I Just Wanted a Peaceful Life After Transferring, but I Fell into a Rom-Com Trap and a Hidden Battlefield No One Knows About - Chapter 24: What is the secret hidden in this café?

Chapter 24: What is the secret hidden in this café?

Judging by the current situation, it seems like we’ve won a great victory. But this problem has been going on for years—it won’t be solved so easily.

They’ll surely be back.

To resolve this fundamentally, we first need to understand their objective. If we can figure that out, we can take proper countermeasures.

Perhaps realizing this, Sasaki-sensei gathered all of us at the café counter after closing that night.

“What’s up, Sensei?”

Tsunekawa was the first to ask, and Sasaki-sensei immediately responded.

“First of all, about what happened this afternoon. Satohama, well done. The other side was being unreasonable, but Tsunekawa, you contributed a lot as well.”

“Nah, if those guys show up again, I’ll finish them off with my ultimate move and make them forget their own mothers!”

“Ultimate move?”

“Yeah! Want to see? I’ll give you a little demonstration!”

“N-No thanks! That one hit from before left a scar on my soul!”

That hit from before… Just remembering that punch, the way it made my nose bleed, sends chills down my spine.

That day, when we took down those punks in the restroom, was Satohama going all out? If that punch she threw at me was anything to go by, there was no way those thugs could have withstood her full strength.

“Ehh, but Nagisa-chan, you’re pretty strong too, aren’t you? That day, in the restroom, you knocked that guy out in just two hits!”

“Being good at fighting doesn’t mean I have the guts to take your punch…”

“Wait… Misaki, you were fighting in the restroom? When was this?”

Oh crap. Ohhhhh crap. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh crap! What do I do? What do I do?!

Sasaki-sensei had explicitly told us, “No fighting.” Even if it happened after school! And since I’m one of her students, if I cause trouble, she’s obligated to discipline me.

And of course, I’ve experienced her discipline before. If I take one of her ultimate move punches, I’ll be knocked out instantly.

But what’s even scarier is the unknown punishment that follows. The fear of the unknown is always the worst.

Physical pain is one thing, but mental anguish is far, far worse.

Many who suffer from depression hurt themselves—or, in the worst cases, end their own lives—not because of physical pain, but because the emotional suffering is unbearable.

And right now, I’m standing before that very same fear, trembling. I need to do something about Asakawa, and now I have to deal with Sasaki-sensei’s punishment too, on top of the looming terror of the unknown punishment…

I’m not a god. There’s no way I can endure this.

“N-No, it’s nothing! It’s over and done with! Anyway, let’s get back to the main topic, Sensei. You said you had something to tell us, right?”

I desperately forced my brain into overdrive, and the best thing I could think of was to change the subject.

“Ah, right! About that. Of course, I wanted to express my gratitude, but there are also a few things I need to discuss.”

Phew… I managed to steer the conversation away. Now everyone’s focus should be back on the café issue.

Good thing I acted quickly. If that conversation had continued… just imagining what would have happened is terrifying.

“Misaki, you seem a bit out of it.”

A voice reached my ears. It sounded casual on the surface, but there was an underlying pressure that could crush me in an instant.

It was Sasaki-sensei.

“E-Er, no, it’s nothing! Just feeling a little dizzy, that’s all! Yeah, totally!”

“Dizzy? Misaki, before I get mad, just admit it. You know what happens if you don’t, right?”

S-Scary! This person is way too scary! I can’t defy her! I have no choice but to apologize!

“S-Sorry!”

“Alright! Now, let’s continue.”

The moment I sincerely apologized, Sasaki-sensei nodded in satisfaction and resumed the conversation.

If I keep getting threatened like this every day, I feel like my heart’s going to give out one day…

“About this issue. Today, we managed to drive them off, but I doubt this is the end of it. They might have learned their lesson for now, but they’ll surely be back.”

“Yeah… Those guys have been causing trouble here for a long time now.”

After saying that, Tsunekawa fell into deep thought before continuing.

“But something doesn’t sit right with me.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Nakano tilted her head in confusion, and Tsunekawa immediately answered.

“There are tons of stores in this area, so why is it that only our café is being targeted? It just doesn’t make sense.”

