66. Mother’s reqeust
Late at night, Mom finally came home.
Soon after, I told her about my feelings regarding the MSA.
Saying the same thing over and over again would, of course, make you get used to it. So, I was able to explain better than before why I wanted to volunteer outside the Special Ward.
“Take-chan, do as you like.”
Surprisingly, Mom had no objections.
“Why?”
“What’s with that strange expression?”
I probably had a not-so-good look on my face. Because secretly I feared that she would resist the idea even more than Sis.
“I consulted with Sis first…”
“I see, so?”
“She was against it at first… and I also consulted with Makoto, Yuuko, and Rie. Everyone was surprised at first, and I thought Mom would react the same way.”
After laughing, Mom boasted, “I grew up outside the Special Ward, you know.”
“In other words, Mom knows the outside that well, and so…”
“Rather than that, I just think it’s a good thing for Take-chan to know the outside. Listen, in my workplace, there are people who don’t know anything about the outside.”
Maybe Mom doesn’t get along with people like that?
That’s why she doesn’t object the idea of knowing the outside… is that the reason?
“Then, it’s okay, right?”
“Sure, and to be honest, I was thinking that if Take-chan ever wanted to see outside, doing it for the MSA would be a good idea. At least for the first time.”
Right, if it’s for that, the chance of something “bad” happening is slim. She probably thinks so.
I mean, if something happens, it’ll be big news, and the impact on society as a whole will be big.
Like, even if they tried to hide it, if it spread through me and people around me… in that case, it’ll be even worse.
Wait, maybe the system in place that makes sure such won’t happen is better than I thought?
“Let’s see, in Take-chan’s case… your birthday is in May, means it’ll start in June. So this year left 8 months, which means 16 times.”
“Yeah. August and March are excluded, so I guess that’s the right calculation.”
“Then, not only once, just go until you’re satisfied. I don’t mind.”
“Thank you, Mom.”
“But…”
“……?”
“If possible, there’s a place I want Take-chan to go.”
“Place you want me to go?”
Mom’s reaction about this matter was different, very different, from what I thought.
“You know my job, right?”
“Of course.”
Mom was developing a program for how to efficiently operate the goods distribution network that was running underground in the Special Ward.
She always came home late, so I always thought she had to be relied on a lot at work.
“When a new route is created, we have to make adjustments to the entire route, and think about how the existing routes can be made more efficient. So yeah, my work never stops.”
“Good work, Mom!”
“Well, Special Ward is like that and that’s fine, but do you know how it works outside?”
“You load things on a truck and distribute them.”
And that’s Grandma’s job.
“That’s right. Transportation trucks can’t enter the Special Ward, so they gather at the collection point for a while. Same goes for taking things outside. So… I want you to take a look at it, Take-chan.”
“Okay, but why?”
“Hmm～, I won’t talk about that.”
“……?”
“Because I want you to see the collection point outside with your own eyes.”
“Alright… that means, you want me to go and see it without any prior knowledge?”
Mom silently nodded at my question.
I’m really curious, but if Mom says so, it’s probably better to do so.
As a final confirmation, I said, “Sure.”
◇
A few days after the GW holidays ended, the talk with the other groups in class ended. With this, I could interact with the whole class without being so awkward.
Just talking to all my classmates, 40 people, really took up time. But in a world where the ratio between men and women was unbalanced, it wasn’t easy for men and women to get along and be friendly.
Well, every school has rules… but my principles wanted me to talk to them. It couldn’t be helped. Even if a problem might arise from other classes…
“Oh, right!”
During the break time between lessons, while talking to Atsushi, I suddenly remembered something.
“You surprised me, Souya-kun. What happened?”
“Sorry. I just remembered something… Remember when I bumped into a girl after the entrance ceremony?”
“That thing made a huge noise. Of course, I remember that. So, what’s wrong?”
“Sure that matter has settled down, but now I’m curious about what happened after that… I mean, they’re from outside.”
“Is that so? I’ll look into it.”
Said Atsushi and then he winked.
“……Atsushi?”
After a short moment, one of the group members quietly approached.
Whenever Atsushi and I were chatting, our group members would stay away from each other and watch over us. But clearly, it was kind of a trained movement.
So, Atsushi told the girl what I had just said. And, she quickly took out her smartphone from her pocket and tapped it.
“I found one person. Her name seems to be Sana Dobashi-san from Class 1-4.”
“Thank you… that’s fast.”
Also, since when did your group members become informants?
“You see, we have a work community. So, she tried to get information from there.”
“Ah, the faction things you mentioned before?”
“Something like that. Anyway, no matter how much information you share within the community, it won’t be leaked outside, so it’s convenient.”
I don’t quite understand, but still, it’s effective even at school?
Ah, come to think of it, Makoto and the other two were also collecting their own class information… This world is scary.
From what I heard, apparently, Dobashi-san was the girl whose chest I rubbed.
At that time, I touched the “soft things” for the first time in my life. It was so memorable that I might remember it for the rest of my life.
It’s been a long time since then, but… I can still feel it.
After hearing the information, I decided to check on Dobashi-san during the lunch break.
Good to know that she didn’t get expelled…
When I tried to meet Dobashi-san alone, Kikuie-san and the other three from my group stopped me.
“Souya-kun is a hot topic in the other classes.”
“Seeing her, moreover alone, there’s a possibility that her position will become worse within the class.”
“You need escorts so you won’t be underestimated.”
“Let’s all go together!”
Since it would be difficult to persuade them during the short lunch break, I decided to take them all with me.
“This is like we’re going to beat someone up.”
“In fact, isn’t that true?”
“No, it’s not true!”
It’s not true… right?
When we arrived at the Class 1-4 classroom, Kikuie-san grabbed a nearby girl and asked her to call Dobashi-san.
“Mind calling her here?”, or something like that was what she said.
By this time, by the way, the level of attention was at its max. Everyone in the classroom was staring at us.
Like Moses crossing the sea, a person who seemed to be Dobashi-san walked in between the split-in-two crowd.
She looked pale. Very pale.
Actually, I didn’t remember Dobashi-san’s face.
The only thing I could remember about her was the feeling I had when I rubbed her chest, but of course, I couldn’t use that method here. To be honest, my heart hoped that this would be allowed.
“You’re Dobashi-san, am I right?”
When I asked that, she bowed quickly.
“At that time, I was so rude…”
Yep, definitely her.
From the side, it probably looked like I came here with my group demanding her to apologize.
But if I continued to speak directly to her even though my group members were present, the surroundings would make even more loud noises.
Probably my hesitation was so visible that Hashigami-san suddenly said, “Let’s talk in a quiet place.”
My classmate is Atsushi, not “Hiroshi”… it should be. [TN : Explanation about Hiroshi at the end.]
“Y-Yes!”
Said Dobashi-san in an upright posture.
TN : Hiroshi here is most likely, Hiroshi Takahasi, a manga artist, who made two popular manga Crows and Worst (about Delinquent), why suddenly mention his name, because suddenly the situation as if the MC is a delinquent
TN: Join my discord channel if you want.
TFTC