Chapter 366

Episode 366

Returning home after a long absence.

Sumire only stopped by the mart in front of her house to buy groceries, but she realized her own changed popularity.

“Don’t be afraid, sister! I heard from Suguha every day!”

“wow! Isn’t that the older sister who won the national championship!? Take a picture with me!”

“Heh heh, the people in my neighborhood must have seen all the games featuring Miss Hanajima! Everyone was so happy that a famous hunter had finally come out of Okinawa...”

Everyone recognized Sumire, regardless of gender or age, even though she was dressed quite well for the cold winter. How famous did he become?

“If you’re on your way home, take a few of these. Hirami lemon, a local product, is really delicious when made into a drink!”

“Then, this purple sweet potato too! It’s famous in our store...”

Sumire, who couldn’t refuse the gifts from the elders, began to receive more presents in her arms.

“Oh yes-! thank you!”

Sumire, who had left her pocket at home, climbed the uphill with her luggage full. However, contrary to the expectation that a house would appear soon after passing this residential area, Sumire met another familiar face.

“uh? that. Don’t you have one?”

“Right! There’s no way I’ll have that purple hair again!”

Two male students pointing fingers.

“Oh~ I see you’re back?”

“Hey, do you see all Korean celebrities in places like this?”

Two female students leaning against the wall with poor posture looking at Sumire. The all-too-familiar faces were students from the same school in middle school that Sumire had escaped from.

“Ah hello...”

The students who discovered Sumire approached with interest as if they had discovered an interesting toy.

“You weren’t kidding, were you strong enough to compete in the national competition?”

“No, why~ that could be the case, the teacher could have been hurt too.”

As the two male students giggled and rhymed with each other, one female student nodded in sympathy.

“It’s not like that. I’m not trying to blame Hanajima, but what a mess it was back then, right?”

“Yeah, that was too much. In a way, it was your fault that your friends got hurt and ran away without an apology, and the undead ran rampant in the dungeon.”

“Besides, how troubled Isshin must have been when a party member suddenly left?”

The female students naturally questioned Sumire, taking turns giving and receiving. But perhaps because she thought it was her own fault, Sumire politely bowed her head.

“At that time, I was really... sorry.”

But someone put a hand on Sumire’s shoulder and said,

“...stop. I have nothing to apologize for.”

Isshin Kirishima.

One of Choten’s trio and one of Japan’s best rookies, widely known by students for his notoriety for being sensitive. When Isshin helped Sumire, the boys and girls flinched.

“This Issin!”

“Ah, no, we just feel like we should take some responsibility for what we did!”

In middle school, where the gap in academies was not so great, even though they were in the same school, the gangs that bullied Isshin and Sumire were of different levels.

They were so overwhelmed by Isshin’s mere gaze that they couldn’t utter any more words.

For the students of Hunter Academy, where strength and ability are the law, skill is a hierarchy that cannot be broken.

“What right do you have to say such a thing when you’re bystanders who aren’t even in the same class...” As

Isshin frowned and slammed the students, Sumire instead stopped Isshin.

“Kirishima-san... I’m grateful, but it’s true that I did something wrong.”

Sumire regained her composure before she knew it. He looked at the students who were questioning him, then looked away again.

But is it because of the atmosphere that is different from before? It wasn’t a servile apology. Rather, he had the courage to admit his mistakes.

“It’s true that I ran away then. Even though many people were injured because of my ability, I didn’t have the courage to face the mistake. I was afraid to even go to school... so I even ran away.”

Sumire’s sincere story made the students avoid their eyes and shut their mouths. Seeing Sumire smiling and reminiscing at first glance, Isshin felt a sense of solemnity.

“After I transferred there, I was so happy living in Gaon that I forgot about it before I knew it.”

Why? Isshin held his breath involuntarily at Sumire’s slight smile as he spoke sincerely.

“But now I know. That it all happened because I was a coward... The reason why we can make eye contact and apologize like this must be because we have the courage to look back on the past.”

Isshin tried not to show off, but the corners of his mouth twitched. It’s been a while since I met Sumire, but let alone a promise, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to see her face again when I returned home soon.

