"Dad, what did you do this to me?!"
When Natsuo was outside, he just couldn't stop anymore, and asked this question while crying.
"Natsuo."
Yet, Akihito was calm, and he didn't even sway from Natsuo's cry.
Was he cold?
No, it was because Akihito knew that Natsuo was a scumbag.
"Do you like Hina?"
"Eh?!"
"You like her, right?"
"I..."
Natsuo didn't know what to say, and his words stammered as he just couldn't give a proper answer. Yes, he liked Hina, but if he was asked such a straightforward question, he just didn't know what to do.
"Give it up."
"Why?!"
"Because you are lacking in everything."
"....." Natsuo.
"I am not saying that it is just about your wealth, since I know that even if you work harder, you won't be able to have a similar wealth to him."
"....." Natsuo.
He wanted to say something, but when he looked at the apartment building where Hina resided and the location of his apartment, and his new home, he knew that he and Nifuji were practically living in different worlds.
"But, wealth isn't the only reason for one to fall for others!"
"That's right." Akihito nodded and didn't deny Natsuo's words. "Wealth aside, but more importantly, you aren't man enough."
"..." Natsuo.
There was something that one should say and shouldn't say, Natsuo thought.
"If you love someone, then chase after him, yet instead you act like an elementary school kid, who reports to the teacher that the others are naughty. Are you a man? No, you are a kid!"
Akihito looked at Natsuo with a sigh and asked, "Do you even think that you can compete with him when you are still like this?"
"I..."
Could Natsuo do it?
No, he knew that well, and it was also due to this that he had been trying to sabotage everything, trying to destroy them, since if he couldn't own them, then he wouldn't let the others have him.
"Also, do you know what will happen if you anger him?"
"...he will beat me?"
Natsuo answered with a hint of hesitation, as he wasn't sure what Nifuji would do.
Akihito laughed at Natsuo's naivety. "No, he will sue you, put you in jail, and erase your life socially, and I might even follow your path as I am being fired due to your stupidity, and Tsukiko might even divorce me, and they will cut all the ties with us.
"He won't beat you; he will do worse. He will erase all of your possible future, whatever your dreams are."
"...he won't..."
"Yes, he won't, but he can."
"...." Natsuo.
The problem wasn't whether Nifuji would do it or not, but whether he had the ability to kill them socially or not.
In the current era, where people fought with fists had already ended, it was already an ancient way, and the best way to kill others was by social, making them to lose all of their chances, whether it was their dreams, jobs, and all the possible changes, making them into a trash misfit in the eyes of everyone, and made them to commit suicide by their own.
Even worse, Nifuji's hands were clean, he felt no remorse, he felt no guilt, and he could live well.
If the killer had to feel the responsibility for the acts of taking the lives of others, Nifuji had no need to feel that burden since he didn't kill them with his hands, but just by words.
"That man..."
Akihito let out a helpless sigh. "He is scary. Don't antagonize him. Let's go back. Tsukiko-san will handle this."
Instead of causing more trouble, he let Tsukiko handle the problem, as he knew that Nifuji would definitely never hurt Tsukiko, considering Tsukiko was Hina's mother.
If he were there, he was afraid that he would cause a meaningless conflict, since, while it was sad, he knew that the role of the stepfather in the eyes of Hina was nothing, especially when he was by Hina's side when she had already become an adult, and she had already made up her mind.
Whether it was right or not, it didn't matter since Hina was happy, and Nifuji could take care of her, especially when he rented such a luxurious apartment for her (he still didn't know that the apartment was bought).
Still, he had his role, and that was as Natsuo's father, as he had to lead his son, so Natsuo wouldn't cause trouble again.
"Do you still want to become a writer?"
"I..."
Natsuo was shocked as Akihito seemed to know about his dream.
"How?!"
"I am your father, after all. How can I not know that you want to become a writer?"
While Akihito didn't really like the idea of Natsuo becoming a writer, as it was an unstable job, as a father, what could he do except support, and he could also pivot Natsuo to work in a different job as well, and told Natsuo to write at night instead of turning it into a day job later.
"Then, you shouldn't cause him any trouble since I can feel like he might be able to stop any publishers from publishing your books, unless..."
"Unless?!"
"Unless you move to a foreign country where his influence is limited."
"...."
Natsuo was at a loss, since he was so desperate, the path that was shown by his father was just too much for him to bear.
"Let's stop thinking about the girls first. Let's get some ramen. I am starving. I was too nervous to eat before."
There were many things that Nifuji had brought, but as all of them were so expensive, Akihito became nervous instead of getting hungry.
"...."
Natsuo wanted to say something, but no words came out of his lips. He had just graduated from high school, so his view of the world was still limited, and he had never thought that an adult could hold such a power that could determine one's life depending on the mood.
Part of him was frightened, yet part of him was also angry, as he knew well that there was nothing that he could do.
However—
'Wait, Hina-nee... wait for me...'
At this moment, Natsuo knew that there was nothing he could do, but in the future, when he had money, when he had power, he believed he could change something, yet did Nifuji care?
No, Nifuji didn't care.
Nifuji had never had much of an impression of Natsuo, and he didn't even feel hatred towards Natsuo. Instead, he just felt that this guy was obsolete, and it was a waste of time to feel emotions toward Natsuo.
The opposite of love isn't hatred, but indifference.
When you hate someone, you still think about that person, but when you don't feel anything about that person, then it is when you have done your revenge.
Still, when Akihito walked in, he got a text from his new wife that Tsukiko would stay at the apartment to talk, which he agreed to, and thought to buy more food for him and his son, yet he forgot to ask whether Nifuji would stay or not.