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Том 6.5 глава 4






 

[Yuigahama Yui was surprisingly popular]

 

It has been a few days since the last conference, and the administrative committee are finally getting to work.

 

However, it could not be said that the work was being done smoothly. Even though the shift has been readjusted according to the new schedule, the work efficiency was lower.

 

It would be an illusion, to think that everyone would get to work simply by adjusting the shift and schedule.

 

We are not machines, our body needs to take a rest when we are unwell. There would be times when something crops up all of a sudden, or when we would need to take a break when we are fatigued.

 

Hence, Yukinoshita was once again readjusting the schedule, to let everyone have some room to breathe.

 

However, despite this, some things cannot be avoided.

 

Rescheduling, was a means to set in stone the jobs of others. After confirming one’s job scope, they seem to have made some sort of promise, vow or limit themselves to it, never bothering to step over the boundaries and helping others.

 

To completely distribute the jobs, if you take it the other way, it also meant to limit the boundaries of their job completely.

 

The ironic part was that, the workload that was decided that each would do turned out to be shackling them instead, and became the reason why they do not want to work.

 

Well, it’s not like I don’t understand them.

 

Huh? That’s not my job…… This sort of words were a norm in this world. People who got their remuneration but did not do their jobs were really strange. It’s true, it’s true!

 

……Despite thinking so, why am I filled with this desire to work hard?

 

As I prepared the programs, my mind was stimulating how students would walk past me and toss down their documents as they entered and exited the room.

 

“What is it this time? ” I muttered as I flipped the paper. It was a request for items that were to be used during the event.

 

“……”

 

I scratched my head and stood up from my seat.

 

There was a need to change the mood. To do that, I needed to go out, go home take a bath, eat my dinner and go to sleep. Changing the mood is very important.

 

As I walked out of the conference room to buy some coffee, I was approached by Yuigahama.

 

“Ah, Hikki, you are here just when I wanted you.”

 

Yuigahama’s job seemed to be in charge of creating the entrance to the event. What, are you here to take a break? As I thought so, I tilted my head to inquire about what’s plaguing her.

 

“No-, there’s a lack of manpower. Hikki, come and help.”

 

“No, I still have other stuff to do…… Anyway, how are the helpers doing? ”

 

Hearing this, Yuigahama smiled helplessly.

 

“Because of club activities…..”

 

“That again?......”

 

These few days, this sort of pattern has been emerging more and more frequently.

 

Using Sagami’s [We won’t let this be a burden to your club activities] as a pretext, there were many who had begun to go back earlier, or skiving during work.

 

Then, as the number of people who came to help became less and less, the power to draw in more people grew weaker as a result, and the efficient of work each day dropped.

 

Everyone has stuff to attend to, it is impossible to have everyone prepared and ready to work at all times. As long as there was a gap, there would be a need for someone to fill it up.

 

However, if everyone is only thinking about ‘My job’, then it was impossible to fill said gap. Even though we had some buffers in place to try and avoid this kind of situation, but we were eventually getting overwhelmed, and the gap gradually could not be filled.

 

Hence, even the entire executive committee had to be activated to do the work.

 

Especially Yuigahama, who seemed to be showing up everywhere, and busily involved in scheduling jobs.

 

However, if you think about it calmly, going by the standards as of now, Yuigahama really wasn’t suited for this…… Although part of it was because she was a girl, the more important part was that one could see she lacked the power to create anything judging from her cooking ability. This not only added on to other’s problems but also delayed the completion of a job. Since I was a bit tired from doing all these jobs seating down, I figured that moving about now wouldn’t be such a bad idea. And then, from there, after that…… Well, whatever.

 

“…… Let me help a bit, I could do with a little change of mood.”

 

“Un! Thanks.”

 

Yuigahama pushed my back happily.

 

My back and shoulders obeyed her readily. However, no matter what, this change of mood brought about by the change of jobs, means that I was still going to do more job. This…… let me feel a sense of hopelessness.

 

Walking through the corridor, down the stairs, I arrived at a spacious room that had many pillars in it. I had no idea what they people were creating with those but it seems like some sort of admission gate. I originally thought that only the helpers from the sports club were there, but it seemed like there were also members from the student council making all sorts of creaking and squeaking noises whilst sawing something.

 

The others did not appear to be doing anything, and were repeatedly glancing at the clock.

 

“What’s the heck is this......? ”

 

“Aiya- Ahaha.”

 

Yuigahama tried to gloss over the situation with a laugh, but in actuality, she couldn’t bring herself to laugh. It was nearing the Sports Festival and there wasn’t much time left. And yet, this was the situation that we were seeing.

 

Although I was mentally prepared, but to actually see this scene with my own eyes was heart-breaking. If this was the situation I guess I should just go and take a break as well.

 

“……Seriously, this is like my attitude when I used to work.”

 

“Hikki, I am surprised you didn’t get fired with this kind of attitude……”

 

I too, thought that it was a miracle. Why didn’t I get fired when I did my work in a slipshod manner? I really wished to be fired. I used to slack off in this manner as well after that.

