Hayashi Megumi’s Reunion ③

Back at school after a long time. Kako-chan’s feeling down.

Things took an unexpected turn.

Just what did Kako-chan feel sorry about regarding Yamamoto?

…There was one thing I could think of.

“Could it be… about the school festival three years ago?”

At my words, Kako-chan’s eyes widened.

“Oh, was I wrong?”

“…No, you’re right.”

Kako-chan seemed to realize something.

“That’s it. You’re in love with Yamamoto-kun, aren’t you?”

…Huh?

“N-No way, I’m not in love!!!”

I mean, sure…

Sure, Kako-chan…

…I do love him.

If I had to say how much, I’d say I love him so much that recently, I can only sleep well when I’m hugging his pillow.

But you don’t have to say it to my face like that…

“Haha, sorry, sorry. I just thought it was kind of funny that Meg, who used to have such a fiery look in her eyes back in high school, would fall in love.”

“H-Hey, did you even hear what I said?”

“Of course. You’re as stubbornly honest as ever, aren’t you?”

I glared at Kako-chan with all my might, but my glares have never worked on her, not since way back. She’s got the advantage of age, after all.

“Meg, can you tell me first? Just how much did you dig into what happened at the school festival three years ago?”

After a moment, Kako-chan asked me that with a serious expression.

I pulled myself together and told her everything I knew.

Three years ago, at the school festival, the after-party was canceled because of Yamamoto.

Rumor had it that the cancellation was due to Yamamoto’s grudge against the festival committee.

And because of that, Yamamoto ended up being hated by his classmates.

“But the whole thing’s fishy to begin with. The festival committee’s work isn’t something an individual can just mess up. Even if Yamamoto was the one ordering the lumber, if there was a mistake, it shouldn’t have been pinned on him, right? …Not that I have any right to say that, since I was one of the ones blaming him back then, but it’s all so weird.”

“…You’re right. You’ve done your homework, Meg. What you said is pretty much how it went back then. So, what you want to know is… the situation during the festival preparations and what was going on with Yamamoto-kun, right?”

“You’re quick on the uptake, Kako-chan. That helps.”

Kako-chan smiled happily. Then she looked up at the ceiling for a while, probably thinking about where to start.

“Alright, let’s clear up the most important thing first.”

After a moment, Kako-chan spoke.

“Meg, you’re absolutely right. It wasn’t Yamamoto-kun’s fault at all.”

…Her words brought me an overwhelming sense of relief.

I was so relieved I nearly collapsed off the sofa.

“…You really dug deep, didn’t you?”

“I just asked one of the festival committee members from back then.”

“Even so, most people wouldn’t go that far. …Is this the power of love?”

“S-Stop it! That’s embarrassing!”

Seeing me genuinely flustered, Kako-chan was grinning from ear to ear. I don’t think she was trying to tease me. It was more like… she found it so heartwarming she couldn’t help but smile?

“Let’s get back to the point. …That said, I owe you an apology too, Meg. I’m sorry. In the end, it was the school’s screw-up.”

“The school’s?”

“You said it yourself, didn’t you? A mistake in an organization isn’t the fault of the person in charge. The person’s mistake is the committee leader’s mistake. The committee leader’s mistake is the teacher in charge of the festival committee’s mistake. And the teacher in charge’s mistake is the school’s mistake.”

…So, Kako-chan was apologizing to me on behalf of the school.

“…I don’t know what to do with an apology. I was one of the ones blaming Yamamoto back then too.”

“…True.”

In this whole mess, probably the only person who deserved an apology from others was Yamamoto, who took the fall and let himself be the bad guy.

“So, what exactly happened?”

“…Well, it’s pretty much as you suspected, Meg. That year’s festival committee had especially low motivation among the students. There were a few reasons for that. With exams looming, the third-year student appointed as committee leader was particularly unmotivated. The teacher in charge of the committee was Sakigawa-sensei, who was completely clueless. And as usual, the festival committee job gets dumped on the youngest teacher.”

Sakigawa-sensei was a young teacher who also taught history. I clearly remember him always teaching classes with a listless attitude.

Kako-chan was being awfully gentle about it, but I got the picture.

Basically, the festival committee got cocky because of Sakigawa-sensei’s lack of enthusiasm.

If the teacher meant to inspire them had no drive, of course morale would plummet.

“Because of him, Yamamoto—”

“That’s not true, Meg.”

“Why not?”

“…We don’t have the right to blame Sakigawa-sensei either. We’re just as guilty for leaving him to handle such a big role alone, without support, and letting it all get swept under the rug.”

“…That’s—”

“But that’s how it is, isn’t it? Work in an organization only holds strong when everyone’s facing the same direction, united. When the leaders and the workers lack motivation, all they do is dodge responsibility and make excuses. There’s no way things could go well like that.”

I fell silent.

“And those of us watching from the sidelines, doing nothing, don’t have the right to point fingers either. If we could see it was going to fail, we should’ve spoken up. Said, ‘This isn’t going to work.’ Said, ‘This is headed for disaster.’ We should’ve raised the alarm, gotten everyone to pull together, and worked hard as a team.”

Kako-chan was right. I just stayed quiet.

“…Back then, there was only one person in the whole school who was seriously trying to make the festival a success. Just one.”

…That’s why it didn’t work out.

Kako-chan’s voice sounded a little lonely.

That one person.

I had a guess.

That person probably wasn’t…

…the principal.

It wasn’t the festival committee leader.

It wasn’t Sakigawa-sensei, or Kako-chan, or me.

…That person was probably…

“It was Yamamoto-kun.”

Maeda had told me.

Sometimes, when he went to help with the festival committee, Yamamoto was chewing out the committee leader.

That’s not something just anyone could do.

A first-year standing up to an upperclassman like that.

Like Maeda said, he must’ve been called out for “not reading the room” and faced baseless criticism from the clique just having fun.

Even so, Yamamoto…

Back then…

In that school, he was the only one…

The only one who was seriously trying to make the festival a success.

“That’s so like Yamamoto.”

I gave a wry smile. If I didn’t, the guilt would’ve crushed me.

Is the protagonist’s stock rising or what?

Even though he’s a cleaning freak?

Please leave your ratings, bookmarks, and comments!!!