Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817139558660048790/episodes/16817330656684693906
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“N-No!”
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I also saw the future.
Is that the gymnasium warehouse?
It was a short image, but it was enough to grasp the location.
Now that I had decided to help, there was no point in simply getting between Mitani san and the others.
If I am going to help, I must be complete. And I must make sure that no further damage is done to Mitani-san.
That is my responsibility for giving her half-hearted advice and trying to put her in danger right now.
But I don’t have time to think about such things.
What on earth should I do ……?
If I head for the back of the gym as fast as I can now, I may still be able to save Mitani-san safely.
But is that really what I want to do?
“Arase.”
“…… Sosuke?”
As I was heading toward the back of the gym, I heard a familiar voice from behind me.
When I turned around, I saw Sosuke, and it seemed he had just come out of the bathroom.
“I’m sorry, Sosuke. I’m in a hurry.”
“What, you have a stomach ache? What a coincidence. I was just now holding on to it.”
Come to think of it, he left the class saying he had a stomachache and never came back.
……But that’s beside the point.
“It’s not like that. I’m in a real hurry. I’m sorry, but I’ll see you later.”
“Well, calm down. I’m sorry, I’m just kidding.”
“…..”
Sosuke steps forward as if to block my hurried path.
The face is more serious than ever.
“I want to help Arase, too,”
“What do you mean?”
“Actually, just now, I saw Mitani-san.”
“You saw Mitani-san? I mean, did you recognize her?”
The appearance had changed so much that Asagiri and the others didn’t recognize her.
“Who do you think I am?”
“O-Ou…..”
“So, three girls were with her.”
“……!”
“Mitani san, she’s being bullied, isn’t she?”
“How do you know about that?”
“Well, because the girls she was with are famous. In a bad way. All kinds of rumors start circulating.”
“So”
“I told you. I’m going to help you. You’re going to help her right. Well, then let me help you.”
“…………”
I didn’t expect Sosuke to say such a thing to me, and I let loose.
“You can count on me once in a while, right? We’re friends, right?”
“I didn’t expect Sosuke to say such a thing to me.”
“Ggghh……, that’s uncalled for.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have time for this. Mitani-san…”
I explained briefly to Sosuke. She had been going to seize the evidence behind the gymnasium, but on the contrary, she was taken to the gymnasium warehouse and was subjected to terrible things.
“Why did she do that ……?”
“I’ll explain that later. Now, I may be able to help in the back of the gym, but…”
“So the problem is only temporary?”
“Yes, it’s a temporary solution. If possible, I want to prevent Mitani-san from being bullied for a long time to come.”
“Even if you say that, how can I ……, is that ……?”
At that time, Sosuke found someone.
◆
“S-stop it!!”
“Shut up!!”
“…!?”
The voice recorder was taken away from me and I was dragged and taken to the gym storage room.
Unluckily, there were no people around and no one could see me.
When I tried to speak louder, I was slapped on the cheek and silenced.
When we reached the warehouse, I was pushed and knocked to the ground.
There was nothing but fear.
I could almost imagine what they were going to do to me.
An embarrassing sight, she said.
“D-Don’t do this. ……”
I held my own body with trembling hands and backed away.
“N-no!”
“Come on, stay still!”
“……!”
Miyano-san wrapped herself around me.
“Make sure you get it on film, okay?”
“Leave it to me! I’ll get a perfect shot!”
“You’d better leave it at that.”
It was the end. Just when I thought it was over.
I thought I heard the voice of someone I knew.
Miyano-san noticed the discomfort and stopped the hand that was reaching for my clothes.
“Eh…..?”
“Ha ……?”
Then, I looked toward the direction where the voice came from. Everyone there shouted in an amazed manner.
Even me. Because the voice belonged to someone who shouldn’t be there.
“Sen, Pai ……?”
“Mitani-san, I’m sorry. Can you step aside for a moment from Mitani-san?”
Senpai, who came out from the opposite side of the entrance, apologized apologetically for some reason and said to Miyano-san, who was now straddling me.
