Chapter 17 Kindness

Kindness

As expected, we are still the center of attention. And as we approach the school, more and more students are drawn to us, the unique pair.

One is Ai Ichijo, the most beautiful girl in the school, who has a reputation as a talented woman.

And the other is Aono Eiji, the worst boy, who was violent with his childhood friend girlfriend.

The people around me looked at me blankly, but I was overwhelmed by Ichijo’s presence next to me and couldn’t say anything. If you talk badly about someone or b🬀lly them, even the idol of the school will hear about it. I guess they were afraid of being hated by her if they did something like that.

Besides, Ichijo-san next to me seems to be having a good time. She comes to school with me of her own free will. She looks so happy that people around can tell that she enjoys chatting with me.

A smile that would attract the attention of any man. No one can bother her when she’s having so much fun.

“Ah, here we are. Senpai, you’re coming home with me today, too, right?”

This must be her own kind of kindness. She takes on the role of a talisman to prevent me from being bullied. She especially emphasized the word “today, too.” I could tell that she was trying to imply to those around her that we went home together yesterday as well.

“Doesn’t that bother you?”

“What are you talking about? I’m the one who asked for it!”

She even dared to raise her voice so that many students could hear her. If she went that far, no one would be able to refuse her. No, instead, many students dream of such a relationship.

“Okay, please!”

“Hehe, then please buy me some fried oysters! Just kidding!”

We parted ways at the shoeboxes. We promised to meet here after school.

From here on, it will be a one-man battle.

I braced myself and made my way to my shoebox. My shoes might be missing or stuffed with drawing notes or garbage. I imagined the worst.

But my shoebox was as clean as it had been yesterday.

There was no sign that it had been vandalized.

Looking around, I saw Iwai-sensei, the dean of students, wandering around the entrance.

“So that’s what happened.”

Apparently, he had been watching me since early morning to prevent them from destroying my things. As expected, no strongman would misbehave in front of him.

“Oh, Aono. Good morning. You heard from Imai, right?”

“Yes. Sensei, I heard.”

He laughs happily,

“I see, I see. Then go to Takayanagi-sensei in the staff room first. He’s been worried about you since yesterday.”

I thought I would be accused of something for sneaking out of school, but there was no sign of that.

“Yes.”

I could barely speak, but the teacher smiled with satisfaction.

I go downstairs to the staff room. To be honest, I don’t like to go there under such circumstances. I’m sure I’ll be the center of attention, and there are teachers who are suspicious of me, so they might give me the cold shoulder.

“Good morning, Aono.”

While I was worrying about this, my homeroom teacher, Takayanagi-sensei, was waiting for me in the hallway in front of the staff room.

“Good morning. Eh, Sensei, why, outside?”

“Ah, yes. In your current situation, I thought you wouldn’t feel comfortable going into the staff room alone, so I waited for you here.”

His tone was slow as usual, but I was grateful for his consideration.

“Thank you.”

“It’s the least I could do. You don’t have to thank me. Let me hear your story first. I won’t talk to you in the hallway or in the staff room. Let’s use the conference room over there.”

What, shouldn’t we use the counseling office for this kind of situation? Such a simple question came to mind, but Sensei seemed to have guessed.

“Would you prefer the counseling office? Because the atmosphere there is inevitably that of a place where the teacher is on top. This time, I want Aono to talk to me from an equal perspective, so I won’t use that place….”

I immediately shook my head. I don’t want to talk in that stuffy place.

“Right.”

With that, we entered the conference room.

“Aono, sit next to me. It’ll be a more relaxed conversation than talking face-to-face, right?”

Sensei chuckled, and I could tell that he was trying to ease my nervousness.

“Before I listen to you, I need to tell you something.”

His tone suddenly became serious.

My tension rose to its maximum.

“Aono, I am truly sorry. Yesterday, I didn’t realize that something was wrong with Aono, and I caused you a lot of pain. If only I could have created an environment where we could talk before the summer vacation, I might have been able to alleviate Aono’s suffering. I am responsible for what happened. I am truly sorry.”

Takayanagi-sensei bowed deeply.