My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

Page 205

"Looking at them after they finished, Mr. Hiratsuka spoke up."

"Then let's call it a day."

Upon hearing this, everyone greeted each other briefly, saying thank you for your hard work, and then began packing their things.

"Well. I'll take my leave now, Hachiman."

The woodworker, who had been silent and left standing to the side, quickly packed his things and hurried out of the meeting room. The other student council members also quickly finished preparing and started their journey home.

Just as I was about to go home and grabbed my schoolbag, a sentence suddenly rang out, as if it had been planned in advance, and brought me back to my senses.

"Hachiman. You two stay behind for a moment."

"Huh? Oh no, I'm not feeling well today..."

Although I looked hesitant, Hiratsuka-sensei simply continued to direct the others with her chin. Yukinoshita seemed to have known she would be left behind, remaining motionless and waiting. Yuihama, on the other hand, seemed to be lost in thought, standing there in a daze.

It seemed that as a member of the organization, my staying here was a foregone conclusion. I instantly realized that resistance was futile, so I had no choice but to reluctantly sit down.

So, what exactly did Ms. Hiratsuka want to say to us? I waited for her to speak, but instead of addressing us, she spoke in an unexpected direction.

"And you, Sagami. You stay too."

Sagami, whose name was called, flicked her wrist. However, she didn't seem to refuse; instead, she quietly replied, "Okay."

After glancing at me, Yukinoshita, Yuihama, Sagami, and Megurine-senpai, Ms. Hiratsuka spoke.

"I went straight to the point. What are your plans next?"

Unable to understand what the teacher meant, Yui and I exchanged bewildered glances. However, simply looking at each other wouldn't provide an answer. We looked at Yukinoshita; she seemed to understand something, her gaze fixed directly on the teacher.

"Do you mean, how does our committee plan to operate going forward?"

"Yes, that's right. But it's not just that..."

The teacher gave a vague answer while glancing at Sagami.

"Sagami, what are your plans for the future?"

“Eh…”

Perhaps not expecting to be called on by the teacher, Sagami thought for a while before speaking.

Even if the teacher asks me that, all I can do is keep going...

The sound that came out was intermittent and indistinct.

While it wasn't exactly an answer, Sagami at least understood that things would get very bad if the situation continued like this. Although the teacher asked for a solution, not an understanding of the current situation, it seemed a bit harsh to expect Sagami to come up with one right now.

Hiratsuka-sensei did not sigh, but solemnly agreed, then turned to Sagami and said in a calm tone.

"Okay. Let's organize the topics for the future first."

After confirming the current situation, the teacher gave Sagami time to organize the key points. The teacher seemed determined to have Sagami answer the question. This certainly resembled Hiratsuka-sensei's style.

Sagami's gaze darted around, her mouth opening and closing nervously, her whole demeanor restless. It seemed she didn't know where to begin her answer.

Her eyes darted around, scanning everyone present before quickly looking away. Although her gaze met mine briefly, she only showed a look of shame and disgust before immediately looking elsewhere.

Everyone remained silent, simply waiting for Sagami's reply.

She seemed to feel the pressure and hesitated before speaking.

"Um... the on-site team isn't following orders."

"..."

Sigh, that's exactly what she thought. More than speechless, I felt a sense of "I see." Silence returned. Amidst this, only Senior Xun smiled, looking troubled.

"Hmm...that's true. Whether it's a sports meet or the grand finale, it's impossible to manage without the help of sports club members in the on-site support team. However, this time, no one has the extra energy to help, so it's difficult to guarantee the necessary manpower and time...Is my understanding correct?"

"Yes, yes."

Although Sagami responded immediately, I think she probably didn't understand what Senior Meguri was talking about at all.

Well, it doesn't really matter. As long as Sagami still holds the title of chairperson, she'll still have to draw the conclusion. So, letting Sagami think about it is the right thing to do. But conversely, as long as Sagami is the one who ultimately "states" the conclusion, that's fine.

Those other than Sagami are responsible for guiding Sagami's thinking to reach that conclusion.

Yukinoshita seemed to be aware of this as well, and after waiting a while, she turned to look at Senior Megure.

"So, regarding the negotiation and adjustment of other club activity times... let's finalize the schedules for all club activities before the sports meet, and then we'll assign tasks accordingly."

Yukinoshita's suggestion is perfectly reasonable.

The reasons why Haruka and Yui oppose this—in other words, the arguments they use as pretexts—simply need to be destroyed one by one.

But that’s not enough.

Reasoning is only effective with reasonable people.

"That won't work."

"Hmm...probably."

I spoke up, and Yui nodded slightly in agreement. It seemed she also understood that there was another problem with this matter.

Tell me about it.

I was urged by Professor Hiratsuka, so I gave a brief explanation.

"Since the other party has already developed a dislike for us, if the subsequent negotiations are not handled very skillfully, they will soon start disobeying orders again."

Humans are creatures driven by emotions.

For humans, the criterion for judging things is not whether they are reasonable or not, but rather based on emotions. Moreover, if one acts impulsively and emotionally, one will later fabricate a set of theories to justify the rationality of one's actions.

In order to justify their behavior of disliking or avoiding something simply because they hate it, people will come up with all sorts of arguments to justify their actions.

No matter how hard you try to reason and argue logically, the other party will always come up with another set of arguments to refute you. Not to mention citing data and references, it will only be a waste of effort and futile.

"I don't really understand..."

Sagami seemed somewhat anxious.

...We're talking about you, Sagami.

I'd love to just start arguing like this. The fact that Sagami doesn't understand this statement means she's still completely oblivious.

While arguing is one method, it would only make things more complicated if it led to a conflict with Sagami. I decided to omit proper nouns and examples and explain things to her directly and without beating around the bush.

