Rena had become more wary of everyone around her. She had spent a large part of her life blinded. She became blinded to love. Ever since high school, she had been captivated by Noboru-sensei, what she had considered to be the perfect teacher. He, who had always taken everything with a smile on his face, who encouraged the students around him, and who looked after Rena, making sure she passed. Rena had already been living alone as early as the first year of high school.

During her childhood, it had purely seemed like her life was for nothing more than to inherit the hot springs her family had owned for the longest time. From learning how to clean the rooms, to doing the laundry, to cleaning the hot springs themselves, it almost felt as if she was nothing more than a puppet to her parents. Used for nothing more than to keep a tradition that she didn't ask to be a part of. However, it was not like she could simply stop, this was her whole life. She would go to the local school out of pure necessity in order to learn basics required for day to day life. She was not allowed to have friends, as she could only see the other students from a distance. As soon as school ended, back to the hot springs for her daily job. Eventually, she succumbed to her fate and stopped showing many emotions.

This led to her mother wondering what was wrong with her, but nothing much. However, her father was more curious about her health. As the years passed, Rena would stop seeing her actions as anything worth living for. One day, her father, Ren, saw that her daughter almost took her own life by falling off the side of the mountain. Upon seeing this, he rushed over to her side and caught her by the arm. Once he pulled her up, she could only say one thing.

Rena:"So not even death will save me."

Her father, heartbroken by what his daughter had turned into, promised to give her a proper life. Through his own riches, he took a massive part of it out and gave that to Rena. He then proceeded to send her to the outside world, away from her family restrictions. He signed her up for a school that was well regarded and left her on her own. Despite the prospect of a high schooler living by herself being a seemingly dangerous idea, the moment he saw Rena's smile for the first time upon hearing she could move out blocked any possible ideas to not go through with it. Before he left her, he simply told her one thing.

Ren:"Rena. Live a life you can be proud of."

Rena:"How will I…?"

Ren:"You just need love."

…

Rena finally experienced many new things in her school, getting new friends, being able to hang out, she was finally living like she wanted. This eventually led to her personality being quite different from what she herself had been used to, but she didn't mind. But then, that's when she met Monogaku and fell in love for the first time. From then on, whether she could even realize it, she would slowly become a puppet yet again. Her love blocked out common sense and she only had one main goal in life, to be together with that teacher.

…

…

Now, here she was, alone yet again with five daughters. She hadn't gone back to the hot springs ever since she last went with Monogaku and she was in no rush to ever go back. She was scared of what had happened to her. What her father had given up in order for her to live her life, only for it to lead to this. This newfound distrust is what led her to initially reject Maruo's offers for financial help, she didn't want to be a puppet anymore, she wanted to live her own life. However, such a wish is no longer possible with five children. With the addition of her job as a teacher, she would also take other part time jobs in order to feed herself and her new babies. Despite all her efforts, she simply did not make enough, she eventually had to go into her reserves from her dad, but even that was fleeting due to what she had given to who she believed was the love of her life. Every single time she used money from that pile, she would remember every detail of what led to this, causing her to break time, she would run out of this money as well, also due to her sickness making things worse. By the time the girls were five, she couldn't take it anymore, so she swallowed her pride.

…

Maruo:"Why are you begging?"

Rena:"P-Please help my daughters. W-We can't live like this anymore. I don't care what happens to me, but I don't want my daughters to starve to death!"

Maruo bent down.

Maruo:"Of course."

Rena would then break down in front of him. Unable to hug her, Maruo could only contemplate how pathetic he truly was.

…

Thanks to the new influx of income, the five sisters could eat better, have more clothes, the required school supplies and more. But, even then, Rena was still stubborn. Despite her condition, she was still living off of her own money and still applying to other jobs.

Rena:[I promise...I will pay you back, Maruo-kun. I'm sorry I'm such a useless woman.]

…

One day, while Rena was back in the hospital, the nurses turned on the TV to a meeting between political powers. Maruo was there, shifting through his papers until he heard a whimper coming from the bed. Worried, he rushed to her side, only to see her pointing to the television in stunned silence. The camera had shown a certain man. He was bald, fat and with a sizable beard. Rena couldn't stop staring at him with tears in her eyes. Maruo had never seen this man before, but he clearly had to be important to Rena's life. His first instinct was to check the files he had on everyone that was imprisoned, expecting his former teacher to not be there anymore. But, he was still there. His face, name, mug shot, all were still there. Then, who could that man be? And how could he have impacted Rena in such a way? He was about to put away the records, but a memory suddenly reemerged in Maruo's mind.

{Rena:"It's all about love. With it, you can tell anything apart."}

Maruo:"..."

…

Rena:"You have something you needed to ask?"

Maruo, in complete silence, took out the record of the man who was in jail. This caused Rena's face to contort, proving Maruo's suspicion.

Maruo:"That man...the man who I knew as sensei...The bastard that hurt you, he's not the man in these records, is he?"

Rena:"..."

After what felt like years, Rena simply nodded once. This caused Maruo to storm out into his office. He threw as many things as he could in a fit of rage and screamed at the top of his lungs. This whole time, he was free. Maruo would eventually see how much power Monogaku, or as he was known in the political world, Seisaku, really had. Now more than ever, Maruo had seen himself as nothing more than pathetic. The only thing he was able to do was file a contract with her, that he would look after the girls should Rena ever pass away, under the guise of a marriage registration. Maruo's wish had been granted, but there was no love, simply a contract. With that, years continued to pass, until Rena's final year came…

End of Chapter 108