CH 20

“Uu, my thanks to you! I, for my part, will never forget! I am such a disgrace.! If there’s a hole, I’d just bury myself in it!”

“That’s not it, you were so cool!”

“T-that’s right! I couldn’t do something like that!”

“I agree! Besides, that guy just couldn’t talk back, so he used his hands. Yoshino, it was your win.”

We walked on the way home while encouraging Yoshino-senpai who has changed into a jersey.

“But still, ‘Standing in the ring, throwing punches’. I’m grateful that Yoshino thought of me that way.”

“Takamine-senpai, your book is awesome! The writing is so soft and beautiful! Don’t worry about that stuff!”

“That’s right! One day our talent will see the light of day!”

While thanking us for our words, Takamine-senpai laughed and put his arm around my shoulder.

“Well, there’s no need to worry, as the next one will definitely sell! Right, Yamamoto?”

“Eh?　Oh, haha, well so… is it…?”

“Ah, come to think of it, you two always have some kind of meeting, don’t you?”

“Well, what are you up to?”

“Haha… a-actually…”

I wasn’t hiding it, so I decided to come clean.

It’s a little embarrassing…

When I joined the Literature Club, I was asked by the head of the club, Takamine-senpai, “Do you have anything you’ve written so far?” So I handed him my diary, which I had kept since I was in the second grade of elementary school.

After I was disfigured by juvenile hypertrophy, I started writing a diary in which I nakedly wrote about my irredeemable days. And now I’ve written around 5 of them.

However, it’s not just a terrible story.

I also wrote about the little happiness I felt and how grateful I was to the people who helped me without discriminating me based on my appearance, and also how my heart almost became desperate because I couldn’t take it anymore.

One day, after reading all of these books, Takamine-senpai called me to the park, bowed his head, and said, 

“I want you to let me write a novel about this diary— or rather, about your life! Yamamoto, you’ll be the author of this, as you were of the diary, while I’ll write the text!”

“Wait, wait! It’s really just a daily record of what happened and how I felt on a given day…”

Naturally, I was baffled.

That diary was just something that I submitted as a desperate attempt because I had no other experience in writing anything else.

“That’s why! Yamamoto, without any premeditation or discovery, depicts the growth of his “hideous self” with the same passion of the time! The result is the best work of nonfiction against the appearance-based lookism! No one else could have written it!”

Takamine-san’s excitement was one of a kind.

If my life could have had a meaning by becoming a work of art…

I knew it would never be as rewarding as this.

Thus, I asked Takamine-senpai to help me put together a proposal to bring to a publishing company, meeting with him every time we have a club activity.

— Ajiro-senpai and Yoshino-senpai were surprised when I told them that.

“Heh, that’s great! Leader’s new work is based on you, Yamamoto!”

“I’m very eager to read it now! How long will it take you to publish it?”

“I’m going to take it to my favorite publisher. If the project goes smoothly, I’ll have it in print in six months.”

“ — Ah, but will you be okay? Takamine-san is a third year student, so you have to take the exams…”

It’s a nice story, but it’s going to be a lot of work for Takamine-senpai if he has to turn my amateurish writing into a novel.

But Takamine-senpai just laughed it off.

“Don’t worry, I’ve already got an A+ on my first choice, the Department of Literature at the University of Tokyo. Besides, it’s not a life to be rushed. Being a ronin isn’t so bad.”

“N-now that I think about it, the leader is very smart…!”

“If it were in the field of history, I might be able to stand up against you, but…as expected of Takamine-shi! You’re amazing!”

“Yeah, haha… Takamine-senpai’s way of life is a little different from the others…”

While talking about such things, we all walked Ajiro-senpai home together and went back to our respective houses.

◇◇◇　　　　　

— The next day.

Yoshino-senpai dropped a message to the RINE group in the Literature Club.

“According to my sources, that ruffian named Sayama broke his right fist yesterday! According to him, it’s because he fell down on his bicycle! Well, I guess there’s always a way to be punished! At the same time, the story of his misbehavior was also spread throughout the class, but… as I thought, any story can be leaked! Not just urine.”

I unintentionally laughed at Yoshino-senpai’s toughness that did not falter at all, and read the rest of the text.

“—And I’ve got a goal, too! I’m going to start boxing too! I stood up for the honor of Takamine-shi, but I realized that I can’t stand with it without having the strength to back it up… That’s why I’m going to go to the local boxing gym! Maybe I can have a revenge match with Sayama-dono in the future. (lol)”

Even if the revenge match was a joke, Yoshino-senpai’s energy was astonishing.

I didn’t expect him to start boxing after losing a fight…

I wonder what kind of growth they will have achieved in a year’s time when I return.

Despite feeling a bit of sadness, my heart was excited.