CH 81

“Yu-chan!　It’s almost time for Sports Day!” (Hinagi)

“Sports day?” (Yuki)

Today, his childhood friend Hinagi was in high spirits as well.

“I know I’m slow, but I’ll do my best!” (Hinagi)

“I’ll be rooting for you, keep up the good work, Hi-chan!”

For a childhood friend who always works hard, being slow is nothing. The key is to do your best, to face what’s important. Unlike himself who walked in the shade, she walked proudly under the sun, and that was her charm, and Yukito Kononoe liked her cheerfulness!

“I’ll support you too, Yu-chan!” (Hinagi)

“I don’t care. I’m not going to participate in the sports day, after all.” (Yuki)

“Eh? Yu-chan, did you hurt yourself somewhere?” (Hinagi)

Oh, he made her look sad again. Seeing the face of his childhood friend become teary as he sees her, he is troubled. But there is nothing that can be done about it. He knows that he shouldn’t participate for the sake of the class. It is the right choice and what they want him to do.

All he could do was to support his sister and childhood friend. That was enough. His mother would be looking forward to seeing his sister’s heroic performance. There was no need for him to interfere with that. Nothing too much was required of him. If he could bring smiles to the faces of his beloved family and childhood friends, that was all that mattered. It was a sports day, and it should be worth it.

“So, have fun, Hi-chan.” (Yuki)

“I decline.” (Yuki)

“Why?　I need your help. Without you—” (Sanjoji)

The two of them are alone in an empty classroom. The boy in front of her does not shake his head, no matter how much Ryoka Sanjoji tries to persuade him.

The field day. While the students are deciding which events they want to participate in, there is one special event. That is the “inter-class relay”. This is the most exciting event of the field day. This is not an event that is decided by free will, but by the order of the fastest measured times, and it is always decided with ease.

It is an honor to be chosen. The boy in front of her, Yukito Kokonoe, was eligible. It was a special day when children who were good at sports could be the stars of the show. But

“It’s none of my business.” (Yuki)

“That’s not true. You are a member of the class. Let’s work together.” (Sanjoji)

Teamwork, friends, unity. They desperately put up such titles, but even Ryoka Sanjoji understood inwardly that they were all just pretty words. It was too whitewashed. There was no way he could accept such frivolous and flimsy persuasion.

The atmosphere in the class was terrible. The smiles on the children’s faces had diminished considerably. It is hard to tell if this situation is even bullying or not. It is not that his classmates are ignoring him; he is ignoring his classmates. There is no solution in sight. Nor does she even know if there is such a thing.

“They are not my friends. There’s no way we can cooperate. That’s the end of it.” (Yuki)

It’s ridiculous. As if to say, “that’s the end of it,” he broke off the conversation and stammered back to the classroom. Ryoka Sanjoji was stunned and unable to move from her spot.

She hoped it would be a chance to mend fences. A chance for both sides to come to terms with each other. And yet, that plan went awry. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she probably knew this was going to happen.

“It is only stubbornness and sulking. It must be an escape from reality to think that way.” (Sanjoji)

She hates herself for being so shallow, and almost makes the excuse that it’s his fault for being so stubborn. He is the one making the right argument.

One-sidedly pushing unreasonableness, imputing guilt, spouting off, hiding his things, hurting him, and violating him. So he gets it all back. Who in the world would accept such a delusional statement as, “We’ve apologized, so let’s make up. It is emotionally impossible.

If the situation were the same for her, she would never forgive them. Just because the perpetrator has atoned for their crime, whether the victim will forgive them or not is a different matter. Even if the perpetrator pays compensation or is released from prison after serving time, it is merely the fulfillment of a social responsibility.

There is no way he would consider his classmates as his friends. As a teacher, she doesn’t know if it is right to seek only superficial companionship, or cooperation, or whatever else. Lost in a dead-end with no way out, Ryoka Sanjoji’s exhaustion deepens. And she is only considered as an enemy. This was more distressing than anything else.

“I failed again. ……” (Sanjoji)

She clenched her fists on her knees and let out a sigh.

Everything is going wrong. It was a mistake to play the teacher and encourage him to join in. The pride of an adult, the pride of a teacher. These things got in the way, and inevitably caused problems. Acting as a third party, saying something plausible from an adult’s point of view would not get him to listen to her. Because she was also a participant in the incident.

What had to be done was to apologize from the bottom of her heart from an equal standpoint and from the same point of view, and to express her feelings. When such an apology was not possible, he may have thought that she was not worth dealing with.

Since then, she has never been called a teacher by him. He never speaks in class. He is quiet, but his presence is not negligible.

“If we lose to another class, the responsibility will be ……” (Sanjoji)

Takayama was also a member of the relay team. He has changed and become a different, timid person. Takayama and his group are even being resented by his classmates. If they lose to the other classes because he, Yukito Kokonoe, doesn’t participate in the relay, his classmates will become even more hostile to Takayama and his group. There was no stopping it.

They themselves say nothing and take no action. Doing nothing is the best way to get back at them. It is truly hateful to no end. And there is nothing that can be done about it.

“How could I be so, so helpless!” (Sanjoji)

In the empty classroom, tears spilled. Feeling terrible that Himiyama had given up on her dream, somehow she had managed to do her best, but perhaps she was reaching the end of her rope.

Above all, she was afraid of causing any more bad influence on her children because of her. The thought of distorting their future, of destroying their potential, was unbearably terrifying. She hugged her trembling body.

“I’m sorry, Misaki-san. …… I may not be able to do it anymore either.” (Sanjoji)

TL: Here are some new illustration.

Goddess-senpai

Himiyama and Yukito’s mother.