C48

Episode 48: The Guidance Room — Renya Kujo's Side

The classroom door opened, and Mr. Yamaoka and Kano returned.

As a few students turned their gaze toward them, the surrounding students who noticed also turned to look. For a short while, all eyes gathered on the two who had returned to the classroom.

Mr. Yamaoka walked straight through the room and headed over to Kujo's seat.

Looking up at Mr. Yamaoka, Kujo gave a single nod and stood up from his seat. He followed right behind Mr. Yamaoka.

Hardly any students followed their figures with their eyes.

The classroom quickly returned to the atmosphere of an ongoing class.

◇

Renya Kujo

Walking behind Mr. Yamaoka, Kujo proceeded down the hallway toward the student guidance room. Before long, they arrived in front of the guidance room, where Mr. Yamaoka stopped at the door and opened it.

Glancing inside for a moment, Kujo stepped right through the door opened by Mr. Yamaoka and walked boldly into the room without stopping.

While the two teachers inside directed their gazes at Kujo, Mr. Yamaoka sat down in his own seat.

"Kujo-kun, please sit over there."

Prompted by the words, Kujo sat down on the chair.

For a while, nobody opened their mouths.

Amidst the gazes directed at him from the three teachers sitting in front of him, Kujo sat silently in place.

Before long, Mr. Hirano opened his mouth.

"Today, we want to hear about the fake confession made to Tachibana-kun after school last Monday."

Kujo nodded and answered.

"Understood."

"Then, could you start by telling us the circumstances that led to the fake confession happening?"

After casting his eyes down for a moment, Kujo raised his head and replied.

"It was decided that Suzumura, who lost the punishment game, would make the fake confession."

"Is there any mistake that the members at that time were the six of you: Kujo-kun, Sugisawa-kun, Takamiya-san, Kitayama-san, Suzumura-san, and Kano-san?"

"There is no mistake."

"Now, please tell us the detailed content of that fake confession."

Receiving that question, Kujo recalled the lunch break.

Right as the recess was ending, as Meiko passed by Kujo's side, she quickly handed him a single memo out of sight from the surroundings.

Once class started, Kujo checked the note so as not to be noticed by those around him. Written on it was that they had all coordinated their stories to say that the prank reveal in front of the classmates was planned from the very beginning regarding this fake confession.

(They weren't pushing all the responsibility onto just me; they intended to share the responsibility together.)

"After Suzumura-san gave Tachibana-kun a fake confession and they dated for a few days, we planned to reveal the prank in front of the classmates."

Looking straight into Kujo's eyes, Mr. Hirano continued his questioning.

"The four of them—Takamiya-san, Kitayama-san, Suzumura-san, and Sugisawa-kun—have answered that Suzumura-san planned to tell Tachibana-kun it was a fake in private, just between the two of them, after confessing to him. Is that wrong?"

(Huh...? What's going on? Didn't we all get our stories straight? ...No, are they trying to trap me?)

"……There's no way that's true, though."

After taking a note, Mr. Hirano moved on to the next question.

"Understood. Now, we've heard from previous interviews that it was Kujo-kun who decided to target Tachibana-kun. Is that correct?"

"……Yes."

"Then please let us hear the reason why you chose Tachibana-kun as the target for this fake confession."

"He was a quiet and inconspicuous classmate, so I thought it might be something for his benefit."

Accepting Kujo's answer, Mr. Hirano threw a doubt.

"What do you mean by 'for his benefit'?"

After pausing to think for a moment, Kujo answered.

"I hadn't told anyone else, but since Tachibana-kun was quiet and didn't stand out much in class... I thought if he became a topic of conversation through a fake confession prank, he'd get attention from everyone and could become popular."

After cutting his words for a moment, Kujo spoke the continuation.

"That's the reason I chose Tachibana-kun."

Gazing straight into Kujo's eyes, Mr. Hirano quietly continued his words.

"I see. However, imposing what you think is good as 'for the person's own good' without checking whether the person actually desires it is not goodwill. If it is something the other party does not want, it is the same as harassment."

