Part 2 Chapter 26 - K-Counseling Office
ding dong ding dong ♬
Morning had broken.
If this were my usual self, I would have risen with my usual smug expression, grumbling to myself. But today, I got up with a refreshing smile on my face.
“Aya…”
My thigh, which had been savagely torn apart yesterday, still throbbed with pain. Yet even through that ache, a smile refused to leave my lips.
'Kyoko Kirigiri…'
Recalling yesterday’s memories made my face flush red. From now on, I was Kyoko Kirigiri, not Kirigiri Kyoko. How utterly embarrassing.
I finished getting ready, opened the door to the dormitory, and shouted with all my might.
“I love Kyoko Kirigiri!!”
“…Me too.”
“…?”
I turned my head. There stood Kirigiri Kyoko, her cheeks burning red. This was exactly the same situation as last time, wasn’t it?
“Why… are you here…?”
“Because your leg is injured, I came to help you walk.”
“Ah…”
Thinking about it, there was one difference from last time. Kirigiri Kyoko was blushing just like me.
“…”
“…”
Kirigiri Kyoko stared at me with a flushed face, then quietly approached and wrapped her arms around my back.
“I’ll support you all the way to the cafeteria.”
“…Yeah.”
Even though we were pressed close together, we walked to the cafeteria without daring to meet each other’s eyes.
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“Ooh! You two are here!”
“Why are both your faces so red…? Before I came… ehehehe…”
“I heard about yesterday… You both must have suffered a lot…”
When we entered the cafeteria, the students already gathered there greeted us with warm smiles. Seeing them made my heart grow heavy. Could I really protect every single one of them without leaving even one behind?
Negative thoughts began to creep in again, but I quickly shook them off. What was the point of thinking that anyway? I sat down in my seat.
“Hmm…? The food tastes different from usual…”
“Of course it does! I prepared special meals for the patients as the Ultimate Chef!”
One-maru approached me with a proud expression, then suddenly wore a mischievous grin. I stared at him blankly, not understanding what he meant, until he began speaking in a sly voice.
“This special meal I made not only aids recovery but also boosts stamina—er, that is… ‘vitality’ quite a bit…”
“Kei, eat.”
“Huh…?”
The moment I heard that, Kirigiri Kyoko suddenly lit up. She scooped the food in front of me with a spoon and offered it to me.
“Since your leg is injured, this much is enough for me to…”
“Open your mouth.”
“Y-yes…”
Feeling like a baby bird, I opened my mouth. Kirigiri Kyoko began feeding me the food. This… felt strangely nice.
“Ha… haha… You two… get along so well…”
“Ha… One-maru… blood…!”
Meanwhile, One-maru, watching us, suddenly bled from the nose and was dragged away by a startled Tsumiki.
“Why are so many people getting injured lately!!”
Seeing Tsumiki’s pained expression made my heart heavy once more. If the Despair Disease spread, I would have to rely on her alone for care. My leg still ached, but I had no choice but to help with the nursing too…
“So, when are you going to tell me that story?”
“Mmm… huh?”
“That dangerous information I mentioned yesterday.”
Kirigiri Kyoko whispered to me. Now that I thought about it, I needed to share information about the Despair Disease with her, but I had no good way to do it.
'Should I secretly write the info in the memo pad and hand it over…?'
It actually seemed like a pretty good idea. I could carefully write the information I knew in the memo pad where the CCTV wouldn’t see, then hand it to Kirigiri Kyoko.
I quietly whispered the method I had thought of to Kirigiri Kyoko. She seemed to understand and nodded, then began feeding me food again.
If it had just been the two of us, it would have been incredibly happy. But the students kept glancing at us, so I felt quite embarrassed. I forced myself to ignore their stares and kept eating. Suddenly, the door to the cafeteria opened.
“…”
“…”
Kuzuryu, whose head was bandaged, and Pekoyama, whose head and thigh were bandaged, quietly entered the cafeteria, took a few pieces of food, bowed their heads to us, and left.
