Part 5
On the way back to the dorms, we came across Hirata sitting on one of the benches wearing the same listless expression on his face.
If somebody else were to see him like this, they’d probably reconsider any ideas to call out to him.
After all, nobody had ever seen him like this before.
“He looks pretty defeated.”
“Yeah… He’s completely different from usual.”
Both Haruka and Akito immediately recognized how surreal the situation was.
“I think I’ll try talking to him a little.”
“Give it up Kiyotaka. Wouldn’t it be better to just leave him be right now?”
“Maybe, but there’s something that’s been bothering me.”
“Something that’s been bothering you?”
“Sorry about this, but you guys can head back without me. I don’t feel like he’d be willing to say very much if we tried to reach out to him as a group. If he’s going to get angry with somebody, I’d rather it be just me instead of all of us.”
“…Alright, but the vote happens tomorrow, so just don’t do anything to rub him the wrong way. There’s honestly no way of telling who Hirata’s going to vote for right now.”
I nodded in response to Akito’s advice and separated from the group.
I was grateful that they were able to read the situation and head back to the dorms without looking back.
Before I did anything else, I took a picture of his defeated appearance from a distance and sent it to Kei with a few other details.
“Hirata.”
In order to make the most of this opportunity, I called out to him immediately after I hit send.
“…Ayanok?ji-kun.”
“Do you have a minute?”
“Yeah sure. I, uh, also wanted to talk with you.”
It was possible that he had been sitting here waiting for me.
Otherwise, there’d be no point in choosing to sit in such a cold place.
Furthermore, he was sitting off to one side of the bench, quite possibly with the hope of having someone else to sit together with him.
I sat down in the open space beside him.
“A warm spring will be coming soon.”
“Yeah.”
“I… believed that everyone would be able to welcome that spring together. No, even now, somewhere inside my heart, I still do.”
Hirata spoke passionately, even though the class had nearly gone through a collapse not too long ago.
Even though everyone had witnessed his foolish, ugly behavior back in the classroom, this core part of his personality still hadn’t changed.
“Having to leave someone behind… I hate it.”
“There’s nothing we can do about it. Whether it’s me, Yamauchi, or someone else entirely, somebody has to be the sacrifice.”
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