He was obviously angry. His voice was dark, low and cold, which I could not imagine from the usual gentle senpai.
“You, why are you here…. the other day?”
“Well? What do you care about that? It’s more like you’re taking this too far.”
“What? A lecture, senpai?”
All three of them had a clearly remorseless expression on their faces. Even when senpai came out, it was still the same.
“You know what? This is a common crime.”
“A crime? What are you talking about? I was just playing around. Right?”
“That’s right. We do this kind of thing all the time.”
“Mitani san clearly didn’t want to do it, though. That’s no excuse when you’re forcing yourself on someone who doesn’t want to do it.”
“Then what? Do you have any proof?”
“I’m the one who witnessed it. In addition, if Mitani san complained to the teacher about the damage—what’s so funny about it?”
The girls did not break their smirks when senpai said that.
“What, you don’t know about this?”
“Masashi’s family is very rich, you know?”
“So……?”
Senpai still didn’t back down.
“In the countryside around here, there is no one who doesn’t know Masashi’s house.”
“Besides, Masashi’s parents donate a lot of money to this school, and the teachers can’t easily disobey Masashi.”
“That’s right. So no matter how much you tell the teacher, if I tell you that the three of us were attacked by Senpai, then that’s what will happen. Do you understand that, Senpai~?”
When Miyano-san said it out loud, Senpai looked somewhat complicated.
Yes, that’s how I’ve been beaten up and kept quiet so far.
Sensei is often on Miyano-san’s side, and even the people around her don’t know what might happen if they go against her, so they kept quiet.
Her family is apparently a well-known and prominent family around here. They own a large company and have strong ties with the local people.
Still, I was at my wits’ end, so I was going to do something about it with a single word from senpai,……, but apparently that didn’t matter to her.
“…… that’s crap.”
“Ha?”
Then senpai, who had been silent, spat out in a small voice. But it was clearly heard by me and by Miyano-san as well.
I didn’t know what he was thinking right now.
I couldn’t read the expression on his face, which was always so kind. Earlier, when he saved me, I could tell that he was angry, but now …… yes, nothing.
No expression.
“You’re not going to apologize to Mitani-san, are you?”
“Apologize? Are you the one who needs to apologize?”
“I understand. If that’s the case, I have an idea.”
After saying that, he moved to the shelf where the equipment was placed.
Then he moved the equipment out of the way and picked up the phone that was placed there.
“I recorded what just happened. Even the testimony is on tape. There’s no way you can get away with this.
“Tsk. SS-o what about it? that much—“
“You don’t think you can get away with this, do you? Even if the school doesn’t handle it, you know what can happen if you put this kind of video on social networking sites nowadays, right?”
When Senpai said this, the three of them looked as if they were biting a bitter bug.
Senpai is scary …….
Lately, every now and then, a social networking post is flamed.
It has become a social problem, mainly because there are a lot of kids around our age who are not literate, mainly kids around our age who are not literate.
And I, as a Vtuber, understand the fear of flames better than anyone else.
The three of them looked desperate and fell silent.
“Mitani-san, can you stand up?”
“Se, senpai ……”
I nodded my head, my voice a little tearful. I was so happy to see him. I was so happy to be able to do this.
Then three people blocked our path.
I wondered if they were still trying to do something.
“I-I’m sorry! I-I, um…!!”
“Please forgive me! I’ll do anything!”
“I was just messing around a little too much! If my parents find out about this, they’ll ……”
The three of them lost their earlier bravado and began apologizing.
It seems they know what happens when a social networking site goes up in flames.
“If you feel bad about it, don’t do it in the first place. Besides, I’m not the one you should be apologizing to, am I?”
“……!”
The three of them looked at me with a shocked look on their faces.
These three people are always so noisy, and it was …… a little refreshing to see them looking at me like this.
“Mi, Mitani-san,…… I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I-I’m sorry!”
The three of them bowed their heads firmly and apologized.
If it were true, would it be right to forgive them? But if I could forgive them for that, I wouldn’t have been so troubled.
“I will never forgive you! Don’t ever get involved with me again!!!!”
Then I said what I was thinking.
