Chapter 143: Tsurumi Rumi (Long Chapter)
Suddenly, the line in front came to a halt.
Looking ahead, a group of four girls had gathered together, staring toward the bushes with frightened expressions.
Another girl, wearing a purple dress with long black hair, looked down at the camera in her hands with a gloomy face.
"What's wrong? Do you kids need some help?"
Hayama ran forward with the warm smile of a reliable older brother. He shooed something away in the bushes a few times before calming them down. "It's okay. It was just a Japanese striped snake."
"Onii-san, you're amazing!"
"You're not even scared of snakes."
The four little girls looked at Hayama with eyes full of admiration.
Originally, they had glanced toward Hachiman as well, but Hachiman kept maintaining that cold face of his, looking completely unapproachable. Out of a natural sense of fear, they had taken a dislike to him.
But this blonde older brother was different—he was handsome, tall, and very considerate.
Hayama spoke in a relaxed tone. "It's fine. That snake doesn't bite, and it isn't poisonous."
"Even if it doesn't bite, I still wouldn't dare face it..." the four girls said in pampered voices. "Exactly!"
Those words were a way of showing their own weakness while simultaneously praising Hayama, a move perfectly suited for social adjustment within a small group.
This is Japan—even since elementary school, the importance of the social circle is paramount. If you don't want to be ostracized, you have to align yourself with everyone else. A person who stands alone is looked down upon.
Hachiman's gaze fell upon the girl in the purple dress standing on the edge, who continued to look down at her camera.
He saw a reflection of himself in that child.
"Hah..."
Yukino, standing beside him, let out a sigh.
Hachiman glanced at Yukino, his dead-fish eyes narrowing slightly. Just as Stand users are naturally drawn to one another, lonely people seem to be experts at spotting their own kind...
The reason Yukino sighed was likely because she felt the same way. After all, when they first met, she had mentioned that she was bullied and isolated as a child simply for being too beautiful.
"Onii-san, where is the checkpoint located?"
"...Where is it?"
"Let's go find it together."
Hayama was fully playing the part of the warm-hearted older brother. Smiling, he said in a low voice, "In that case, I'll help you guys out, but keep it a secret from the others, okay?"
The four elementary school girls cheered, but they secretly shot Tsurumi Rumi—who was standing on the periphery—looks filled with mockery.
Hachiman watched Hayama quickly blend into the little group and praised him internally. "You really are something, Hayama. Your communication skills are top-tier. Sharing a secret... that's a classic technique for getting close to others, isn't it?"
The others looked at Hachiman with strange expressions, feeling as though he had just voiced exactly what they were thinking.
Komachi giggled mischievously. "That's a technique Onii-chan will never be able to learn as long as he lives..."
"Zip it!"
The group continued their trek, taking in the roadside scenery, observing small insects on leaves, and crossing a wooden bridge over a small stream. Hayama led the four elementary girls from the front, searching various spots for the checkpoint, while the fifth girl followed several meters behind.
"Have you found the checkpoint yet?"
Hayama held the map, asking Tsurumi Rumi warmly as she walked alone—he still didn't see the situation for what it was. He had never been ostracized himself, so he couldn't truly grasp the feeling.
It was just like when he tried to help Yukino back when they were kids.
He hadn't changed at all.
"...Not yet."
"I see. Well then, try looking together with everyone. Your name is..."
Hayama nudged Tsurumi Rumi back toward the group of four.
Hachiman remarked to Yukino at his side, "Did you see that just now? He naturally invited her to walk with them and pretended to ask for her name as if it were an accident..."
"My thoughts align with Komachi's; that is likely a technique you won't learn in a lifetime, but..."
Yukino watched Hayama push Tsurumi Rumi toward the other four girls before becoming busy tending to someone else. Meanwhile, those four girls only spared Rumi a glance before returning to their own conversation with sneering looks, completely ignoring her.
Her voice sounded cold as she said, "That can't exactly be considered a good method... As I thought."
She had fully confirmed that Tsurumi Rumi was being bullied.
Hachiman let out a resigned sigh. "Even elementary schoolers deal with that kind of stuff."
"Elementary schoolers and high schoolers are no different."
Seeing Tsurumi Rumi carry a gaze full of longing, only to look back down at the camera in her hands as that light in her eyes faded...
Hachiman and Yukino knew that she wanted to belong.
...
The outdoor cooking area.
There stood a cooking pavilion built with an iron frame. The floor was divided by cooking stations over a meter wide. There were four areas in total with forty positions. They could be used for grilling, steaming rice, or boiling soup.
"That's amazing."
"I feel like Sensei is really skilled at this."
"..."
Shizuka lit the charcoal fire under the admiring gazes of many elementary students, then proudly lit a cigarette.
Then, the cigarette was promptly taken out of her hand by Akishin.
"The BBQ meat is finished marinating. Please grill as much as you like. There are also sliced meats over there that haven't been seasoned yet."
