Go to school.
It was that word that the chairman said on the phone.
She hung up without asking where she was meeting and what she wanted to talk about.
Where should we meet?
If the chairman is going to go to school, it would be better to have a place where he can calm down and talk.
However, I am still using the student meeting room for today's activities.
Well, I forgot to ask how many minutes it was from the chairman's house to here.
Too happy to accept it, it went much smoother than I imagined, and I forgot to ask.
Think, remember.
Where did you first meet the chairman?
The chairman noticed that Torino-kun and I had been having trouble first thing in the morning, not in the student conference room.
It's not a matter of crushing time, but the legs are taken to that place.
It's odd to call it a place to remember, but it's always a place to meet.
Step on the stairs in front of the back gate of the school and sit down and wait.
It is still cold to call spring, and the wind is cold.
The students running in the schoolyard spend their time alone in long-sleeved jerseys and practice clothes.
Somehow, the ant walking on the sand was vaguely captured in his sight.
I wanted to use it in my thinking time, but I felt that there was an illusion that that meaningless time would make the tangled threads in my head a little lighter.
How many ants have I counted?
The sound of gravel stepping near the ears, which was supposed to be the only part of the activity, arrives.
Small, not for boys.
And now, the students who are coming to school from the direction of the residential area are very familiar.
Therefore, when I raised my gaze upward with confidence, the senior with chestnut hair still turned towards me with the same smile as usual.
"Hey, Marie, have you made me wait?"
"Don't worry about it because I called you. I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman, it's not your school day."
The chairman I summoned... Senpai Kasumi doesn't have any luggage, but he stands in his uniform.
After exchanging the necessary words with each other at the opening, I began to quietly talk about the reason for the call and the explanation including the current situation.
"I see, I knew you were hesitant to ask me what you wanted to ask me, who you were supposed to send. That's why I promise to answer all your questions."
Thank you ─ ─
"But you don't have to ask me. You should be able to do enough ceremony." Of course, I will answer your questions, but I also accepted the invitation for a purpose... and I will give priority to removing the burdensome things from your place. "
When she lowered her head to the chairperson, who said she would smile happily and take the consultation, she took a step forward and poked me in the chest with her thin little finger.
The meaning of the uttered words was inadvertently asked without instant understanding of the intention.
Heavy load?
"... why don't you ask Masaki or Kanazaki to help you?"
After hearing my words, the chairman said that he would breathe in small breaths.
The chestnut hair was blown by the wind, and its expression remained soft, but only its eyes did not allow it to tell a serious lie.
No jokes, no deception.
……
"I lure Nakayama in because the white stone is cooperative and involves the fire field." In a situation where Shoichi and I are also working as a student association and cannot fully help, if you are true, who is the one who has the most heart, who spares no effort to cooperate without being founded... those two "
Standing in front of him, the chairman expressed his opinion as he walked a few steps to the left and right to solve the puzzle.
The answer to my arrival floated in my head.
This is the figure of two female students staring at us with sadness.
"If you didn't let that happen, why?" There's only one thing that comes to mind. ”
From the chairman's point of view, it is natural to ask questions, and I will not let them answer them, but I will show them in a pale manner.
Hold your finger up, stop moving and look me in the eye.
"Because you're throwing them out."
"... why did the chairman think that?"
Are you aiming to be a detective, or do I have an easy-to-read expression or trick?
It may be the latter, to put it another way.
There is no excuse, no reason.
Anyone who arrives at the same answer as the chairman will have the same impression.
I just want to know why the chairman thought that for reference.
When I asked, the chairman raised his chest slightly and smiled proudly, and spoke with a tongue.
"Needless to say, I've been involved with Kanzaki, and I think I've come to understand her. I'm sure they asked you for help and you didn't take it."
……
The expression contained compassion, as it spoke of the real sister.
However, the tone falls sadly as the words progress to the end.
Just as I was thinking in the same position, I could see the sad color from my pointed eyes.
"Many students will think of you as an incomprehensible loner. There are thorns in the words, and there are foreign objects in the group that pierce their own self and are not cooperative. But that's just some visual information."
The fingertips of the hand held out by the chairman touched the cheek.
The warm body temperature is transmitted, and the technique of stroking a little bit is tickling.
Why do these people appreciate me?
Why do these people care so much about me?
"You're a kind man."
That word is the gentlest word I've ever heard, and it's dazzling to me, and I want to turn my eyes away unintentionally.
But the hands on my cheeks won't allow it.
The chairman spins his words as if he were peeling off one wall at a time.
"Why didn't you join the team at the tournament? If I had participated, Yudo Ogihara would have acted with you, and the students around me would have come out with people who didn't find it interesting. Why did you object on the night of your school trip when so many of your students were getting excited? It was because the people around him didn't respect Shinobu Kanzaki's heart. Why didn't you treat Katie Keira-saka specially, who was determined by the word" special "? Because I knew that special didn't mean no effort.”
Stop it... stop it.
Don't look me in the eye like that.
