I practiced as a monk alone in Japan.

Chapter 48 Even the most magnificent edifice will eventually crumble.

When Tsukino Gen walked out of the activity room, he bumped into a girl who looked somewhat familiar.

He was wondering if he had seen the other person somewhere before.

The short-haired girl hurried over.

"Tsukino-san, did you see Kazama just now?"

"Kazama?"

Upon hearing her mention Kazama Sakura, Tsukino Gen instantly remembered her. She was a senior he had met at the karaoke bar before, and also a member of the confectionery club where Kazama Sakura belonged.

At that time, Kazama Sakura should have been engaged in club activities, but now this girl seems to be in a great hurry.

"What happened to Kazama? Tell me slowly."

The short-haired senior took a few breaths to calm down, then looked at Tsukino Gen.

"I don't really know either. The club activity was going well, but then she suddenly received a phone call and seemed very upset, like she was worried. She hurriedly told me she had to go and left immediately. I'm a little worried about her, but I can't get through to her on the phone now."

Gen Tsukino immediately took out his phone and dialed Sakura Kazama's number.

However, the line was busy, and he didn't know if the call had been disconnected or the phone had run out of battery and shut down. He felt it was unlikely that Kazama Sakura wouldn't answer his calls; it was more likely due to some unusual circumstances.

He looked at her and asked, "Senior, do you know where she might have gone? For example, who did she mention on the phone, or was there anything strange in the conversation?"

"Let me think about it."

……

Sakura Kazama ran in a hurry and rushed to catch the subway. She only realized what was happening after she took out her phone at her seat.

My phone is out of battery.

She is very worried because she can't get in touch with anyone.

My mother's phone call just now was brief, but the content made me pay attention.

"Is school over? Go home early today, I can't stand it anymore."

She still remembers the sound of her mother's voice when she said those words; besides the weariness of day after day, there was an unconcealable coldness and despair.

It's like someone who's been waiting for hope, and after finally realizing that hope doesn't exist, they're ready to give up.

What exactly is she trying to do? What does "can't stand it anymore" mean?
This made her quite anxious.

Finally, the subway arrived at the station, and she rushed out of the subway without waiting, hurrying towards her home.

The elevator ascended floor by floor, but the rising floor numbers seemed like a countdown to her. When the elevator doors opened, she rushed to her front door. Before she could even take out her keys to open the door, she heard sounds coming from inside.

"Divorce?! You actually dare to mention divorce to me? Have you gotten so used to this life that you've forgotten who gave you this kind of life?!"

"Bang!"

A crashing sound came from inside.

Kazama Sakura had never heard her father speak in such a hysterical and furious tone.

It was as if the person inside wasn't their father, but a strange man.

But she couldn't have misheard the sound. After hearing the loud noise, she could no longer care about her fear and frantically pulled out her keys to open the door.

Then she saw everything that she tried so hard not to face, but which would one day fall apart like this.

The vase shattered on the floor, the coffee table was overturned, and the glass tabletop broke into countless pieces.

And his own father, the man from distant memories who would carry him on his shoulders and shelter him from the wind and rain. Now he stood in the center of these shards, panting heavily, his face contorted with rage.

It was as strange as a monster.

His mother was on the edge of the sofa, sitting awkwardly on the floor, with obvious bruises on her arms from being pushed.

The disheveled woman had red and swollen eyes. She saw Kazama Sakura standing blankly at the door, watching everything. She stood up.

She whispered to Sakura, "Sakura, don't be afraid. It's okay, Mommy's okay."

When she reached Kazama Sakura, she tried her best to hold the girl's hands and to smile.

For a moment, Kazama Sakura was at a loss for words. Her eyes reddened, and her voice trembled.

You're bleeding.

The mother shook her head. "It's okay. This is the last time. Mom will take you away and take you away from here."

It seemed she was about to leave with Kazama Sakura in her hand.

But this time.

"boom!"

The enraged figure was clearly faster than them; the man slammed the door shut and blocked the entrance, staring at them.

In the room where the lights hadn't been turned on, his eyes, standing in the shadows, seemed bloodshot, a deep red. He was completely devoid of any of the warmth that Kazama Sakura remembered.

He was so unfamiliar that even he, as the child himself, felt fear.

"Leave? Where are you going? Where are you headed!"

Kazama Sakura, holding her mother, couldn't help but take a few steps back.

The mother looked at the man from her arms.

"I told you I want a divorce! Xiaoying will live with me, and she has nothing to do with you anymore!"

"Divorce? When did I agree to divorce you? What right do you have to bring up divorce with me!"

The man reeked of alcohol.

He was sweating profusely, and his ferocious expression subconsciously instilled fear in people.

The mother, however, shouted even more hysterically, "You think I didn't see it?! I went to your company today! You and that woman were hugging each other at the restaurant downstairs from your company, you think I didn't see it? When I found a hair tie that didn't belong to me in your car before, I guessed that you would come home every day complaining and blaming us, your mother and me, for dragging you down and bringing you bad luck. And yet you cheated on me? Who really wronged whom?!"

Sakura Kazama's arms tightened involuntarily at her mother's words.

Father cheated on his wife?

Her mother seemed to have subtly hinted at this in the past, for example, she would often tell her that her father no longer loved her. She thought this was the norm in a long marriage, where passion and love were worn down by time and the trivialities of life, leaving her feeling insecure.

