I had never bullied Emi. The only time I was involved in bullying was against Kitami.
I knew that Emi was being bullied. But I did nothing.
I was afraid of retaliation, afraid of becoming the next target.
I think Emi and I were close enough. We hung out together, and there was no doubt that we were friends.
But I pretended to ignore it. I was scared. I was self-preserving.
And I told myself. It doesn’t matter.
It all started one day after school.
I saw Emi writing bad words in Kitami’s textbook.
I knew exactly what was going on.
She had done something I couldn’t do and had gotten herself into a situation I feared.
But I knew then that Emi had been on the perpetrator’s side.
I stopped Emi. I told her that I felt sorry for her.
”You didn’t do anything for me! Stop saying selfish things!”
What came back were words like that.
And what followed was the worst thing she could have said.
“You give me a hand …if you don’t, they’ll pick on me again, or you… So help me.”
And I accepted the proposal.
After that, Kitami stopped coming to school.
In the end, the only result that remained was “no hard feelings”
In the first place, Emi and I were not involved in the bullying.
I know why. Emi threatened the people who had originally bullied us.
She told them that if they exposed our crimes, she would expose all their lies.
In short, she made the situation go away in the most convenient way for herself at the expense of one person, Kitami.
She became the sole victim.
[Kitami PoV]
Having said all this, an order arrives.
However, she did not touch it and continued her story.
“I was threatened and swept off my feet. I don’t think that such things make me less guilty at all. I am definitely just as guilty as everyone else. I hurt Kitami.”
”I wanted to apologize for a long time. But Kitami moved away and I never had a chance to apologize to you.”
“So that’s why you found out where I was at that time, huh?”
I listened in silence for a while, and then finally interrupted her.
”….But that’s no reason for you to help me. Miyajima, isn’t it enough if you can apologize to me?”
She was just here to be forgiven, and she didn’t have to be on my side.
I guess it was an unexpected question for her, too, and she fell silent for a while as she thought about it.
I didn’t rush her and just waited.
Then, after a while, she said something.
”—I guess I’m atoning for my sins.”
”Atoning?”
”No, it would be better to call it self-satisfaction. Maybe I want to be on Kitami’s side so that I can forgive myself… I’m sorry. I the lowest…”
“…Self-satisfaction, huh?”
She gulps, on the verge of tears. I could see it clearly from the side.
She was holding on as if the act was unforgivable.
Perhaps she had just realized her principle of action.
And that, it seemed, was unacceptable to her.
“I’m sorry, I…”
She probably realized that it was selfish.
She must have realized that it was not 100% for the other person’s benefit.
”—-I don’t care if it’s about self-satisfying.”
“…Eh?”
Miyajima was taken aback by my words.
It was a very unexpected response.
”I’ll make it clear. I still can’t forgive Miyajima. I haven’t sorted things out enough to be able to forgive you.”
”…Yeah.”
”But I understand that Miyajima is sorry and wants to do something about it.”
”…! T-Thank you…..”
That’s why, that’s why I.
“That is why I would like to accept your feelings.”
I know. That these words are not the answer to “I don’t care if it’s about self-satisfying.”
I won’t say it out loud. No, I can’t.
Because it’s the same for me.
What I wanted to do, what I once did to save something, was definitely self-satisfying.
It’s the same with not forgiving her.
On reflection, I acted on it.
Then maybe I should forgive her. Even if it was for her own satisfaction.
Otherwise, nothing will change in our relationship. It’s just stagnation.
I know. I don’t want to admit it. I don’t want to admit that this choice wasn’t a mistake.
I don’t want to admit that not forgiving is wrong.
Because I haven’t yet been able to forgive someone more important than the girl in front of me.
If I forgive this woman, I will be denying her feelings and the words she said to me.
So I rejected her. But I didn’t want to deny her.
At least I was happy that she said those words to me.
—I was happy that my mom saw me.
It was supportive. The possibility that I could get back on track, if I just forgave her, it filled my heart.
So I will not deny the girl in front of me her self-satisfaction. No one knows if it’s the right thing to do.
She is concerned about me, and that is the most important thing here.
For my convenience, my thoughts. For her convenience, her thoughts.
If there is even 1% of thought for others, it’s enough.
It is not about whether it is right or wrong, but what I myself and she herself want to do.
So, I will not deny her thoughts.
“I understand your thoughts. Forgiveness, as I said before, is still difficult…”
“…No, it’s okay. Thank you so much. I’ll do my best so that one day you can forgive me…”
She couldn’t hold back her tears.
And so did I. I didn’t know what to say to her.
I didn’t know what she was crying about, but I knew it was about something important to her.