Somehow, I felt more refreshed than when I had said it earlier.
I guess it was thanks to having senpai by my side.
“Senpai, let’s go?”
“……Ah. Are you done?”
“Yes. Can you give me the video recording? If they try anything else, I’ll show it, without question.”
“Oh… Yes—-!?”
While senpai and I were having this exchange, Miyano-san and the others took the phone away from senpai again.
“Ahhahahahahaha! Are you kidding me?”
“Really, As expected Masashi!”
“Seriously genius!”
The three of them continued to laugh high with senpai’s phone in their hands.
It was the worst thing that could have happened.
“Se, senpai …….”
“It’s okay.”
I was in a hurry, but his voice was calm. For some reason, this made me feel a little more at ease.
“Give it back. If you return it now, ……”
“No way! There’s no way I’ll give it back!
“I see. I get it. Sosuke!”
“Yesyes!!!”
“Eh?”
When senpai shouted that, Sasaoka-senpai’s voice came from outside.
At the same time, the door to the gym storage opens.
The strong western sun was coming in through the open door.
I covered my face with my arms because it was so bright.
“Eh?”
As my eyes began to adjust, I saw many students in my field of vision. Among them were the kids in my class, and there was also a kid sitting next to me who was looking at me with an anxious expression.
“Oh, um, …… senpai, what’s this?”
“Mitani-san’s classmate.”
“Um, …….”
Senpai’s words did not answer my question.
What I wanted to know was why these girls were here.
“They all came here because they were worried about Mitani-san. Surely that means Mitani-san wasn’t the only one who was dissatisfied with those girls.”
Sasaoka-senpai comes over from the side to give me an answer.
Everyone was worried about me ……? Really?
“D-don’t be silly! Just because these guys were watching me, so what? That has nothing to do with anything!”
But in the midst of all this, Miyano-san still didn’t seem to have given up. She didn’t notice that the 2 girls behind her faces were already turning blue.
“Hey, hey …… Masa ……”
“Mou, let’s not do this anymore……”
“Shut up! I don’t care what you tell my dad…”
“You know what? I’m telling you, do you really think you can go on with your life with this many students watching you? Besides, ……”
“I’ve been recording it over here, too! See? Isn’t it perfect? Even her face is perfect! How’s that? I’m good? How’s that?”
“Okay, good, good. Thank you, Sosuke. As you can see, we have a recording. I didn’t lie about the threat I made earlier. I wouldn’t have done that if you would dispose of it properly, though.”
The female teacher comes in looking a little uncomfortable as senpai says this.
This teacher might be the same as the other teachers. I was a little worried.
“You know, even teachers are busy during lunch break. It’s okay that I had the scent of youth, but …… Ito, you owe me this one, okay?”
“What are you talking about? Sometimes please do something that is proper for a teacher.”
“Fufu, I know. I’m just kidding. You are Mitani-san of the first year, aren’t you? This was a surprise. If she was such a beautiful girl, I should have marked her earlier.”
“…..U-um?”
“Please continue to take care of Ito with that cuteness. Then leave the rest to me. As for their disposition, we will officially consider it here. Of course, I promise I won’t let it go unanswered.”
I didn’t know much about this teacher, but I thought she seemed to be handling the situation properly. I didn’t quite understand what she meant in the first half.
“Oh, and Ito. You are to come to me after school.”
“…… Why?”
“Well, I have a lot of questions I want to ask you. Your friendships, mostly.”
“Haa…..?”
“Okay, then. Hey, we’ll hear what you have to say in the guidance counselor’s office.”
Saying that, the teacher urged Miyano-san and the other girls to give up, and they obeyed the teacher and were taken away.
I was not able to keep up with the rapid development of the situation.
Still, I was relieved to be released from the daily suffering.
I was filled with a sense of relief.
I haven’t figured out what to do about the delivery yet, but somehow I have a feeling that it will work out.
I could see myself properly now. I am the person I was weak and wanted to hide and couldn’t do anything about it.
I defied something I was afraid of for the first time. I broke down that wall by myself. In the end, I was helped by senpai, but I am glad that I did it on my own initiative.
