Volume 1 - CH 6

We reached the day of the election, blessed with a clear sky just as eleven years ago. The early summer sun brightly lit up the large gym hall, where all students of our Amakusa South High School gathered. The candidates and respective assisting committee members were seated to the left of the gym hall, lining up in a single row. In total, three people applied as candidates for the student council president position, and the other two excluding Nao were also second-years. With the more than ten people part of the assisting committees around me, my nervosity was through the roof.

Today, the assisting committee representatives will give a recommendation speech, followed by a final speech by that candidates. Once these were done, the voting will happen. For this day, in particular, Nao worked really hard. Even after school ended, before and after her part-time job, she was handing out flyers, participating in school broadcasts during lunch break, and so on. However, the same could be said about the other two girls. Each of them worked the same amount. That’s why the chief and I support Nao.

As her friends, we’re behind her. All in an attempt that she gets closer to being elected. Going in order, Nao’s speech was the last, and the first candidate just finished theirs. The person from the election management handed over the microphone, moving to the second candidate and their assisting committee.

“That was a good speech.” The chief said next to me.

As she looked directly up at the stage, I could tell that she was anxious. She formed fists on her lap.

“You’re right.”

The same moment I responded, loud applause filled the gym hall, and the recommendation speech of the second candidate’s assisting committee began. Looking up at the stage, I reminisced back to eleven years in the past. That day, I sat at the front of the stage, when an angel descended towards me. It sounded like a typical boy-meets-girl scenario straight out of a Ghibli movie, but it sadly didn’t end as smoothly. Just as the chief fell off the stage, I fell in love with her.

I would have loved to experience this sweet and youthful moment once more, but that won’t do. After all, that was merely an accident…no, a planned attack. The person who caused this incident was currently sitting up on the stage as a member of the management team, showing a sour face. If he doesn’t want to do any work this badly, he didn’t have to enter the management committee, but since nobody in Tatsuki’s class offered to do it, it was probably pushed onto him.

“What’s wrong, Nanaya? Your face is pretty scary right now. If you’re that nervous, you can fondle my boobs.”

“You really have nerves of steel. Are you not nervous?”

“Not at all. I have you and the Chief with me, after all.” Nao smiled.

Curse her cuteness. That reminds me, eleven years ago, Nao was all alone for the election, meaning she didn’t have any recommendation speech. But this time, things are different. It’s the good kind of a butterfly effect. When challenging something, it’s always best to have someone else with you. Together with the new hairstyle the chief put on Nao, she looked even more charming than usual. She wore her uniform properly as well, showing her determination. Looking at Nao’s gallant profile, I said.

“Don’t worry, we’re with you.”

“Damn, that was cool.”

“Right? Sometimes even I want to be cool if the time comes.” I looked at Nao while flashing a grin when she for some reason started blushing.

“Huh, why are you blushing now?”

“Hehe, I mean, it really was cool, I can’t help it.”

So, I guess she’s happy? Unlike the chief, her expressions are so easy to read. At the same time, the second candidate’s speech ended, making it Nao’s turn now. After the second person left the stage, Nao stood up—and so did I.

“Huh? I thought Chief was gonna do the speech?”

“I just told you, even I want to be cool when the time comes.”

Alright then, it’s time to make sure Nao can end this day on a happy note. Shimono Nanaya, get serious.

*

After stepping up on the stage, Nao and I stood next to the speaker’s desk. With the large number of students in front of my eyes, my heart started racing painfully fast. Holy crap, I might just throw up. From below, the stage didn’t feel that high up, but now that I’m standing up here, the suspense is hitting me like a truck, like we reached the final of the episode in a drama. Was it always this high…? And then came an announcement from the election management member.

“Now then, we ask the representative of the assisting committee for their recommendation speech.”

I gulped and stepped in right behind the microphone. My breathing was growing more and more shallow. Thinking about it, in all my 27 years of living, I never gave a speech in front of so many people. Also, this urge to run away is starting to dwell up inside of me. Was I that much of a coward before? With a quivering hand, I put the manuscript on the desk, and spoke up.