“W-where are those two… going…?”
Hinata, who was being nursed by Nanami and eating the patient meal, asked cautiously. Nanami answered kindly.
“We’re going to help prepare for Ibuki’s live performance tonight… You shouldn’t push yourself with those wounds…”
“Hmph! If that much work is the price of atonement, I’ll take it! After doing such a thing to our Koizumi onee-sama… to be treated so easily…”
“Hiyoko… It’s over now… We decided to judge by your future behavior…”
“Eh… if that’s what onee-sama wants…”
Kuzuryu and Pekoyama seemed to be making an effort to atone as much as possible. They were still being hated by the students, but… their treatment would change according to their future efforts.
By the way, Komada had been forbidden from legally lynching yesterday and was instead taping his mouth shut. He had agreed to tear off the tape once a day when he ate his one meal. It might look harsh, but it was his own sin, and he had to take responsibility for it.
Now that I thought about it, Komada had been one of the initial infected by the Despair Disease?
'Well, no need to isolate him. Perfect.'
I set aside Komada’s gloomy thoughts for a moment and continued eating with Kirigiri Kyoko, who was acting like a mother bird.
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ding dong ♪ ding dong ♪
After finishing breakfast, I returned to my room and was scribbling information about the Despair Disease in the memo pad when someone rang the doorbell.
“Who is it…?”
“Um… Kei? Can I come in for a bit? There’s something I want to talk about…”
Hinata had come to talk to me. The main character of Shuudo 2 and the series’ biggest cheat character had appeared, so I felt a slight tension. But thinking he was just a normal Reserve Course student right now, the tension faded.
Still, what was up with Hinata suddenly coming to me? Curious, I opened the door to greet him.
“What’s the matter, Hinata?”
“Um… I came because I wanted to consult with you…”
Lately, I had been consulted with a lot. Should I put up a sign in front of the dorm saying “Kei Counseling Office”?
“Counseling is always welcome! Sit down first. Would you like some tea or coffee?”
“Ah… thank you.”
Hinata ordered coffee in a timid voice, then began looking around every corner of my room with a strange expression. It was worth the effort to decorate the room with aromatherapy candles and psychological test sets from the convenience store, pretending to be a counselor.
“As expected of the Ultimate Counselor… Just looking at you, I can feel how outstanding your abilities are…”
“Ahahaha… you’re flattering me. I’m still inexperienced… Anyway, what do you want to consult about?”
“Um… I’ve been having a few worries lately…”
Finally, Hinata let out a deep sigh and began spilling his worries to me.
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“I more or less understand what you’re saying. You’ve been carrying that kind of worry.”
“Yeah… If there’s someone I can talk to without holding back… I can only think of you, the Ultimate ‘Counselor’…”
“Hmm…”
As expected, Hinata was suffering because he couldn’t remember his “Ultimate Talent.” He looked depressed, saying he felt like he was the only one left out and not helping the others.
Looking at him, I fell into thought. Telling him the truth was out of the question. There was no evidence, and the rules prevented it anyway. So how could I comfort him?
I hesitated for a moment, then set aside my worries. As always, I would tell him the story I wanted to tell him.
“If you can’t remember your Ultimate Talent, how about that? You’re already a pretty cool person right now.”
“Me…?”
“Yeah. If it weren’t for you, we would have lost in the last vote. Naegi, Kirigiri Kyoko, and I would have been defeated. Then I’d be locked up with Komada in the dungeon right now, facing your face instead.”
“That’s… just doing what I had to do…”
“How many people in the world don’t even do what they have to do? Especially after pushing yourself so hard that you collapsed after the vote, the fact that you trusted and helped us three, who had the traitor’s mark, means you’re not useless.”
“…”
“You underestimate yourself too much. That’s why your self-esteem is at rock bottom. But the me I see isn’t someone who deserves to be treated like that. So you should have some confidence.”
