ALL NOVEL chapter 32
32 Reunion
In my previous life, there was always an “enemy” that should have existed in this world. People of the same age who were unaware of it… I was always alone. I couldn’t help but feel that everyone else seemed foolish.
But my loneliness was not true loneliness.
Because there was a place I could return to. A “place to belong” where I could return if I wanted, whether it was in the class or elsewhere.
“I actually felt like I didn’t need to take an external exam. Because you were there. Even after entering the higher grades, I thought it would be fine to be with you like this again… Well, but you had others besides me, right? So, it’s probably not good to rely on you all the time, I guess.”
Come to think of it, after that summer at the pool, it seemed like Karina’s enthusiasm for studying had increased.
That invitation might have been a turning point for her after all, I thought.
“In fact, if I looked beyond the class, I found quite a few comrades. It’s only online for now, but I have some interaction with those people too.”
Comrades?
She answered, “Comrades who appreciate men’s friendship.” I couldn’t quite grasp the meaning of appreciating men’s friendship, but I thought it must be a good thing.
“I’ll do my best in the exams. It’s just a little longer, but please support me, teacher.”
Karina smiled.
There were no more eyepatches or bandages. She had changed a lot since we first met, and seeing her smile, I felt somewhat lonely.
Because she will change. After finishing the exams and going to an external high school, she might forget about me.
I had a strange conviction.
She probably won’t fight anymore with the “enemy.”
She probably won’t see the hidden malevolent truth in this world, or make any plans against the “enemy” – she will just live like an ordinary person.
…Gradually moving on.
Whether wished for or not, she would graduate.
Watching her smile somewhat wistfully, I thought that it must be a good thing.
—
Karina passed the exams and moved on to an external high school.
We also had a small farewell party. The attendees were me, Milim, Martin, and her – just the four of us.
She didn’t have any personal friends.
No one at the farewell party said anything about this.
Finally, I became a third-year student, and sometime around last October, I accidentally became the student council president, so I would be busy with activities until my term expired.
Naturally, I suggested to Milim to join the student council, and she agreed. With no issues in her grades, she would likely continue to the higher-level course in an escalator-like manner.
Busy yet peaceful days passed by.
So, I was prepared for something to happen.
Compared to my previous life, my current life might be a little happier.
The people around me don’t easily fall into unhappiness, and I might be able to enjoy “life” a little bit.
—
Please let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with!
But, it’s just too peaceful, indeed.
This is just a prelude. For instance, rubber. The more you stretch it, the more it will shrink with strong force. Or a river. If the dam that holds back the water for a long time is cut, it will become a muddy stream that engulfs and sweeps away everything.
The “peace” I am experiencing now is just the time to stretch the rubber and the time to hold back the water.
It will come someday. It could come now. It’s already here. It will come again. I have never ignored the caution against the “enemy’s” ill-intentioned force that attacks me.
I gather information as much as possible. My self-discipline is perfect. However, it is common for the “enemy” to come from unexpected places, and no matter how much I train myself in advance, it can often become meaningless.
Truly, truly, the “enemy” doesn’t even show its shadow.
This “enemy” who never shows itself always made me shudder, and it took a great deal of willpower to resist the urge to believe, “Maybe there is no enemy.”
“Invisible” “Invisible” “Invisible” … I always chant three times, climb onto the platform, and give the student council president’s greeting.
I feel the gaze of the middle school students gathered on me all at once. I skillfully give a featureless greeting to not stand out too much, receive applause that seems forced by the teachers, and step down from the platform.
Today, once again, I gather everyone’s attention while fading into the background, and thus the end-of-term ceremony for the first semester ends, and summer vacation begins.
As that summer vacation passes, and while making arrangements to make Milim the next student council president, the cultural festival ends, and the student council election also ends with Milim becoming the president according to my plan.
Everything is just too peaceful.
The middle school course ends in this way without any significant events, and when I finally relaxed, thinking, “Nothing else will happen in the middle school”—
At that very moment, “it” appeared.
“Long time no see. Do you remember me?”
Spring vacation.
The period between middle school and high school—
There was a voice coming from behind me as I looked at the high school class allocation bulletin board.
I turned around, and there she was—a red-haired girl.
Dressed in the school uniform of this academy, she was none other than Shira, born in April, who parted ways upon graduating from elementary school.