“Ah…I am the recommender of Nakatsugawa Nao-san, Sh-Shimono Nanaya…!”

Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, a shrill sound came back howling from the microphone. My voice cracked. My face turned hotter in an instant. All the students looked at me in silence. I want to go home play mobile games right away, but I can’t run away now. Nao worked this hard, and I won’t let it go to waste. Don’t run away. Face it all. I dropped my gaze and looked at the manuscript for my speech.

It’s the manuscript prepared by the chief. She worked over this day after day. She even stayed behind late in that cafe. For Nao’s sake, she put everything into that script. Everything about Kamijou Touka can be found there.

—The shaking stopped. I have such a wonderful superior supporting me. If I failed here, she would take all responsibility. That’s why, as her subordinate, I have to present her everything with my everything.

“What I first want to tell you about Nakatsugawa-san is—” I spoke with confidence, reading from the manuscript.

I guess you could call it a list of her charms. It was all perfectly structured allowing me to easily convey what I needed to in the five minutes given. I just hope that I’m able to get that across without bringing shame to Nao in the process. As proof of that, however, came the roaring applause after I had finished. It continued for a long time, and once it subsided, I bowed once and moved away from the desk, switching positions with Nao. And exactly at that point—

A shadow appeared on stage. Right as Nao raised a leg to move forward, he was trying to push her shoulder. However, I grabbed his arm and stopped him.

“I’m not letting you, Tatsuki.”

“…!”

Having his arm grabbed, Tatsuki’s face distorted in disgust as he glared at me.

“Sorry buddy, but I already saw right through your plan.”

“What are you talking about? Let go of my hand, you small fry.”

The gym hall was filled with mutters and confused voices. However, no teacher attempted to move. Seriously, why are all these adults so useless.

“I know it sucks to get rejected, but aren’t you holding too much of a grudge here?”

“Huh? Who was rejected by who.”

“You want me to say it, you masochist? I’m talking about you getting rejected by Nao.”

That’s right, he actually confessed to Nao, got rejected, and then held a grudge which is why he wanted to push Nao down off the stage—just as he did 11 years ago. The first one to realize was the chief. This morning, during the rehearsal for the election, we realized that the order was the exact same as back then. While moving up to the stage and exchanging positions with Nao, the chief realized something and called out to me.

Eleven years ago, when she was pushed off the stage, she just switched positions with Nao. It was probably coincidental that she moved to turn around, but she saw Tatsuki glaring at Nao. Why would he not even look at this target while pushing them down…The answer is simple.

“I feel like Tatsuki-kun was trying to push off Nao-chan.” She whispered in a voice only I could hear.

While exchanging positions, the two simply happened to overlap, and Tatsuki missed his timing so he instead ended up pushing the chief off. That would explain his sharp gaze directed at Nao. But, why would he do that? I tried to remember the rumor I heard eleven years ago. Namely, that Tatsuki was rejected by Nao, and that he held a grudge.

“That rumor…I remember hearing about it. I was never sure if that girl really was Nao-chan, but it’s true that Tatsuki-kun was rejected by someone. It sounds more than plausible that he’d be upset about that.” The chief nodded, and since I knew that it was Nao, the connection was there.

But, there was one thing that got me curious. Onikichi told me to look after Nao. It must have been his type of warning, knowing that Tatsuki would be rejected by Nao. The reason I can say that for certain is because of Kofuyu’s birthday. Nao seemed like she needed advice on something. She wanted me to realize that she was confessed to by Tatsuki. She might not look like it, but she’s a kind and considerate girl. She probably felt guilty and considered saying yes if that made him happy.

Unbeknownst to that, I practically pressed her to reject his confession. Really, I’m such a moron. But more importantly, there’s no doubt in my mind that Tatsuki had ill intentions, planning to get Nao hurt. Both the chief and I confirmed that thanks to the memories we had. Because we were too caught up in the butterfly effect, we had already forgotten. The past is changing, but the basic principles and mindsets of people do not.

The chief judged that Nao would be in danger, and said that she would stop Tatsuki if he showed any suspicious movement up on the stage. Of course, I immediately disagreed with that. I can’t have her go through such a danger. We’re dealing with a guy who doesn’t consider the consequences of his actions. In other words, there was only one choice to take—I had to take over the speech and protect Nao from him up on the stage.

