11 Chapter 6.2: A Man's Tears Part 2

Part 2

With the break of dawn, the next day had come.

The final special exam of the school year was fast approaching.

By the time I arrived at the classroom, Hirata was nowhere to be seen. Mii-chan's expression was also still somewhat clouded over.

Despite the fact that everyone was trying not to think about him, nobody could stop themselves from worrying.

And then he, the indispensable figure for all of Class C, showed up at the classroom.

By this point, everyone was reluctant to so much as look at him.

"G-good morning... Hirata-kun."

But, sure enough, Mii-chan reached out and greeted Hirata before anyone else.

She held back her sadness, giving it her all to force herself to smile.

Having noticed this himself, Hirata drew closer to her.

"!"

Mii-chan froze up for a moment, reminded of the events that had taken place the day before.

Upon seeing her reaction, Hirata whole-heartedly bowed his head to apologize.

"Good morning, Mii-chan. I'm sorry about what happened yesterday. I've done something very terrible to you."

"...Eh?"

Hirata's apologetic words were filled with emotion.

"And, I ignored you even though you went to the moon and back trying to comfort me. I'm so sorry."

"T-that's, uhm... I completely..."

It wasn't just Mii-chan, the entire class had been left speechless by Hirata's sudden change in behavior.

"Everyone else too... Good morning!"

Hirata had come to school with a smile so bright and full of energy that his past actions felt like nothing more than a hallucination.

"H-Hirata-kun?"

"I'm okay now. Really, everything is alright."

As he spoke, he reassured Mii-chan with a gentle smile on his face. Then, he turned and lowered his head to the entire class.

"It may be too late to apologize at this point, but... if it's alright with everyone, I'd like to do what I can to help the class once again from today on."

Hirata spoke without raising his head.

For several seconds, everyone, boys and girls alike, exchanged glances with each other, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

But─

"Hirata-kun!!"

At first, a few of the girls rushed over to Hirata's side, but before long, he had been surrounded by most of his classmates.

Presented with Hirata's long-awaited return, every single student in class was over the moon.

"What happened?"

Horikita turned and asked me. She had stayed in her seat, unable to make sense of the scene playing out in front of her.

"I told you it was a collective effort, didn't I?"

"That's... true, but... don't you think he might be forcing himself?"

"Is that what it looks like to you?"

"Well, I guess not."

"Different people take different amounts of time to get over something. On the day after getting into a huge fight, most people tend to get along with each other as if nothing had happened in the first place."

Human relationships were just like that.

After accepting a warm welcome from the rest of the class, Hirata turned and approached his final opponent, Horikita.

"Good morning, Horikita-san."

He stared at Horikita with honest, clear eyes.

"Y-yes. Good morning."

Perhaps Horikita was shaken by how unexpectedly radiant Hirata was right now.

"I don't think I was wrong during the class trial the other day."

"...I see."

"But... I don't think you were wrong either. Or, no, I should say that what you did was right."

This was something he simply couldn't accept at the time.

But now, he had come to terms with it.

"I just didn't realize it at the time."

"Did you hit your head or something? You're completely different today than you were yesterday, and it doesn't seem like you're just putting up a bold front either..."

Despite Horikita's suspicions, Hirata simply let show a carefree smile.

"I'm going to do my best to earn back the trust I've lost. I'd like it if you'd fill me in on the details of the special exam later."

"I understand. I'll let you get a grasp of the situation and test to see whether or not you're actually up to the task. Is that alright with you?"

"Yes. Of course."

Hirata extended his hand as a final notion of reconciliation, to which Horikita reached out and accepted.

After that, Hirata was once again swarmed by his peers, one after another. The classroom had become so bright and cheerful that it was hard to imagine that it had been immersed in such a pitch-black, gloomy atmosphere only just a few minutes ago.

"Anyway, I guess this means we're finally ready to face the special exam."

"I guess so."

It might be fair to say that Hirata's return was the best support Class C could've asked for.

Kōenji, on the other hand, was the only one who didn't seem affected by it.