Once Hasegawa Teru's overly agitated emotions had finally calmed down, the Yumi teachers picked up the other puzzle piece and began to question him about the whole incident.
"...At some point, stories of ghosts in the old school building began to circulate in the class."
The boy's voice was calm yet clear.
"But everyone has only heard about it; very few people actually have the courage to come here at night."
“I…” He lowered his head somewhat shyly, “My dream is to become an investigative journalist.”
"Therefore, after learning about this, I wanted to use my own strength to find out the truth."
"I first confirmed the truth of the matter... and then I came to the old school building alone at night, and that's where I met... Yoshida Yuta."
It was only at this moment that he turned his gaze to Yoshida Yuta for the first time, his expression complex.
All this suffering started because of him... yet he himself was also a victim of Matsuo Ryohei's conspiracy. Even Hasegawa Teru couldn't say for sure whether he hated the ghost before him.
Yoshida Yuta couldn't understand these complicated words, so he just paced around aimlessly until he met Hasegawa Teru's gaze, and he blinked.
"Ahui, you're awake."
When shall we play games again?
"..."
Hasegawa Teru turned his head away, not answering his question, and continued slowly:
"When I told my friends about it the next day, none of them believed me."
"But when I called them to come together, they were too scared."
At this point, a childlike expression finally appeared on his face, and he slightly pursed his lips.
"But more than them, I'm concerned about Yoshida Yuta's identity and why he's here."
"Everyone says he died in the earthquake thirteen years ago. Is that true? If so, why is he still here? Is there some unfulfilled wish?"
He asked several questions in a row, a glint of light in his eyes. But when he met Willy's gaze, his ears turned red with embarrassment.
After calming himself down a bit, he continued:
"I went through the school's records, but perhaps because of the long time that had passed and the damage caused by the earthquake, I found nothing."
“I often come to play with Yu... Yoshida, but all he knows is how to play games, and he doesn’t know anything about his own background.”
“I can tell he wasn’t deliberately hiding it… which only means he genuinely didn’t know.”
Even the ghost itself doesn't know why it's here, so how can we expect a child like Hasegawa Teru to find out?
He once considered giving up.
Actually, the Ximi masters could answer this question for him.
Yuta Yoshida had no connection to the child who died in the earthquake; he was merely a monster from a ghost story born from the words of a busybody.
People have a penchant for such bizarre and supernatural stories, where abandoned school buildings and unfortunate children ultimately weave together a tragedy.
They talked about rumors that seemed true or false, and the rumors spread until finally, a real "Yoshida Yuta" appeared.
He inherited that person's name and appearance, but lacked the most crucial memories and humanity, making him an undeserving and monstrous being.
But as ghost stories spread, more and more people believed he was "Yoshida Yuta." Perhaps in time, he himself will be influenced and confused with him.
Unaware of the exchange of glances between Yumi and the others, Hasegawa Teru reminisced about the past.
"I thought the investigation would end here, but a sudden turn of events occurred unexpectedly."
"That night, my mother was cleaning the house and found an old photo album."
“One of the photos… is a graduation photo from Nonogaoka Elementary School. My mother was an elementary school teacher, so she was in the photo.”
He explained.
"There was an empty space for someone in the corner of the photo, but when I asked her who it was, she looked obviously uncomfortable and quickly looked away from the photo."
“But I saw it.”
“The uniforms those students wore—” he looked at Yuta Yoshida, “were exactly the same as his.”
"..."
Thirteen years have passed, and it's not surprising that Nonogaoka Elementary School has changed its uniform design by the time Hasegawa Teru reached elementary school age.
“I cared about it so much that at night, when my parents were asleep, I secretly took the photos back to my room and studied them little by little under the covers with a flashlight.”
"When I turned the photo over, I finally found something."
The dusty, unused door was suddenly pushed open, and Teru Hasegawa touched the key to the mystery.
“On it, the names of all the students and teachers of that class in that year were written down.”
"And Yuta Yoshida's name is among them."
"More importantly..."
He paused for two seconds, then looked at Matsuo Ryohei lying on the ground for the first time.
His frail body trembled slightly involuntarily. Even though he knew the man in front of him could no longer hurt him, those nightmarish memories kept flashing through his mind, and the wound above his heart throbbed with pain, bringing a chill to his bones.
"He—his teacher—Matsuo Ryohei was also there."
Saying that name seemed to have exhausted all of Hasegawa Teru's strength; cold sweat soaked his collar, and he gasped for breath.
Masashi Yukimura reached out to pat him reassuringly, but he shook his head and refused.
"I can... I can."
Clenching his cold hands, Hasegawa Teru looked up at Willy, as if drawing courage from him, and murmured those words blankly.
Only as his body gradually warmed up did he finally break free from the endless fear, his eyes regaining focus, landing on Matsuo, flashing with a hint of anger and hatred.
"..."
Of everyone present, no one thought of persuading him to forgive; Willy even enthusiastically suggested:
"Should we give him a beating ourselves?"
As he spoke, he even tried to take out his dagger and hand it to Hasegawa Teru, but before he could do so, Yukimura Masashi stopped him, pursing his lips in regret.
"I think it's great."
Kii Kanade agreed without any stance, smiling broadly.
Want to play a new game?
Even Yuta Yoshida got involved, and suddenly, the most normal Masashi Yukimura became the odd one out.
"..."
Perhaps I can pass on my appointment with the psychologist next week to Kii Kanade.
After all, he looked more seriously ill than I was.
While he was thinking this, he subconsciously ignored the boy who had made the initial suggestion.
He sighed and looked at Hasegawa Teru, intending to offer some advice as a reliable elder, but then he saw the boy show the first smile they had seen since they met.
"Thanks."
He looked around and said sincerely:
Thank you.
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