 

The stores know that this was the risk they faced when recruiting high-school students. Then again, it was really easy to find people to replace us.

 

However, it wasn’t that easy to find replacements for the people in the administrative committee. Of course, it was possible to recruit new helpers by going about and negotiating with the various clubs. But the problem was that we didn’t have the luxury of time, there was also no one who had the spare time to go around holding discussions with the clubs.

 

The smart thing to do now was try and reconcile with all the clubs.

 

Be that as it may, I used my rotten eyes to look about the surroundings once more.

 

There was no one who seemed to have the will to do anything. If even I, who had no will to do anything could say that, then this was a really bad situation.

 

Just as I was thinking about how it came to this, Yuigahama who was beside me, scratched her cheeks and said with a bitter smile on her face.

 

“Although I did try to motivate the crowd, but it seems like this mood……”

 

“No, this is fine.”

 

In this case, if there was someone who is overly spirited, it would only result in a sense of revolt for said person. It was already way past the time to be motivating people.

 

From the very beginning, people should be apathetic towards one another, and do their own stuff according to their pace. Those who did not feel like doing anything will not do anything no matter what you tell them.

 

Whether it’s the blackboard or the admission gate, there seems to be a lot of work left to do. Since I was already here, I might as well finish them.

 

Now, there was a student council member who seemed to have spotted a familiar face in the crowd, and had begun walking towards him. Upon closer inspection, there were a few people behind him who were taking a break. What’s this, a shift system? (/act blur)

 

“I’ve brought along a helper-“

 

Yuigahama said as she pointed to me, and the student council members looked relieved.

 

……Fumu. I am going to do my best on my own. I silently extended my hand. They realized my intention pretty quickly and passed the hammer to me. Then I nodded my head. They nodded theirs as well and went to sit down at a cooler spot.

 

Student council members were a valuable fighting force. It would be troubling if we were to force them to keep working. You guys have a good rest.

 

I waved the hammer about, leaned over, and steeled myself in preparation for what’s about to come.

 

“Well then, let’s go.”

 

“Oh-------“

 

Yuigahama replied and then squatted down opposite me and held the wood in place. No, that, if you are going to squat down like that, your panties would be revealed. That……. You should’ve worn sport pants this time! Really! I don’t know where to look!

 

I swung my hammer to try and get rid of such distracting thought. If I didn’t focus I would hit my finger.

 

As the both of us got down to work, the people who had been always resting seems to be a little unsettled. They stood up and said, “Let us help out as well.”

 

Then, they intentionally decided to do their work in an area whereby we could see them. Well, they probably felt that we were monitoring them. But this was only a temporary threat.

 

As I watched them do their work, I continued hammering in the nails. Were these guys really hammering the nails…… I think I said something of that sort.

 

After continuing my work for a short while, someone unexpectedly called out to us. Naturally, I wasn’t the one who the person called out to.

 

“Ah, Yuigahama-san.”

 

“Oh, what’s the matter? ”

 

Yuigahama turned her head and asked. Because of that, the plank lost its balance and the hammer nearly struck my finger. That was dangerous. Had it really hit my finger, I would have cried out “Kugyu” [1]

 

This is dangerous okay? So please hold it properly for me? I raised my head to tell her that and saw that Yuigahama had turned her head and was looking into the distance.

 

Seems like she was looking at the person who spoke to her.

 

“Is it okay to do it like this? ”

 

“Ah-. Seems about right! ……Not very sure though.”

 

Not very sure…… This girl sure was easy-going…… At the same time, a member of the student council swiftly came over, and mumbled a few words of advice before going away.

 

“Oh, seems like there’s no issue.”

 

“Thank you. You were a great help. Ah, right, after this I may have some matters that I might not really understand so could you please give me the contact details.”

 

“Okay.”

 

And so, Yuigahama ran towards the student council member who had just left. She took the phone from the student council member who was resting under a tree. And so, the contacts of the two were quickly exchanged.

 

“Thank, thank you……”

 

His face seemed at a loss for words as he mumbled his thanks.

 

……Well, so there was this kind of person as well.

 

Under the pretext of participating in events, when the real intention was to actually befriend girls. I guess this kind of thing can’t be helped.

(TL: It should be noted that the guy did not specify WHOSE contact details he wanted, hence this whole fiasco.)

 

Must ignore, must ignore. I shouldn’t be thinking about such stuff.

 

Today, I am a worker whose job is to hammer these nails in as fast and as quick as possible. I don’t care about other matters.

 

Even though I tried not to notice, but the voice still seemed to be as sharp and clear as ever. How strange. This could be considered one of the three big seven wonders. No, the total was 21 wonders!

 

“Come to think of it, what should we do for the weekend? ”

 

Even though I know they weren’t talking to me, I still shot a glance at the speaker.

 

What followed next, was that he stopped working and turning to talking mode. Oi oi, even Kaminuma Emiko no Oshaberi Cooking [2] does work as she speaks. Go and learn from her.

