Harapeko Oyako to Motokare Yanushi - Ch. 22

[Mangamoz]

I feel like Kyou got SA’d. It could explain the sudden break up, vagueness about the father and his family, and her having to drop out. Just the time frame doesn’t add up and the fact that they “met” after she broke up with him. Maybe it’s the same guy and he saw her again at work. Hopefully we get a chapter that goes in depth about the father.

I highly doubt it, she has been shown to have good sentiments for her deceased husband.

Likely more a simple case of him being the one who was there for her when she needed it the most.

From the hints we have gotten, it seems dead baby daddy did more to help her in life than the mc who has been revealed to not have even tried to look for her.

 

[Noivernaero]

In the earlier chapter when they're talking over the phone and it's so distant and impersonal and they just never call again breaks my heart. Thanks for the translations!

 

[UdenEmpati]

Glad to see it all updated to MangaDex; having everything in one place is just really nice and I'm grateful for the time taken to make it happen.

But yeah. This series grabbed me from the first chapter, and it's only gotten better, in my mind.
As some others have said here, the rather mature, grounded drama aspect of the relationship between Kyou and Takaharu fits them very well. It helps that they're adults, and that this dynamic and their situation do lend to keeping secrets and being hesitant with simply opening up all the way. Who they both are as characters sells the fact they'd be tiptoeing around their shared history and time apart, and none of it feels contrived or forced or unnecessary.

I do expect we'll get the full story on Kyou's past and why she left college, Takaharu, and disappeared for 17 years. Given she says she raised Minori all on her own, that tells me there were no parents, no other family members, who were there to lend a hand--or to seek out and ask for help.

Case in point - when Kyou was sick, she frets over feeding Minori, and whether she even has ingredients - that's a single parent who only has their own paycheck to provide everything, and things like "enough food on the table" becomes a luxury. To say nothing of Kyou and Minori both being a bit gluttonous. If food was actually a matter of uncertainty, the sudden bounty of Takaharu's kitchen and table would absolutely see them indulging at every opportunity.

(and perhaps in Kyou's case, it was before with her own family, as well - we see her in Takaharu's dream/memory getting excited over his grandmother inviting her for food, and she ate a lot around him then, too. No way to know as of yet...but maybe this 'food focused mindset' is because she only ever knew food security when she was with Takaharu. That's my own personal theory, but food brings people together, and it being such a central theme to both Kyou and Minori makes me think there's some contextual relevance to why they indulge so much when it comes to him and this new life they all share.)

All that said - yes, Takaharu feels he overstepped. But what his sister said was true, and he himself confirmed it chapters ago: he does have a habit of looking back and regretting. When they were together, he chose to focus on his art, and he didn't look at Kyou enough. And she, for whatever reasons she had, chose to step out of his way and leave, rather than involve him further.

And he didn't stop her. He didn't say anything, and then he never went and looked for her.
As he says in chapter 14 - "I lost myself in my own whims, and neglected what was actually important."
He regretted it for 17 years, to the point that his last words to her were "you can come over at any time, okay? Even if it's something like being hungry."

He's got a second chance, and he's scared out of his mind, it would seem, or doing anything that would make her hate him, and make her leave again. But his sister is correct: better to try, than to sit, and regret again.



Thanks for the TL work on this. Easily one of my favorite series.

 

[Mangamoz]

Glad to see it all updated to MangaDex; having everything in one place is just really nice and I'm grateful for the time taken to make it happen.

But yeah. This series grabbed me from the first chapter, and it's only gotten better, in my mind.
As some others have said here, the rather mature, grounded drama aspect of the relationship between Kyou and Takaharu fits them very well. It helps that they're adults, and that this dynamic and their situation do lend to keeping secrets and being hesitant with simply opening up all the way. Who they both are as characters sells the fact they'd be tiptoeing around their shared history and time apart, and none of it feels contrived or forced or unnecessary.

I do expect we'll get the full story on Kyou's past and why she left college, Takaharu, and disappeared for 17 years. Given she says she raised Minori all on her own, that tells me there were no parents, no other family members, who were there to lend a hand--or to seek out and ask for help.

Case in point - when Kyou was sick, she frets over feeding Minori, and whether she even has ingredients - that's a single parent who only has their own paycheck to provide everything, and things like "enough food on the table" becomes a luxury. To say nothing of Kyou and Minori both being a bit gluttonous. If food was actually a matter of uncertainty, the sudden bounty of Takaharu's kitchen and table would absolutely see them indulging at every opportunity.

