My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

Page 206

Sometimes, the self-reproach in one's heart is more valuable than criticism from others.

If someone speaks ill of you, you can simply retort. However, when you notice your own shortcomings and begin to blame yourself, there's no one to retort to.

The coercive methods were harsh, but extremely reasonable.

However, Yukinoshita's method is not entirely correct.

The tactic of using reverse psychology only works on people who are still motivated and see hope; it doesn't apply to those who only blame others. Moreover, blocking such a person's escape route might only cause them to throw up their hands and give up completely.

Sagami's spirit had been utterly shattered, and his eyes drooped limply.

However, Yukinoshita showed no sign of giving up and attempted to continue.

"Sagamami-kun, what are you planning to do...?"

"Enough, Yukinoshita."

I interrupted her halfway through her sentence.

Yukinoshita, interrupted, glanced at me. However, I couldn't detect any protest in her eyes.

My gaze left Sagami and I turned to face Yukinoshita.

"You won't get anywhere by continuing. If someone could change after just a few words, they wouldn't have made the mistake in the first place."

Even the most valuable words will only be heard by those who are willing to listen. If a single quote could change a person's life, then the world would be a happy, beautiful world.

Those who succeed because of a single wise word could have succeeded regardless of their circumstances.

Words themselves have no power; rather, power depends on the listener's own power.

In that case, Sagami truly belongs to the category of powerless people. No, not just Sagami, but most people are like that. I am no exception.

The meeting room fell silent again after I interrupted Yukinoshita.

Thanks to this, even the faintest, most indistinct answers could reach my ears.

"...I will continue to serve."

The sharp, slightly hoarse voice seemed stuck in the throat, and it took a lot of effort to squeeze it out.

The owner of the voice looked down at the table, her trembling fists already crumpling the hem of her skirt.

Even so, Sagami still gave an answer.

Hiratsuka-sensei untied her hands, which had been clasped in front of her chest, leaned against the table, and then let out a sigh of relief.

"...Is that so? Then I'll leave the rest to you as well."

However, I couldn't feel at ease at all; in fact, I felt uneasy. Why, why was Sagami able to choose to continue serving as chairman?

The Sagami I know is the kind of guy who will run away whenever there's an escape route, and who will grab onto the Spider's Silk without hesitation the moment it's lowered. Besides, there's no Hayama, his classmates, or anyone else who usually surrounds Sagami here.

To Sagami, almost everyone present was an enemy, or at least not an ally.

The senior student, who was relatively mild-mannered towards Sagami, stood up from her seat and stood next to her.

"So, the first thing we need to do is repair our relationship with them, right?"

"...Yes, that's right."

Sagami seemed to be muttering to himself without much confidence.

Hiratsuka-sensei, who had been watching the two, turned to look at us. She probably figured it was best to leave Sagami to Megurine-senpai.

"The mediation work with the on-site team will be handled by Sagami..."

"We are responsible for coordinating the activities between various clubs. We must organize the materials and prepare the explanations before the next meeting, right?"

Yukinoshita quickly answered, and Hiratsuka-sensei nodded in satisfaction. After confirming her understanding, she took out a pen and a notebook.

"I will confirm the schedules for each club's conference and assign tasks accordingly..."

Yukino quickly listed out the tasks to be done, and Yui, who was standing next to her, leaned her chair closer to her.

"I'll take charge of contacting the presidents of the sports clubs. I know most of them anyway."

"Okay, please."

Yukinoshita smiled in response, and Yui nodded vigorously with a "humph." She seemed pleased that Yukinoshita was willing to rely on her.

"Also, we need to study how much the workload of the Thousand Horses Battle can be reduced..."

Yukinoshita was deep in thought, resting her chin on her pen. Then, she looked at me.

"It seems like someone has nothing better to do than sit around with their hands free."

"Eh...no, this..."

I looked at my hands. Huh? That's strange. My hands aren't empty at all. Could it be that my hands actually have holes called wind tunnels or something, so empty that they can suck in demons? (Note 34 alludes to the character "Miroku" from the manga "Inuyasha".)

"Then, Hachiman will be in charge of discussing with others how to reduce the labor costs of the Thousand Horses Tournament. The Pole Drop Tournament shouldn't require too much preparation, so it's fine to maintain the status quo."

Taking advantage of my lack of words and inability to answer, Yukinoshita finished speaking in one breath.

"I can't talk to someone about it. Don't ask me to do this kind of job that requires communication skills. I'm only suited to quietly making artificial flowers in a dimly lit corner of a room, or to putting strawberries on a cake production line."

Or perhaps I'd be reading comics in the convenience store staff break room late at night, and unilaterally return magazines I didn't like. No, in the end, I'm simply not suited for manual labor.

There's a saying that everyone has their own area of ​​expertise.

I uttered a beautiful idiom that seemed familiar. Of course, Yukinoshita wouldn't listen.

"Yes, that's precisely why I'm asking you for a favor. Only you can do this job. Think about it, who else besides you can communicate with that... Cai... Cai Jin-kun?"

Yukino's reasoning made a lot of sense, and I was convinced. But please, you should probably start remembering their names by now!

"I don't think I've ever really communicated with him... that guy is completely unresponsive."

"Just send a text message."

This time, Yuihama spoke. Indeed, using text messaging might ensure that communication doesn't go astray. Most importantly, I don't need to see the other person's face; I just need to type in the work details and send it.

However, to be honest, I've never liked text messages anyway.

Sending a text message first always leaves a feeling of losing, which is really annoying. Why does this unwritten rule exist that "text messages must be sent by the boy first"? This inexplicable rule makes sending a text message much more difficult. And if the recipient doesn't reply, the blow can be quite significant. Thanks to this rule, since junior high school, I haven't had a question mark in my text messages.

