Episode 26 – Shinkai Sakura ②

Two days have passed since the week after that incident.

Many students were disciplined, and more than one-third of them decided to transfer to another school as soon as they entered the school. The school, too, found the situation unusual, and a third-party committee, including the Board of Education, was established to investigate the incident. Miyamoto Aki, the main bully, apparently had her name posted on the Internet. In addition, the account she was using for social networking has been talking about other people behind their backs, which has also caused a bit of a firestorm on the Internet.

Although this incident was not reported on the news because it was an incident between minors, it is said that it was already known in the neighborhood and the phone calls complaining about it have been nonstop. The middle school where the incident was discovered, of course, was flooded with phone calls, and the elementary school where the bullying seemed to have been left unchecked received even more calls. The teacher who was my homeroom teacher back then has been suspended and is being considered for dismissal. Well, I was relieved to hear that he got what he deserved.

Then, peace reigned on the rooftop during lunch break. A strange scene unfolded on the rooftop.

[What did you just say now?]

It was another sunny day on the rooftop. Normally, it is not a good place to drop by, but two students were exposed to such a place.

One of them is Tachibana Kanata, who is a heroic person, but does not often stand in front of the public. Apparently, the rooftop has become his favorite place, and he has been coming here to catch the breeze since he first entered the school. And now he is unusually perplexed.

The other girl in front of him is

[Please ! Please make me your disciple !]

Shinkai Sakura, kneeling on the hard concrete of the rooftop, rubbing her hands together. In other words……

[Why that……Dogeza?]

[I want to be reborn. I don’t want to live my life by being looked down upon like I used to !]

[Well, for now, don’t get down on your knees…..]

[I’m used to it  !]

I’m going to back down at all. If I run away from here, nothing will change. More than anything else, he was the only person I could think of who could guide me. I had been looking down and I didn’t know how I should walk from now on. But he could be my sunshine.

[Even if you use me as a reference, I feel like it’s going to be poisonous….]

[But I still want to follow you !]

I had never shown such a strong attitude, never raised my voice so loudly, not even to my family. At this point, my throat was already dying, but I still kept my head down and kept my voice up.

[If I miss this, I will……]

[…….]

Then Tachibana kun looked up at the sky in silence. After what felt like an eternity of silence, Tachibana kun finally opened his mouth.

[You might get your head and body torn to shreds, you know?]

[Even so, I still beg you to teach me……]

[…..Sigh~]

Then Tachibana kun kneeled down and reached out his hand to me as I lowered my head.

[Okay. I’m the one who saved you. I’ll be responsible until the end.]

[ !. …..Ah, thank you very much, Tachibana kun !]

And it was decided that I would become his apprentice. Then Tachibana kun closed his eyes for a moment and groaned as if he was thinking about something.

[Well, let’s start by correcting that tone of voice.]

[T-tone of voice?]

[You’ve been using honorifics for a while now.]

Because of the bullying, my daily conversation has become completely honorific. I don’t feel uncomfortable using it myself, and I don’t mind using it……

[Also, you don’t have to use honorifics with me. Better yet, call me by my first name.]

[What !? “I-I mean, that’s kind of……]

[I think we are friends now, and I think it would be better if we were a little more casual.]

Then he said.

[I’ll teach you the various knowledge and skills I have. And one day you will be strong enough to stand next to me.]

[…Yes !]

I decided that day that I would use my entire life to be strong enough to stand next to him. I don’t know how long it will take, but I want to live proudly like him.

I……may not be able to be his partner, but I could at least be one of his wings. No, I will !

And so my new life began.

※

Six months after that decision. I don`t know how much he surprised me in such a short period of time. After all, he could do anything.

He got perfect scores on all of his regular tests, and he easily broke the school’s all-time record for sports tests. At first, everyone kept their distance from him because of my incident, but his cheerful personality also made him very popular.

After school, I would go to the roof of the school with him. And then……

[Ahh……]

[There are still gaps under your feet.]

The first thing I was taught was self-defense. It seems that the security in the town has been bad recently, and he was originally planning to teach something different, but the schedule was suddenly changed and we’re working together for half a year.

Kumite is far beyond the scope of judo for middle school students, and thanks to that, I have become very strong. I was so happy that I almost cried when I achieved a high grade in a sports test, and I was able to talk with a girl in my class for a short time. I’m overcoming the trauma and making progress little by little.

[I’m not as good as a professional, but I’m not losing to other adults here, right?]

[I think you’ve done that quite enough already…….]

[…Take it easy in judo class.]