Now that I felt so much more relaxed and secure, I felt that I could handle any comments that came my way.
“Thank you so much, senpai. Thanks to you, I was saved.”
“You’re overreacting. I didn’t do anything serious.”
“I’m not exaggerating! If it weren’t for senpai, I ……”
Maybe I would have jumped off the roof when I first met him.
“You saved my life, senpai.”
“That’s why you’re overreacting.”
“I will never forget this favor. What would you like me to do for you? What would you like?”
“No, no, no, no. I really don’t want it.”
“How about me? I’m the type to serve you, you know?”
“No, no, no, give me a break.”
“Muu! Are you sure you don’t want me?”
“No, thanks.”
Senpai thought it was a joke, or maybe he answered in an appropriate manner, which made me unintentionally get pissed off.
I wonder if I’m that unattractive. ……
“Well, I don’t mind if you don’t thank me or anything. I’m looking forward to the stream again. You may have a lot to think about right now, but if you want to resume when you have more time, that’s fine.”
“……! I understand. After all, senpai is a kind person!”
“……. Isn’t it obvious?”
Really, senpai is kind.
I knew it, I, about senpai…
“Hmm, well, I’ll let you know when I resume my stream, so make sure you watch it, okay?”
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”
Senpai laughed as he said that.
“Mitani-san, …….”
“Oh, odera-san ……”
Then, the girl sitting next to me – Odera Miori – called out to me.
I looked at senpai.
“Come on, go ahead.”
“……Yes!”
I nodded as I went and stepped toward her
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“Thanks, Sosuke.”
“You’re welcome. That’s what friends are for, right?”
“I never thought I’d hear such a lukewarm line from Sosuke.”
“Ghee! Don’t say that! I just cooperated with you!”
“Anyway, thanks for the help.”
“And for the money, please introduce me to a girl.”
I was kidding, but it’s true that I was saved.
If I hadn’t had Sosuke’s help at that time, things wouldn’t have gone so well.
“Even so, how did you know it was in the gym warehouse?”
“It’s a trade secret, I guess.”
I saw the future, so there’s nothing I can do about it.
“Damn~. Buy me a drink later?”
“Can I introduce you to some girls?”
“Course, yeah. That, too.”
“Well, I don’t have any girls I could introduce you to.”
“Bullshit!”
“Speaking of which, have you done your assignment for this afternoon’s class?”
“Ah, Noo! I haven’t done it at all! Oh, Arase! Please, let me see it!”
“Okay, okay, go ahead and get ready. I’ll be right there.”
“I’ll be right there!”
Saying that, Sousuke quickly ran off toward the classroom.
I’m going to go back to the classroom slowly.
Thinking this, I look at Mitani-san talking with the class kids.
From time to time, a smile would come from there, and I was convinced that everything was going to be okay now.
The streame may be difficult right now, but I know it will be okay once she gets her mind straightened out.
Heartless comments will continue to come, but now that she has overcome her past traumas and current barriers, she will be fine.
I’m sure she’ll be fine now that she’s gotten over her past traumas and current barriers.
“I’m not the kind of person that Mitani-san would say I am…”
I mutter this quietly and begin to walk away.
The last words Mitani-san said to me were stuck in the corner of my head.
If anything, I’m a terrible person.
I knew what the future held, and I could have saved Mitani san before putting her in danger.
But I knew that, and I didn’t dare.
I thought it would be better to think about what would happen later.
It would have been the same if I had just saved her. If that was the case, then I should just make sure that Mitani san would not get involved with me after this.
Even if it scared her.
And the fact that I let Miyano san and the others take my phone was also intentional.
To be honest, I knew exactly what the girls would do once I announced that I was recording with my phone.
By giving them that kind of easy hope, they would be more effective after that.
I knew this and dared them to do so.
After all this, I don’t have a reputation for being kind.
If I had really been a kind person, Takihana would probably still be alive today.
I looked outside and saw that it had begun to rain.
The rainy season will soon arrive.
Takihana’s birthday was approaching.
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