 

However, well, to continue to talk was only natural. Yuigahama was a girl who would give a proper response to others.

 

“Ah? Same as always- However, I have to do things related to the Sports Festival. Well, today too.”

 

“If it’s the weekends, how about helping us out when our club activities end? Give me a way to contact you.”

 

Ah, yes yes, If you really intended to help out you wouldn’t be slacking away just now. My hands suddenly broke out into sweat. So typical of me. When I was in the second year of elementary school, boys and girls were forced to hold hands with each other during our field trips. It was then that people were disgusted by me because my hands would always break out into sweat. My hand was so sweaty that I could barely hold my hammer. Maybe I will just fling the hammer at the back of his head. Ufufufu.

 

Just as I was lifting my head to take aim at my target, Yuigahama spoke.

 

“Oh-, that’s fine I guess. But, if we do our jobs properly this week then we wouldn’t need to do it on the weekend. I guess I really want to go out and have fun during the weekends.”

 

Despite Yuigahama trying to change the topic back to work, the guy had already lost interest in that, and continued to converse. How do I put it, he’s really persistent……

 

“Go and have fun. Where? ”

 

“Ah? That’s probably decided by Yumiko…… Well, I will leave it up to Yumiko? ”

 

“Ah, Miura-san…… Miura-san is it……”

 

The guy’s voice seemed to grow softer and softer.

 

Was this that, was this proof of my focus and concentration? Definitely. Just like when I was studying and listening to music, once I really concentrated I would be in a state whereby I couldn’t hear the music anymore. Yes, it’s probably that state now.

 

Focus, focus. Focus on the plank. Now’s not the time to be distracted by other things. You see, that, I, I love doing work……

 

……Anyway, I want to hurry up and finish this and leave this place.

 

I continued to hammer the nails. My mood was like that of visiting a shrine at two o’clock in the morning. I put my all my might into hammering the nail into the cursed door, the English name was Fantasista doll. I poured forth my hate and pain and hammered hard on the nail. [3]

 

I hammered the nail in smoothly and as I prepared to take another nail from the box, I realized that it was empty.

 

“……There are no more nails.”

 

A long nail. No, a normal nail would do.

 

“Here.”

 

I looked up and saw that Yuigahama had already prepared a nail for me.

 

“……Oh.”

 

I took the nail from her, taking great care not to touch her hands. That, is the same logic as how one would clutch the change tightly when it is given to them by a cute cashier at the convenience store and somehow fall in love with her. Guys should try their best and reduce their contact with females.

 

“Then again, is this really ok? ”

 

“Ah, what? ”

 

Hearing my question, Yuigahama gave a surprised look.

 

“Nothing, if it’s okay then it’s okay.”

 

Yuigahama was really popular amongst the guys.

 

This was something I had heard during the break in Chiba village from Tobe. Although Tobe wasn’t saying it to me, but I did indeed hear him say it.

 

That was only natural.

 

If we were talking about looks then she would be in the slightly cute category. She was nice to everyone. Furthermore, she belonged to the top-caste which only made her more desirable.

 

The most important part was that, she was very kind.

 

Even if her greatest flaw was being an airhead, in the eyes of others, even this was possibly a virtue.

 

Under the illusion that such school events would bridge the distance between the two genders, she would probably be approached by boys she wasn’t familiar with. That was natural. This sort of thing probably wasn’t only limited to such events.

 

Witnessing this personally, I once again had this feeling.

 

That fellow really wasn’t any ordinary guy. As expected from the top caste. Was he trying to make it look natural? After trying so hard then running away, that sure is one weird guy.

 

As I thought that, I noticed that the surrounding had gone very quiet.

 

“Huh? Where did all those guys go? ”

 

I scanned the surrounding, but I could only see the resting student council members. As well as Yuigahama, who was right in front of me.

 

“Un, seems like they left first because they had club activities. ……Or maybe, because of Yumiko.”

 

……Ah, as I thought, was that guy being self-conscious of his actions and so ran off to hide?

 

Seems like she invoked Miura’s name in order to avoid the guy. From her everyday appearance and the way she talked, Miura was a formidable woman. This type of girl was good at politics, or rather, her skills in politicking in the classroom was top notch. If you could get 90 marks in politics, then you would probably be at the same status with Miura. Her leadership skills were about 95 points. Using her name to repel guys was a really scary tactic. No, I really do understand how the guys feel. Miura was scary.

 

However, there shouldn’t be a problem in telling him her contact. Well, there probably were some other reasons. Anyway, if I were to think about this deeply, it will only get depressing, so I shall just forget it.

 

I pulled myself together, and took up the hammer with my other hand.

 

“……Anyway, let’s continue.”

 

“O-“

 

Yuigahama raised her hands and replied energetically. Still, the one who did the work was me.

 

The sound of the hammer continued on.

 

The sound of work echoed out loudly throughout the courtyard. From afar, the sound of the baseball team in the grounds, the soccer club, the rugby club as well as the whistle from the track and field club were mixed together.