(and perhaps in Kyou's case, it was before with her own family, as well - we see her in Takaharu's dream/memory getting excited over his grandmother inviting her for food, and she ate a lot around him then, too. No way to know as of yet...but maybe this 'food focused mindset' is because she only ever knew food security when she was with Takaharu. That's my own personal theory, but food brings people together, and it being such a central theme to both Kyou and Minori makes me think there's some contextual relevance to why they indulge so much when it comes to him and this new life they all share.)

All that said - yes, Takaharu feels he overstepped. But what his sister said was true, and he himself confirmed it chapters ago: he does have a habit of looking back and regretting. When they were together, he chose to focus on his art, and he didn't look at Kyou enough. And she, for whatever reasons she had, chose to step out of his way and leave, rather than involve him further.

And he didn't stop her. He didn't say anything, and then he never went and looked for her.
As he says in chapter 14 - "I lost myself in my own whims, and neglected what was actually important."
He regretted it for 17 years, to the point that his last words to her were "you can come over at any time, okay? Even if it's something like being hungry."

He's got a second chance, and he's scared out of his mind, it would seem, or doing anything that would make her hate him, and make her leave again. But his sister is correct: better to try, than to sit, and regret again.



Thanks for the TL work on this. Easily one of my favorite series.

I have a big hunch her family, and/or her late husband's family, are gonna be the villains of the story.

Lots of hints indicating to her being basically exiled from her family for some reason.

 

[ysil69]

This guys way too much of a simp for this girl who dumped him, ghosted him, and found another guy.

Like, if her husband hadn't of died this dude wouldn't even be on her radar.

 

[razorshaleh]

so in the end, MC ends up with a widow who has one kid and becomes a stand-in dad for Minori. drama is pretty heavy, but it’s told at a slow pace and leaves a lot of unanswered questions from the previous chapters sometimes i feel bad for MC, sometimes i feel bad and angry for Kyou 🙃

thank you for translating & mass upload 15 chapters after 9 months

 

[ShadowSilence]

Keshigomu suddenly finding their backlog folder is the best thing to happen to me this week

 

[lolfacesayshi]

We do also get some implications that he might have also been emotionally neglectful, like when she had to eat his ice cream to get him to finally look up from his notepad. I get the feeling that he didn't truly articulate just how much she means to him, and it played a role in everything that happened. Especially with the way she could say so easily- and so dejectedly- that "he wouldn't" come out and say he loves her.

It was mentioned a few chapters ago that he didn't really go out of his way to look, to the point that until she showed up at his doorstep he had no way of knowing for certain that she was still alive. As for her end, I think that after the breakup and whatever was going on with her family, she and her eventual husband bonded over... whatever it was, given it apparently connected the two of them.

He did say to come to him if she needs anything. Kinda unfair to say that she knew he had his burdens, but to also have to have to drop everything to find someone who, like he himself thought and as far as he knew, could have found her own happiness, or be dead.

He didn't go anywhere. For fifteen years. That simple fact is how this story started, because she could come back and he is still here. She could've come back at any moment, at least called for the emotional support that is apparently so pivotal to this situation. But she didn't. Dude was left in silence, for years.

 

[darekpawlo]

It was mentioned a few chapters ago that he didn't really go out of his way to look, to the point that until she showed up at his doorstep he had no way of knowing for certain that she was still alive. As for her end, I think that after the breakup and whatever was going on with her family, she and her eventual husband bonded over... whatever it was, given it apparently connected the two of them. And then he ends up dying (in an accident IIRC) before Minori is born, suddenly leaving her as a single mother. So she had to devote herself entirely to her daughter's wellbeing and happiness, which we see persists even into the common day where Minori is her one and only priority even though she clearly still has feelings for the MC.

Why are we trying to spin it like he's supposed to look for her? And how would he even do that when she ghosted him?

 

[coyote_vdb]

Thanks for the translations.

 

[RadicalPink]

My guess is that, judging by how Kyou hides her late husband and the details of her family from Takaharu, she feels guilty for running away and then returning 17 years later with a child. Imposing her problems on him, problems she believes she alone should bear.

Meanwhile, Takaharu has been stuck in place for those same 17 years, unable to move on. When Kyou returned, so did his want for love, but he believes there is no more room for him in Kyou's heart, so he tries to suppress his emotions and keep his expectations in check.

 

[bejad007]

this entire manga is a national Psyop to brainwashing Japanese men to craving single mom!

 

[kamikazejoe]

thanks for the translation.
very interesting and entertaining manga

 

[jojoka]

I honestly don't think they're good for each other. I get the impression that Kyou will do anything for her daughter and is a loving mother but when it comes to anything else she's not good. I don't think shes doing anything to improve Takaharu's life long term and should focus on fixing her circumstances for her kid.

