You’re Right, They’ll Expel Me if I Run into the Store with a Weapon!!

“Is it a summons?”

“Yes, they want to discuss today’s events first thing in the morning. It seems they can’t wait for the scheduled report meeting.”

In the hotel at night, there’s a scene of a female teacher sinking into a sofa equipped in the room and a female student attending to her wounds on a white bed.

“Could it be about Hiroki?”

“That’s the only reason. It’s troublesome, but we knew it was coming.”

Sighing heavily and covering her eyes with her palm, Sensei Amakusa takes a heavy breath. However, her lips soon curl into a small, pleased smile.

“Well, their primary objective is making contact with Hiroki. After all, they’ve said various things before him without knowing anything.”

“The plot is becoming predictable, and I’ve been slightly put off by it…”

Interrupting with a touch on her bandaged shoulder, Shiori senses the ulterior motive behind this situation, her eyes piercing through Sensei Amakusa’s thoughts.

“It’s a bit childish, isn’t it?”

“It’s all about the mind games. Besides, it’s all their own doing.”

“I won’t deny that.”

“Ha!”

Sensei Amakusa chuckles softly, and Shiori inwardly smiles wryly. Just when she thought her work was over, another troublesome matter arose. Putting away the medical tools and donning a white shirt, she contemplates tomorrow.

“So, will we respond to the summons tomorrow?”

“Of course, we’ll go, but without Hiroki-kun.”

She replies with a nonchalant smile, prompting Shiori to question further.

“Then, couldn’t we just not go from the start?”

“If we refused, they might take more aggressive measures to make contact. So, we say we’ll go, but it will be just Shiori-chan and me. If asked why Hiroki-kun isn’t there, we’ll just say he’s ‘tired from overworking on a mission.'”

The logic makes sense, though there’s a hint of malice in her words.

“…You seem to be digging at their wounds, any grudges?”

“No grudges. Just…”

Sensei Amakusa stretches with a sigh.

“I’m a teacher who can’t stand adults looking down on my students. I did lead them to this, so I can’t say much.”

With a wry smile, Shiori voices her thoughts, seemingly pleased.

“You haven’t lied once during this mission, so there’s no reason for complaints.”

Before Sensei could respond, Shiori had already made her point. Another reason there were no grounds for complaints was…

“Besides, you’ve openly claimed Hiroki is a capable individual.”

Sensei’s statement, which was outright denied by the others, was ignored, like brushing away annoying dust, highlighting their responsibility in driving Hiroki away.

Hearing this, Sensei Amakusa’s cheeks relax into a pleased smile.

“How did you feel about me leading them to make such disparaging remarks about Hiroki-kun?”

Facing the jokingly smug expression of the teacher, Shiori frowned and sighed.

“You seemed like a teacher genuinely pained by the situation.”

Shiori knows the kind of person Sensei Amakusa is – an ideal teacher who detests harming her students.

The decision to lead this situation was surely made in anguish, something Shiori understood well.

Challenged by the teacher’s probing question, Shiori responds with a fittingly sarcastic remark.

“Well, if there were another way, Hiroki would be attending classes with his classmates now. Currently, he’s unable to, thanks to a certain homeroom teacher.”

“Ouch, that hits a sore spot. I regret that, too. I’m considering reintegrating Hiroki-kun into the class as soon as possible.”

Sensei Amakusa shows a bitter expression akin to swallowing something distasteful. Seeing this, the girl mimics the teacher’s smirking face, standing before the dejected teacher.

“It’s fine as it is now. It means I don’t have to participate in class either.”

“…You don’t say.”

Shiori’s attitude, filled with apparent ease, prompts Sensei Amakusa to lift her face with an unburdened smile.

“Shiori-chan! Let me say this again, thank you for coming back safely!”

◆

Early in the morning, Hiroki was waiting in the hotel’s first-floor lobby for Shiori and Amakusa-sensei after changing his clothes.

And,

“With what kind of face should I…”

While looking down and sitting on a sofa, he was,

“Having no face to show anyone…”

Still showing a pained expression.

