

Subaru: Not even a little... ☆

But it’s fine, right? Ohii-san and Nagisa-san meeting each other is something that belongs to them.

Just knowing that it led to us all being friends is enough for me—

Whoa, hey?! Hang on, Daikichi! Don’t pull so hard!

Nagisa: ...What’s wrong with Daikichi-kun? He just dragged Subaru-kun off.

Hokuto: He probably saw something shiny. Akehoshi brings that up a lot.

Hiyori: He’s like a crow or something. I wonder what it is he found?

Subaru: C’mon, Daikichi. What’s gotten into you? First you yank on the leash all of a sudden, and now you won’t stop pacing around in this spot?

Hokuto: Do you think he’s found something buried here?

Subaru: Oh, you’re right. He’s great at finding buried shinies.

Hiyori: This place...

Nagisa: ...Hiyori-kun? Is something wrong?

Hiyori: No, I’m just thinking. What if Daikichi-kun found—

Subaru: Oh wait! Now that I’m looking, I think I see something gold. Let’s get it ☆

Hokuto: What is that? It looks like a dirty, old box.

Subaru: It’s apple-shaped. It looks like a cookie tin? It looks like it was painted gold originally, but now most of the paint’s peeled off. Kind of a bummer...

But I wonder why it was buried here? You think there’s treasure inside?

Hiyori: —You’re right, in a way.

Subaru: Huh? What do you mean, “in a way?”

Wait, Ohii-san. Do you know what’s inside this tin?!

Hiyori: Yep. That tin is Pandora’s box; no one should ever open it.

Or maybe it’s better described as the forbidden fruit?