The call remained on.
With my earphone on, I turned the voice up, and immediately heard an afternoon serial drama of family love and hatred. It's so shocking loud, and they seemed to be quarrelling. Ten minutes later, it seemed to have calmed down.
The mother who only had eyes for her son called out her daughter's name in a doting manner, and the daughter who envied her little brother apologized for her sins.
I hung up.
I thought that it was a ruckus, but I really was grateful that Masaya's mother didn't kill herself. I didn't want more pain in Masaya's home. He grumbled a lot, but he really loved his family.
"The reason why I chose this park was to make sure the daughter would get back to save her mother immediately."
I muttered. I picked up the can Sanae dropped, and turned to leave the park. It's already 6pm, and as it was late December, the sky began to darken.
I wanted to take action quickly.
I kept waiting for as long as I could, and this time, the phone rang. It was from Masaya's mother,
"What should we do…? What do you hope for?"
That was the one thing she immediately said, "I just hope for you to promise me something." So that's all I said, "So that there won't be another victim like Masaya."
I earnestly prayed for them to be happy again, and decided to head to the next destination.
"Now all the pieces are in place, and all that's left is my determination."
"Did you plan all these?" Sanae did question me loudly, but that's not the case. If not for the goddess of luck letting her show up, I probably wouldn't be able to complete this plan. No matter how much I would say, being alone, nobody would trust me.
To convince Masaya's mother, I needed the strength of her daughter.
She remained aloof to her daughter, but the fact that her daughter did abuse Masaya left her really shook, and her form of strong-armed education was unexpectedly a torture to Masaya.
"I hope for you two to be happy." So I muttered.
And so, I headed for the end.
To Kuzegawa Second Middle School.
This really was the end.
The last time I took the bus home with Masaya, we had this discussion. It was February, during our first year.
"It's still better than your family, but my family's kinda twisted…"
Masaya sat by the window as he suddenly said this. He kept looking outside, not looking at my eyes, but his tone was unexpectedly grim.
He leaned his head on the window of the bus, and grumbled with hatred.
I sat next to him, cupping my bag that's on my knees.
"Twisted?"
"Yeah, strangely twisted. Mom would suddenly talk about grades and college without warning; she has high hopes for me. Sis would always bully me whenever she returned home. She envies me; it's disgusting."
"Because you're a genius, Masaya?"
"Yeah. It seemed the reason was that she was dumped badly during college. After I had a girlfriend, she kept pestering me. It was annoying."
"Masaya, your sister's pretty right? She sounds popular."
"Maybe."
"Let me sex her."
"Don't say this to her brother."
"You want me to say this to her brother-in-law?"
"Why are you getting married with my sister!?"
"But you seem really gloomy today."
I asked, and Masaya didn't respond immediately.
After a second or two, he started talking, and there's mist on the glass window.
"You remember Kotomi Ishikawa?"
It's an unexpected name. Of course I remembered that name.
"..I wanted to save her, but I failed."
And also, she's the girl going out with Masaya.
Upon hearing my answer, "Don't say that it's a failure. That was the right choice." Masaya refuted.
Such comforting words. So I thanked him, and asked why he suddenly mentioned Ishikawa,
"That Kotomi's still scared of the Human Power Test, and being graded by others. She's a little overly reliant on me."
Masaya said as he continued to look outside the window.
"Oh." I answered listlessly, "That harassment really left her shocked, huh?"
"Seems that way."
Masaya nodded, and sighed.
"But recently, I'm starting to understand Kotomi's feelings."
His tone had a little melancholy to it, so unlike someone of my age,
"Everyone calls me a hero, but human attidues change easily. Those girls jealous of Kotomi started being nice to her after I went out with her. Even I was terrified when I saw that. I was wondering that one day, my friends might betray me."
"To be honest…there is this possibility."
"Yep. So I started to feel uncomfortable about human relationships. Annoying…well, it's a little different from that."
Masaya looked down at his palm. Of course, we couldn't change this depressing reality.
"There are still scars in Kotomi's heart…I'm affected too, though I have to protect her."
"…I see…I want to help her to."
I answered without thinking. I latched the strap of my bag onto my fingers, and watch it redden as I said that.
However, Masaya seemed to have realized my thoughts through these words alone. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his pants, and looked at me,
"Just maybe, but you like Kotomi, don't you?"
As to be expected of Masaya. He got it immediately.
Maybe my thoughts were written on my face.
"Not to the point where I like her." I chuckled, trying to avoid the incoming hostility, "I do admire her somewhat, but relax, I'm not the trash who'll steal my good friend's girlfriend."
Masaya chimed in,
"Eh, that's impossible for you."
"I'll kill you."
"You said you wanted to help her, right?" Masaya ignored my retort, and answered seriously, "Really? You failed once, yet you…you aren't scared?"
"Didn't you just say "Don't say that it's a failure"?"
"I swear I have no impression of that."
"…To be honest, I'm scared." This time, it's my turn to ignore Masaya's antics, "I didn't want it to end that pitifully. I had a bumpy life; I don't want to be hurt again."
"I guessed so…"
'But…if she's really frustrated, and if you're powerless, just tell me. I'll definitely protect Ishikawa."
Masaya chuckled.
"It's so like you."
"Don't envy me. I might as well save you too, Masaya, beat your classmates along with your family."
"You're doing that as an afterthought."
"What else?" Saying that, I continued, "So, when I'm in trouble, help me out here, Masaya." I then added on, "You know…I have family troubles too."
Masaya nodded, his face becoming kinder,
"Leave it to me. No matter whether I'll be arrested or persecuted, this genius boy Lord Masaya shall drop by to help you out. Next time, you can tattoo the words 'Taku has Masaya'. That's nice."
"Don't wanna…you love to act tough there. You became good friends with me because you and I both have twisted families, right?"
I said. "Yeah, we're good friends, allies." His face reddened as he said that.
Then, he reached his fist out at me.
"Those of twisted families shall help each other out. This is the TakuMasa alliance."
What's with that name? I thought, but I never denied it.
"Righto." So I tapped his fist with mine.
However, I seemed to be the lucky one, not too bad.
After Masaya died, even with my reputation in tatters, I still had a girl waiting for me to give her happiness.
At the very least, I could complete half of what I promised with Masaya.
And thus, this long revolution would finally come to an end.
This revolution was bigger than I expected. All of Japan was cursing me, and foreign media was reporting.
The entire world's my enemy.
All of humanity is cursing me 'to die'.
On twitter, newspaper, 2ch, youtube, entertainment magazines, TV, facebook, LINE, Google+, letters in my living room, inside the bus, LINE, internet podcasts, foreign news, classrooms, Mixi, cafes on the streets. Everyone was slandering me.
"But even though I'm the bad guy, I have a good guy-like wish."
For I was a real trash.
As long as she could smile again, I was fine with falling into hell.
"Right now, I'm going to execute the real happiness."
"…Why am I still narrating till this point?"
"Because you hope for others to listen, don't you?" Sayo's voice came.