Oh well, since the other person is a wood sign, there's no need to worry about anything. Just treat them like trash, and it'll be easy.

"...Okay, I'll just do it casually."

I reluctantly agreed, and Yukinoshita nodded.

Please.

"it is good."

Anyway, I'm already quite used to criticizing the work of the woodwork maker. Watch me critique their work until it's utterly worthless.

Thus, the division of labor was established.

Yukinoshita was in charge of itinerary planning and scheduling, Yuihama was in charge of communicating and coordinating with the presidents of other sports clubs, and I was in charge of researching how to reduce labor costs. It was a fairly reasonable arrangement overall.

I should feel lucky that the workload is only this much. If it increased any more, I wouldn't be able to handle it. Besides, in terms of actual workload, this should be the easiest one for me.

But is it really a good idea to leave so many things to them?

Especially Yuihama, she'll definitely have a tough time. It's obvious how difficult it is to communicate with people in sports clubs who already have a grudge. If that's the case, helping to lighten that burden is the duty, no, the destiny, of a capable man—a high-performance lone wolf elite, or Botticelli for short (Note 35 is similar in pronunciation to "lone wolf elite"). But, none of the guys I know are club presidents, so I can only... ahhhhhh! Isn't there one? There's someone I know who's a club president! The tennis club president is my Totsuka, sorry, a slip of the tongue. Someone I know. Isn't there one?

Suddenly, all the integrity and kindness in my heart returned. I am truly compassionate.

I mentally recited a thousand excuses to myself. Sometimes, finding excuses for yourself is a very important thing.

As my internal debate about finding excuses officially ended, I cleared my throat, pretending it was something that had just occurred to me:

"Um, Yuihama. How about I contact Totsuka instead, since I actually know his phone number? You think it makes little difference whether one or two people do the contacting work, and I can help out. Wouldn't it be too much work for you to do it all? I'm just doing it as a side job, so you don't have to mind at all."

The excuses you give to others are also very important!

However, Yui Hama paused for a moment, then shook her hand.

"Oh? No need, no need, it's okay, I have his number too, give it to me!"

Yuihama clenched her fists and straightened her back. If that's the answer, I can't continue arguing. Uh, you misunderstood, that's not what I meant…

Finally, Yuihama even lowered her head slightly and turned her face away, looking at me with her eyes slightly raised.

"But... um, thank you."

"……You're welcome."

That wasn't what I meant at all, but I had no choice but to return the favor. Alas, my legitimate reason for texting Totsuka was gone. Not only that, but my ulterior motives were now exposed, and a pang of pain shot through my chest.

Just as I was about to succumb to the torment of my conscience, Professor Hiratsuka spoke up:

"It seems the committee's operating guidelines have been finalized. Well then, let's leave it at that for today."

She stood up and called out the name of the senior student.

"Cheng Hui. I'll lock the gate; you can leave now."

"Okay~"

The senior student who had been accompanying Sagami raised her hand to answer. Then, she patted Sagami on the back, signaling him to hurry home.

"Sagamami-kun, keep up the good work next week!"

"……good."

Sagami answered in a weak voice, grabbed her bag, and followed Xun-senpai out of the meeting room.

The rest of us started packing up.

Everyone picked up their bags and moved towards the door. Perhaps it was Mr. Hiratsuka who pressed the switch, for the indoor fluorescent lights went out instantly. In the twilight, a voice came from behind.

"I've caused you trouble again."

I turned around and saw Ms. Hiratsuka standing in the afterglow of the setting sun. Because of the backlighting, I couldn't see her facial expression, but her voice was even gentler than usual.

"Ah, no, it was actually quite enjoyable."

"Besides, that's how our club activities are supposed to be."

One voice was bright and cheerful, the other steady and composed, as they answered the teacher's question.

"To be honest, it was all because the teacher forced us to do it."

I replied to the two of them in a listless tone, and the teacher laughed heartily.

× × ×

As autumn deepens, the building entrance is deserted, adding to the chill in the air.

The sound of three scattered footsteps echoed down the corridor. One tapped their footsteps at a steady pace, another skipped lightly, and the last dragged their weary legs along.

Yuihama kicked hard into her worn-out loafers, stood in front of me, and turned around.

"It's wonderful that Sagami is willing to continue serving as the chairperson."

"Is that so? I think it would be better for her to be dismissed in some ways."

As I threw my shoes on the ground and put my feet in them, I answered her question. At that moment, Yukinoshita quietly walked up from behind me.

"If we only consider the operational aspects of the sports meet, then that's correct."

"But that won't change anything."

Yuigahama nodded.

Indeed. Both of them make a lot of sense.

The Service Society currently has two commissions.

To help ensure the sports meet concludes successfully. Also, to improve Sagami's evaluation and restore his confidence, thereby improving the atmosphere in the classroom.

This is an excellent opportunity to complete two tasks at the same time, killing two birds with one stone, but precisely because it is essentially the work of two tasks, the difficulty is greatly increased.

Sagami Minami is the bottleneck in this project. If the variable named Sagami cannot be eliminated, things will spiral out of control. I truly admire their decision to let Sagami continue.

I looked at the snow with surprise.

"I'm talking about you. I'm amazed you used that kind of reverse psychology. Faced with that kind of pursuit, an ordinary person would have run away long ago. Even someone as strong as me would have run away by now."

This isn't just a "go home if you don't want to work here" kind of harassment. It's more like direct harassment or harassment of authority. Uh, "direct harassment" was a slip of the tongue.

In conclusion, Yukino is not the type of person who should be a mentor to new employees.

Yukinoshita placed her finger on her chin, tilted her head, and looked completely puzzled. Then, she spoke calmly.