In reality, the Reserve Course Hinata had cursed his own uselessness and yearned for the “Ultimate Talent” so much that he had voluntarily joined the Kamukura Izuru project. The current Hinata, with his memories returned to that point, had every reason to have low self-esteem.
“Thank you… Hearing that makes me feel better… But…”
Hinata’s voice had lost some of its melancholy compared to before, but his expression was still gloomy. After all, his worries weren’t something a few words could fix.
“Hinata, what if… you were just an ordinary person with no abilities at all?”
“An… ordinary person…?”
Hinata’s already gloomy face darkened even further. I stared straight at him and began speaking.
“There’s a story I know… I think it would suit you right now. How about it? Want to hear it?”
“…Yeah.”
I closed my eyes gently and took a deep breath, then began telling Hinata the story.
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“Well, that’s the end of the story. How was it? What did you think?”
“Um… I don’t know… It was a sad story with no hope…”
“Yeah, it was a very sad and gloomy story. So, what do you think happened to that kid?”
“Um… I guess he didn’t get a happy ending…”
“No, that’s wrong.”
“Huh…?”
Hinata gave me a puzzled look when I guessed wrong. I smiled faintly and began telling him the truth.
“That kid, even though he experienced countless hardships and trials… is now shining brighter than ever before in his life.”
“…Why?”
“Because he gained friends who became more precious than anything by overcoming those hardships together.”
“…”
“The kid who was more worthless, negative, and pessimistic than you now is gone. He’s just holding those precious bonds in his heart and moving forward with determination.”
“Kei… Is that… your story…?”
“So, if you’re someone even better than that old kid… you can shine even more brilliantly. If you gain precious bonds.”
“…”
“After all, there’s also the hardship of the killing game. The bonds you gain in such a situation are truly precious and valuable.”
Hinata lowered his head after listening to me and fell into deep thought. I gave him some time to organize his thoughts. Finally, he raised his head and looked at me. I began telling him the words I had wanted to say for a long time.
“So, how about making an effort to get to know the students and become friends whenever you have time? Set aside your worries about your talent for now and build precious bonds by interacting with people as people. No matter what your abilities are, even if you have none at all… you’ll eventually shine brilliantly.”
“Brilliantly…”
Seeing Hinata mutter with a look of realization, I could sense a positive result. I took a sip of the coffee beside me to moisten my throat and asked him casually.
“That’s all the advice I have for you. How was it? Did it help a little?”
Hinata finally wiped the gloomy expression from his face and smiled at me.
“Of course! Thank you so much. My heart feels like it’s been unblocked…”
Watching Hinata happily gulp down the coffee beside him made my heart feel warm. He had been worrying about his uselessness for so long. I hoped I could see him moving forward without faltering and eventually shining brilliantly.
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“Ah… right, there’s one more worry I wanted to ask about…”
“Hmm? What’s this time’s worry?”
“This worry is… about Nanami…”
“N-Nanami?”
“You see… Nanami keeps pestering me to tell her one wish… and I’m fine with it…”
Hinata suddenly blushed and trailed off.
“Why… a wish…?”
“She says she wants to repay me somehow because I got hurt… Honestly, I didn’t do it on purpose… I’ve already apologized enough… The wish… really isn’t necessary…”
“Um… still, it might help Nanami feel less guilty if she does it that way? She’s been feeling guilty about bothering you.”
“No, that’s not it… but lately she’s been doing too much for me… helping me walk… feeding me… coming over whenever she has time… what if I get sick…”
Wait, this is completely my story?
“So, does it feel burdensome or unpleasant?”
“Ah, no! It’s not like that… rather…”
“Rather what?”
“U-um… that is…”
Hinata’s face turned completely red as he stumbled over his words. This was exactly what I thought.
“There’s one wish that’s perfect for you right now. How about it? Want to hear?”
“W-what is it…?”
“One-day date application right.”
“…!”
After that, Hinata blushed for a long time, muttering, before I began relentlessly questioning how he felt about Nanami. In the end, he fled from my room as if running away.
It seemed like another couple would soon be added to the island.