I came from the future, so it’s easy to stop a man if I know what he’s plotting. And just as I had planned, I managed to grab Tatsuki’s arm.

“Thinking of even doing this in front of the entire school, I’m honestly worried about your future.”

“Shut up! That doesn’t have anything to do with you!”

Doesn’t have anything to do with me? Stop fooling around. I’m Nao’s childhood friend. Tatsuki tried to shake off my hand, growing rampant. Because of that, I lost my balance and fell on my butt. At the same time, Tatsuki turned towards me, brandishing his fist. Oh crap, he’s going to punch me. Tsk, I guess I can’t avoid getting hurt in this timeline either. Guess redoing my life doesn’t change that much after all.

“Hey hey, why are you raising your hand against my friend, huh? Here we! Go!”

A tall playboy of a guy stopped Tatsuki’s right hook. A loud smacking noise reverberated from the stage. What an awesome entrance, I can’t even hope to ever be this cool.

“Onikichi!”

“Glad I made it in time, Nanacchi. Better thank Touka later.”

Onikichi glanced over at the side of the stage, where I spotted the chief with her shoulders moving up and down, clearly out of breath. And, she showed me a thumbs-up. As expected of the chief.

“What’s your problem! Don’t get in my way!” Tatsuki’s face grew even more stern, the blood probably rushing to his head. However, Onikichi was taller than Tatsuki.

“Hey, hey, Tatsuki-chan. That’s how we men are! Go with the flow, big wave! Here we go!”

Onikichi twisted his body, moving behind Tatsuki and pulling his arm behind his back. With such smooth movement, it looked like Tatsuki couldn’t even muster up any strength. Amazing.

“Shit! Let me go!”

Tatsuki shook his body left and right, but Onikichi didn’t move an inch. Man, you’re making me fall for you, Onikichi.

“Hey, stop that immediately!”

The teachers apparently grew tired of watching all of this happening, and finally stepped in. Three people walked up…one of them being our homeroom teacher Hayashi. The principal and vice-principal were watching us from below the stage. Well, a young teacher’s probably tasked with interrupting this kind of fighting, for sure. As the inside of the gym hall became noisy, Nao pulled on the blazer of my uniform. Her fingers were quivering ever so slightly.

“It’s okay now, don’t worry.”

Nao’s stiffened expression relaxed a bit. I want to praise her for being able to handle this situation.

“All of you come to the staff office right now,” Hayashi said.

However, I looked at him.

“Sensei, Nao hasn’t given her speech yet.” I furrowed my eyebrows, giving him as much of a displeased expression as possible.

“What are you saying, Shimono, we can’t continue this event under such circumstances. Nakatsugawa will have to withdraw.”

Well, he’s not entirely wrong, I guess. Stopping Nao’s speech was a rational decision. After an almost-fight like that, it’s best to let things cool down, especially if it involved the son of city council members. These guys are the big shots. And the other students realized that as the atmosphere in the room grew cold. Hayashi stared at me, giving off immense pressure, just as he did back in the hallway. It’s the pressure of an adult. Pressure from his superior position. I’ve experienced this many times and lost against it.

Right now, there are more than a hundred students present. The children are watching me fight an adult. None of them said a word, simply watching over the slaughter. Adults have their own circumstances, which we kids can’t understand. However, I’m an adult as well. Even if I’m lame, unappealing, and pathetic. We adults have the duty of watching over children. That’s why I bowed. Bowed while making a request of the person standing above me. I deeply bowed towards Hayashi like a salaryman who messed up his job. I’m good at that, after all.

“Please, Hayashi-sensei. We will all come to the staff’s office after, so please let Nao do her speech.” I spoke clearly word for word, conveying my intentions. This is how I do things. I learned this from the adults.

“Listen now, Shimono.”

“Please!”

For a few seconds, silence reigned. Since I was looking down, I had no way of checking Hayashi’s face or how the audience felt about this. But even so, I won’t raise my head until I hear an answer. Only the faint buzzing from the microphone could be heard. My throat was starting to feel dry.