 

After hitting in one, two more nails, I could feel the pair of eyes staring at me.

 

“……What? ”

 

If you are going to keep staring at me I can’t continue my work. When I asked my question, Yuigahama hastily shook her hands. No, hold the plank still will you?

 

“Ah, nothing. ……Anyway, Hikki, you seem awfully familiar with this.”

 

“I think everyone knows how to do this sort of thing.”

 

Because guys have had experience with a mini-toy car, they would also know how to use such tools. Screwdriver notwithstanding, pliers, pin vise were all tools that we had used.

 

Not only the mini car, guys were those who wanted to create anything with tools in their hand. One could fashion some meaningless thing from a piece of wood. A cardboard box was also possible.

 

Whether we did a good job or not doesn’t matter, the thing was that such simple jobs could be done by us. Especially so for guys with no other capabilities.

 

Well, girls on the other hand, didn’t know how to make anything. If they needed any help with such stuff on-site next time, it would be better for me to do it. Of course, it would be the best if I didn’t have to come……

 

As I thought about this, I played with the hammer, and Yuigahama suddenly murmured something.

 

“Hey you know…. this isn’t bad, don’t you think? ”

 

“What’s not bad? ”

 

I couldn’t keep up with the workload…… Come to think of it, work was still being done at this sort of time, and it was we who were doing said work. This was really strange…… I could’ve sworn there were other things to do……

 

What’s this person saying…… I sent Yuigahama a look of protest, but she seemed to find something interesting and smiled before continuing.

 

“I think that this feels like youth.”

 

“……Idiot. This make me feel like a corporate slave.”

 

If staying back and doing this work was known as youth, not to mention that this work was something that is beyond your job scope and was forced onto you. If this is called youth, then all the employees must be soaked in youth. At least when my dad comes back from work half-dead, he will never forget to speak about his hatred towards his company and society. I definitely did not feel that it was anything close to youth.

 

“I think that the youth you are taking about, is that pointless sparkling, stupid thing, that thing which likes sudden surprises? ”

 

“What’s up with that impression? I didn’t say anything like that.”

 

She objected to my comments using an unexpected method. Am I wrong? I thought that she liked that sort of stuff.

 

Yuigahama sighed deeply.

 

“For me, I only did work in class during the Cultural Festival. I didn’t get to do anything with you two.”

 

Fumu. That is indeed true. Rather, it should be said that the class event went on so smoothly due to Yuigahama playing an active part in it. This girl, although she doesn’t know anything, but she sure was concerned about the management of money.

 

However, this sort of active participation could not be considered [Youth].

 

“Didn’t you have enough youth in class? Also, you formed a band with Yukinoshita. Have a little patience. That is more than enough youth for you.”

 

“It’s not like that……”

 

Yuigahama raised her head and averted her gaze. Her face was slightly red. The setting sun was pouring down from the special building. When I noticed it, the whole courtyard had been dyed red.

 

By my hypothesis, the meaning of youth according to Yuigahama, meant doing that sort of thing with Yukinoshita, well, that is really, some heavy love.

 

I should probably give her a warning.

 

“If you keep sticking to others, they will be quite troubled. The most important thing is, it’s going to be the most tiresome when you are aware that it is tiresome.”

 

“Uwa……Don’t keep saying this kind of annoying stuff……”

 

Yuigahama said so with a look of disgust. Stop leaning your body backwards. The board is already making tilting backwards. As long as you don’t make the board tilt, I don’t care how you want to lean your body.

 

After readjusting it, I nailed the last nail into the last corner.

 

Fumu. Anyway, I guess it’s done. What follow next would be to saw away all the extra portions. Chiba citizens have a deep connection with saws. That was because of this Mount Nokogiri in Chiba. [4] Anything else, we didn’t feel any connection with them. Or rather, you could say we had 0 connection with them.

 

I stood up to take the saw. Just as I was coming back with an appropriate saw, I saw that Yuigahama ha d a sullen look on her face.

 

“That’s not what I wanted to say either……”

 

“Well, never mind then.”

I used my other hand to take the saw and stepped lightly onto the board to stabilize it. To prevent my hand from messing up, I looked straight in front, not once moving my eyes.

 

“I still have to do this on top of attending all those strange club activities. Even if we weren’t doing it together, I would’ve done it anyway.”

 

Creak, creak, the sound of the saw blocked out plenty of noise. I continued to saw swiftly in a diagonal fashion.

 

“……Un, that is indeed so.”

 

However, no matter what kind of noise the saw made, it had no meaning. Because I could still hear Yuigahama’s voice clearly.

 

I would have done it anyway. Those words were rather……

 

Those were words that led me to lose confidence in myself more than anyone else.

 

It was still better to assume that there won’t be a next time. I can’t think that way. The relationships between people were more dangerous than I imagined. Our relationship was like that as well.

 

Bit by bit, the excessive portions of the board was sawed away and the floor was a mess of sawdust. The saw in my hand felt lighter and lighter, and eventually, a clunk sound could be heard.

