Kikanshita Yuusha no Gojitsudan : Chapter 53

Chapter 53 The Hero’s Teacher Internship 7

 

　*Koto.

　I put the cola I bought from the staff room vending machine in front of Koshiba-kun.

　Then I opened another bottle of cola that I bought for myself and took a sip.

　Still, Koshiba-kun remains motionless with his head down.

“…… You should drink. Maybe it’ll calm you down.”

“………… okay.”

　He’s finally picked up the cola after giving a faint reply.

　I spoke as calmly as possible after waiting for him to finish drinking.

 

“Anyway, I’m glad no one got hurt. I’m not saying it for them, of course, but for you, that is.”

“That’s ……”

“They bullied you all the time, right? To the extent that you had a cutter knife in your pocket.”

　He bites his lip and turns his head down as if he is holding something in.

“I don’t know the reason, and I don’t care about the reasoning of the assailant. You’ve been holding back for so long, haven’t you? So much so that you’ve accumulated enough to explode.”

“Ugh-uuuu.”

　Tears fell from his downcast eyes.

“You don’t have to force yourself to say it if you don’t want to. Or you can just complain about your grudges against them. You might feel a little better if you let it out.”

 

” …… They started making fun of me when they found out I liked manga and anime, calling me ‘creepy’ or ‘otaku’ or something like that!”

“They’re doing that even though there are many people who like anime nowadays, aren’t there?”

“Even though I’m not the only one! They steal my wallet, punch me in the stomach, and make fun of me out loud in front of everyone! And ……”

　The words came pouring out of him like a bursting dam.

　He must have been really depressed. I guess it was only natural.

 

　After more than ten minutes of talking, he must have run out of breath, because he took a drink of his cola and then kept his mouth shut.

　Right at that moment, there was a knock on the door of the guidance room, and Mr. Matsuyama and Mr. Miyake came in.

“Thank you Kashiwagi-sensei. As for Koshiba-kun, can we talk?”

　Though (Mr/Ms). Miyake asked him. He kept his head down and did not answer.

“In any case, you should go home for the day and calm yourself down. Kashiwagi-sensei, if you don’t mind, can you please take Koshiba-kun back home?”

“Yes. No problem. I’ll get ready in a minute then.”

　Said Mr. Matsuyama, who saw Koshiba-kun’s condition and decided that it would be better to give him some time off, and urged him to go home.

　Hearing this, I went back to the intern’s waiting room to get ready.

 

　After I finished my preparations and returned to the student guidance office, I went with (Mr/Ms) Miyake to the 4th class room and had Koshiba-kun wait in the hallway while (Mr/Ms) Miyake gathered his belongings.

　After that, I took the lead and walked out of the school building.

　Then we headed for the teachers’ parking lot on the back gate side instead of the front gate.

　I had actually used “transfer” to go back to my house and brought my bike with me while I was preparing.

“Eh? We’re going to ride a bike?”

“That’s right. I’m sure you’ll have a lot on your mind if you go home right away, right? So, why don’t we take a little detour?”

　While saying that, I gave my spare helmet to Koshiba-kun to put on, and pushed the bike out of the back gate.

　After confirming that Koshiba-kun got in the rear seat, I turned on the engine.

　A light rumble of an engine echoed, and after telling him to hold on tight, I slowly launched the bike.

 

　I took a suburban route and continued riding for a while.

　Koshiba-kun, who was nervous because it’s his first time riding a motorcycle, gradually got used to it and seemed to relax.

　I can’t waste too much time since I have to go back to school after this, so we came back to the residential area after riding through the suburbs for about 20 minutes.

　By the time I arrived at Koshiba-kun’s house after asking him for directions, he seemed to have cleared his mind.

　Motorcycle is really great, isn’t it?

　After all, whenever I’m having a bad day, I feel a little better when I’m on my bike.

“Um, Kashiwagi-sensei, thank you very much.”

“Don’t mind it. Also, I’d like to talk to you some more. Can I come back later?”

