After about 5 minutes, Sugawara returned with two cans of cocoa in hand. I was wondering if he would return, but it seemed he had no such thought. He asked if I preferred the bitter one or the sweeter one, so I chose the sweet one, indicating that I would pay, but he shook his head slightly. It's strange for a college student to have a middle schooler treat me.
He sat next to me, and pulled the ring tab. He did not speak; surely he was thinking about something.
Both of us sat in a corner of the spacious park, remaining silent; it seemed so weird, so I decided to take the initiative and talk,
"Did Masaya really bully you?"
"Yes." Taku Sugawara immediately answered, "There's no proof. Masaya won't be so stupid as to leave evidence bethind.
"Why did he do that much…did you incur his wrath or something?"
"Well, who knows?"
Sugawara coldly answered. I realized then that I asked the wrong question; it might be that I was too eager to figure out the truth, or that I was somewhat biased that I asked a terrible question.
There was no real reason for the bullies.
"…Is it fine to let me explain myself as I like?"
After a short silence, he said,
"I'll explain my relationship with Masaya, and why he killed himself. It may take some time, but this will be fine."
I nodded.
I had to know no matter what, no matter what the truth was.
Saying till this point, Sugawara stopped, and drank his cocoa, sighing, and went silent. For some reason, his body seemed smaller and weaker than before; his tone inflicting sadness for some strange reason.
What he said was likely to be the truth. I should say that it's utterly ridiculous for Taku Sugawara alone to dominate four people. My little brother was bullying another classmate heartlessly, planning everything to a terrifyingly perfect setup. I recalled the image of Masaya I saw this summer, and couldn't help but bite my lips.
The winter winds blew in December, and Masaya's position just so happened to shield me, but my legs were icy cold. I immediately began to regret coming over in a long skirt instead of pants. Why did Sugawara choose this location?
"Eh, I don't have any proof at all. I have a receipt of the second recorder, but this might end up suspicious instead." Sugawara noted in a self-depreciating manner.
"At the very least, it's more convincing than you alone bullying four people."
"Thanks."
"But I still don't understand the real reason as to why Masaya suddenly bullied you. Of course, I know it's cruel of me to ask this of you."
"The reason to pick me as a target was simple. I act alone, and it's easy not to be found out even if I was bullied. In fact, nobody else found out."
Sugawara patted the chest of his coat, twitched his body slightly, and muttered.
I couldn't help but ask,
"But you can imagine this? In a certain way, you're closer to Masaya than anyone else, Sugawara."
I thought it might be a hyperbole to say that, but I had no intention to correct myself. As Masaya's good friend, surely he viewed Masaya in a different way from everyone else.
With a hesitation look, Sugawara rubbed his fingers on the urge of the can, and said,
"Peer pressure…"
With a hoarse voice, he said,
"Did Ishikawa mention this? The class has been overly conscious about the Human Power Test, and those with low rankings are basically those who are told 'I don't want to get involved with you'."
"Yeah, she was suffering due to this, right?"
"…It's not Ishikawa alone who was suffering because of this."
"Eh?"
"I did say this before right? Masaya was bullied by his three friends, couldn't refuse, and could only obey them. Even he, that kind of genius, couldn't fight back against peer pressure."
Or I should say, Sugawara continued on,
"Everyone in class felt pressurized due to the human relationships. Of course, I'm still a middle schooler, and even without the Human Power Test, I would feel pressured. The Human Power Test though increased the burden greatly, and crushed the other personalities. With poor grades in that, one's own existence is basically denied. It forced us to learn how to observe, getting along with others is a must, and the theme was not to break the harmony. Everyone was living in a hell they were being watched in, and there was a tense atmosphere of a survival game of friendships, swords drawn and clashing."
Taku Sugawara continued on,
"So Shunsuke Ninomiya, Kouji Watabe, Takayoshi Komuro and Masaya Kishitani had to find a form of entertainment that they wouldn't be found out. Kotomi Ishikawa was bitter that her boyfriend was hiding something from her, and she started bullying me along with the rest of the class. Kouta Katou himself started to harass Masaya Kishitani—"
"So Masaya Kishitani killed himself." I said.
"And Taku Sugawara launched his revolution." Sugawara said.
At this point, our conversation paused for a while.
The middle schooler seated next to me gulped down all of the coca.
"Sorry, there's a little mess in the timeframe, and I described Kouta as a bad guy. That's not true. He's just one of the reasons, Masaya definitely had various reasons to commit suicide. Several people harmed him for various reasons. Of course, this included me."
He calmly smiled,
"I'll continue on then."
I called out for the one person most important to me on this world.