The reason was naturally because of what happened yesterday. It was easy to imagine how that mishap could adversely affect the future.

He had put everything at risk.

During an operation carried out jointly by several branches.

It might have ended with everyone dead.

This constant thought only deepened Hiroki’s despondency.

“Good morning, Hiroki-kun! It’s great to see you’ve gathered here ten minutes early!”

Turning around, there stood his homeroom teacher, Amakusa-sensei, wearing the same black suit as yesterday.

Her energetic demeanor had been consistently positive since their first meeting.

“Sensei, it’s good to be cheerful, but your voice is too loud. You’re drawing attention from everyone.”

Behind her was Shiori, in her school uniform, who had been rooming with Amakusa-sensei.

Seeing the bandages wrapped around her neck to her collarbone peeking out from under her long, bright hair caused a slight disturbance in Hiroki’s breathing.

“Um… Amakusa-sensei…”

“Hm? What’s wrong, Hiroki-kun?”

Hiroki appeared apologetic, prompting a small question from Amakusa-sensei.

“About the mission yesterday…”

“Yes?”

“…I’m truly sorry.”

“!”

“It’s my fault that everyone (was troubled)…”

“That’s not true!”

Amakusa-sensei interrupted him emphatically.

And then, she firmly grasped Hiroki’s shoulders.

“It’s not your fault (that everyone got hurt), Hiroki-kun. You don’t need to blame yourself. Instead,”

“Then, whose fault is it?”

“That is…”

Amakusa-sensei was at a loss for words.

The answer, in conclusion, was the WDC. But, that was an unavoidable risk of harm in executing the mission, not the reason he sought.

What he wanted to know was about minimizing the damage.

Could it have been limited more?

Was it possible to complete the mission without anyone getting hurt?

Even with the information provided by Shiori, he could have carried out the mission alone.

In addition to that, he saved all the students who participated in the mission from a crisis.

What more could he have hoped for?

A joint operation carried out by several branches. In such a high-risk operation, to protect everyone without any harm, complete the mission, and return safely.

That was what he had hoped for.

Then whose fault should it be?

“Hiroki, who couldn’t protect everyone,” or “The other students, who were only able to protect themselves,” Amakusa Ai, standing in the position of a teacher, could not, should not, provide an answer.

It was against Amakusa Ai’s ethics to do so.

Hiroki’s heart was also severely shaken by the words cut off.

The teacher, who had been cheerful until now, looked like she was about to cry.

Understanding that he was the reason for her sad expression, which he saw for the first time, a nausea-like discomfort rose from the back of his throat.

The sound of his heartbeat was annoyingly loud. The fast and painful rhythm was crying out in his chest.

Regret and repentance looped, and an irrepressible feeling of apology was born on that face.

And then,

“Hiroki.”

The girl who had suddenly stood beside him called his name.

“It’s alright now.”

A word of consolation. But as long as there’s an unforgivable fact, that word doesn’t resonate.

“But I…”

“You don’t have to think about anything anymore. I’ll handle the rest, so just take a break.”

Shiori said that, holding Hiroki’s limp right hand with both of hers.

“I’ll take care of it.”

At those words, Hiroki’s vision began to distort as if twisted.

It was tears.

His eyes were now coated with a thin layer of moisture.

Gradually gathering at the corners of his eyes, it trailed down his cheeks.

Whether it was due to the fear of having hindered the mission, the strong sense of responsibility that included it, or the guilt towards Shiori for the unwarranted aversion he had harbored.

But at this moment, Hiroki’s conception of Shiori’s existence was completely shattered, beginning to reshape into something new.

“It’s going to be okay.”

◆

“It’s going to be okay.”

I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I.

It’s not Hiroki’s fault. How could anyone blame him?

Weakness, nuisance, the worst of all—saved by him.

Every being but Hiroki at that place was the cause of those tears, the reason for that weakened state.

I didn’t want to hear, see, or comfort.

Why must he so strong, cry? Why must he blame himself?

I can’t bear to see it. Don’t show it. Don’t bring it into my view.

Don’t show me that side of Hiroki.