Kujo's face twitched slightly.

After staring at Kujo for a while, Mr. Hirano moved on to the next question.

"Now, I want to ask about Kujo-kun's questionnaire responses this time. Kujo-kun answered that you felt Tachibana-kun held ill intentions toward Suzumura-san. What specifically does that refer to?"

Frowning, Kujo answered with a voice slightly louder than before.

"Tachibana-kun had a somewhat strange sense of personal distance toward Suzumura-san. There were times when he ignored Suzumura-san's wishes and touched her body, or looked at her with sexual eyes. Even if it's a fake relationship, I think having those kinds of feelings in itself can't be helped."

"Even so, it felt like it crossed the limit as an attitude toward a woman. Suzumura-san was also troubled. Without even noticing that, Tachibana-kun had been interacting with Suzumura-san excessively."

After pausing for a bit, Kujo continued his words.

"From such a Tachibana-kun... I felt some kind of unfathomable obsession."

Mr. Hirano jotted down Kujo's answer in the documents, then stopped his pen for a moment.

"……Kujo-kun. We have also verified this matter with Suzumura-san herself."

At those words, Kujo's gaze wavered slightly.

"Suzumura-san has answered that she was never harmed by Tachibana-kun, nor did he ever show such behavior toward her. On the contrary, she states that Tachibana-kun was protecting her."

Dropping his gaze to the documents, Mr. Hirano continued as if confirming Suzumura's response.

And she also answered that there was nothing in Tachibana-kun's words or attitude that hurt her.

"……"

Kujo answered nothing.

Staring at such a Kujo, Mr. Hirano quietly added words.

"Kujo-kun, you answered that Tachibana-kun ignored Suzumura-san's wishes to touch her body or interacted with her excessively. However, from the account of Suzumura-san herself that we verified, no such facts can be confirmed."

Kujo's expression stiffened.

"Aren't you judging Tachibana-kun to be a dangerous person simply based on Kujo-kun's feelings of 'I felt that way' or 'It looked that way to me,' without confirming the person's own intentions or actual words and actions?"

Mr. Hirano's voice was calm.

Exactly because of that, those words left no escape route.

"Since Suzumura-san herself clearly states 'Nothing was done to me' and 'Tachibana-kun was protecting me,' the 'possibility of him causing harm' that Kujo-kun speaks of has not been backed up, at least in the current interviews."

Mr. Hirano added just one final phrase.

"Kujo-kun. What you think is right and what actually happened are not the same thing."

(……This is bad. I have to say something.)

Flustered, Kujo voiced out.

"Um... because Suzumura-san is kind, I think she was protecting Tachibana-kun."

The three teachers silently gazed intently at Kujo's face.

After a brief silence, Mr. Hirano opened his mouth.

"Understood. Certainly, that possibility exists as well."

Mr. Hirano nodded once and dropped his gaze to the documents in his hand. Raising his head after a moment, he spoke the next question.

"Now, let's ask about last Monday after school. We've received multiple questionnaire responses stating that Kujo-kun threw quite harsh words at Tachibana-kun back then. Please tell us about that time."

(Those classmates of mine, after acting all cocky on Friday, spilled the beans easily in the questionnaire! Even though some of them were laughing back then, when things get inconvenient, they run away by themselves?! Willing to sell me out just to save their own skins, what absolute scum! Seriously, screw those guys!)

"……Sure, from the surroundings' perspective, they might have been harsh words. But I thought that if Tachibana-kun, who had become serious, found out it was a lie, he might do something to Suzumura-san. So first, I thought it was necessary to make Tachibana-kun himself realize that what he was doing was troubling Suzumura-san. That's why I spoke to him that way, thinking I needed to make Tachibana-kun properly correct his behavior."

Hearing Kujo's words, Mr. Hirano opened his mouth immediately.

"However, Kujo-kun, even if you thought it necessary to make Tachibana-kun correct his behavior, that does not justify Kujo-kun throwing harsh words at him. If you judged that Tachibana-kun's actions were troubling Suzumura-san, you should first have confirmed Suzumura-san's own intentions to see if she was truly troubled."

