Wakamo, caught by the collar, let out a small breath. As if even that was annoying, her opponent, who had been glaring at her coldly, raised their hand.
I tensed up, half-expecting the worst, but the hand of the student who had grabbed Wakamo was aimed not at her but at the other students in the auditorium.
“I’m not blaming you for something that didn’t happen. Speaking like our academy’s students could have died makes it sound like the struggles of the SRT special academy personnel dispatched there were for nothing. But everyone here has lost something precious from the academy. Our belongings filled with memories can now never be found, and the academy that we strolled through and laughed in will never return! And your responsibility for that is immense.”
“…You’re absolutely right.”
“Ha, if you knew that well, you shouldn’t have done something like this in the first place.”
The girl, with a satisfied grin, released her grip on Wakamo’s collar and took a step back.
“Yeah, you must feel wronged. Right? You were just doing what you always do, and this situation happened because those Kaiser idiots freaked out. Even if you hadn’t collaborated with them, they would have likely still stolen from our academy, and we would be blaming someone here or harboring hate towards that someone who never showed up in the first place.”
“…No, that’s not true. Receiving their proposal was entirely my choice. So, discussing what might have happened if I had rejected it is meaningless. This is all something I voluntarily started, and I merely reaped the consequences, so… there’s really no reason to feel wronged.”
“Well, aren’t you something.”
The girl frowned at Wakamo, who was confidently stating her conclusions about the situation.
“Let me ask you this. Why are you here instead of the Discipline Office? We wouldn’t have minded if you never came here to apologize. If we had just heard the news that that Reikubyō no Yū was locked up in the Discipline Office, we would have been satisfied laughing about that miserable person. But now, because you came here, we can’t even do that.”
“That’s…”
“Do you know? There’s hardly anything worse than receiving an apology from someone you don’t want to forgive. I don’t want to forgive you, and I bet most people here feel the same way. But if I don’t accept your apology, it’s uncomfortable for people. Do you understand?”
She poked Wakamo’s forehead with her finger and spat out in a cold voice.
“You think that feeling a little guilty and asking for forgiveness makes us something less? You’re looking down on us, treating us like fools. You know, you should have just acted shamelessly like you always do. Don’t try to pretend to be sorry. If you had done that, you wouldn’t have to endure me saying all this to your face, and I wouldn’t need to waste my time… our time on such meaningless matters.”
There wasn’t a single unoffensive part in her words. Yet, Wakamo endured it. She had learned to suppress her anger to the point where her hands no longer trembled.
“Hey. Do you really want us to forgive you?”
“…Yes, it’s embarrassing, but I have to be forgiven this way. That’s the only way…”
“Ugh, shut up. If you really want to be forgiven, then… fine. How about you lick the bottom of my shoe?”
…This isn’t happening. Wakamo was certainly guilty, but I didn’t come here to witness this kind of venting.
I understand justified anger. But this isn’t the way to let it out. I’d rather have someone lash out violently than see her trample on another person’s dignity like this.
“…Wait, that’s too much—”
But just as I opened my mouth to intervene, Wakamo’s knee buckled.
As her knee touched the ground, Wakamo reached out. At that moment, reaching for her opponent’s shoe, what was she thinking? What could possibly make her want forgiveness to the extent of enduring such humiliation and hearing those insults?
One thing was certain; her sincerity was enough to surprise the other person.
“W-What are you doing? Are you really going to do that? It’s natural to be angry here!”
The astonished opponent pulled back and shouted at Wakamo. Yet, she did not flinch at the shout.
“…I thought that if I didn’t get forgiveness this way, Koasaka Wakamo wouldn’t be able to move forward. If I, the girl who was betrayed and wounded, wanted to return to the righteous path, I needed more than ordinary determination. Therefore, I decided to lay everything down. Only on the day you forgive me can I take the first step towards a fresh start. So, isn’t it natural to discard this trivial pride?”
“…You’ve completely lost it. We have no reason to forgive you.”
“Even if that’s the case, it’s fine. The heart exists to be conveyed, and if it doesn’t get through, it continues to exist to be conveyed. So, I’m ready to face rejection and do whatever I can to try my best to seek forgiveness.”
