Honobu Yonezawa

“Even though I'm told I can now live freely... Even though I'm told I can choose what I want to do with my life... Even though I'm told that the Chitanda household will be fine somehow, so I don't have to worry..."

Her voice, changing as if descending into self-mockery, muttered one last thing.

"Even though I'm told I now have wings, what am I supposed to do?”
― Honobu Yonezawa, いまさら翼といわれても [Imasara Tsubasa to Iwaretemo]

“It was because I always did everything that was asked of me without a word of complaint. It was because I was so convenient in that sense that he didn’t bother to do anything about someone else pushing their work onto me.
(...)
After that incident, I started to realize there were two kinds of people: those who knew how the world worked and pushed everything they didn’t want to do on others and those who happily accepted being on the receiving end of the former’s actions. When I entered 6th grade—no, when I grew old enough to understand my surroundings, I started to realize that I was one of the latter. As I did, all my memories started to flood back, one-by-one. That time, that time, and that time too… so that’s what was happening.
(...)
It was because I never talked back.
That in itself was fine, really. None of the things I did were unmanageable. It wasn’t like I considered me doing those kinds of stuff some sort of loss, and I didn’t hate them for constantly taking it easy.
It’s just that imagining myself being used as a convenient tool made me sad.
I thought back.
At that time, my discovery made me so sad, and it was getting too painful to keep silent about it, so I told my older sister.
Even if you think that fellow human beings should help each other, others won’t necessarily think of you as being worth it. It’s not like I wanted anyone to appreciate me. I just never imagined that people thought of me as such an idiot. I won’t stay after school anymore. As long as I’m around others, they’ll ask me to do something. They probably think I’m an idiot because I always did what they asked without resisting. I don’t care about what they think. I just hate being used. Of course, if I have to do it I will. I won’t complain at all. But, if it’s not necessary… If it turns out it’s someone else’s responsibility… If I don’t have to do it, I won’t. I absolutely won’t.”
― Honobu Yonezawa, いまさら翼といわれても [Imasara Tsubasa to Iwaretemo]