“Principal, you don’t mind, right?”

A deep voice called out below the stage. It was Hayashi’s. Then, more silence followed, until I could hear Hayashi’s again.

“Got it. But in return, you, Tatsuki, and Tadokoro will be getting off the stage and wait for her to finish, all right.”

“Yes, thank you very much.”

I raised my head, meeting eyes with Onikichi. He gave me a wink. I get how girls would fall head over heels for him. I might just come to visit his host club in the future. Tatsuki at the same time didn’t seem happy at all, but realized that fighting anymore was pointless, so he reluctantly gave up. The chief shook her head in disbelief, but I responded with a faint smile. No way effort can resolve everything. However, the kids who are cherishing their youth should be able to experience what it’s like to achieve results. That is the responsibility of us adults—And with that, Nao’s speech began.

*

After all of the voting had ended, and the students returned to their classrooms, our group including Nao and everybody involved from before sat in the back of the staff office, with Hayashi standing in front of us. It was a narrow space of around 16 square meters, probably used for visitors. It connects to the staff office with a single door, but with proper walls between them, it could be used as a room to block off any sound. In other words, our argument wouldn’t reach the staff office. Only the people inside here know what’s going on. In the center stood a single white and long desk, with several stairs piled up next to it. Hayashi took out a chair and sat down on it.

“Why is Kamijou here? You go back to your classroom.”

The only people called here to this room were Nao, Onikichi, Tatsuki, and me. However, the chief came here out of her own desire. She returned Hayashi’s dubious comment with a cold gaze.

“I am part of Nakatsugawa-san’s assisting committee. And I called Tadokoro-kun over, so I will be participating here.”

I heard how excellent the chief was back in middle school. And with the incident in the hallway the other day, there’s no way that Hayashi must be seeing her as someone dangerous. He probably didn’t want her to be here, present for this. And trying to chase her out now would take too much time, so he gave up with a sigh.

“Right…fine.”

After that, I explained the circumstances to him. I carefully chose my words to properly convey from an objective standpoint that Tatsuki’s grudge was a thing, and Tatsuki didn’t attempt to interrupt me. He probably was confident that wouldn’t get punished. I just feel grossed out looking at him.

“I get the gist of it. Us teachers don’t plan on meddling with your own personal relationships. However, you can’t cause such a ruckus. I just warned you about it, right?”

After I finished my explanation, Hayashi said so, looking at us. Isn’t this something he should say to Tatsuki?

“Anyway, I will have all of you take responsibility, namely by helping the election management clean up. And after that, a written apology. Same goes for you, Kamijou, you wanted to be involved in this after all.”

“Yes, I don’t mind at all. However, Tatsuki-kun is already in the management team, so this isn’t really a punishment for him, no?”

Before Hayashi could react, Onikichi spoke up.

“Also, he tried to hurt a girl, so shouldn’t he be suspended from school? That’s actual violence.”

Onikichi’s tone sounded as nonchalant as always, but his eyes were serious. And he’s not wrong. After Hayashi glared at Onikichi, he turned towards Tatsuki.”

“Tatsuki, is that true?”

“Not at all.” Tatsuki played innocent.

“Nakatsugawa, did he touch you in any way?”

“N-No…”

“Then maybe you just jumped to conclusions?”

This guy…I see, this is the way he’s taking things? What a proper lawyer you are.

“Hey hey, Teach! Tatsuki-chan still tried to hit Nanacchi, right? If I didn’t stop him, that would have landed as well. Can’t say we jumped to conclusions there, right?” Onikichi didn’t back down.

“That’s because Shimono grabbed his arm first, right? Tell us, Tatsuki.”

“You’re right. Because he suddenly grabbed me, my body moved on its own.”

“See? And Tadokoro also grabbed Tatsuki, so if you ask for him to be suspended, the same would go for you two as well. I’m trying to take the circumstances into consideration here. Or what, do you want to be suspended?”

“I don’t mind,” Onikichi said without hesitation.

“Same here.”

Both Onikichi and I looked at Hayashi, who sighed and held his head.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Just because of something minor like this.”

