Episode 21 – Each

A Cheeky Junior Denied Me My Entire Life, so I Tested What Would Happen if I Jumped off a Rooftop to Vent My Anger

Kamiya Yana regretted it.

A picture that made fun of Susumu was posted in the art club group. However, no one said anything to blame or condemn it. In fact, they all made fun of Susumu in a happy manner.

Yana doesn’t like such a situation and recalls the other day while walking on her usual way home with a grumpy face.

“This is ridiculous. ……”

At the time of the test, when the clubroom was empty, Hijiyama Kaoru and her friends came to the art room.
Yana happened to find the scene when she visited the art room and tried to stop Kaoru and her friends by raising her voice.

They argued with each other, but Kaoru and the others, perhaps believing they were right, refused to back down. Yana, who felt that there was no way out of the situation, tried to forcefully erase the pictures by force, but Kaoru told her.

“You also made fun of Aoi-san a lot, didn’t you? Do you think that you can play the good girl now and be forgiven for it?”

“……!”

She couldn’t argue. Even if she help Susumu here, he won’t look at her anymore. These girls probably don’t know it, but Susumu has already gone to a faraway world. .. sure Susumu doesn’t even want to be helped.

As if in pursuit of Yana, whose hands had stopped, Kaoru said.

“That’s hypocrisy on your part, isn’t it? Only children are allowed to say what they want to say without considering anyone’s position.”

“Such ……that’s! I don’t want to be told by you people! Please …… enough! People who are happy to draw harassing pictures like this, don’t talk to me like that!”

“We just want to tell the wrong people they are wrong……. We are, after all, people who want to be painters. Are you telling me that we are wrong in the act of painting what we want to tell people?”

“……!”

Unable to think of anything to say in response, Yana ran away from the art room. On the way, she unfortunately ran into Susumu, but she couldn’t do anything to stop him or Kaoru and the others.

The next day, Susumu was absent from school.

It is hard to believe that he was …… worried about that picture, but she had just heard from Ririka the other day that Susumu had jumped off the rooftop. …… Yana was worried. But she couldn’t send a message or call him now.

Kaoru and the others were going around proudly blabbing about the painting, as if to say they had done the right thing. They were so pleased that they had beaten Susumu that they conveniently interpreted Susumu’s absence from school as a victory for them.

She wondered if the vice-director, Rengo, would stop them, but he did nothing to stop Kaoru and the others, just talking exuberantly about how he and Susumu were going to compete in the competition.

And Ririka, too, just looked down at such commotion in the club with somewhat cold eyes and did not pay attention to it separately.
She often sits alone in a daze, as if thinking about something.

Yana thought that Ririka’s attitude made Rengo stubborn, but Yana didn’t have the energy anymore to point this out.

After all, even though it was before the test, people in the art club were getting excited about trivial things, and no one was going to stop them. Susumu was used as an outlet to release the stress that had built up before the test, and the ridicule of him within the club was getting worse day by day.

“If only I had been more honest and helped senpai before …… .”

If that were the case, perhaps Susumu would also be attracted to Yana. If she had been honest earlier, maybe he would have needed her as well.

But it’s already too late for all that.

“…….”

Asama Ion’s face on that rainy day. When she remembers that, she feel so frustrated that her heart feels like it’s about to burst.

“Really, what am I doing?”

In the end, Yana is unable to get Susumu’s forgiveness or help him. No matter how much Susumu is ridiculed by boring people, Yana has no power to reverse it.

“…… worst.”

She looks up at the sky. It started to rain again. She didn’t bring an umbrella. In a world where nothing seems to be going right, Yana exhaled heavily again.

◇

Usa Ririka thought it was silly.

One drawing was posted to the art club group. It was a picture that made fun of Susumu receiving special treatment. But even looking at it, Ririka didn’t think anything of it. The art world is a cruel place, and there are many people who work hard for ten years and never achieve anything.