"You've heard the word 'genius struggle', haven't you? It must be a pain that you can only feel what you have, and you can't even notice it around you. Because people protect themselves before others do."
The chairman still speaks.
My face is reflected in those eyes that fascinate people.
Don't say yes, deny it.
It would be easier for you to accuse me of being a human being who only hurts others.
If you affirm what I've been doing, you'll be denied what you're doing right now, trying to change for them.
If that happens, I won't know anymore.
I had to change in order not to harm Shinobu and Keirazaka.
I wanted to stay with them.
I know the location is out of my league and highly desirable.
I know that it may be because I thought it was important.
Still, I have to bend myself to be there with you.
It doesn't matter if you don't understand it, if you make a fool of yourself, or if you get stabbed with a sharp blade of words.
If it wasn't for me, if it wasn't for the people around me, I could spend it.
"I am afraid that my existence will be hurt, and I will spend my acting in a suitable position. I wanted to find a suitable position for the special people. I don't realize it's part of the pain. Everyone is right because they're doing it, and everybody says it, so if you're right, you're going to protect yourself."
That's right.....
Still, the baboons chose to spend time with me.
That's why I have to update the ratings myself so they don't point backwards when they spend time with me.
"... for that reason, I joined the Executive Committee this time..."
"Are you sure you haven't noticed? The step you're about to take is to step into a collective consciousness that you hated."
The chairman, who is definitely sharp, is stuck with words.
I can't think of a word to rephrase, and my eyes shake.
... that's what I've noticed since I started this activity.
Still, I had to move on because I interpreted it as just twisting my little pride.
The little pride of an adolescent high school boy and his unconscious malice from the group.
I don't have to think about which one to take from the balance.
The chairman folded his mouth as he opened his voice to squeeze it out of his stuffy throat.
"Or... did they tell you that you should bend yourself and raise the reputation of others?"
"That's..."
The voice that told him to pry in was cold, and I can't imagine what the chairman would say and release to the two of them if he was nodding.
The chairman was convinced that the two of them would never say such a thing to me.
Then what can I do for everyone?
I can't teach you anything.
I can't give you anything.
They're always ahead of me.
I'm the only one who can chase that back.
"I'm doing my best not to let go of your cheeks right now, but I'm not going to be able to do anything else if you ask me to." No matter what anyone says, that's my limit. How many things are you trying to hold in your hands right now? "
The gaze down at the words intersects with the gaze of the person in front of me as if they were playing.
Once, the chairman smiled as his chestnut hair shone through the sunset.
How many people, including me, would have listened and thought that the chairman could have done more?
However, it is not the same as when I was working as a student leader with my elbows strained.
There is only one girl student whose age has changed.
Is it true that the chairman didn't bring it to light?
I was told to look down at my hands.
I've always been bad at multitasking.
I don't have the virtue of being able to do multiple tasks at the same time.
And yet, now I'm reaching out to the student council, to the executive committee, to my own friendship.
He is trying to create something that is more highly regarded than past formulas with his greed.
No matter how many hugs you can hold, you'll fall to zero.
Is it good to fall from the ground?
No, none of them can be dropped.
A small white hand wrapped around his hand trying to hold a quantity that could not be held.
"If it's true, I'd like to be the first to help you... but I'm leaving this school, I can't do that." But you can count on someone who understands you and can help you. Even if you don't try to protect them alone, they're strong. "
The attached hand is gripped well without force.
When I grabbed it back with a little force, I thought about it.
... why do these people trust me so much?
Even if there is a parental arrangement, if you graduate, you may become a stranger.
"... why--"
"For us, Makoto is a special person a long time ago."
The chairman said with a bitter smile that pity might get angry if he said this way.
Special.....
Were they always listening to these words in such a way?
No, it's not.
Usually, the words and meanings they say are different and special.
Words spoken in a life far from ordinary.
Simple and unnecessarily decorative words sound deep in your chest.
I thought I wouldn't leave, but there were people so close who thought I was special.
I knew I had to do it alone.
They have already earned enough recognition and trust from their students.
With that help, we have to help them.
In the first place, asking for help was the right choice for them.
As the chairman said, they're not weak enough for me to try to protect them.
Seek something special from others, or from the few people you care about.
It's only natural that Marie chooses the latter without a messy idea.
What are they going to say now?
Thinking of this, he unexpectedly smiled, and the chairman let go of the enveloping hand and took a restful breath.
What I wanted to convey was a smile that seemed to contain such a meaning, and I smiled irritatedly.
Well, for the time being, let's finish up and have a cup of tea or something.
"No, I'm going to go back to the classroom..."
The hand that should have been released was grabbed by the right hand the next moment, and it progressed further and further.
I don't have time for a nice cup of tea because my plans are packed.
However, the chairman walks without listening.
The chairman looked back and raised his tongue as he walked unwittingly to the unusual side of himself.
"One last thing... the stage in which we play the leading role is set up in the name of the graduation ceremony." It might be as interesting as your leading role at the farewell party. "