“This is a common tendency among ACs (Adult Children) raised by so-called toxic parents, but the answers in this world aren’t limited to a binary choice of 1 or 0. The world is full of a wide range of options and diversity.”
“Looks delicious,” Kageichi said, as the Spicy Cod Roe Zoni was placed before him, and he politely put his hands together, saying, “いただきます (Itadakimasu).”
“Apparently, eating the vegetables first helps to moderate the rise in blood sugar levels,” he said, sounding like a regular middle-aged man, followed by the pleasant sound of him snapping the disposable chopsticks apart.
Kiraboshi also put her hands together before the Japanese-style set meal she had ordered, listening to his words.
“As you know, I thin out the population moderately. However, most people aim for a resolution through discussion first. If it’s a nuisance, they ask them to stop, propose solutions for improvement. If that still doesn’t work, they involve the police or the judiciary—moving or running away is also a method.”
Using violence as a means is not common in today’s society.
Because the disadvantages are greater.
“At this point, I can reduce the Social Disadvantage—the risk of being caught or arrested—to almost zero, so I’m simply choosing to ‘thin out’ the population. If I wanted to, I could take conventional options.”
Kageichi’s goal is, after all, safety, security, and no stress.
Murder is a means, not an end.
Well, apparently, he often enjoys it as a way to relieve Stress.
“How about you, Kiraboshi-san? Do you only have two options: reluctantly enduring other people’s opinions, or snapping and killing them?”
“…………”
“Before you met me, you may have only been aware of continuing relationships through endurance.”
Stung by the accuracy of his words, Kiraboshi didn’t even touch her food and stared blankly.
She thought she had no choice but to endure.
Do your job seriously as the Class Representative. You’re a good girl, so endure a little.
She was ordered to do so by her parents, teachers, and enemies disguised as friends, and she endured and endured, but her heart twisted and warped… and Kageichi Futsuu-sensei was the one who released her into the path of evil.
Kiraboshi was saved by him.
Her instincts, her body, her heart accepted everything about “evil” as the path she should take, and it filled her.
But now, he’s telling her to reconcile?
Besides, no matter how many times she tells them, they…
“But Sensei. No matter how many times I tell them, they won’t listen…”
“Did you get angry at that time?”
Eh. Get angry…?
“Did you properly express your anger and assert yourself to your friends?”
“Well… I said things like, ‘Please stop doing things I don’t like.'”
“Did you raise your voice? Did you glare? Didn’t you just think that you could get through to them by talking logically?”
…But, normally, if you talk to people, they’ll understand, right?
“I’m saying I don’t like it. I’m not kidding. I don’t want to exchange another word with you. If anything, a slap in the face might be more effective.”
He said something outrageous so casually, and Kiraboshi felt irritated in her heart, thinking, “You don’t understand.”
Sensei has been away from the classroom for a long time, so he probably doesn’t understand.
What kind of looks would she get if she did something so conspicuous in the classroom?
“Certainly, suddenly slapping someone would be conspicuous. But it’s different if you lay the groundwork.”
“……Eh?”
“Violence is evil. But beforehand, you properly appeal about what kind of harassment you’ve received from the other person. –It could be a gossipy female friend, or a popular boy in the class. Raise your own Social Value, lower the other person’s Social Value, and lay the groundwork. If you have the sympathy of those around you, it can work surprisingly well.”
Kiraboshi suddenly remembered the time she framed Aneki the other day.
It was true that Aneki self-destructed, but it was Kiraboshi who unconsciously laid the groundwork by taking advantage of it.
Is it something similar to that?
“I speculate, but I don’t think that young lady who calls herself your friend has many allies either. With that much bias in her thinking. In fact, aren’t the odds in your favor?”
……Certainly, if you were to ask if Shirogasaki has many friends, the answer would be no.
Or rather, the only people she interacts with are Kiraboshi and the Kamase Sisters… She talks to other people, but there’s a sense that she’s keeping them at arm’s length.
The only people who want to talk to her are, at best, boys who are smitten with her… but Shirogasaki-san doesn’t like boys very much.
“In that case, you should just say it honestly. Let’s stop being friends.”
“……Eh? Is it possible to stop being friends?”
“Of course. Rather, it’s one of the common options. At least, it’s a healthier answer than either putting up with the other person or swinging a Chainsaw around.”