“Something minor…like this?” The chief’s eyes narrowed and she leaned forward, but I stopped her.

Her shoulders were quivering in rage. However, Hayashi was unable to read the mood, and continued with a deep voice.

“Of course. This is something minor. What reason is there to create such a ruckus for something where nobody was injured. Kamijou, I told you before, but we adults have a lot to worry about, so don’t be on edge here. If anything, Nakatsugawa is at fault here as well.”

“Wait, me?”

Nao seemed surprised that her name suddenly appeared as part of the conversation, as her body shook. At the same time, Hayashi observed Nao with a reproachful gaze.

“That’s right. You keep your shirt open all the time, saying stuff that is easily misunderstood by men, which caused this. Maybe you just think that life’s easy because you can seduce guys easily? Don’t think that wearing your uniform properly on election day will do much for you. I don’t mind that you’re a candidate for the student council president, but maybe you should fix your attitude before anything else.”

“…You!!” The chief grit her teeth, ready to leap at Hayashi.

“Chief! Calm down!” I stood in front of her.

“Out of my way, Shimono-kun. Are you telling me to just accept this? I can’t. Do you think I’m a woman who can keep quiet? You should know how hard Nao-chan worked for this!”

“I know. I wholeheartedly understand your feelings, Chief.”

“If you do, then get out of my way!”

“I won’t. Who do you think I am? I’m your subordinate Shimono Nanaya. This isn’t your part to play, so just leave it to me.”

“Shimono-kun…”

I turned around, telling the chief while looking directly at Hayashi.

“There are times when I have to act like a man, even if it means resorting to violence.” I slowly made my way towards Hayashi.

“Shimono, do we have a problem here?”

The chief said it before. If a child did something bad, adults have to scold them. The chief really is amazing. She immediately differentiated between the two. It’s not ‘Get angry’ but instead ‘Scold’. My respect for Kamijou Touka is bottomless. After all, I can’t scold people. That being said, I won’t look away from Hayashi. I took a deep breath, controlled my feelings, and broadly declared.

“I’m going to beat up Tatsuki and Hayashi-sensei.”

“Wha…Shimono-kun?! What are you saying!”

“You be quiet, Touka-san!”

“Y-Yes!”

Scold? Yeah, not happening. Yuito-sensei told me to be more emotional. If I’m going to listen to these words, then I can’t stay rational enough to scold them. After all…with these guys who hurt Nao…I’m beyond pissed!

“Shimono, have you forgotten that you’re talking with a teacher?”

“Nope, I’m fully aware. I also know that my idea of violence solves everything is fragile, and I also understand your circumstances of being scared shitless by Tatsuki’s parents. These are the circumstances an adult has. You’re right, being an adult isn’t always great with the responsibility you have to shoulder. And you can’t live on with everything working out perfectly. You can’t win against the pressure of people of higher standing than you. I’m painfully aware of that. But even so, I can’t forgive you or Tatsuki for hurting Nao. I don’t care if I get kicked out of school for punching a teacher. Without any remorse, I’ll use every fiber of my being to beat the shit out of you two! I’ll make you understand what a failure of an adult you are! Of course, I’m at fault! I’m clearly in the wrong here for not being able to come up with a better way of scolding brats like you! But, I don’t feel wrong at all. I can be wrong and still feel right about it! After all…no matter how childish and wrong I am…I have the world’s greatest superior with me who will scold me whenever I’m wrong!”

Hayashi’s expression grew stiff. He was probably trying to swallow up was I saying, as he cast his gaze downward. Instead of him, Tatsuki grabbed my collar, screaming.

“Who’re you going to punch? Huuuh?! You got nothing to do with this, so don’t act like some know-it-all! Come on, try it if you can!”

“Shut your mouth, you snobby brat!”

“Gah!”

I punched him. I rammed my fist into his face. Tatsuki fell backward, rubbing his reddened cheek with his hand.

“What’s wrong? Did you think I wasn’t serious? You thought I was just bluffing, and that I wouldn’t actually punch you?!”

“You bastard…”

“Or what, did you think somebody would always protect you? How’s it feel? The pain from when nobody is there to cover for your sorry ass! Must hurt, right!”