“I don’t mind, but why?”

　He asked me, perhaps still a little wary.

“Well, there’s the matter from before, but I also watch a good amount of manga, anime, and novels due to the influence of my sister and her friends. It’s just a hobby, you see.”

　Koshiba-kun nodded with a relaxed expression as I said that with a smile.

---

　I went back to school and told (Mr/Ms) Miyake and Mr. Matsuyama what I had heard from Koshiba-kun.

　I arrived just at the right time for the sixth period to start, but both teachers were still in the staff room, as currently they had no classes to teach.

“I didn’t know that had happened. Thank you, Kashiwagi-kun.”

　Said (Mr/Ms) Miyake who then bowed at me.

“So, what’s the plan for Koshiba-kun’s punishment, and how will we deal with the other four?”

“I’ve already told the principal and vice principal about the outline. Although it’s not official yet, fortunately, thanks to you, Mr. Kashiwagi, no one was injured beyond him raising a utility knife, and it was clearly the bullies who caused the incident. After all, he doesn’t seem to be that upset with the other students, so the principal’s judgment is that Koshiba-kun will not be punished for the time being. However, even so, his mental burden must be great, so it might be better to have him take days off for a few days until he calms down. Of course, it’s up to him. I’m also going to contact the parents of the four boys who were bullying him and have a meeting with them.”

　Mr. Matsuyama answered my questions.

　I guess the school doesn’t want to make the problem bigger than it is.

 

“But still, things like this are still happening even though we’re doing a lot of things at school to stop bullying.”

　(Mr/Ms) Miyake said with a sigh.

“I feel like that way of thinking in itself is a mistake, though.”

　I couldn’t stop myself from letting out my true feelings.

“What do you mean? Are you saying that it’s wrong to eliminate bullying?”

　(Mr/Ms) Miyake intensified their words with a scowl.

　On the contrary, Mr. Matsuyama looked at me with interest and urged me to go on.

　I’ve done it now.

 

“I don’t mean to say that the effort to eliminate bullying is useless, but I think that this approach focuses too much on whether or not there is bullying, and doesn’t actually help the students who are being bullied. In fact, I think there are many cases where bullying is covered up because they are concerned about their reputation if they report the presence or absence of bullying or the number of cases. Most of the incidents caused by bullying in the news these days seem to be such cases.”

“That may be true, but”

“In my opinion, we need to think about how to find the victims and how to help them, considering that bullying always exists and cannot be eliminated.”

　The teachers didn’t refute my words.

 

　In fact, bullying comes from the instincts of animals, including humans. It is a defensive instinct of our species to eliminate foreign objects. Then there is the desire for self-glorification, the need to be seen as superior to others. In other words, pecking order. These two instinctive thoughts are the factors that cause bullying to occur.

　It would be very difficult to eliminate these instincts through disciplinary action only.

　In the first place, it is not easy to draw a line between bullying and teasing. Whether it is considered bullying or not is largely up to the individual. Even if it looks like bullying to others, they may just be joking around, or on the other hand, even if it doesn’t seem like a big deal, the person being bullied may be severely hurt.

　Even the contents of bullying can vary from direct violence to verbal abuse, sexual humiliation, neglect, and other psychological attacks.

　If we want to prevent all of these kinds of bullying, we should prohibit all activities other than studying at school, and we should not allow any contact with anyone outside of school. It would be like living in a prison where even basic human rights are ignored. There is no way we can do such a thing.

　In addition, forcing students to report the number of bullying incidents at school level is like asking the school to cover it up.

　Who in their right mind would report bullying when their reputation is at stake?

　It would be better to make the schools compete on the number of students they have rescued from bullies.

　Though this in itself may lead to over-identification of bullies and unnecessarily increase the number of perpetrators.

 

“The problem is that it’s hard for us teachers to spot bullying. If the bullied students would talk to us about it, we would be able to help them, and the students who witnessed the bullying are also afraid to tell us about it because they are afraid that if they do, they will be targeted next. What do you think we should do, Mr. Kashiwagi?”

