Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330665217759411/episodes/16818023212717327051
…… after school. We were gathered in a conference room near the staff room.
Kitagawa-san, Nishida-san, Higashino-san, Ishibashi-sensei, and …… Busujima-sensei. Then I asked my classmates from the fourth class of the first year to come, one boy and one girl.
Of these, Higashino-san was asked to take video with her phone, and the rest of us were all sitting on pipe chairs in front of a long desk.
Of course, the discussion was about Kitagawa-san’s outburst.
“There is no need to discuss it.”
Busujima sensei frowned as she turned to us.
“It’s obvious that Kitagawa-san is the only one at fault, isn’t it? She threw a tantrum, which is unbecoming of a first-year high school student, threw her chair at me, overturned her desk, and caused a great deal of disruption to the class. What do you want to discuss about this?”
“I heard that you were the cause of Kitagawa-san’s tantrum.”
I, sitting opposite Busujima sensei, cut her off.
I heard via Nishida-san that Kitagawa-san had lost her temper because Busujima-sensei had said something bad about me.
When I heard this, I finally understood why Kitagawa-san was reluctant to tell me, saying, “It’s true that it might be a little embarrassing to tell me directly.”
However, since I needed to settle the matter with Busujima-sensei this time, I asked Kitagawa-san’s permission and then heard about it from Nishida-san.
“I heard that Busujima sensei had been bad-mouthing me? I heard that Kitagawa-san got angry at you for that.”
“Bad-mouthing you? What are you saying? I would never do such a vulgar thing, would I?”
Kitagawa-san, who was sitting right next to me, shouted at Busujima sensei, who was blurting out
“I’m sure you did! You definitely said it!”
“Kitagawa-san, calm down.”
“But Nakahara!”
“It’s okay, for now, let’s listen to what Busujima-sensei has to say.”
“……………………”
Kitagawa-san gritted her teeth and looked deeply frustrated, but she reluctantly retracted her position at my request.
“Let’s hear an objective opinion here. Two of my classmates from the fourth class of the first year. At that time, did Busujima-sensei speak ill of me …… Nakahara Junichi?”
When I asked the story, those two looked at each other.
Then, the boy said with some hesitation
“Well, at that time, I think Busujima-sensei said that the …… counseling club was a strange club activity.”
“Hou, What exactly does she mean by a strange club?”
“She said that children’s counseling should be listened to by adults, that it is meaningless for children to listen to children’s problems, and that the students who set up this club do not understand that at all. I’m trying to phrase that a little bit in summary.”
“Is this statement true? Busujima-sensei.”
To this sensei replied, “Yes, it is.”
“Sensei, Kitagawa-san is a student in the counseling club. She would not think well of being maligned for saying that there is no point in the counseling club. Also, I, the head of the department, am the one who started this club. This statement is also an insult to me. That made Kitagawa-san even more angry. From what I’ve heard, I think I can say that Kitagawa-san has every right to be angry, don’t you?”
“This is not a bad comment. It is an objective opinion.”
“An objective opinion?”
“There is no way that an immature child can solve the problems of an immature child by listening to him.”
“Hmmm……”
I paused for a moment and then reiterated, “Well, Busujima san,”
“Busujima-sensei is very old, isn’t she?”
“……!”
“She has many wrinkles and spots. I heard that she is in her fifties, but to me she looks like she is in her seventies. You should take better care of your skin, don’t you think?”
“Y-you! How rude of you!?”
Busujima-sensei’s face turned red and she got up from her seat and yelled at me. Ishibashi-sensei, who was standing next to Busujima-sensei, looked dismayed and said, “Hey, Nakahara-kun! What are you talking about? Apologize!” He said.
“Apologise? Why? I just gave you an objective opinion, right?”
“What are you saying so stupidly!? It was obvious that you had malicious intent!!”
“There was no malice. And since Busujima-sensei also gave an objective opinion about the counseling department, there’s nothing wrong with me giving an objective opinion, is there?”
“There’s no way I’m going to accept that kind of quibble! Apologize to me right now!”
“Hmm, I don’t have any malice toward you. But, well, if you were hurt by my words, then I apologize. I am sorry.”
Then I bowed my head. Then I quickly raised my head again and said
“Well, Sensei, next, you apologize.”
“W-What?”
“You have disgraced the counseling department and me, and hurt Kitagawa-san. Please apologize for that.”
“T-there’s no way I’ll apologize! I’ve been saying that for a while now! I said that was an objective opinion!
“But now I bowed my head and said I was sorry if I had hurt sensei, even if it was an objective opinion, right? If the teacher couldn’t bow down to Kitagawa-san here, she’ll be considered less sincere than me, the kid, won’t she?”
“……!”
“You said it yourself, didn’t you? Counseling, you said, is not for immature children to deal with children. Then, sensei, what is an adult anyway?”
“……………………!”
“Who is more mature, the person who can apologize if he or she offends others even if he or she has no malice toward them, or the person who cannot admit his or her wrongdoing forever?”
“You, you ……! You! What are you talking to a teacher! The way you talk to me!”
“Hmm? There is nothing strange about the way I talk to you, is there? Which one of us is the adult? I’m rather polite, saying that I want to hear your opinion, Busujima-sensei, but what are you so angry about?”
“You kidddd———!”
{aaan!!!
The sound of my cheek being slapped echoed through the conference room.
