Oyaji Kanojo

In the way home from work, I dropped in a convenience store to buy dinner.

After I put the box filled with mixed seafood on the cashier, the part timer girl who until then was chattering asked with a clearly unpleasant expression,

“Do you want it heated?”

“Y-Yes, please.”

d.a.m.n. This stupid girl! What’s up with that dyed hair? Don’t just blabber, do your f.u.c.king job! Are you an idiot!?

The complicated atmosphere stayed until the heating was done.

These 19-20 years old girls were staring at my appearance without any tact at all in the meanwhile.

I knew what was in their head. Most likely it was something along the line of ‘bald, fat, and don’t have any relation with women’.

s.h.i.t, that’s exactly the case! Even today, my first and last conversation with women was that one earlier!

So what’s wrong with that! Is it a bother for other people? Don’t mess with me, you stupid girl!

She then put my heated dinner carelessly on the counter.

I took it and went out of the store.

“Did you see that guy just now? Hahahaha~”

Those stupid girls already scorned at me even before I went out of the store.

I could only grip my hand tightly and hasten my steps.

s.h.i.t. What’s up with that. d.a.m.n it! Do your job properly, you are getting paid for that!

Why do you think it’s okay to ridicule me? Because I’m bald and fat? Because I look ugly?

Or is it because I’ve never had a girlfriend even though I’m already 36 years old?

You girls will never have a good life! That will be my curse to you!

I walked in totter to my apartment.

When did my life end up like this?

Will it be like this until my life is over?

Somehow, I felt helpless.

My high school life was okay. I had friends whom I can talk to about stupid things, and I also immersed myself in Karate.

It was only at the latter part of my twenties that I realized that something had went terribly wrong.

My friends had their marriage one by one. I don’t have a girlfriend, but I still think soon it will be my turn. Or so I wished.

‘If it’s me who have a steady job, I would easily find a girl and build a happy family together,’ for some reason I held that baseless opinion.

However, reality was not that sweet. The cute girls at my company married one after another. Those at my company were already impossible for me, so I had marriage meetings, but I always ended up rejected. Even when I only invited some intern girl to drink, I got reprimanded by my boss for s.e.xual hara.s.sment.

I thought my bad luck with women were caused by my thin hair even though I was still in my twenties. So I tried to put on a wig, but nothing changed.

I’m a ugly guy, even I myself thought so.

And when I turned 30, I stopped going to the Karate dojo that I attended since primary school.

Because I don’t exercise anymore, my belly also got bigger.

Ugly, bald, and lastly fat. There is no way a woman who would like myself exist in this world.

Nowadays, even the intern girls at my company had unpleasant expression on their faces whenever they interact with me.

I wonder if my face were better, my life would also be different?

Just as my heartbroken self almost arrived to my apartment, I noticed that the situation was somehow noisy.

Is that a fire? Some buildings got on fire?

Intense smoke appeared from a 2-stories house.

Violent fire could be seen from the window.

Based on the att.i.tude of the crowd, the firefighters were still on the way. Within them, a woman was crying and shouting loudly.

“Someone please help! My daughter is still inside!”

The crowd looked at each other.

The pitch-black smoke filled up the night sky.

Anyone can conclude that going inside in this situation would be nothing but a suicidal act.

But, something inside me was unexpectedly ignited.

In the next moment, I threw away my dinner and started running to the entranceway which was covered with smoke.

It was full of smoke inside the house. My visibility didn’t even reach one meter.

I lowered my body whenever possible, and with handkerchief on my mouth, I fumbled through the first floor.

It seemed that the fire was started in the kitchen. The fire there was so strong that advancing was impossible.

“Help! It’s so hot!”

I heard a voice! It was from the second floor!

I immediately run up the stairs. In the child’s room, I found a girl around four years old.

“It’s fine now! Come follow this uncle!”

Now I got hold of the girl, but the way back to the stairs was already closed.

So I went back to the child’s room and opened the window.

The smoke rushed out when the window was opened.

What should I do? Jump down? At this height, my legs will likely get broken, and then I would be finished.

Still, if I keep hesitating, then both of us will die!

So I jumped down from the second floor while carrying a girl.

My leg crushed upon the heavy impact, and in the next moment, I got hit by a debris of the collapsing house from behind.

In my fading consciousness, I saw the woman carried the girl away.

That’s great. However, this means I will be hospitalized…..

My vision went dark, and I drifted away from my body.