　I feel like I’m getting lectured on something.

　Mr. Matsuyama’s expression also suggests that he’s enjoying himself.

 

“From the students’ point of view, a teacher is not necessarily an ally, After all. The first step is to make it easy for them to ask for help, and once they do, help them gather evidence of bullying, and once that evidence is gathered, don’t hesitate to get the police involved. I would recommend that you file a criminal or civil lawsuit against the perpetrator. Unless you are willing to do something like that, I don’t think the victimized student will be willing to talk to the teacher. After all, It’s not uncommon for the bullying to get worse as a result of bringing it up to the teacher.”

“Things like police intervention, lawsuits, etc. Even though they’re the perpetrator they’re still a child, you know? They have a long life ahead of them. It could also affect their future, you know?”

　(Mr/Ms) Miyake countered my explanation.

“I believe it comes down to a choice between protecting the perpetrator and forcing the victim to endure, or protecting the victim and forcing the perpetrator to take responsibility for what they have done.

In most cases, the perpetrators don’t feel much guilt because the word “bully” implies something light. But what they do is basically blackmail, assault, bodily harm, insult, defamation, and in some cases, indecent assault. In which case, all of these are legitimate criminal offenses.

Though they may be boys and girls with a future, does that have to take precedence over the victims? Even if it’s just verbal bullying, it can ruin the victim’s life. I mean, isn’t It also necessary to make the minor understand the severity of what he or she has done?

When it comes to bullying, adults need to take a firm stand against it, so that it will not escalate.

I believe that students see adults in a much drier light than adults think. If you ask them to believe you, they will not trust you unless you actually do something. I don’t think there is a way to accommodate both victims and perpetrators at the same time.”

　I wonder if it’s okay for me to say this much?

　Though I don’t have any intention of saying the wrong thing, but well, even if I get a bad reputation, it will only hurt my reputation for the internship, and when I think of Koshiba-kun and the others, it is nothing.

 

“Ouch, that hit too close to home. In reality, it’s not that easy to separate the two when you’re in the position of a teacher.” (1)

　Mr. Matsuyama says with a bitter smile.

“I’m sorry, for being so cocky, even though I’m only a university student.”

“No, Mr. Kashiwagi is closer in age and position to the students than I am. It’ll be a good reference for us, so don’t worry about it.”

“Yeah, that’s right. That certainly hit too close to home.”

　The teachers responded to my apology with a wry smile.

---

　I returned to the intern’s waiting room after we finished talking.

“Yu, Kashiwagi-kun. Um, did something happen in D class?”

　Akane asked me as I entered.

　It seems that she had come back first. Or rather, it was to be expected, since Mr. Miyake was already in the staff room.

　Nakamura and Nogishi-san were also there.

“Yeah, I heard that Koshiba-kun from D class was being bullied, you see.”

　I told Akane what had happened so far.

 

“Something like that happened? I mean, the class that was supposed to be in 5th period suddenly became a self-study class and I was told to supervise it, but they didn’t give me any details. Also, after that, (Mr/Ms) Miyake seemed to be talking to the principal and others.”

“Well, I guess there’s nothing an intern can do even if they’re told something like this. In my case, I knew about it because I was there by chance.”

“Still, isn’t Kashiwagi talking too much? Aren’t what you’ve said an obvious criticism of education directed at an active teacher. I fear for your evaluation.”

“Though I fully agree with the content. But, being able to say it is a different story, Kashiwagi-kun is really amazing.”

　I guess it does look that way, doesn’t it?

　In fact, I’m taking part in the internship just to pad up the numbers, so I’m not that desperate for evaluation.

　I couldn’t tell them, though.

 

　I wrote up today’s training report and daily report while we talked.

“It’s frustrating that I can’t get involved even though it is the class I’m in charge of. But when I think about it, I don’t think I can come up with a solution.”

　Akane said with some dissatisfaction.

