Chapter 144: The Plan (Long Chapter)
At five in the evening, the sun dipping below the horizon painted the world in shades of gold. The afternoon heat had finally receded, replaced by a refreshing coolness that filled the air. Evening cicadas clung to the trees, their cries weak and fading, as if they might vanish into the stillness at any moment.
"Are you all right?"
Yui asked, her voice tinged with a note of concern.
The group was gathered in a pavilion at the edge of the barbecue area. Before each of them sat an empty plate. Dinner had just concluded, and they were now deep in discussion about the matter at hand.
"Is there really anything to worry about?"
Shizuka pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Akishin didn't stop her; she had already given him a heads-up. He could advise her against smoking, but he couldn't outright forbid it. In their current standing, they were equals.
Hayama spoke up: "There's a child being ostracized."
"It really is tragic, isn't it?" Yumiko added.
Hachiman glanced at Yumiko, his brow furrowing slightly. Wrong. All of you are missing the essence of the problem. Being alone or left out isn't inherently bad; the problem lies in being excluded with malicious intent...
Shizuka asked, "So, what do you all intend to do?"
Hayama and the others lowered their heads in silence. Soichi sat beside his older sister, Yuika, looking as though he wanted to say something, but when he looked up and met Akishin's smiling gaze, the words died in his throat for the moment.
After a few beats of silence, Hayama looked up and said, "I want to do something to help her, as much as possible."
"As much as possible... is it?" Yukino replied.
There was a distinct edge of sarcasm in her voice.
Hayama's expression went blank for a second before darkening again, carrying a clear sense of dissatisfaction. Hachiman's gaze shifted back and forth between Yukino and Hayama.
"Yukinoshita, what about you?"
Shizuka held her cigarette, took a drag, and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. Her expression, too, seemed somewhat heavy.
Akishin observed this, his eyes sweeping over the students. If they weren't there, he would have reached out to hold Shizuka by now.
Zaimokuza happened to catch Akishin's eye and couldn't help but shudder. Why did it feel like Chishima-sensei was looking at them with such disdain?
Saki noticed it too, her brow knitting slightly—she had actually enjoyed herself today because she loved cooking and spending time with the elementary school kids. She had no intention of becoming "friends" with them; she just wanted to focus on the food.
Yukino thought for a moment before speaking: "Hiratsuka-sensei, you mentioned earlier that this would serve as a joint training session for the Service Club, right? Does this child's situation fall within the scope of our activities?"
Shizuka looked at her and said, "My point was that supporting this forest summer camp as volunteers is a club activity. In principle, this can be included in that scope."
"I see. In that case, if she comes to ask for help, I will use every means at my disposal to resolve it. However, I have already offered her advice before. Even if she listens, the current situation won't change in such a short amount of time."
As she spoke, Yukino glanced at Hayama, who still looked visibly displeased.
It was the first time Hachiman had seen Hayama make such a face—it was even worse than when he had lost to Hachiman back then.
Shizuka watched Yukino and asked, "And do you think she'll come to ask for your help?"
"That remains to be seen..."
"Yukinon!"
Yui suddenly cut in, interrupting Yukino. Her expression was complicated as she said sadly, "That girl wants to speak up but she just can't, right? Rumi did say, 'I've done the same thing too.' That's why she feels like she shouldn't be the only one saved. Everyone should be like that. Even if you want to talk to someone, even if you want to make friends, sometimes the environment just doesn't allow it."
Yumiko spoke up with a tone that suggested the answer was obvious: "Anyway, that girl is pretty enough. She should just join the other pretty girls, right? Just try saying hello, and then things will be fine. It's easy, isn't it?"
Tobe chimed in: "Right, right, that's a great idea. Yumiko, you're so smart."
"I know, right?" Yumiko beamed with pride.
Yui countered, "That's only something someone like Yumiko can do. People are different."
"..."
Akishin took the cigarette pack from Shizuka's hand, pulled one out, and lit it. He watched everyone's reactions, listening to their words as they began to argue...
Hachiman and Yukino remained stoic. Yui, Ebina, Yuika, and Kaiko looked rather somber. Yumiko and Tobe continued to treat it as a "minor issue." They had never been ostracized, never experienced bullying, and their life experience was shallow enough that they didn't truly grasp the gravity of it.
Ebina let out one of her usual fujoshi remarks.