After saying that, Tsunekawa slowly turned her gaze toward Hiroji-san.

“Hiroji-san, you know something, don’t you?”

Her voice and expression weren’t just asking a question—they were pressing him for an answer.

“Tsunekawa, don’t be rude!”

“S-Sorry, that was out of line.”

After Tsunekawa apologized, Sasaki-sensei stepped forward and questioned Hiroji-san directly.

“Old man, what’s going on here? You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”

At Sasaki-sensei’s sharp question, Hiroji-san shook his head and replied.

“I really do appreciate everything you all have done for me. But… this isn’t a simple matter. To be honest, this is something that’s beyond your power to resolve.”

“But we helped so you could keep running the café! If this is something that needs to be resolved, then tell us! I, Momiji-chan, Ayana-chan, and Misaki-kun will do everything we can to help!”

“Oi, oi, oi, Nakano, don’t go dragging me into this! I never said I was gonna help! Not even a little! To be precise, my name doesn’t need to come up in this at all!”

“We’re all going to help!”

“Yeah! Exactly, now say it!”

The three of them went back and forth like that, all declaring that they would help.

“Haa…”

Even so, Hiroji-san didn’t react to their words. He simply let out a deep sigh.

“I’ll figure this problem out on my own. You guys don’t need to get involved anymore.”

“If you could’ve solved it, then it wouldn’t have gotten this close to bankruptcy in the first place, would it?”

Tsunekawa’s words cut into Hiroji-san’s chest like a sharp blade.

“You all should go home. It’s already late.”

Sasaki-sensei suddenly turned around and, without another word, pushed all of us out the door.

“Onee-san, we…”

“It’s fine. Just go home already.”

I understood what Sasaki-sensei was trying to do. Most likely, she wanted to talk to Hiroji-san alone.

When it comes to problems between adults, it’s best for them to handle it themselves. No matter how much we students try to pry, it won’t lead to a real solution.

But Sasaki-chan didn’t seem to understand that. She kept struggling to break free from Sensei’s grip.

“It’s fine, Sasaki. Let’s go home.”

I took her hand and, without hesitation, pulled her out of the café. Once we were all outside, Sasaki-sensei closed the door without the slightest hesitation.

“Huh? Nee-san… Senpai, why…?”

“You wanna know why I just went along with what Sensei said, right?”

Before Sasaki-chan could continue, I cut her off. Because I already knew exactly what she was going to say.

“Of course! Why didn’t we stay and listen properly?”

“Sasaki, are you an idiot? You already heard everything you needed to. Your dad doesn’t want to say anything, does he?”

“If he won’t say it, then we should just keep asking until he does!”

“If someone doesn’t wanna talk, asking a hundred times won’t change a thing, will it? Besides, like I said earlier, this is something we can’t do anything about. Hiroji-san isn’t going to tell us the truth.”

“Then… does that mean everything we did was for nothing…?”

“So what, you’re saying all your effort was meaningless? That’s why I called you an idiot.”

“Misaki-kun, do you have an idea or something?”

At that moment, Nakano stepped in front of me and asked.

“No, it’s not that I came up with some grand plan. It’s just that you guys completely missed the point of what Sensei was trying to say.”

“Huh? What do you mean? Nagisa-chan doesn’t get it at all!”

“Misaki-kun, could it be…”

“In other words, we leave it to Sensei to get the truth out of him. Then we think about what we can do. If we know the truth, we can find a way to help. But if we can’t even get that, then what can we do?”

“Ohh! I see! So, basically, no matter what we say, it’s pointless! We should just leave it to Sensei, right? Because adults talking to adults is way more effective than us butting in!”

Nakano smacked her forehead as if she finally understood.

“Exactly.”

“I get it now. When you put it that way, it makes sense. Sensei hurried us out because she wanted to get the truth out of him herself.”

“She’s an adult, so she’s in a position where she can at least lighten Hiroji-san’s burden a little. He might open up to her, but whether she tells us or not depends on her. I’m sure he’s keeping it from us because he doesn’t want to cause us trouble.”

“Then all we can do now is leave it to Sensei. But man, Misaki-kun, you’ve got some sharp instincts. I didn’t even think about that.”

“The way you said that… kinda makes it sound like you’re making fun of me…”