“……!”

Tatsuki stayed silent, so I continued.

“Think about Nao’s feelings for once. She was actually thinking about it. She gave the answer to your confession a lot of thought.”

That’s right. She was always serious about it. If not, she wouldn’t have asked me for advice. Confessed to by Tatsuki, she didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want to hurt him, which is why she kept on thinking and thinking.

“Do you even know why she was being this serious about it?”

“………”

I didn’t dare look away from this moron Tatsuki. He doesn’t even know the answer to that? Then, why don’t I teach him? While glaring at Tatsuki, I continued.

“It’s because you were serious about it as well, you dumbass!”

Tatsuki, you’re in the wrong here. Making a pass at someone like a grade school student, only to resent the person after getting rejected. You liked Nao that much that you committed that mistake. Isn’t that right, Tatsuki? After all, even as the past changed, with an uncertain future up ahead of us, no matter the influence, you didn’t change. You still confessed to Nao once again! Even as history changed, that fact remained the same! That just shows how much you actually liked Nao!

“Failing is embarrassing. Failing is painful. Failing hurts. But, the fact that you were serious despite that left an impression on Nao! It got through to her! There are results to be found even by failing! That’s youth, and that is what matters!” I screamed with a red face.

Tatsuki bit his lip, and just looked down without saying anything. That’s what you get, so just stay there, and reflect on your actions. Because there’s one more person I have to beat up.

“Since you’re an adult, Sensei, you should know why I’m about to punch you.”

You know, right? I glared down at Hayashi, who seemed like he had given up, simply closing his eyes. I raised my fist in response, as I was prepared as well. And then, I swung down my fist, aiming directly at his face. However, right before my fist would have connected, someone grabbed my arm, stopping me and the momentum. I turned around.

“Drop it. If you punch him, you’ll get kicked out for sure.” Tatsuki said, and let go of my arm.

I was a bit bewildered, freezing up. However, Tatsuki looked away from me and grumbled.

“Damn, that hurt,” he said, walking towards Nao.

And then, he deeply lowered his head.

“I was wrong, please forgive me.”

The room was wrapped up in silence. Everybody calmly watched over the situation. Nao seemed a bit confused at first, but quickly recovered and showed her usual smile.

“Okay!”

Maybe his feelings reached her, or possibly vice versa. Either way, Tatsuki didn’t look at anybody in particular as he headed for the door. Right as he put his hand on the door handle, he turned his head around.

“Sensei, he hit me because I started the fight. Since we would both end up getting suspended, and my parents would never let you hear the end of it, just sweep this one under the rug.” He left these words behind and left the room.

After a brief silence, Hayashi sighed deeply.

“For crying out loud…all of you and your…Whatever. I’ll convince the other teachers, so you scram now. Don’t need to help with the cleaning or write a written apology.” Hayashi waved his hand at us.

“Hey, are you still not…”

“Yeah yeah. Touka, we got his permission, so let’s go home, alright. You two, Nao, here we go!”

“Yup! Here we go!”

“Hey, Onikichi-kun!”

Onikichi pushed both the chief’s and Nao’s bac, leaving the room. He sure is good at casual skinship like that. Because of Tatsuki, I lost all my momentum, so I was about to leave the room when Hayashi called out to me.

“Shimono…were you actually going to punch me?”

“Yep. But, Nao forgave Tatsuki, so it’s okay now.”

“…Tell Nakatsugawa I’m sorry. As a teacher…No, as an adult, I was not acting properly.”

Hayashi’s voice was a lot softer compared to before.

“You should tell her that yourself.”

“Right…haha, yeah. I’ll do that.”

“Yup.”

“…Both you and Kamijou feel older than me for some reason.”

“Not at all. Sensei is a proper adult. Thank you very much for letting Nao do her speech.”

Hayashi listened to my words and showed a faint smile, raising his hands in a relaxed gesture like he had given up. It felt like I had seen his true face for the first time. And seeing his smile, I left the room.

Do your best, youngling—or so I acted cool, but you know I was scolded like crazy by my superior shortly after this.