That was—a very shocking story for Kiraboshi.
Be friends with your friends.
It was such a common-sense thing that she had been told since childhood that the idea of quitting had never occurred to her.
…I thought it was okay to kill someone who was trying to kill me…
But to say “Let’s stop being friends” to someone like Shirogasaki, who is just a little troublesome…
“Appropriate relationships will lead your life in a good direction. But inappropriate relationships diminish your own value. The right thing to do is to break off relationships with friends who are harmful to you. …In the first place, friends should be equal. But isn’t it unhealthy, like a tilted seesaw, if you only listen to the other person and they don’t listen to you?”
“……That’s…”
“It can’t be said to be a true friendship if you just put up with it. You’re just a convenient tool.”
That’s right.
That’s why Kiraboshi thought she didn’t like being with them… but she couldn’t break off the relationship.
–Because she had been cursed by her mother, Sensei, and teachers to “get along with her friends.”
“…………”
In other words… what Kiraboshi lacks is pure communication skills.
Including refusing the other person’s requests and getting angry.
But even if I’m told such a Decent thing now…
“Your delicious meal is getting cold.”
Noticing that her hands had stopped, Kiraboshi hurriedly reached for the grilled fish with her chopsticks.
But her head was a mess.
…She didn’t say it, but it was the biggest culture shock of the day.
Get angry at someone who won’t listen, refuse them, and stop being friends.
Faced with a possible option, Kiraboshi’s heart ached and trembled.
…Stop being friends?
What will everyone think if they hear about it at school?
Her mother, teachers, and ordinary students all say, “Let’s get along with our friends.”
Even if it’s impossible to get along with someone like the Kamase Sisters, isn’t it normal for a normal JK to force herself to get along with someone like Shirogasaki…?
Besides, if I get into a fight at school, people will look at me strangely…
“…I’m sorry, Sensei. I still don’t understand.”
“Hmm.”
“Rather, I can’t… get angry and talk back…”
While asking the question, she thought.
Ah. Maybe it’s impossible for me to have a healthy relationship with others after all.
Even Sensei doesn’t have an answer to this problem.
He doesn’t have an answer to my twisted heart–
“In that case, how about you train them?”
“…… ……Huh?”
What did he just say?
Tr, train…?
“If it’s a foolish dog that won’t listen no matter how much you warn it, no matter how many times you get angry, then you have no choice but to train it.”
“Th, that’s… um…”
“There are many methods. Beating and kicking them where there are no people, taking pictures of them that you can’t tell people about and threatening them, harassing their family, eliminating one of them…”
Communication is more free than you think?
Kageichi spread his hands as if it were natural, presenting the options.
As if to say, “The food is delicious.”
“Don’t misunderstand—reconciliation means that the parties involved compromise with each other and stop fighting. Therefore, if you first fire a nuclear missile at the other party, crush their will to retaliate, then take their territory and money, and then extend your hand and say, ‘I’ll forgive you, so let’s reconcile,’ and get them to agree, that’s also a fine ‘reconciliation.'”
Well, if you do this in international society, the disadvantages will be greater, and you’ll be shot back.
Kageichi calmly put Spicy Cod Roe in his mouth, and spoke as if interjecting a very ordinary conversation.
“Earlier, I taught you about getting angry. …But, you have other options as well. Options that normal people would never take.”
“…………”
There are many ways to eat rice.
Chopsticks, spoons, forks, eating with your hands… you can even use a baby bottle or have someone feed you, or you can forcibly punch a hole in a normal person’s stomach and stuff it in.
Murder is just a means.
It’s just one of the ways to achieve a goal.
If you want to win at shogi, it would be a Decent tactic to stage a traffic accident and remove your opponent from this world, rather than aiming for their king.
“I basically eliminate troublesome people. I erase everything so that no trace remains.
“However, if you feel stress but don’t want to kill, and normal conversation doesn’t work…
You can.
In your own way, you can use Communication (Physical) to persuade them. Killing isn’t the only option, you know?”
That was the path Kiraboshi Yoshiko should take in her relationships.
Starting with generalities, but with a different conclusion, in her own way…
Kageichi, seeing her stunned by the shock, smiled gently as he sipped his after-meal tea and continued kindly.
“You like that kind of ‘reconciliation,’ don’t you? In your case… wouldn’t carving up people like Monsters be quicker than getting decently angry?”