“You crazy girl. You’re so shameless to say you want to inconvenience us… How can one be that selfish?”
With a fed-up look, the girl sighed. The venom in her eyes had diminished significantly.
“I’ll say it again: we don’t welcome your behavior. We cannot view your request for forgiveness, which disregards our circumstances while fulfilling your conscience, positively.”
As the representative of the Nereus crew stated, it seemed Wakamo still had a long way to go to be forgiven.
However, watching the determination in Wakamo’s eyes today, I couldn’t help but think that perhaps one day she might reach that forgiveness and start anew.
“The durability of that determination is uncertain, but I can guarantee one thing: your heart will never reach us.”
Well then, that path was feeling like an absolute dead end.
*
Leaving behind what seemed to be a long-term project for Wakamo’s rehabilitation, we boarded a helicopter heading to the festival site. Though I tried to ignore Wakamo reaching out beside me, that became increasingly hard as the minutes passed.
“Hey, Wakamo-chan. If you keep those handcuffs on here, you’ll just attract attention.”
“But Mika-san, what makes you think I should trust you enough to take them off? This Wakamo is a notorious terrorist, a despicable criminal whose evil reputation knows no bounds. Just last night, I was filled with corrupt thoughts of ruining the festival site. It’s absolutely not a good idea to leave me free like this. So please, the handcuffs—OW!”
Ah, using her as a punching bag whenever I felt like it was the best. The satisfaction of slapping her, even with a series of seven slaps, felt entirely different compared to Seiya, who I was always cautious about not hitting too hard for fear of her fainting and being stuck in a daydream.
In contrast, with Wakamo, I didn’t have to hold back; I could hit her comfortably without worries. Plus, she was the mischievous one who’d been making my last few days miserable, so there was no guilty conscience involved.
“Hehe. Mika-san, if you keep hitting me like this, I might end up becoming an idiot.”
“You’re already a clueless idiot, so what’s the difference? I doubt it’ll change dramatically.”
“That’s just mean… you’re really something else.”
“Oh right. Now that I think about it, getting attention is not my concern, huh? After all, I was planning to leave you with Yukino-chan…”
“What? Don’t tell me you really intend to leave me with that little fox cub? You must be joking!”
“Well, I won’t be able to manage with you today since I have my scheduled companions… Ah, right.”
Clack.
“I’ll keep the handcuffs on so Yukino-chan doesn’t suffer☆”
“…?! Wait! That kid must have feelings stacked against me from yesterday…!”
“Well, that was all your fault, wasn’t it?”
After securing the handcuffs on Wakamo’s wrist, I tucked the key inside my uniform’s pocket. I could just leave them with Yukino.
I took a quick glance outside the helicopter, where the festival site was getting closer. I could even see the water sports competition underway.
Curiosity about the competition bubbled up inside, so I took out my phone and launched the live-streaming application that was covering the event. Thankfully, this time, there were no ads to annoy me.
What I first saw was Hinata, holding onto three flags amidst the chaos. Known for her incredible strength, she was managing to keep the flags despite having four Gehenna students clinging to her.
And slightly ahead, blocking a pathway to another platform was Mine, showcasing her prowess. The scene of her splashing incoming Gehenna students with waves of seawater looked like something out of a battle royal. Then, suddenly, she lifted one Gehenna student and swung her like a shield, making the whole scene dizzying for me to watch.
With about five minutes remaining in the match, Trinity owned four flags, including the three in Hinata’s grasp and the one being carried off by Azusa.
If it kept going like this, Trinity would surely win!
Just as I felt my heart leap at the prospect of escaping the slavery of those buns, Mine got taken down.
And with that, Gehenna students surged into the gap where Mine had just vanished.
Despite the number of surrounding opponents increasing from four to eight, I saw Hinata growing increasingly forced against the platform’s edge.
Wait, where are our Trinity people? What are they doing…?
The moment I saw Makoto dashing around like the wind, my thoughts came to a halt.
“Whoa…?”
Who on earth gave Makoto the protagonist buff? We agreed that our Kivotos had no protagonist buff at all…!