Takaharu seems completely mentally ill and severely depressed, the only real look into his past seems like he's been just stuck alone doing nothing to improve his personal life and just distracting himself with his art. He needs therapy and not exposure therapy like he's getting. It's not like he would be good for Kyou either tbh, he's still an obsessive artist which seems to be what caused them to break up in the first place.

 

[KuroViLolitannia]

Going to your ex's house and not giving him a bit of chance is bullshit. Especially when it's clear he still likes you. Big L.

 

[UdenEmpati]

This guys way too much of a simp for this girl who dumped him, ghosted him, and found another guy.

Like, if her husband hadn't of died this dude wouldn't even be on her radar.

If the father hadn't died, this wouldn't be a story. If Takaharu didn't still care about Kyou, this wouldn't be a story.

If you still object this strongly to the characterization of the main leads this far in, why bother continuing to read it?

 

[NotSomeone]

tbh, i still don't get why she broke up with him, and not only that but broke ALL further communication channels with him, too. That hasn't really been explained well, imo. Her parents got a divorce, she freaked out and left... I just don't think that's enough to stay 15 years on radio silence with, as was shown, a fairly good and loving relationship. "Japanese people be like that" is the only reasonable explanation for her behaviour. Although i do not remember if it was ever told that he looked for her at some point.

It's really well explained. They were loving and liked each other, sure, but he was overly focused on his art and made little time for her. She was not selfish, though, because she understood him and let him be. When her parents broke up, she needed someone more than ever before, but he was working on the huge gallery project... So she broke up with him.
There are two ways to see the "why":
1 - She understood he was an artist first and a significant other second. That means in this really difficult moment of her life, or in other difficult moments, he would not be there for her.
2- She understood that right now, she needed him a lot, and she would demand affection he could not possibly give while focusing on a work as important as a gallery. Fearing becoming a possible liability and fucking up an important moment of his life, she broke up with him.

I think the second point makes more sense with her character; she has been shown to put other people's needs in front of hers to a dangerous degree. So breaking up with her boyfriend so he doesn't have to deal with her problems and instead focus on his important work sounds like something she would do. But maybe it's a combo of both.

 

[UdenEmpati]

It's really well explained. They were loving and liked each other, sure, but he was overly focused on his art and made little time for her. She was not selfish, though, because she understood him and let him be. When her parents broke up, she needed someone more than ever before, but he was working on the huge gallery project... So she broke up with him.
There are two ways to see the "why":
1 - She understood he was an artist first and a significant other second. That means in this really difficult moment of her life, or in other difficult moments, he would not be there for her.
2- She understood that right now, she needed him a lot, and she would demand affection he could not possibly give while focusing on a work as important as a gallery. Fearing becoming a possible liability and fucking up an important moment of his life, she broke up with him.

I think the second point makes more sense with her character; she has been shown to put other people's needs in front of hers to a dangerous degree. So breaking up with her boyfriend so he doesn't have to deal with her problems and instead focus on his important work sounds like something she would do. But maybe it's a combo of both.

There's also some ambiguity as to what exactly was going into her parents' divorce, and why it necessitated her dropping out of college. That, and the one flashback involving Minori's father--and the fact I don't think she once describes the man as "her husband"--is another point that isn't made clear, and left either to a future chapter to reveal, or simply up to the reader's interpretations as it's less important than what's right in front of Takaharu & Kyou, here and now.

The other guesses I have to fill in the rest of what you've stated, are that Kyou's parents divorcing would disrupt her financial situation to the point she couldn't stay enrolled (she also mentions having to get a job), and given she raised Minori all on her own, she had no "backup" in family--either hers or the father's--to rely on, meaning that she found herself either cut off, or otherwise unable to go to them for help.
(We see in her little delirium of being sick that she worries over having ingredients to feed a younger Minori; from where I'm sitting, you don't worry over having ingredients--for something like onigiri--unless you're really on your own and responsible for everything, and are struggling to take care of both yourself and your child.)

But they also only dated for a couple months before she dropped out and disappeared. It was enough that they left a lasting impression on one another, of course--but as you said, Kyou's disposition is one of selflessness, putting the needs of others before herself.
She does it now with Minori as would be expected, but we still see it during the Christmas Cake chapter, when Takaharu has to press her for what she wants for a cake, because she just defaults to what Minori would like.
And the current tension between them is both characters feeling like they can't press forward in what they want, now, out of obligation and out of deference/respect and because it "might be too late" -- and as of ch.22, we can see that Kyou would not be opposed, except that she believes Takaharu wouldn't commit to that step...because he didn't before, either.

 

[yummyyummy]

i have no words. this manga is so well written i cannot wait for more chapters

 

[Siddri]

I NEED MOREEEEE