But now she has truly witnessed her father's infidelity?

The father paused for a moment.

He clenched his fists.

"I told you it was just having dinner with a client to discuss contracts, how is that cheating?!" "Client? What client needs you to hug her? Need you to whisper in her ear? You're still lying! I thought it was okay for me to suffer a little, and it was fine for you to get drunk and lash out at me, I could put up with it. I thought it would all be better when our daughter grew up, but now I really can't take it anymore, we're getting a divorce tomorrow!"

Sakura Kazama hadn't expected her mother's sharp attitude at this moment.

My mother always seemed to complain about me too much, and it's as if a lot of the negative emotions she inflicted on me were also transferred to me. That's why coming home every day felt like an ordeal for me.

Every day at home, I feel a heaviness on my shoulders.

She had even thought that it would have been better if they had divorced sooner, but now that her mother was acting this way, she actually felt a sense of relief.

It felt like there was finally a chance to breathe amidst the pressure; this home, which had been suffocating me, was finally on the verge of collapse.

Children without a home must be unhappy, right? But when home becomes hell, what's the point of its existence?
She tried to take a step.

"Mom, let me take you away first, let's not say too much."

The man, who had been silent, stared wide-eyed in disbelief upon hearing Kazama Sakura's words.

"Sakura, are you leaving?"

Sakura Kazama was somewhat afraid to look at her father's face at that moment; his bloodshot eyes seemed to want to devour her.

She could only whisper, "I want you all to calm down. I'll take Mom to my aunt's place first."

"Boom!!"

The loud noise startled Sakura Kazama so much that she dared not move. She then realized that it was her father who had suddenly punched the doorway.

His hand was cut open, and blood was flowing down his fingers, but he seemed not to feel any pain at all. He reached out and tugged at his collar.

Blood stained his shirt, making him look even more ferocious and terrifying.

"You're my family. Where are you going?"

"My dad, Dad, don't come any closer!"

Sakura Kazama hugged her mother and backed away.

But the man seemed unable to listen to anything, as if he had fallen into an extreme form of obsession.

"Why can't you understand me? Why don't you understand that I have my reasons for everything I do? Why do you only think about yourselves?"

He walked step by step, while Kazama Sakura and her mother had already retreated to the sofa.

The father, who had been acting strangely, suddenly stopped and picked something up from the ground. To Sakura's astonishment, it was a fruit knife that had fallen to the ground.

His bloodied hand covered the fruit knife in a layer of blood.

Is he really still his father? He looks like a raging murderer, a patient with severe mental problems!
The situation changed completely when he picked up the knife. Kazama Sakura, who was holding her mother, had no way to escape; she couldn't abandon her mother.

The woman seemed to sense something as well; her eyes widened, and her body trembled uncontrollably.

"What are you trying to do! You...you can take your anger out on me, don't hurt our daughter!"

The man seemed not to hear what they were saying at all; he simply walked towards them and began to roar hysterically.

"You're the one who wanted to take our daughter away! She's my daughter! None of you are allowed to leave this house, none of you are allowed to leave my side!!"

Don't even think about leaving this house?
What makes you think you can salvage a family that's already broken apart?
Was he going to leave his mother and himself behind forever? Kazama Sakura had this intuition the moment she saw her father approaching with a fruit knife in hand.

In such an extremely dangerous and desperate situation, her mind did not go completely blank.

Instead, I was thinking.

With such a loud commotion, the neighbors must have heard it, right? Why didn't anyone come to check, why didn't anyone stop them, why didn't anyone call the police?
Is it because their constant arguing has made them used to it? Do they think it's just another case of couples making up after a fight? Or do they believe that since they already have a child, what difference does arguing make?

Is it because people can only save themselves?

"Please, spare my daughter! Come at me! Come at me!"

Kazama Sakura understood her mother's desire to protect her, but her hysterical tone might seem more like a provocation to that man.

as predicted.

The father did not regain his senses after hearing her lioness-like roar.

Instead, she roared, "It's all because of you, you bitch! None of this would have happened without you! All my bad luck is brought on by you, you slut!"

He finally couldn't resist and started to rush over.

Sakura Kazama didn't know what she was thinking, but she felt that if her father's suffering stemmed from her mother, and if her mother's forbearance was because of her, then perhaps...
I do bear some responsibility, don't I?

Those who are responsible should pay the price, right?

Since this family is in such a state, and since my life is as broken as these scattered fragments on the ground, perhaps I can end it all?

She didn't say a word.

Then she hugged her mother with all her might, trying to pull her behind her.

But to her surprise, her mother, who usually seemed weak and not very strong, broke free from her embrace, turned over, and hugged her back.

I've forgotten how many times my mother has held me.

Each time seemed ordinary, yet it genuinely brought me warmth and filled me with motivation every day when I went to school to study.

But this time, her hug felt like a farewell.

She widened her eyes and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"don't want!!"

And the next moment.

"boom!"

Light shone into the dark room, and the man with the knife stood there in astonishment.

Sensing that the man hadn't rushed over, Kazama Sakura looked up in disbelief and saw the doorway bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun.

The boy in the school uniform stood there, coldly watching what was inside.

He didn't look at the man with the knife, nor at the trembling woman with her eyes closed.

He just looked at himself and said.

"never mind."

She wanted to cry.

……

There's a surprise coming at midnight tonight! Don't miss it!
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(End of this chapter)