"If the other party already dislikes us, then no matter how reasonable our opinions are, they will only act on emotion and continue to criticize us."

A simple and easy-to-understand answer. My explanation was so simple and clear that it could be considered a universal truth. No one refuted my words.

Hiratsuka-sensei, who had been listening quietly all along, sighed and said:

"...As long as Sagami continues to serve as chairman, this problem will continue to follow you."

The teacher's understanding is completely correct.

Once trust is lost, it cannot be easily regained. Conversely, it is all too easy to lose someone else's trust.

Sagami has failed.

Then, the world is far too harsh on failure.

For example, if you try to change your image when you first enter high school or college but fail, even in the early stages, the consequences can be very serious. Not to mention failing in the finals or a formal performance, where people around you will blame you for the rest of your life.

Only those who have already succeeded say "failure is allowed." Those who haven't left any achievements shouldn't say this even if they make mistakes. As for those who are still working hard, they shouldn't believe this sweet-sounding lie.

Sagami seemed to have come to a slight understanding of the fact that he had failed, and he repeatedly pondered Hiratsuka-sensei's words.

Then, she understood what the teacher was trying to say.

"Does the teacher mean it would be better for me to resign as the chairperson?"

Faced with Sagami's agitated attitude, Hiratsuka-sensei gave a wry smile.

"I didn't say that. Lost trust must be regained, but it will be a very difficult task. I hope you understand that."

The teacher said tactfully.

However, that's too euphemistic.

Even if turning things around after a failure isn't impossible, it's not as simple as elders or successful people make it out to be. In most cases, failure will only lead to more failures.

If the current situation continues, Sagami will only fall into a spiral of failure.

As if testing whether Sagami was aware of the situation, Hiratsuka-sensei stared intently at Sagami, making her somewhat apprehensive.

"...Um, that."

She glanced at Yukinoshita halfway through her sentence.

Sagami was probably seeking advice from Yukinoshita. However, this was a huge mistake. The mistake lay in seeking advice from the wrong person. This kind of behavior should be done from someone who can give you the answer you want.

Yukinoshita spoke to Sagami with her unchanging, cold expression and an even colder tone than usual.

"It's fine if you resign. We were the ones who asked you to do this in the first place, and serving as the chairperson wasn't entirely Sagami-kun's own decision. There's no need for you to force yourself to continue."

"But...but..."

Sagami attempted to refute the other party, but was interrupted by Yukino's words.

"I asked Sagami-kun to do it, so I'll take responsibility."

In other words, Yukino will take responsibility and handle all the work of the chairperson. This statement feels incredibly real. Yukino is absolutely capable of it, and she can do it even better than Sagami. Judging from the school anniversary executive committee matter, the outcome is obvious.

Even if Sagami leaves, someone else can continue to play her role. There's no longer any need to persuade Sagami to stay. The only remaining issue is Sagami's personal wishes.

To confirm Sagami's determination, Hiratsuka-sensei asked in a stern tone.

"Sagami, what do you plan to do?"

“I, I…”

Her voice trembled.

Sagami must have hoped that everyone could stop her from leaving and comfort her so she could stay.

Therefore, she can use this as an excuse to shift her responsibility onto others.

Alternatively, by expressing regret while resigning from the chairmanship according to one's own will, it would not appear as an attempt to escape, and one's self-esteem would not be hurt.

However, Yukinoshita wouldn't allow her to do that.

This is a gamble.

To fulfill the mission that Du has been entrusted with—to help Sagami Minato gain confidence and stop spreading a negative atmosphere in order to improve the atmosphere in Class 2-F—it is necessary to cut off Sagami's escape route here.

If Sagami chooses to escape, he will only be able to shift the blame onto others and barely maintain his self-esteem by belittling others.

In this way, Sagami will remain unchanged, and the atmosphere in the class will not change at all. No, in order to repair Sagami's self-esteem, the atmosphere might even get worse.

To avoid this situation, Sagami must make her own decision. In order for Sagami to continue serving as chairperson according to her own will, her escape routes must now be completely cut off.

"..."

Sagami hesitated and remained silent, unable to give an answer immediately.

I was somewhat surprised.

The risk of Sagami losing his position here is practically zero. If it were in class, he could simply find someone from the lower rungs of the school hierarchy to be the scapegoat and bullied, thus saving face for Sagami. As for Haruka and Yui, they were just "friends" from another class to begin with, so even if that relationship ended, it wouldn't cause Sagami much harm. If they bumped into each other on campus, he could simply pretend he didn't remember anything and give a casual greeting.

For Sagami, the only worry was that Hayama was also present at the time. Even so, everyone knew that Hayama never spoke ill of others, so Sagami's pride wouldn't be hurt by Hayama.

This is not a favorable bet.

Even so, since it was Yukino's scheme, she must have some means of winning. Yukino, with her fiercely competitive nature, wouldn't participate in a match she has no chance of winning without any countermeasures.

Yukinoshita continued to watch Sagami's every move, even the rise and fall of his breath.

Sagami, who was looking down, noticed that he was being stared at, so he secretly glanced at Yukinoshita.

Their eyes met.

"...If you're concerned about what will happen next, I can tell you there's no need to worry. You can leave it all to me."

Yukinoshita continued her pursuit, adding another sentence.

It sounds like she's worried about Sagami, but it's actually a statement that concludes Sagami has no value, bluntly pointing out that the operations committee can function perfectly well even without Sagami.

Sagami's cheek twitched slightly, and the corner of his mouth began to twitch, turning into an expression that was so fake it couldn't even be called a fake smile.

So that's what Yukinoshita was planning.

It wasn't through outward reprimands and scolding, but through the inner suggestion of words, allowing Sagami to understand on his own, and even hoping that Sagami would be roused as a result. That's probably the feeling.