Akishin set down the iron basin filled with meat, glanced at Hachiman, and then looked toward Rumi, who was at the edge of the crowd.
—He realized this child was being isolated by everyone, and he also noticed that Hachiman and Yukino were glancing her way every now and then.
Soichi also seemed to have noticed, but he was busy contacting his subordinates...
Speaking of which, where was Soichi?
Akishin looked around and found Soichi saying something with a proud expression in the middle of a crowd of boys, while the elementary kids beside him looked on in awe.
It seemed his claim about having subordinates here wasn't a lie.
Shizuka gave instructions to everyone. "Boys, go light the fires. Girls, go gather the ingredients..."
"Understood!"
The elementary kids ran off happily. Some lit fires, others started on the rice. Soon, smoke began to rise from various spots.
The BBQ meat marinated by Akishin quickly began to spread an appetite-inducing aroma over the stoves.
Hachiman and the others naturally helped out. He was nearly dragged away by Soichi's subordinates to hunt for sun bears. Soichi was claiming he could take down a bear with a single sword strike!
Not long after, Hachiman's curry was finished. Since there was no more work for the moment, he walked to the edge of the area and leaned against a large tree, watching coldly as Hayama approached Tsurumi Rumi.
"Do you like curry?"
As he asked this, Tsurumi Rumi's four companions cast unfriendly looks in their direction, likely whispering bad things about her again.
Yukino had also finished her tasks and walked over to Hachiman's side, looking down before letting out another sigh.
Hachiman glanced at Yukino, then at Tsurumi Rumi, who had a blank expression and didn't answer. Approaching a lonely person has to be done covertly and quickly, and one must consider the other party's position to avoid causing them embarrassment. But right now...
"No, I'm not interested in curry..."
Because of Hayama's kindness, which failed to consider the consequences, Tsurumi Rumi was made an even bigger target by her peers, who spoke ill of her behind her back.
Hachiman praised her in his heart. 'A very good answer. If you give an enthusiastic response, it makes the people around you feel like you're forcing it. If you answer coldly, people think you're too arrogant.'
...The only choice was a strategic withdrawal.
Hayama narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched Tsurumi Rumi walk over to lean near Hachiman, before he turned back to greet the other students.
"It's a rare chance to cook, so let's add some unique flavors. If anyone wants to add something, please raise your hand."
Not far away, Yui immediately raised her hand happily. "I think adding fruit would be good, like peaches or watermelon..."
A bit airheaded, but cute, Hachiman thought.
That guy only said that to set the mood, but you actually took it literally!
He couldn't help but mutter a mocking comment. "Is she an idiot?"
Unexpectedly, someone beside him chimed in. "They really are all idiots."
Hachiman crossed his arms and turned toward Tsurumi Rumi, who was standing beside him. He gave a thin smile. "True. The world is basically like that. It's better to realize it sooner rather than later."
Only idiots can blend in with other idiots. If a smart person appears, they get ostracized. Therefore, everyone tries their best to pretend to be an idiot.
Why is it so hard to find one's true self?
The difficulty lies in maintaining your intelligence in a crowd where everyone else is playing the fool.
Yukino spoke up. "Is the generally accepted truth always correct? Not necessarily. Besides, are you still an idiot right now?"
Hachiman replied, "Being an idiot among students requires an act. I don't need that now, of course. But being an idiot in society... that doesn't require acting. Because no matter how you position yourself, in the eyes of those at a higher level, you're still an idiot. Even Sensei has to lower her stance when facing certain people. Being an idiot doesn't mean being a fool; it's not knowing your place that makes you a fool."
Tsurumi Rumi looked up at Hachiman and asked, "Name?"
Hachiman was confused. "What about a name?"
Tsurumi Rumi gave him a dissatisfied look. "I'm asking for your name. A normal person hearing that question should have understood by now."
Yukino looked at Tsurumi Rumi and said, "Before asking for someone else's name, you should introduce yourself first."
Hachiman added, still puzzled, "A lot of people were calling my name back at the bottom of the mountain earlier, didn't you hear?"
Tsurumi Rumi looked away. "I couldn't hear clearly. Also, my name is Tsurumi Rumi."
Yukino said, "I am Yukinoshita Yukino, and the one beside me is Hikigaya Hachiman."
Rumi turned back to look at Hachiman. "I heard you're a Kendo champion, nicknamed the 'Kendo Monster of Chiba,' a genius that only appears once every hundred years?"
The corner of Hachiman's mouth twitched. He shook his head. "It's not that exaggerated."
Tsurumi Rumi asked, "Have you been ostracized too?"
Hachiman shook his head. "From elementary school until now, I've always been an outcast."
Tsurumi Rumi said, "Why? Aren't you a Kendo genius? A lot of boys in our class really look up to you..."
Hachiman smiled. "What does that have to do with whether I'm a Kendo genius or not? Look around—aside from the very beginning, how many people have actually tried to talk to me? Besides, I only started practicing Kendo a few months ago. Before that, I had never even touched it."