 

X X X

 

After I completed my job, I left the finishing touches to Yuigahama and the members of the student council. I went back to continue my own work.

 

Entering the conference room, Yukinoshita raised her head and looked at me.

 

“Ara, and here I was, thinking where you ran off to…… Are you done with the movement stimulation that I asked you to do just now? ”

 

“I will give it to you when I am done.”

 

Don’t ask me such a pointless question! This kind of thing is easily understood with just a bit of thinking. I too, will want to give it to you as soon as I done. The instant I am done with it I will definitely give it to you.

 

I stared at Yukinoshita, who looked at me nonchalantly as she brushed her hair aside.

 

“Right now, I am not confirming whether you are doing your job, I am pressuring you to do it.”

 

“Is that so?......”

 

Well, if your superior were to ask you [Are you done? ], your only answer is [Going to do it right now! ]. There was absolutely no way you could say no in such a situation at your workplace.

 

Guess it can’t be helped, back to work it is. Can’t help it if someone pressuring me. Yukinoshita truly did have the reputation of being a pressure-cooker. She must have been under constant pressure herself. She probably grew up trying to rebel against these sources of pressure.

 

As I complained in my heart, I sat myself down lifelessly on the chair beside Yukinoshita that was already prepared for me, and continued my unfinished work.

 

I took out documents from the piles accumulated on the table to do some verification.

 

One piece. Two piece. Three piece…… Four piece. Oi-

 

My work has increased yet again.

 

I stared at her with my eyes full of bitterness like Banshu Sarayashiki. [5] The recipient of my bitterness, Yukinoshita looked at Meguri-senpai without speaking a single word to me.

 

……Ah, that’s right, it’s Meguri-senpai.

 

However, it seems that Meguri senpai was also busy working. She was clearly going to take her college test soon, so these jobs should be given to others to do. That means, there would be a need for a student council president election…… She still can’t step down from her duties before her successor is chosen.

 

At least there should be someone who can lessen her burden.

 

I shook my head vigorously, and with my mood turning better, I turned my gaze towards the documents again.

 

I scratched my head vigorously, and my mood changed for the better and looked towards the documents again.

 

Figuring out where students should sit, their movements, the holding area where people would wait for the next program, the position of the entrance and exit gates and their respective marking, stimulating student’s movements whilst following my own markings, then to fine tune and arrange everything.

 

What a mundane job……

 

“Please help me with these as well”

 

One more document appeared on top of the mountain of documents. What was added to my workload was a clear folder containing some documents. That, my table is not a Dropbox, don’t just keep putting stuff here, I will be really troubled.

 

Looking to my side, I saw that Yukinoshita was keying in something to the computer.

 

This girl was really still doing work as I had expected…… When others were working, I would feel that I must do so as well. I think that peer pressure is really bad.

 

No, this sort of pressure was useless against the helpers, unfortunately. An atmosphere of ‘not a care in the world’ was not rampant amongst them.

 

This portion of the job was something that had to be done by us.

 

Although I understood this, I felt uncomfortable if I didn’t complain about it. As my hands worked, my mouth moved along with my hands.

 

“Why do I feel like I have been doing nothing but work all this time.”

 

“It was unexpected.”

 

Yukinoshita answered coolly. Of course, her hands were not taking a break, I could still hear the sound of the keyboard being pressed.

 

Just as Yukinoshita had said, unexpected means unexpected. Never thought that I would have to do this sort of job.

 

“That’s true. My dad would faint if he hears that I am actually doing work.”

 

“I am not talking about this…… No, this is rather unexpected as well. Well, I guess your dad is most probably like that too”

 

I heard Yukinoshita’s sighing away in astonishment. However, only one sentence was needed to explain this.

 

“Because it’s my dad.”

 

“That was kind of persuasive…… Compared to this, I am more surprised by Sagami-san.”

 

Hearing that name, I spun my head around in surprise. Yukinoshita was looking at Sagami, who appeared to be be working at a spot diagonally in front of her.

 

“She’s surprisingly taking her work seriously.”

 

“That’s kind of too much……”

 

Surprised…… The one who pushed her onto that position was you…… However, thinking of it that way, I was a little surprised as well.

 

I had thought that Sagami had definitely lost the will to go on, but surprisingly, she seemed to be taking her work seriously.

 

Well, now was probably a crucial point in time for her as well.

 

If the opinion of her continues to fall at this time, Sagami will not have the chance to salvage her ratings again. The only path left was to scorn at those who were more inferior than her to protect her pride.

 

A person’s pride, vanity had a very sensitive disposition.

 

However, it would be great if she really was doing all this seriously. Reality did not show that this was the case.

 

Yukinoshita seemed to understand this point very clearly, and added in some sharp words.

 

“But, she definitely cannot be considered excellent. Hence it is regrettable that I cannot give my work to her as well.”

 

“There’s no point in using her as a comparison against you.”

 

If we were to use Yukinoshita as the basis for comparison, then everyone else was of the utmost incompetence.

 

In that instant, Yukinoshita shot me a dirty look as though she was rebuking me.

