The Path to Redemption Lies Within

"All the unfavorable situations in this world are due to the insufficiency of the parties involved... Whoa, Yamauchi, don't you think this sounds exactly like the situation we're facing right now?"

In the hallway after school, Ike and Yamauchi were chatting shoulder to shoulder.

The former was holding a manga book, and at this very moment, the content seemed to be at its most exciting peak, so he couldn't help but ask his companion beside him.

Despite what Hirata had said during morning homeroom, the two of them were still suffering from the subtle, lingering isolation of their classmates.

It couldn't be helped; the title of the "Three Stooges" had already been established long before this.

Of course, whether the individuals themselves realized it was another matter entirely.

"Hey, I just need to show my true ability and I can turn this situation around immediately. Yeah, yeah, just you wait and see." Haruki Yamauchi acted as if he had everything under control, as if he were truly hiding his strength.

Toru Hasegawa passed by the two of them without saying much.

Kanji Ike, however, noticed him: "Eh, isn't that Hasegawa? Hehe, have you managed to get a girlfriend yet?"

His focus was always on this.

"You can tell just by looking at my solitary state, can't you?"

When someone greets you, you must respond; this is the most basic courtesy of being a person.

"Tell me when you get a girlfriend, okay?" Kanji Ike hooked his arm around Toru Hasegawa's shoulder. "The Class A student who gave us the inside scoop today... it wasn't you, was it?"

"What inside scoop?" Toru Hasegawa feigned confusion.

Kanji Ike immediately said: "The fact that the first month of school is actually an assessment by the school, what's up with that? As a Class A student, don't you know?"

Did he just say it out loud? Did he think this was some kind of common knowledge?

"Oh, you mean that? It's pretty much the case, but for me, it's just completing a matter-of-course task in a matter-of-course way." Toru Hasegawa nodded, then continued, "It's best not to tell students from other classes about this kind of information in the future."

"What?" Kanji Ike didn't quite understand, and Haruki Yamauchi was also quietly pricking up his ears nearby.

Toru Hasegawa thought for a moment: "No, it's nothing. This answer should be revealed at the beginning of next month."

"Why not just say it directly now?" Kanji Ike still couldn't understand, scratching his head with a look of total confusion on his face.

"What I mean is..." Toru Hasegawa's gaze swept across their faces, "You need to learn to think for yourselves. Alright, I have things to do, so I won't bother you anymore."

After saying that, he walked away without a single moment of hesitation.

"Did you understand what Hasegawa just said? And he was so full of himself~" Kanji Ike asked Haruki Yamauchi.

Haruki Yamauchi put on a look of having everything under control: "I understood it perfectly. He told you to think more, Ike. You're just too stupid."

"That didn't say anything at all, did it?"

The two of them started messing around again, completely putting the previous matter out of their minds.

"...Why, did you tell... them... that..."

In the Special Building where no one usually went, Toru Hasegawa met Airi Sakura at the corner.

She was leaning against the wall, and Toru Hasegawa could see her gaze meet his for a fleeting moment before she immediately lowered her head.

"Humans are beings who cannot live alone; you should know that better than anyone, right?"

Even if she was the one who could exchange contact information with him properly at the very beginning, it was an undeniable fact.

"Mm..."

The girl's thin, quiet voice came through, and she responded properly to Toru Hasegawa's words.

"Masks, everyone wears them... Sorry, it must be strange for me to say that so suddenly, right?"

"No... Eek!" Airi Sakura secretly raised her head to look at Toru Hasegawa, but she bumped right into his gaze and lowered her head again.

The sun was setting, and the lingering charm of dusk spilled into the room through the windows.

"I, too, should try to make a change..." Toru Hasegawa said, as if talking to himself, or perhaps to Airi Sakura, "This school gives me a pretty good feeling. Let's do our best."

At the very least, he had to step over the wall known as morality first.

Without answering Airi Sakura's question, Toru Hasegawa finished speaking and prepared to leave.

"Um..." Airi Sakura called out to stop him.

"I cannot answer the question you want to ask."

"That's not what I wanted to ask." Airi Sakura gathered her courage. "Can I... really be accepted?"

"I don't know. Whether it's hypocrisy or truth, the only thing I can be certain of is that action brings variables. If you want to pursue change, then take action, whether it's good or bad."

Toru Hasegawa looked back at Airi Sakura, but he wasn't actually looking at her; he was looking at something only he could see.

97... is it?

Just a little bit more.

Where exactly is it lacking?

Regardless, it's getting close.

Toru Hasegawa returned to his dormitory, turned on the desktop computer provided in every room, and connected to the internet.

Accessing the blog page he had found the previous night, Toru Hasegawa browsed through it from beginning to end once more.

This person leaving the comments is truly strange.

The comments had started about a week ago—

[Do you believe in fate? I do. From now on, we will be together forever.]

Following that were daily harassing messages, all posted by the same ID.

If Airi Sakura updated her blog every day, she would certainly have seen these comments.

I should look into this...

Toru Hasegawa took out his phone and contacted Manabu Horikita.

"Good evening, President Horikita."

"So you are the type of person who initiates contact with me. Nagumo didn't do anything to you yesterday, did he?"

"You didn't intervene back then, yet you're concerned now?" Toru Hasegawa chuckled softly.

"You should know the reason why. Let's get straight to the point."

"Fine. I want to ask: the Student Council acts as a bridge for communication between the school and the students, correct?"

"Yes. Before matters are submitted to the school, we in the Student Council handle them first. Student requests are generally relayed to the school through us as well."

Even though they weren't speaking face-to-face, Toru Hasegawa could already imagine the serious expression on Manabu Horikita's face on the other end of the line.

"Then, is a staff member harassing a female student... also within the jurisdiction of the Student Council?"

"...What are you trying to say?" Manabu Horikita said after a brief silence; this was not a matter to be joked about.

"I mean exactly what I said. Depending on the situation, it could lead to irreversible consequences. As a member of the Student Council, I shouldn't have the option to sit idly by, right?"

"I'll be waiting for you behind the dormitory."

It seemed Manabu Horikita took this incident very seriously.

Toru Hasegawa saved the page he had been looking at onto his phone and left the dormitory.