The Police Chief's submissive attitude toward Yaeko was lost on no one. As ordinary families, the other parents didn't dare lash out at her directly. But they needed an outlet for their frustration.
Shoya Ishida and Naoka Ueno—the "ringleaders"—were the perfect targets.
Only a tiny fraction of the parents actually reflected on themselves or planned to educate their children properly at home. The vast majority dumped all responsibility for their children's juvenile records on the Ishida and Ueno families. In their eyes, their own children were "pure" and "kind"; if they had participated in bullying, it must have been because they were "corrupted" by someone else.
As the Chief and Yaeko stepped out of the room, the parents erupted with murmurs and accusations.
"You really are something, aren't you? A 'good boy' at home, and out here you're terrorizing people?" one parent hissed, gripping their child's ear until it turned blue. She had actually believed her kid was as well-behaved as he acted at home, bragging about him to the neighbors. Today, he had humiliated her in public.
"Didn't I tell you a thousand times not to hang out with that punk?"
"I told you not to be friends with just anyone, and look at you now."
"It's one thing for your own kid to be rotten to the core, but why did you have to drag mine into it with him?"
The room filled with venomous jabs and blatant hostility aimed at the Ishida and Ueno families. It was as if their own public humiliation was entirely the fault of those four. And their children—spineless followers who just went along with it—saw their parents' behavior and immediately copied it, casting looks of pure hatred at Shoya and Naoka.
In that moment, the bullying hadn't actually ended. The cycle had simply shifted. The primary bullies became the targets, and the accomplices became the new aggressors. The bully stopped bullying, and the followers just found a new target to vent their resentment.
[Wrong. This is all wrong. This shouldn't be happening. No, no, no.]
[Why is it turning out like this?]
Looking at the mass of hostile eyes staring back at him, Shoya began to panic. He had a sick feeling his future was going to be bleak.
Miyako Ishida pulled Shoya behind her, shielding him from the collective malice of the room.
"I'm sorry. It's my fault for not raising him right."
"I am truly sorry."
The woman who had stood tall against Yaeko earlier was gone. To make up for Shoya's sins, Miyako bowed repeatedly to every single parent, looking utterly pathetic and defeated. Even so, she didn't utter a single word of blame toward her son.
Shoya watched her, dazed. He finally seemed to realize exactly how much he had fucked up.
Naoka's mother also shielded her daughter. Faced with the parents' hostility, she blamed everything on Shoya. A child's crush is impossible to hide, and Mrs. Ueno knew perfectly well that Naoka was infatuated with him. She hadn't cared much before, thinking it was just a phase. Now, they had kept playing games until it landed them in a police station, and her daughter was a primary culprit. In her eyes, Naoka's feelings for the wrong person had dragged her into this mess. Naturally, she looked at Shoya with pure loathing.
Naoka, terrified out of her mind, hid behind her mother and squeezed her hand.
The sounds of arguing and complaining slowly faded as they all realized the truth. The verdict was final. No amount of complaining would change it. Their children were going to a reform center, and their records were about to carry a permanent mark.
The Police Chief, grinning for a job well done, stepped out of the mediation room and immediately froze.
Where the hell is Ren?
He was just here! Where did he go?!
Yaeko, following behind the Chief, also scanned the room. Ren was nowhere to be found.
"Mom!"
Yuzuru was sitting with her feet dangling in the air, swinging them back and forth. She was holding a massive cup of milk tea with tapioca pearls and drinking it fast. Seeing Yaeko come out, she waved happily. In Yuzuru's mind, her mother coming out first meant she had won. And the victor should be smiling.
Yaeko looked over at her daughters after failing to spot Ren. Beside Yuzuru sat a half-eaten piece of cake and a plastic bag. Next to Shoko sat a piece of exquisite strawberry cake and a large cup of milk tea with tapioca pearls, almost identical to Yuzuru's, with only a small amount missing.
But Shoko wasn't smiling. She was clutching her open notebook tightly to her chest, her expression one of utter heartbreak and grievance.
"Yuzuru, where's Ren?" Yaeko asked, sensing something was wrong.
"Ren?" Yuzuru froze. The happy look on her face vanished instantly.
"He already left. He told me to tell you he was sorry and to please forgive him for leaving without saying goodbye."
Yuzuru had developed an immense amount of respect for Ren for helping her sister. In her world, her sister, mother, and grandmother were everything. Ren helping Shoko meant he had helped her. He had been so patient, signing with Shoko and answering all of Yuzuru's naive, repetitive questions without a hint of irritation. He had answered every single time. Sometimes he had even asked her questions back to keep her engaged. Yuzuru felt that, for a moment, Ren had truly become like an older brother to her.
"He's gone...? Then what's wrong with Shoko?" Yaeko looked at her eldest daughter, who seemed to be in a trance. Shoko usually maintained an optimistic mask, no matter what. Seeing her like this meant something had happened with Ren.
"Well... Ren... he didn't leave any contact information when he left..."
"He said... he said..." Yuzuru couldn't finish. Her eyes turned red and her voice choked up.
Shoko, realizing what her mother and sister were talking about, silently turned her notebook around to show them.
"Goodbyes are something people spend their whole lives learning."
"This is the second lesson I'm teaching you, Shoko."
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