Date Her Instead Vol. 6

Chapter Eleven: A Quiet Life Is A Better Life... Isn't It?

In a town quite similar to Iwanai, Ai Kawaguchi was born. Her parents, at the time simple farmers, were overjoyed by her arrival, as one usually would be at the birth of their child. Being the size that it was, the news spread through the town fast, and the newly-minted parents received many blessings.

Not having much, they wanted to give all they could to making their daughter's life as easy as possible in the future, so they worked hard and did their best to grow their business. Years later, they were rewarded for their efforts, as their farming business, while never destined to be as large or lucrative as a production or distribution plantation, grew exponentially thanks to an agricultural economic boom of sorts. Their family name became well-known in the area, and the family itself gained much respect. It was around this time that Ai was entering junior high.

Having watched her parents succeed with their work, she was quite proud of them. However, due to the way she had been raised thus far, she did not brag. Raised in tradition and modesty, she often downplayed the compliments she would receive on behalf of her mother and father, insisting that they were just simple farmers like always. That being the line she always heard her parents use, it seemed right to also use it.

Naturally though, modesty, like anything else, comes with its own dangers. While someone successful may not want to accept all the praise, those less fortunate may become irritated by that. Why don't they just acknowledge how successful they are, the lesser might think. It's insulting to the rest of us, they might believe. And so, with this frustration building, Ai began to experience her first real struggles in life.

Through primary school, Ai had some friends (no more than what would be considered normal), and had never really had any issues. No one had a reason to pick a fight with her because she never gave them one. But, that all changed when she reached her next level of schooling.

At first, nothing happened, just like before. But, it seemed the more she denied her family's success, the more the tension around her rose. By the time she had reached the half-way point of her first year of junior high, signs were starting to form. A scoff here. A whisper there. Nothing much, but it was enough to light the fuse.

While the situation itself never escalated to the point of blatant bullying, Ai did start to feel the pressure. Several of the people she had thought were her friends began distancing themselves from her, and she could hear more clearly what people were saying about her. The comments were usually just calling her stuck-up or fake, believing she was bad-mouthing people behind their backs for being lower than her (she wasn't). Regardless of their severity though, it began to affect Ai's way of thinking.

She had never given much thought to the life she was living. Her parents, while not intentionally restricting her, had made most of her life choices, so all Ai had needed to do was obey. When her parents became successful, she understood it was a good thing, but being the obedient daughter she was, she saw fit to follow her parents example in modesty. But, now that that approach was causing her problems, she began to questions things.

Was success really such a good thing? Because of it, her life at school wasn't as enjoyable as it once had been. Not only that, she had found that her life in general drew much more attention than she really wanted. Where she was once able to walk through town with only the occasional greeting, it seemed people were constantly stopping her to talk about her parents' business. While it was true she was proud of it, it also wasn't hers, so it was difficult for Ai to keep up in the conversations. The more they happened, the more she began to grow frustrated by it.

She didn't wish for her parents to have less success. Rather, she simply wished she could live her life without being the daughter of town celebrities. However, as it turned out, that had its advantages. Being well-known, even on a small scale, tended to bring other people to you. In Ai's case, that meant marriage.