Classmate Reaction
Murata Ritsu’s PoV
When I woke up in the morning, I saw a news report about Kondo-senpai’s father on TV.
The father figure that Kondo-senpai had always bragged about was crumbling.
Without pausing for a moment, the merciless report revealed the truth.
Kondo-senpai’s father had pressured the school and the victim’s family to cover up his son’s violent behavior and b()llying problems.
The victim, who had been subjected to violence and b()llying, was such a gentle student that he received an award for saving a life and was even slandered on the Internet because of false rumors.
And he even intimidated journalists by kicking them out in response to the early morning attack.
He had already become an utterly vicious politician.
Recordings of angry voices, presumably those of the principal and Kondo-senpai’s father, can be heard on television.
[If we are not good enough at listening, they will just say things that are out of tune. Look, you are a councilor, right? You are supposed to be a role model for the citizens. Even when it comes to family problems, you are the person who should feel the most responsible. But it is completely outrageous for you to denigrate XXX-sensei, who put aside her own concerns and devoted herself to her duties. You are supposed to be a person in a responsible position. You paid with tax money. And yet you are forcing the school to cover up a violent incident involving a child. That’s bullshit. This is a disgusting betrayal of even the trust of the citizens who voted for you.]
[What … will happen to the school’s reputation if something like this gets out. Because of a principal like you with a ridiculous sense of justice, the reputation of this school with its history and traditions will be damaged.]
[What pride will this school have if we cover up the incident? On the contrary, as a principal, I would be embarrassed to be blamed for this incident. Listen, what is the value of letting violent incidents and b()llying go unchecked and preserving meaningless history and traditions? A proud tradition is one created by each and every student who learns and leaves this school. What value is there in dwelling on the past at the expense of the future of the children who will create that tradition? This is simply a misunderstanding of the purpose and meaning of education.]
[How can you be an educator if you cannot protect a single student? To protect one student, a wound of this size is a small price to pay. XXX-san, you must be misunderstanding something.]
The principal’s words seem to have generated a huge response on the Internet. The morning news show also reported on real-time reactions tweeted on SNS.
[The principal is amazing. Normally, I’d be too afraid to talk back to a council member.]
[It was indeed unfortunate that the b()llying incident happened, but I would feel safe entrusting my child to a school like this].
[I thought schools would cover up b()llying. This is what real education is…]
[I was kinda touched.]
My parents nodded their heads.
“This is Ritsu’s school, right? I feel safe with such great teachers.”
Mom’s reaction is normal.
This is normal. But I’m not. Why can’t I be impressed? It’s because I’m the party of this problem.
I’m afraid. I’m afraid that Aono’s b()llying problem has become so serious. I’ve said horrible words to him on SNS, and helped write the curse on his desk.
So in the eyes of the world, I …
I’m the culprit who helped that ugly councilor and his son.
At first, my heart was light. The boys on the soccer team created an atmosphere where they wanted me to say more and more bad things about Aono-kun. They thought that since he had done something wrong, it was okay for them to judge him. I trusted Miyuki, and I was close to the boys in the soccer club, often going to karaoke with them. Aono-kun, on the other hand, was a bit shady. We didn’t know each other very well.
I didn’t know that Aono-kun’s violence was a lie. I was deceived. So it’s okay. If you’re telling the truth, I’m safe. …
The ones to blame are the soccer team and Miyuki for spreading false rumors. I was just friends with the soccer team, so I didn’t do anything wrong compared to them.
But I knew it was unforgivable. I just tried to believe what I thought was right.
Suddenly, my phone rang.
The message was from Mika, in the same class.
[This is bad. Aida and the other members of the soccer team have been suspended because of the b()llying incident! Most of the sophomores and juniors on the soccer team are suspended, and there are rumors that they will be expelled. What are we going to do, maybe we will too…]