And so, within a few months, I took self-defense classes and tried my hand at many different things. Really, it was a hard and dizzying time.

[Then, while spinning this hula hoop, I did about ten cat’s cradle techniques…….]

[……Are those human tricks?]

[While solving this puzzle with your left hand, use your right hand to review the previous test…]

[Is that possible !?]

[Fufufu, I just thought of something. May I? Make a card tower with just your feet while sketching the sky with your right hand and spinning a pen three hundred times with your left hand …..]

[How could I do that !]

The second half was definitely not something a human being would do. I was afraid of him who really did what he said and of myself who could do it if I took his advice and spent some time with him. As if I’m becoming less and less of a human being……

[Fufu, it’s like……]

[? What happened, Kanata. It’s rare to see you laugh like that.]

One day, there was a day when he suddenly laughed. Kanata was always smiling, but I was a little surprised because he had never laughed out of his mouth before.

[No, I thought it was impossible at first, but Sakura has a surprisingly good sense of taste. I didn’t think it would be so interesting to teach someone something.]

[If that’s the case, you’ll have to be a little more careful the next time you teach something to someone.]

[I see, I’ve been giving you a lot of help, but…..you need more.]

[Eh……?]

We spent many days arguing about such things. We were having an extraordinary time, running around the city together (half-way forcibly), exposing school scandals, and other things that were clearly out of the ordinary. I gradually became able to do things that had seemed impossible to me before, and by this time I was gradually starting to make female friends. Of course, they were not my classmates from elementary school, but students who had taken the middle school entrance exam and entered the school on their own merit.

Little by little, my feelings for him also……

 One day, when I thought that time was going to continue. …..A little surprising incident happened to me.

[What’s wrong, Kanata ! I can’t believe you’re so worn out……”.

It had been almost a year since I became his disciple. My tone, which was completely honorific at first, has also been unraveled in places, and although it’s limited, I have become able to speak in a tone like a close friend.

He came to school with a serious injury. His head was bandaged, indicating that he had suffered a head injury and was bleeding. He also smelled of compresses all over his body, although they were well concealed. He must have been bruised here and there, although his clothes hid it from view. Fortunately, no bones seemed to be broken, but it was an unusual sight for me, who knew how strong he was.

[Well~ something happened, I went in too deep indeed, maybe?]

[What could have caused such……accident? A car accident !?]

[Um……,let’s have a little chat with the people with “ya” in their heads…..]

[No, really, what were you doing !?]

Apparently he was saving someone else again without my knowledge. Indeed, as soon as I think I have caught up, the difference will be opened immediately. After all, his potential is still unknown.

[I really feel it. You are someone’s hero after all.]

[I’m not that big of a deal. I’m just always desperate.]

Saying this, he always smiles with a grin. Even if he was badly injured, it would not change and there was no cloudiness at all. He is truly amazing.

By the way, he recovered from his injury in less than a week. It seems that he is a monster even in his ability to recover. And after that, I trained according to his physical condition and found myself at the end of the first year.

[Fuun, I guess we’re in different classes for the second year.]

[Well, it’s all luck.]

I had a really intense year. I noticed that I had grown up in a different way. My body, which had always been small in stature, grew a little larger, and my height caught up to about his shoulders.

[Well then, I guess that means my apprenticeship is over.]

[Yeah…….thanks.]

I had talked with him and told him that I was going to stop this relationship when the school year changed. It would not be bad to be dependent on him all the time, but it would not lead to my growth. My goal is to use him as a foundation for stepping up and making new friendships.

[Do your best, buddy.]

[You too, Kanata, don’t cause trouble for those around you.]

I took a new step forward with a smile I made desperately to hold back my tears.

The truth is, I wanted to be with him more. I wanted to be next to him, laughing with him. But that was too much for me.

Over the past year, I had developed a faint crush on him. It was only natural, I thought, since he had saved me that way and we had spent such rowdy days together.

(But…..)

He did not see me as a woman until the end. It may be that I’m not attractive, but he never showed any such pretense to anyone.

I’m sure that I’m an important companion to him, nothing more and nothing less. It makes me a little sad, but if that is his true intention, I respect it.

(Thank you, my beloved. Thanks to you, I’m……)

Maybe we won’t be involved in the future. Being in a different class means that there will be fewer opportunities to be involved. Since we’re no longer training on the rooftop, there’s very little contact left between him and me. Therefore, I vowed to burn his image into my mind and live my life as myself.

I was prepared to do so, but I was betrayed in a bad way.

Yes……in a bad way.