 

“It’s not only me. There are others who are themselves, rather excellent people.”

 

“Well, when you put it that way……”

 

Those who were on par with her would probably be people like Haruno or Hayama.

 

“Also……”

 

Yukinoshita continued in a small voice.

 

I did not know when, but her hand had stopped typing. She gripped her fist lightly on the keyboard, and there was a little bit of strength being focused into it.

 

“……I can’t really be considered outstanding. This schedule is on the verge of crumbling.”

 

She pressed the keyboard forcefully. Seems like she was editing the schedule by following the current progress.

 

However, it wasn’t Yukinoshita’s fault that the shifts needed to be edited. That’s to say, nobody would have to do anything if that schedule didn’t exist.

 

“It’s not really your fault.”

 

“So you say……”

 

“It probably isn’t. It’s the society’s fault, society.”

 

“You really are the best when it comes to shirking responsibility.”

 

Yukinoshita laughed at me like I was an idiot. She straightened her back and looked at the computer once more. As though to make up for the time lost spent conversing just now, her fingers flew swiftly and lightly across the keyboard.

 

Yukinoshita seemed to have felt some sense of responsibility but really, it wasn’t Yukinoshita’s fault that we had such a problem.

 

Comparing the shifts and the schedules, there was a more important reason for the delay in work.

 

That was the motive.

 

Even though the conference was not under some sort of boycott, but it kept stopping every now and then due to opposing opinions to the extent that even work was done under the pretext of [not becoming a burden to one’s club activities.]

 

Under this type of situation, those who came to help out could not possibility have any motivation to work.

 

Hence we had to resort to using shifts to allocate jobs. However if we used this ‘shifts’ to allocate jobs, then we also lose the ability to do flexible scheduling. The lack of manpower would then have to be supplemented by those in the executive committee.

 

In the end, we would always end up doing over-time to complete various odd-jobs.

 

Also, there were a lot of uncertain factors that had resulted in loose ends.

 

Seeing the current progress, I guess that in the near future, these uncertain factors would lead to a eventual failure.

 

X X X

 

 

Just the sound of people talking in the morning ruined my mood.

 

The day had just started, but there was this feeling of ‘It has already ended’ that I felt. What a horrible feeling.

 

Due to the people from the other classes causing a ruckus at the school entranceway, there was a frivolous mood in the air that was even more depressing than the mood in the classroom.

 

There was nothing bad about people having a close relationship with each other, but there was still a need to maintain some distance.

 

A friend’s friend.

 

IN the previous year, they were still a class, but over time, drifted apart.

 

Club members.

 

When one encounters several unfamiliar faces, they would all be putting on an appropriate facade. Their faç ade was of course, different from their real personalities.

 

Everyone would be deceiving others on a daily basis. From this, I could tell that being alone was the way to go. From the beginning till the end, there would be only me.

 

Thinking about this, I have always felt that being straightforward with this world would bring in a huge profit for me.

 

The noises from the surroundings were cut off completely as I was immersing myself in these thoughts. To prevent myself from being washed away by the crowd, I moved my body slightly left right, up and down, just like the Dempsey roll. [6]

 

When I reached my shoe rack, I whispered in a small voice [Makunouchi! Makunounchi! ] and extended my hand forward. I wasn’t going to execute a punch, just wanting to take my shoes. It is really bad that I keep finding joy in such meaningless delusions.

 

I put my hand into the shoe locker to retrieve my indoor shoes, when I suddenly felt my hand brush against something.

 

What is that? I thought, as I took it out to see.

 

……Oh.

 

Did someone throw rubbish in my shoe rack?

 

What was thrown into it were paper scraps made from sweet wrappers.

 

Ah, what is this, some sort of bullying?

 

Anyway, I should go check whether there were any more things thrown inside.

 

I quickly took some glances at the shoe racks about mine, and it seemed like trash was thrown only in mine.

 

……So this is what it is?

 

I became slightly disheartened at what I saw. When I discovered this matter, a wave of fatigue assaulted my shoulder all the way to my back.

 

Rather than say that I was upset or angry, it would be more appropriate to say that I felt a sense of futility.

 

Ignoring me, ostracizing me was something that I didn’t care about since it was no different from before. Gossiping about me behind my back, I could understand that too as well.

 

But, I don’t really understand this sort of childish action. What was the point in doing this, will someone benefit from this?

 

Troubling myself over this matter was a waste of time and effort. You could even say that it was meaningless.

 

This school was a prep school that prepped you for universities, so I had thought that there would be fewer idiots in this school, but of course, there were exceptions to everything.

 

This kind of action was only slightly better than resorting to violence.

 

Since the rubbish thrown inside didn’t contain water, I guess I was kind of lucky.

 

In this world whereby there existed many more such idiots, having this type of people as my opponent was already kind of lucky.

 

Thanks to that, I learnt a lesson.

 

A man would be trodden all over once he fell.

 

Anyone would feel that, it was fine to continue bullying those who were being bullied now.

 

Time stopped for just a second.