Busujima sensei had finally put out her hand.
“H-hey, Busujima-sensei!”
As expected, Ishibashi-sensei thought this was a bad idea and immediately stopped Busujima-sensei. He tied her up from behind and made her unable to move.
“Y-You! Let go of me!”
The corners of my mouth involuntarily turned up as I watched her impudent behavior.
“You old hag! How dare you hit Nakahara!”
Kitagawa-san was about to jump on Busujima sensei when I hastily stopped her.
“Wait, wait! It’s all right, we’ve won.”
“W=We won?”
“Look, there”
I pointed my finger in Higashino-san’s direction. Higashino-san raised her phone, smiled, and made a circle with her index finger and thumb.
“I got a perfect shot of you punching him!”
“Thank you, Higashino-san. If we show that footage to the principal and the school board, Busujima-sensei will be punished.”
“……Nakahara”
“Right, Kitagawa-san?”
Now we’ve won, right? I smiled at her as I said that.
……Busujima sensei was suspended for a month a few days after that. I really wanted to dismiss her on disciplinary grounds, but it was difficult to go that far.
“But I’m glad I was able to fight back. I feel better now.”
Kitagawa-san looked happier than ever as she sipped oshiruko in the clubroom.
I, Higashino-san, and Nishida-san were all relieved to see Kitagawa-san like that.
We all sat around the table chatting. It felt like we were finally back to our normal routine.
“But I’m afraid of what will happen when Busujima-sensei comes back again. …… What if she gets more resentful and harasses worse than before?”
As Nishida-san was muttering weakly like that, Higashino-san cheerfully said, “Don’t worry!”
“At that time, you can talk to the other teachers about it! Once you are labeled as a teacher who inflicts corporal punishment, it will be easier for them to believe you next time, even if you don’t have any more proof!”
“Yes, Higashino-san is right. The more Busujima sensei does, the more she will be strangling herself.”
“….. I see. ……”
“Anyway! As expected of Nakahara-kun! The way he cornered Busujima-sensei was really amazing! It was like a professional detective cornering a criminal!!”
“Don’t exaggerate, it wasn’t that big of a deal.”
I took one of the cookies on the table and released it into my mouth.
“Busujima sensei always looked down on children. she would make comments about the counseling department like, It doesn’t matter if the children listen to the children. I poked at her condescending attitude toward the children.”
“You poke her?”
“There’s some kind of complex hidden in the psychology of looking down on yourself. For example, if you’re afraid of getting older, you force yourself to feel, ‘I’m amazing at my age!’ in order to alleviate that fear. The advantage of being old is that you have accumulated knowledge and gained a lot of experience by living for a long time…In other words, you are growing as an adult. This ‘adult me is amazing!’ The quickest way to create this feeling is to look down on the child. When you look down on a child who doesn’t have much knowledge or experience, it’s easy to feel like you’re superior.That kind of psychology.”
“I see. ……”
“People who have truly matured as adults don’t look down on others. There is an old haiku that says, ‘The more fruitful the rice is, the more it hangs down its head’. It means that people with substance don’t act arrogant, while people without substance get anxious and act arrogant for no good reason.:
“Yeah yeah I think I understand that very well.”
Higashino-san nodded her head repeatedly and muttered to herself.
“People who try to hurt others always carry insecurity in their hearts. If they realize that they are being driven by that anxiety, they may stop hurting others.”
“Hmmm! This story is also very wonderful! As expected of Nakahara-kun!”
Higashino-san praised me more than necessary, and I felt somewhat embarrassed. But it’s no lie that this made me feel good, so I told her, “Thank you.”
“……………………”
At that time, I suddenly turned my eyes toward Kitagawa-san and found her staring blankly at me, pondering something.
“What’s wrong? Kitagawa-san.”
When I called out to her, Kitagawa-san glanced at me for a moment. Then she quickly lowered her gaze again and fell silent.
I and Higashino-san and Nishida-san looked at each other and wondered what was going on. As we looked at each other, Kitagawa-san spoke to me, saying, “…… Nakahara.”
“What? Kitagawa-san.”
“……, give me your hand.”
“hand?”
“Yeah.”
“W-Which hand?”
“Either one.”
“O-Okay.”
I didn’t understand what Kitagawa-san was trying to say, but I just held out my right hand.
“……….”
She took my hand and stared at it intently.
Then she squeezed her eyes shut and ……
She kissed the back of my hand.
“Eh!?”
“Wah!!”
“K-Kitagawa-san!”
I, Higashino-san, Nishida-san, and everyone else couldn’t help but shout.
Kitagawa-san’s face turned bright red and she disappeared from the clubroom with a whoosh. It was just like the wind was running away, such a sense of speed.
“Eh? What? Could it be ……?”
Higashino-san’s eyes were shining so brightly that it made me wonder if they were really that bright.
“I wonder if Kitagawa-san likes Nakahara-kun!?”
“K-Kitagawa-san likes me?”
“Because! She wouldn’t do this if she didn’t for sure!”
“I-I wonder if that’s so. ……That Kitagawa-san is …….”
Even as I said that, I remembered the words Kitagawa-san said to me today.
[If I apologize to everyone, will Nakahara like with me?]
(Is that what …… is all about?)
My head felt like it was going to explode from the sudden event.
The back of my hand, where she had kissed me, still felt a warm sensation.
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