In such a situation, Susumu, who does not draw anything, receives a higher evaluation than anyone else. There are many students who feel frustrated by this. In particular, Hijiyama Kaoru seems to have always seen Susumu as an enemy.

It’s not that she’s out of favor with him like Yana, but like herself…it’s not like she hates his talent either. She seemed to genuinely hate Susumu himself. …She probably thinks that she deserves special treatment.

“If you didn’t have a strong desire to express yourself, you wouldn’t draw pictures like this.”

That’s a bad drawing. But if it only hurts people, a picture like this is enough. If Susumu, who can’t draw, sees this picture, what will he think? The current Susumu, who cannot draw, is inferior to Kaoru, who can only create things like this.

There are masterpieces in history that seem to have been painted to hurt people. It is a world in which a painting that a person sees and tries to tear down in a fit of rage receives a lot of recognition.

Self-expression, jealousy and feelings of inferiority are all admirable emotions. Ririka does not think Kaoru, who used them as weapons, is evil.

“In the end, it’s Susumu kun’s fault for not drawing.”

She knows Susumu has always regretted the loss of his family. She also knew that he was mentally ill because of the strong trauma.

Still, Ririka did not want to help Susumu. Because she was saved by the fact that even …… geniuses wither away, being an ordinary genius.

“……. My head hurts.”

And yet, when she remembered Asama Ion’s smile at that time, her head hurt. She thought she didn’t …… like it. Her face, that victorious look, she doesn’t like it to death. Even now, when she remembers it, she can’t help but be irritated.

“But that’s enough. You can’t change Susumu. In the end, you’re just looking at the outside.”

The problem that Susumu has is something he has to deal with himself. And Susumu doesn’t have that much power right now. …If it was Susumu in the past, he wouldn’t have skipped school because of a picture like that.

There are no more geniuses who could color that world.

In the classroom after school, Ririka’s mouth curls slightly. Rengo, who came from another classroom, called out to Ririka, looking somewhat excited.

“Hey, Ririka. Did you see the art club group? That picture made you laugh, didn’t it?”

Ririka thinks, ‘That’s rubbish’, but gives her usual fake smile.

“I saw it. I heard that Susumu kun …… was really upset by that. He really looks like an idiot.”

“Haha. That guy has always had an enlightened face and a short temper. He used to have the talent to support that, but now he’s just a short-tempered idiot.”

“But Rengo-kun, you said you would compete with Susumu-kun like that, didn’t you?”

Ririka stares straight at him, and Rengo averts his gaze as if to run away.

“T-that’s right! I’ll crush him completely here and kick him out of the art club! That way, there won’t be any unnecessary problems and you won’t get hurt!”

“I’ll get hurt? Hurt by what?”

“Oh, no, that’s …….”

Rengo takes a step back and squeezes his hands tightly together.

“A-anyway! Susumu is already a withered twig with withered talent! I’ll surpass him and prove it! So… if I beat Susumu, it’s time for me…”

“All right, all right. I don’t dislike you either, Rengo-kun.”

“R-Really!?”

Hearing Ririka’s words, Rengo’s face suddenly lights up.

“…In the end, it’s Susumu-kun’s fault for not drawing.”

Ririka murmured the same words one last time.

◇

Asama Ion laughed.

It was late at night on the same day that Susumu had dined with the avenger, Rustice. Ion came back to the room where Susumu was supposed to be waiting for her, whistling happily.

“…… Huh? Aoi-kun, is he still out ……?”

But Susumu apparently hadn’t returned yet. It’s a shame, Ion thought as she looked out the window. Then, there was a crow.

“…… He’s persistent too, isn’t he?”

Ion opens the window. The crow drops a clean envelope and flies away. Ion forcefully tears open the envelope and checks the letter inside.

“I’ve kept your guard dog. If you want it back, come to the mansion on that day.”

That’s all there is to it, and that’s all there is to it. Seeing this, Ion’s mouth twists as if she is about to burst.