 

No matter what this school became, I would be able to understand and thus I would be prepared. But even so, I would still be shaken by what may come.

 

I felt embarrassed that I was actually flustered for a instant by such a childish act.

 

Well, there was a still a way to counter this, given the extent of it.

 

I quickly composed myself and retrieved the trash from the shoe rack.

 

Then, focusing intently to feel the atmosphere around me. ……Good, it seems that my stealth ability is still there. I could still use it even in the presence of many people.

 

Confirming that no one was looking in my direction, I took another look at how the shoe racks were positioned.

 

Our seating arrangements were arranged according to the syllabary order. Thus, the one in front of me was Hayama. The one in front of him was Tobe and the one in front of Tobe was Totsuka.

 

This shoe rack was arranged just like our seating arrangements. Hence, the relative positions of the four of us was the same as that of the shoe rack.

 

This must be God’s arrangement!

 

I took the trash in my hand and tossed it into Tobe’s shoe rack, which was quite close to me.

 

……Forgive me, Tobe.

 

Just as how I had been nobly sacrificed for someone else’s joy, likewise, someone must sacrifice themselves for me.

 

Well, I guess you could call this a means of self-defense. It wasn’t always effective towards anyone at anywhere, but this time, it was an effective method.

 

I clapped my hands to rid myself of the dirt that had stained my entire hand, and left the place jauntily.

 

Then, I heard a ruckus from behind me. That was probably Tobe who had just arrived at the entrance way after finishing morning practice.

 

I turned my head and glanced at him. He was greeting his many friends who were walking by and then extended his hand into the shoe rack.

 

“Morning! Oh? ”

 

Tobe seems to have sensed something weird and he stopped his actions in an instant. Then, he took out his own indoor shoes with a certain amount of trepidation.

 

“Eh…… What! Seriously! Eh!? W – A – IT -!? ”

 

Tobe’s shouts had attracted the attention of everyone.

 

Everyone looked at Tobe from afar, those who were on good terms with him walked to his side, and roared with laughter

 

“Tobe, what’s up, what’s so funny? ”

 

“Fuhuhu, someone’s bullying you? ”

 

Hearing that, Tobe turned around exaggeratedly.

 

“Wait a minute! There’s trash in my shoe rack, someone’s bullying me!? Wait, someone’s actually bullying me!? ”

 

Although there was a commotion, but I could sense the tragedy in his voice. The feeling of guilt stabbed at my chest. Uu, sorry, Tobe.

 

As I apologized to him in my heard, Hayama had managed to extricate himself from the crowd surrounding Tobe. He too, had just come back from morning practice like Tobe.

 

“Tobe, so noisy……”

 

Hayama appeared crestfallen, as though he was helpless against Tobe’s crying noises that was echoing about from all sides. However, as though to compensate for this, Tobe’s spirits appeared to improve. If meeting Hayama was all it took to improve your mood, I am guessing you like Hayama……

 

“Wait, Hayama-kun, listen to me, I am being serious. Someone threw trash in my locker! Things like Pocky stick and crispy plum wrappers. Ah, theres a male plum inside! ”

 

“……”

 

Listening to him, Hayama’s expression hardened.

 

He silently put his hand into his own indoor shoe. Then he stood still just like that. He stared closely at his own shoe rack.

 

However, he didn’t stand still for long.

 

He retrieved his own shoes, and as he wore it, he smiled at Tobe. This was totally different from that hardened expression from before.

 

“Go and tidy up your shoe rack. Did someone mistake it for a trash bin? You should take those indoor shoes home every once in a while and wash them.”

 

“Now look here Hayama-kun! That’s too much! ”

 

“I am just joking. We will go think about it if this sort of thing continues. Anyway, lets head back to the club room to put down our things.”

 

Hayama patted Tobe’s forehead and shoulder, who was now looking up and sighing away. Then he urged him on to return to the club room.

 

“Wait, you know, I was really surprised-. To think that the MEXT [7] said that no such bullying would exist in this school, they really shouldn’t say such lies. That’s why I say that I hate the government-“

 

Tobe continued to rant as he walked away.

 

As expected of Tobe.

 

Such a person who could make so much noise even if he was hurt was really rare. Furthermore, to think that he would focus all the attention on himself, so as to spread the news.

 

I didn’t hate Tobe. Between like and hate, I really didn’t think any of that mattered at all in this scenario.

 

I didn’t throw the trash into Tobe’s shoe rack out of hate, but for self-defense purposes.

 

Using Tobe’s conspicuous existence as a means to create publicity for this problem of mine, so as to prevent those fellows from making another direct attack again on me.

 

There was no need for those people to witness Tobe’s reaction. Tobe would have told many people and it would then trickle down to those guys.

 

I couldn’t guarantee whether Tobe would make such a big commotion, but I did believe in Tobe.

 

He was a very weak person deep down inside. Even if he may have been hurt often, but if it was Tobe, I suppose he would have kicked up a huge fuss for the purpose of self-defense.