Tsurumi Rumi nodded, then shook her head. Those words were a bit hard for her to grasp. In her mind, great people were supposed to be popular.
But the fact was, there really was no one else around Hachiman.
She didn't realize that Hachiman was intentionally keeping his distance from others.
She desperately wanted to return to the days of playing with friends, yet she also felt that they were all hypocritical 'idiots.'
She wanted to fit in, but she didn't want to put on a forced, awkward smile just to be a background character.
Hachiman pointed to Yui, who was running over, and introduced her. "This is Yuigahama Yui."
Yui looked at Rumi kindly. "You're Tsurumi Rumi, right? Nice to meet you."
Rumi was silent for a moment, as if speaking to herself. "I feel like... these two are different from that group, and I'm different from that group too." It was exactly because of that feeling that she had walked over here to talk to them.
Yui didn't understand. "Different? Different in what way?"
Tsurumi Rumi lowered her eyelids. "Everyone is just a bunch of kids who don't understand anything, so I feel like being alone is fine too."
Yui tilted her head. "But, memories with friends from elementary school are really important, aren't they?"
Hachiman looked at Yui and gave a small shake of his head.
Yuigahama, you're wrong. What matters isn't elementary school memories; it's happy memories. Because most people feel happy during elementary school, those memories become worth cherishing. If you aren't happy, those memories just become a form of torture...
Tsurumi Rumi looked up at the vast, pale blue sky. "I don't need any memories. Once I start middle school, I'll just make friends with people who come from other places."
Her voice sounded hollow, devoid of any spirit. Most likely, she had already given up on struggling against her current situation and was completely disillusioned.
If you don't hold onto hope, then there can be no disappointment.
"Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen."
Yukino stepped in front of Rumi, tearing down her beautiful fantasy without mercy. "Some of the children who are ostracizing you now will end up in the same middle school as you, so the same thing will only repeat itself. At that point, they and the people from other places will just join together to isolate you.
Fundamentally, this is because of a difference in your own capabilities.
As Chishima-sensei—the teacher of this Hikigaya here—says, all the suffering and misfortune in this world is caused by a lack of ability...
This ability doesn't just represent strength or knowledge; it also represents a state of mind, a way of thinking. If you yourself don't care that they are isolating you, then you aren't being ostracized—rather, you are the one ostracizing them. Beyond that, there is status, birth, and even luck. The world is actually very unfair...
For example, if you don't bother them but they talk behind your back, just go and beat them up. If it doesn't work once, do it twice. If twice doesn't work, do it three times. Beat them until they don't dare speak anymore. Even if they want to report it to a teacher, you have to find a way to prevent that too.
Or, if you truly want to blend in with them, act like that Hayama guy instead of pitying yourself here. Rather than wasting time, it's better to improve yourself—your grades, for instance...
Of course, what I'm saying is just theory on paper; I can't even do it myself. I only use it to comfort myself every now and then. You can listen to it, but don't believe it entirely."
At the end of her sentence, Yukino gave Tsurumi Rumi a breathtaking smile.
Hachiman's expression was one of sheer embarrassment, and he couldn't help but take a step back. Why had Yukinoshita become like this?! Was this really what Chishima-sensei had taught her?
Tsurumi Rumi clenched her fists, subconsciously taking Yukino's words to heart, but she still looked down. "I won't be able to win against them. Mom doesn't allow me to fight, either..."
"Then you can tell your mother that you want to learn martial arts, like Karate or something, or just train harder on your own. The main thing is the mindset in your heart. Understand what you truly want, don't be swayed by others, and live happily."
Yukino smiled. "Finding friends isn't hard; there are techniques for it. That is also an ability. If you don't want to be isolated, you can think about it in reverse. As long as you aren't afraid of being alone, you are no longer the one being cast out. This isn't a joke."
Rumi's grip loosened, then she silently clenched her fists again. With a voice holding back tears, she said, "This outcome is actually because I did something stupid myself. Back then... I used to join in on isolating others sometimes too, but then it would always end, and we'd start talking again.
Someone would always start it, and then everyone would fall into that atmosphere. That kind of thing kept repeating, and as a result, before I knew it, it was my turn!
It's not because I did anything... Will it be like that in middle school too?"
Hachiman listened, connecting her words to his own past life, and reached a conclusion.
This child didn't look like the type of delinquent student who enjoyed bullying others. He suspected that she had simply followed along with the truly nasty students in playing this cruel 'game'—hatred born purely from a game is the most terrifying kind of hatred.
However, she likely wasn't very good at following the crowd and often ended up talking to the kids who were being ostracized, thinking it was all just part of the game.
But that behavior made her think differently from the others, and so she was truly cast out. The classmates she had once helped chose to stay away from her instead, out of fear of being targeted again.
What kind of story was this?
The story of the villagers and the evil dragon?
Of course, this was all just Hachiman's speculation, but he considered it almost certainly true. Precisely because elementary schoolers don't have as many complex thoughts as adults, their hatred is pure, terrifying, and knows no bounds.
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