The noise belonged to them; to Akishin, it was just loud. In this world, no two people truly feel the same way; only those who have lived through it can understand.
"Haha, you guys are truly interesting."
Akishin laughed. He had expected some clever answers, but they were all just ordinary students. What could they possibly do about a situation like this? After all, they were high schoolers, not part of the elementary school social circle. The word "interesting" was laced with heavy sarcasm.
In fact, at various times, some of the people in this very room were likely the ones doing the bullying.
As Akishin laughed, everyone turned their attention toward him.
Akishin took the cigarette from his mouth, blew out a puff of smoke, looked at Hachiman, and asked: "Hikigaya, how do you think we should solve this?"
Hachiman was stunned for a moment, not expecting Akishin to address him directly. He fell silent for a bit, recalling his earlier interaction with Tsurumi Rumi.
The corners of his mouth suddenly curled into a faint, slightly wicked smile as he spoke: "If human relationships are the problem, then just destroy all those relationships so they don't have to worry about them anymore. If everyone is alone, there will be no more fighting or conflict."
"Be more specific."
The smile reappeared on Akishin's face.
Hachiman's expression flattened, and he shook his head tentatively: "That... depends on the timing. I'm not exactly sure how to pull it off yet. But when the time comes, we'll need to find someone to play the villain..."
In his mind, a plan was already taking shape; he just needed the right opportunity.
"That's basically saying nothing. Today was only the first day; there are bound to be more activities..."
At this point, Akishin looked at Soichi and said: "Soichi, I'm leaving this to you. You can handle this properly, right?"
Soichi, who had been itching to speak, stood up immediately. His eyes were full of confidence as he said, "Of course, Sensei. I'll definitely settle this. I won't let that senior be targeted anymore."
The others looked at the young boy following them—Hikigaya's junior, Akishin's second disciple. While they didn't dare underestimate him, they were baffled as to what he could possibly do in this situation.
Hachiman and Yukino, having heard Soichi speak in the car, caught on immediately.
Kaiko realized it too—she was naturally sharp. Despite her clumsy appearance, she saw things with startling clarity. She knew what was truly good for her and knew how to fight for and protect it, just as she had protected Yuika since they were children.
Humans are greedy; they want to have many friends. But humans are also selfish; they can usually only handle one truly close friend. If there are two, one will always carry more weight than the other, even if they don't see it clearly themselves.
Akishin said while nursing his cigarette, "Explain specifically what you're going to do."
The others looked at Soichi expectantly, especially Hayama and Yukino, whose eyes practically screamed, "I want to know the answer."
Soichi put his hands on his hips, waved a hand, and said, "I actually noticed that senior's problem since noon. What I hate most is this deliberate exclusion of others. So earlier, I was questioning those kids—my underlings for the time being. Their leader previously lost a fight to me... and that's how I found out about the 'game' in their class..."
Soichi then angrily detailed the disgusting game being played in Tsurumi Rumi's class: "...So that senior ended up ostracized. Even though there were others who didn't like seeing it, they didn't want to be excluded themselves, so they didn't dare approach her."
It proved that Hachiman's hunch was correct.
In this world, it's often the good people who get hurt. Not because they are wrong, but because of their kindness; even when oppressed, most of them won't fight back. Unfortunately, many see this kindness as a weakness. Good people are usually gentle, making them more vulnerable to bullying.
To put it simply, it's the law of the jungle—the strong preying on the weak. In the end, humans are animals; this instinct is buried in their genes, an evolutionary remnant of survival in the wild.
Hearing Soichi's words, Yumiko said in disbelief, "Really? That's horrible."
Ebina Hina added, "It's true. Even if we went and advised them to make up, the result would be the same. Even if things look peaceful on the surface, they'll just start doing small, nasty things behind her back. Yumiko probably hasn't experienced it, but some girls are much more terrifying than you can imagine..."
After she said that, Hachiman and the others were momentarily stunned. Why did it sound like Ebina Hina had lived through those very things?
Before they could think further, Soichi's voice rang out again: "Sensei, this kind of problem is actually easy to solve. Just give those punks who are causing trouble in the class a lesson, forbid them from stirring up trouble, and then make them actively approach the senior. Others will naturally follow suit. Given enough time, she'll eventually find real friends. And I just need to tell Naohisa and the others to keep an eye out, so this won't happen again. It's not appropriate for the seniors to do this, but it's easiest if it's done by people in their own class. A few boys in their class have already acknowledged me as their boss..."