 

From this matter, they would not look at it as a case of [bullying], but rather understand it as [being teased], [an interesting prank], and elevate it to the status of a joke.

 

I had two reasons for thinking this way.

 

The first was Tobe’s weak-headed personality.

 

He would wish for the topic to head towards a more interesting direction.

 

The second was Tobe’s position in the school.

 

Because he belonged to the top-caste, hence he would not think that he was being bullied. The more crucial part was that when encountering such a situation, he would have massive support. Hence, it could be treated as a joke. Or rather, there was the possibility that his pride didn’t want to let others see that he had succumbed to bullying.

 

No matter which, perhaps I should express my thanks to Tobe for the first time ever.

 

With the spreading of this incident, my opponent would find it tough to make a move. There wasn’t a need to find the culprit. It didn’t have any benefits for me anyway.

 

It was fine enough to just stop the attacks.

 

Even if they were to continue the attacks, they would find another sacrificial lamb.

 

Ahahaha! Most regrettable! Although that kind of underhanded method seems to be effective until now, but I am more underhanded than you guys by three times! Also, I am really mean!

 

……Fu.

 

However, was there really someone who hate me that much so as to resort to this? I was really taken aback by this. Well, was it because our relationship was rather weak, hence this was the only way to attack me? Although I didn’t feel that this sort of attacks could escalate any further.

 

I thought about the countermeasures I could adopt in the future as I headed towards the classroom.

 

Climbing up the stairs, turning the corner and arriving at the corridor that led to class 2-F. I noticed that it was unusually quiet here. Normally, this place would be noisy as heck, but today there was only the faintest of noise

 

I looked about the corridor, and it seemed like everyone was staring at a far-off distance, then averted their gaze and chuckled softly and whispered amongst themselves.

 

I looked towards the center of the vortex.

 

It was Sagami Minami.

 

And also Haruka and Yukko.

 

With the three of them as the centre, there were also several others had crowded around them. Some of them were standing of the side of the Haruka and Yukko whilst others were in the middle. Then, there were also some who stood on Sagami’s side. Amongst them, I could see Yuigahama.

 

It wasn’t exactly rocket science to guess that they were arguing over something.

 

What were these people doing…… As I looked on, Yuigahama, who had noticed me, was now running swiftly towards me.

 

“What’s the problem? ”

 

Hearing my question, Yuigahama leaned towards me ear. Too close……

 

“Seems like Sagami-chan went to say hi to them, but began quarreling after they ignored her……”

 

Yuigahama sighed tiredly. Her sigh blew to my ear that cause my neck to have goosebumps, but now was not the time for such frivolous conversation.

 

The scene just now was that of Sagami, staring at both Haruka and Yukko. From their respective positions, it seems like Sagami, who was either entering or leaving the classroom had coincidentally met up with Haruka and Yukko, but was ignored by the duo.

 

Because they were blocking the back door of the classroom, people from the F-class had to enter and leave via the front door.

 

This has turned into some troublesome thing again……

 

Was it better to stop them or to disperse them? I didn’t know what to do so I looked towards Yuigahama. She too, appeared at a loss as she tried to think of a plan.

 

If I were to intervene here, the state of the committee would turn sour real quick. It seemed unlikely that there was anything to be gained from supporting either Sagami or Haruka and Yukko.

 

Thus, the superior plan was to let them remain in this stalemate, and wait for the time where they must eventually separate.

 

Just as I was ready to give up, the presence of someone completely changed the situation.

 

“Hey, I, want to pass through here.”

 

Miura Yumiko scattered the crowd that had gathered and strode towards the trio as she said that. She shook her blonde hair, and looked at the three of them with displeasure.

 

Sagami, Haruka and Yukko backed off, and used this as an opportunity to go their own separate ways.

 

The advance of the queen easily scattered the small fries.

 

She caused them all to shut up without so much as doing a mediation or persuasion.

 

Miura was unbelievable……

 

Thanks to her, this unusual morning came to a finish.

 

However, the sparks did not yet disappear.

 

Just like the glowing embers, silently, burning forevermore. When the wind changes, they will definitely grow into a roaring flame.

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

 

[1] All hail the queen of tsunderes Rie Kugimiya. Kugyu is her nickname. Incidentally, Kugi is the romaji for nails as well.

[2]It’s a cooking show by Japanese comedian Kaminuma Emiko.The name of the show can be somewhat translated to Cooking and chatting with Emiko Kaminuma.

[3] (丑 の 刻 参 り) here refers to a ancient ritual in Japan whereby you visit a shrine at 2am in the morning. There you hammer a straw doll to a tree that is near the shrine with long nails to curse the person.

[4] You can probably guess. Nokogiri = saw.

[5] https://www.internationalghostsandhauntings.com/2011/11/okikus-well-banshu-sarayashiki-at.html

[6]From the anime Hajime No Ippo. The following line, where Hachiman utters Makunouchi is because that’s what the crowd would shout when they see Makunouchi do the Dempsey roll.

[7] Abbreviation for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology, Japan.

 






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