Mr. Hirano cut his words once and stared at Kujo.

"In this questionnaire, multiple responses were submitted stating that despite Suzumura-san desperately trying to stop Kujo-kun's words, Kujo-kun ignored it and continued talking."

"Why did Kujo-kun ignore Suzumura-san's attempts to stop you and continue speaking?"

Leaning forward, Kujo answered.

"I thought Suzumura-san was trying to stop me because she was worried about me becoming the bad guy. That's why I thought I should take on the role of the hated person in that situation. Rather than making Suzumura-san say it, I thought it was necessary for me to properly convey it to Tachibana-kun."

"However, Kujo-kun, even though Suzumura-san herself was trying to stop you, it was Kujo-kun yourself who judged that 'she was worried about me becoming the bad guy,' right?"

Gazing straight at Kujo, Mr. Hirano quietly continued his words.

"That means you applied reasons convenient to yourself without confirming Suzumura-san's intentions and ignored her words. Even if Kujo-kun was thinking of Suzumura-san, if the person herself is clearly trying to stop you, shouldn't you respect her intentions first?"

Twitching his face, Kujo fell silent, unable to retort at all.

(What is this... No matter what I say, I turn out to be the bad guy. Even though I'm talking about trying to protect Kokone... even though I'm talking about how Tachibana was in the wrong, why am I the only one being blamed?)

Seeing Kujo remaining silent for a while, Mr. Hirano switched his question.

"Now, let's ask about what followed. Multiple questionnaire responses state that Kujo-kun gagged his classmates regarding this matter. Is this true?"

(Those guys, blabbering about everything... They're asking for it... In that case—)

"Sure, I did gag them. I explained that because Suzumura-san is doing modeling work, it would cause trouble. But I didn't gag them regarding Tachibana-kun. The only reason I told them to keep quiet was strictly to avoid causing trouble for Suzumura-san."

Kujo floated a faint smile on his lips, showing an ironic expression.

"And yet they're writing that I even gagged them about Tachibana-kun? I only said not to cause trouble for Suzumura-san. I'd be troubled if things classmates misunderstood on their own are made my responsibility."

Hearing Kujo's words, Mr. Hirano did not answer right away, staring at Kujo for a while.

"We understand the point that Kujo-kun did not directly gag them about Tachibana-kun."

Cutting his words once there.

"However, multiple students recognize that they were gagged by Kujo-kun. We cannot dismiss that simply as classmates misunderstanding on their own."

Mr. Hirano doesn't avert his gaze from Kujo.

"Not just what intention Kujo-kun had in conveying it, but how the other party actually received it is also important in this confirmation."

Mr. Hirano cuts his words once.

"However, this incident is something that happened between Tachibana-kun and Suzumura-san. If you talk about Tachibana-kun, it naturally connects to talking about Suzumura-san as well."

Kujo looks at Mr. Hirano in silence.

"If Kujo-kun requested that this matter not be spoken of so as not to cause trouble for Suzumura-san, you cannot separate just Tachibana-kun's story from it."

Staring at Kujo, Mr. Hirano quietly continued.

"To dismiss it by saying you didn't gag them regarding Tachibana-kun and that classmates just misunderstood on their own is wrong."

No matter what Kujo said, Mr. Hirano accepted each word one by one and returned unassailable logic. The more excuses he piled up, the more cornered Kujo became.

(Why am I going through this... I just embarrassed Tachibana a little in front of the classmates. Making such a fuss just because Tachibana took a day off from school...)

After staring at Kujo's state for a while, Mr. Hirano dropped his gaze to the documents at hand.

"Now, for the final question—"

"Mr. Hirano..."

Intercepting those words, a voice came from Mr. Yamaoka.

Mr. Hirano turns his gaze toward Mr. Yamaoka.

"May I ask a question?"

Mr. Hirano nodded quietly.

"Go ahead."

Mr. Yamaoka turns his gaze to Kujo and begins to speak.