As Soichi finished, everyone was speechless. Was it really that simple?! But on second thought, it wasn't quite right. That only worked because Soichi was also an elementary student and had influence in Tsurumi Rumi's class.
However, they were left with an uneasy feeling. They hadn't helped at all. Their long discussion had been utterly useless. And this wasn't the answer Hayama and Yukino were looking for. This solution only existed because of Soichi. In a normal school, where would you find someone like Soichi—a "boss" since the lower grades with high emotional intelligence who also knew them?
Akishin thought for a moment and said, "I'll leave this matter to you. But the person involved still needs to know. It might be a bit hypocritical, but the intention is good." He then looked at Hachiman: "Hikigaya, you go tomorrow too. You should be very familiar with situations like this. Provide her with some comfort and explanation. Don't let this help turn into a trigger for more resentment. Alright, it's late and we've been busy all day. Everyone, go back and get some rest."
Hachiman was taken aback. By the time he recovered and wanted to say something, Akishin had already waved them off and left with Shizuka, leaving them all standing there.
...
The following day.
The weather was clear, with sunlight pouring across the sky unobstructed. The sound of cicadas returned with a vengeance. Nearby, there were no tall buildings, only a few small four-story structures. Forest dominated most of the scenery, and the scent of trees hung thick in the air.
Everyone gathered outside the meeting field to arrange logs, preparing for the bonfire that night. Each person was busy with their task.
Hachiman and Soichi, the two fellow disciples, were stacking wood for the fire. They weren't bothered by the chatter around them, living in their own world.
Hachiman asked curiously, "Soichi, you said before that you hate seeing bullying like that. Why? Sensei mentioned that at your old school, you did the same thing—not allowing any bullying to happen."
Soichi handed a log to Hachiman. His expression was calm, far beyond his years: "Because I was a victim of bullying once. Even though it was only for a short time, it left a deep impression on me. After that, one of my friends was also bullied until they were too afraid to go to school. Even when they did go, they were still picked on... After that, I didn't allow things like that to happen in front of me."
Hachiman praised him, "Soichi, you're amazing. I can't compare to you."
Soichi shook his head. "Senior, I find it hard to believe you when you say that. You're clearly better than me. Chishima-sensei doesn't seem to have fully acknowledged me yet; I just don't know why."
Hachiman looked at Soichi in surprise. "Not fully acknowledged? That shouldn't be possible. Sensei praises you a lot, and he took you in as a direct disciple himself..."
"Maybe it's just my imagination." Soichi handed the last log to Hachiman. His expression was a bit complicated, his thoughts unreadable.
Hachiman mentally compared how Akishin treated him versus Soichi. His grip on the final log tightened slightly as he placed it at the very top, then turned to Soichi. "Soichi, Chishima-sensei definitely won't take sides, nor will he play favorites. If you feel like something is off, it's best to just tell him directly. He'll explain it."
Hachiman had been with Akishin long enough to understand him. Akishin was very kind to those close to him. Regarding general matters, he was largely indifferent; whether they happened or not didn't matter. Beyond that, he cared most for Hiratsuka-sensei, and then for them. The "not taking sides" meant he wouldn't favor Hachiman over Soichi. Such a thing was pointless, and Chishima-sensei wasn't the kind of boring person to think that way.
Soichi was silent for a moment, then smiled at Hachiman. "I understand, Senior. I'll talk to Sensei."
Knowing Akishin's personality, overthinking it was indeed useless. Asking directly was much simpler.
"Then let's carry out what was delegated yesterday. You go handle the situation in Tsurumi Rumi's class, and I'll go find her to explain all this."
"No problem, consider it done. It won't be long before I'm the boss of Sakura Elementary," Soichi said confidently.
Both shared a smile and turned to inform the others, except...
What greeted their eyes was a desolate silence. A single dry leaf blew past in the light breeze. Not a soul was in sight—everyone had apparently gone off to play!
The two looked at each other. Soichi went off to find his newly recruited underlings. Today the elementary kids had free time, which was the perfect opportunity for him to act.
Meanwhile, Hachiman started walking toward the mountain. He thought he'd heard them mention wanting to go play in the water or something. Either way, heading uphill seemed like the right move.
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