“Don’t be one.”

Isshin, whose expression changed, called out to Sumire in a serious voice.

“yes?”

Sumire, who was answering, had a much brighter expression than Isshin’s now, just like when he was in middle school.

“...How are you?”

Still, Isshin asked.

I asked that even though I knew how Sumire, who had left for Gaon, would answer.

“yes. ... very much. I am so happy that I am afraid at times. Do I deserve to be this happy? Do I deserve it...”

Looking at Sumire, who had regained her old smile, and smiled so calmly, Isshin smiled in relief.

“I’m glad.”

I took a deep breath facing Sumire head on. Then, as if it was difficult to face each other, I turned around and looked the other way. I don’t have time anymore. It’s only now to tell the truth.

Such thoughts urged Isshin urgently.

“I’m serious when I say that I didn’t come here to ask for an apology from you. Rather... it’s me who wants to apologize.”

The weather was cold, but I looked up at the clear sky. After Sumire left, looking at the sunny weather like this left a feeling of discomfort somewhere in my heart. It was the same on days when it wasn’t sunny and it was raining.

okay. The weather didn’t matter. The problem was the memories that sometimes popped into Isshin’s head.

It was her own weakness that blamed all of her sins on Sumire for being the source of all the emotions stained with remorse and rebuke that popped up from time to time.

“I am unqualified. I was in a hurry because it was too much for me to go forward on my own. The person called the party leader couldn’t cover any party members. I had no idea what he was thinking or how much he was struggling.”

Isshin thought of Sumire, who had rapidly darkened after that incident. I thought of Sumire who was happy being with Shin Yoo-seong.

“Maybe it was because it was comfortable. Comforting someone is something I’ve never done before.”

Thinking about it now, he had never done anything for Sumire. Rather than trusting Sumire as a party member, he thought of Sumire as a being to be protected and a cumbersome one.

However, I learned about it while watching Sumire in the National Competition. That was my own delusion. Even though he was the party leader, he was an idiot who didn’t recognize Sumire’s potential.

Then how is your heart?

Unfortunately, he was not the one who made the dark Sumire smile brightly. Isshin knew himself well. Truly selfish, he had no such talent.

I just waited with a good looking hull that gave me time.

“...I thought you’d come back soon enough even if you didn’t do such an embarrassing thing. I thought I would be happy, laughing as usual and seeing the violets in the flower bed.”

Looking back now, I just thought of everything to suit my taste. The current Isshin understood Sumire. Running away from the academy and leaving for Gaon must have been Sumire’s desperate choice to live somehow.

“...I’m sorry until now.”

After that, Isshin stepped forward. I even had the illusion that my steps had become lighter as if a heavy burden had been lifted from my body.

“I! Mr. Kirishima!”

Spring with beautiful violets.

A summer in which it rained incessantly.

Fall of regret.

Chillingly cold winter.

Isshin was curious. Why are the memories with Sumire completed as one season?

“huh.”

Despite his deep feelings, Isshin’s reply was too brief. Isshin was not yet ready to savor this complex emotion in his heart.

“I... I think Kirishima-san and I are both in the process of learning. I used to think of myself as a blundering, pitiful, and annoying idiot... but I’ve come to realize that I’m not.”

Isshin knew.

“I came to know my own value by believing in myself that Yoosung believed in.”

That human beings are different from both sides of a coin, that weakness and strength can coexist, and that a warm and kind heart can bloom even in the midst of severe frustration.

“I’m sure Kirishima-san is the same. Everyone regrets looking back on the past. ... we’re all on our way!”

He didn’t even have the courage to face it, so he could only hear his voice, but Sumire was proof of that.

“...It’s an ongoing process of learning. huh. Right.”

I didn’t say goodbye, but spring. summer. autumn. winter. Isshin said goodbye to the snowy and rainy year.

It was very cold now, but Isshin wanted to believe that this cold would not last forever. Believing that this is also the process for a better hunter to become a better person, just like Sumire said, he chanted in a voice that only he could hear.

“...Thank you. Sumire Hanajima.”