“It can’t be helped, can it? After all, there are plenty of teachers and experts who have said many things, but in the end they have found no solution.”

“Somehow, whenever there is an issue like this, there are people who are overly concerned about the human rights of the perpetrators, and because those kinds of people are always the loudest, in the end there is nothing that can be done.”

　Nakamura and Nogishi-san also want to become teachers, so they must have a lot of thoughts about bullying.

　But, like Akane said, you can’t just defeat the bad guys and call it a day like in a good versus evil period drama.

 

　It was time for homeroom, and then we were dispersed.

　We finished our visit to the club activities, and I said a few words to Akane and left the school ahead of her.

　It was to go to Koshiba-kun’s house as I had promised.

　Apparently, his parents always come home after nine o’clock, as they are both working.

　Though I’m sure they’ve prepared a meal for him, but because I don’t want to bother him, I decided to buy some things at the convenience store.

 

　I arrived at Koshiba-kun’s house and rang the doorbell.

　By the way, his house is a detached house.

“So you really came, huh? Anyway, please come in. Um, though I’m going to have dinner now.”

“Oh, sorry to bother you at such an odd hour. I went to the convenience store and bought some food, so can I join you?”

　Koshiba-kun smiled a little when I said that and nodded.

 

　At first he was awkward and didn’t talk much, but as we talked about anime and my friend who was a tokusatsu fanatic, he gradually opened up to me.

　After we finished eating, he took me to his room and showed me his collection of manga and light novels.

　He seemed to be reading a wide range of genres, including some of the older manga. As for the novels, there are quite a few Isekai stories. Well, It’s a staple after all. It’s certainly convenient. Yeah.

 

　We continued chatting about manga and novels for a while, but when I felt that he was comfortable enough, I asked him about the bullying.

　Perhaps he somewhat trusted me, because unlike at school, he didn’t get emotional and told me plainly what had happened.

　As it turned out, it was only those four who were bullying him. Though some of his classmates barely spoke to him, there’s still a few that he can call good friends.

“I couldn’t take it any longer and did something like that, but Mr. Kashiwagi stopped me. ……”

“As a result, no one was hurt, and the school doesn’t seem to be planning to make an issue of it, so don’t worry about it. I understand how you feel, that’s how cornered you were, right?”

　Koshiba-kun nodded with a regretful expression on his face as I said that.

 

“Anyone might end up doing it if they were in the same position. But you know, if you had swung those hands down in that situation, it would have left a big scar on your life. So, the next time you’re cornered on something, you can try running away instead.”

“…… You’re not going to tell me to not run away?”

“Running away is a great tactic, you know? It’s a different story if you have a chance to win, but first you need to run away and cool your head down. And then think about ways to win. If you can’t figure it out on your own, rely on others. Finally, you need to figure out a way in which you will be able to smile at the end. That’s all you need to do.”

 

　I handed Koshiba-kun a piece of paper with my contact information and email address on it.

“If anything happens, or if you find yourself at a loss, please contact me. After all, it’s just luck that I was there at that moment. Oh, and take a few days off until you feel better, then come back to school. ………… In addition, take this opportunity to skip school.”

“Um, thank you, very much.”

　He finally smiled in a manner befitting his age.

　Seeing his expression, I decided to leave the place.

　This should be enough for today.

　And the preparation is complete, too.

---

　I’ve been busy preparing for what’s to come after I return home from Koshiba-kun’s house.

　I have been busy using the transference jewel to go to another world and do some shopping over there.

　Hmm? What am I doing, you ask?

　There’s no way I’m just going to sit on the sidelines and do nothing, is there?

　I’m going to resolve this problem in my own way.

 

　While I was busy eating, getting ready, taking a bath, etc., before I knew it, it was 2 am.

　It was the so-called dead of night (time when even the trees and plants sleep)

　Well then, shall we get started?

---

1. There, the teacher’s using Idiom (耳が痛い=mimi ga itai): being painfully-true (e.g. reprimand); making one’s ears burn; striking home (e.g. remark)

 

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