"As your homeroom teacher, there is something I want to confirm."

That voice was calm, but a different look from before resided in his eyes.

"I've read the questionnaire. And what Kujo thinks about Tachibana, too."

"Kujo, because of this incident, Tachibana is taking time off from school. Even in front of the fact that it has become a situation to that extent, do you not think to apologize to Tachibana?"

Normally, Kujo should have reined in his words here.

Even if he didn't intend to apologize to Tachibana in his heart, as long as Tachibana was absent from school due to this incident, showing the intention to apologize was the best course of action.

However, Kujo, who had his words returned by Mr. Hirano no matter what he said and was convinced he had even been betrayed by his classmates, no longer had that much composure left.

The accumulated irritation spilled out from his mouth before he could control it himself.

"……Honestly, I don't think it's something to make such a big deal out of. Taking time off school just because he was slightly embarrassed in front of the class. Isn't caring that much weirder?"

At that moment, the emotions Mr. Yamaoka had been suppressing erupted all at once.

"Tachibana can't come to school! Can't you understand yet that it was you guys who brought about a result like that?!"

"You guys created the cause, yet how can you think the problem lies with Tachibana?!"

"……!"

Kujo couldn't retort anything, and fell silent with his head bowed.

After a while, breaking the silence that had fallen into the room, Mr. Hirano quietly opened his mouth.

"Regarding what we confirmed today, after organizing it at the school, we will consider future measures."

After a brief pause, Mr. Hirano continued.

"On top of that, regarding this incident, the school will also contact Kujo-kun's parents. We will inform them not only of what we confirmed today, but also the circumstances up until now, and the school and your parents will discuss future measures."

"Eh?"

(It's going to contact my parents too...?! No way... This is bad. I shouldn't have said stuff like that out of irritation earlier... I have to say I'm truly reflecting on it starting right now...!)

"I'm sorry! I said things like that earlier, but I am reflecting! I want to properly apologize to Tachibana-kun too!"

Hearing Kujo's words, Mr. Hirano gave a short nod.

"Understood."

Telling him just that, Mr. Hirano dropped his gaze to the documents at hand.

"And please do not talk about or share the contents confirmed here today with other students."

"……Yes."

As Kujo gave a small reply, Mr. Hirano gave a brief nod.

"Well then, this concludes the interview."

When Mr. Hirano stated that, Mr. Yamaoka stood up from his seat.

"Kujo, let's go."

"……Yes."

Kujo also stood up and left the guidance room following behind Mr. Yamaoka.

Confirmation Regarding the Events of Last Monday After School

Name: Renya Kujo

① Were you inside the classroom after school last Monday?

□ Yes

□ No

A. Yes

(If you answered "No," please end here.)

② Please fill out what was happening inside the classroom at that time, to the best of your recollection.

A. We told Tachibana-kun that it was a fake confession.

③ If there was anything you saw or heard at the time that left a particular impression on you, please write it down.

A. Not necessarily on that day, but while Tachibana-kun was dating Suzumura-san with a fake relationship, I saw him many times looking at Suzumura-san with eyes as if he were thinking of something ill-intended.

④ If there is anything you yourself did or said on the spot, please write it down.

A. I warned Tachibana-kun not to approach Suzumura-san anymore. I told him that Suzumura-san hated it and was troubled, and told him to stop doing anything further.

⑤ How do you personally feel about what happened this time?

A. I think Tachibana-kun is reflecting on his own behavior because of this matter. I spoke too strongly as well, but I think by me warning him, he realized that his own attitude toward Suzumura-san wasn't good.

⑥ Did you ever think about consulting or reporting the events of last Monday's after-school session to the school or the teachers?

□ Yes

□ No

A. No

Please write the reason why you thought so.

Since we were able to solve it amongst ourselves, I thought it was fine not to contact the teachers.

⑦ Is there anything else you would like to convey to the school?

A. I think Tachibana-kun has reflected enough because of this incident, so once he returns to school, I hope we can welcome him back together with everyone in the class.