Inside the Service Club, the air seemed to have solidified into a heavy entity.
Yukinoshita Yukino sat blankly by the window, her gaze cast emptily outside. Those once-cold and proud emerald eyes were now dull and lifeless, as if all their spirit had been drained away along with the cruel truth and the final outcome shown on the light screen.
Hachiman Hikigaya curled up on a chair in the corner like a severely wounded beast, completely sealing himself off, surrounded by an aura of self-abandonment so thick it wouldn't dissipate.
Their psychological states at this moment were strikingly similar—their inherent psychological defense mechanisms had been completely shattered by Kuchiba Hiro's piercing, caustic words.
Humans instinctively crave happiness, but reason is constrained by social norms and moral concepts. This internal conflict inherently brings pain, so people unconsciously construct psychological defenses to protect themselves.
Yukinoshita's defense was to project her desire for recognition and respect onto the "Service Club," this tiny stage where she could maintain control and manifest her own "value."
Hikitani, on the other hand, was better at self-deception, vilifying everything in the outside world that didn't meet his expectations while glorifying his own escapism and loneliness, such as: 'It's because you're too kind that I had misunderstandings I shouldn't have had.'
However, Kuchiba Hiro's poisonous tongue on the light screen was like precise surgery, peeling away their cocoons of self-consolation and forcing them to face the hypocrisy, weakness, and ugliness that might starkly exist in their hearts. This led to intense self-loathing and even triggered thoughts of giving up on themselves and completely letting go.
Yukinoshita thought: "I'm truly hypocritical and ridiculous, like a meticulously designed defective product. My family doesn't love me; what's the point of living?"
In Hikitani's mind, it looped: "As expected, I'm just useless trash. I can't change anything. Just let it all be destroyed; I'm tired."
Yui Yuigahama paced around them anxiously, trying to distract them with clumsy jokes and irrelevant topics, but their despondent appearance only filled her with a deepening sense of helplessness and fear.
Just then, the door was pulled open.
Hiratsuka Shizuka walked in with Kuchiba Hiro.
"Ya!" Yui Yuigahama jumped in surprise, almost instinctively spreading her arms to block Yukinoshita and Hikitani in a slightly comical yet brave gesture. Her voice trembled as she asked, "T-Teacher Hiratsuka? W-Why did you bring him..."
Hiratsuka Shizuka waved her hand and explained in a tone that bordered on shameless, "This trouble is more or less his fault anyway. Since the one who tied the knot must be the one to untie it, let him solve it himself!"
Kuchiba Hiro frowned slightly and couldn't help but retort, "Teacher Hiratsuka, how can this be considered my fault? You're being unreasonable."
"Oh, it's about the same, don't worry about the details!" Hiratsuka Shizuka replied dismissively. Then, without another word, she grabbed the arm of the still-dazed Yui Yuigahama and added, "Yui, let's go out first and give them some space."
"Eh? W-Wait a moment, Teacher..." Before Yui Yuigahama could finish, she was dragged out of the Service Club by Hiratsuka Shizuka with unquestionable strength, and the door closed with a "click."
Kuchiba Hiro stood there alone, still holding an unfinished sandwich and a half-drunk beverage. Looking at the two across the table who seemed to have had their souls sucked out, he felt a bit disoriented for a moment.
He silently walked to the table, set down his food, took a large gulp of his drink to calm his nerves, and then let out a long, silent breath, trying to steady his emotions. He pulled over a chair and sat down opposite them, forming a subtle confrontational triangle.
He pondered for a moment. His sharp eyes swept over Yukinoshita's lifeless face and Hikitani's withdrawn posture, and he quickly reached a conclusion—it was still the fault of "education."
Books had painted an overly perfect blueprint of the world for them, but the coarseness and cruelty of reality had mercilessly shattered that fantasy, causing the cognitive world in their hearts to collapse. To put it simply, their "hearts" were in disarray—so much so that they had lost the basic framework and courage to deal with reality.
"How should I start?" he murmured to himself.
After a brief silence, he chose the most direct way, and his first sentence was earth-shattering:
"You've been lied to."
His voice was calm yet possessed a strange penetrating power, causing Yukinoshita's hollow eyes to flicker slightly, and Hikitani also moved his eyelids almost imperceptibly.
"Just like the old me," Kuchiba Hiro continued, his tone carrying a flatness that recalled the past, "I was lied to quite badly."
He began to tell his story, a past that had not appeared on the light screen:
"I once believed firmly as well—believing in the integrity, fairness, and justice mentioned in books, believing that the essence of this world is beautiful and full of kindness."
He paused, his gaze drifting into the distance as if returning to some painful juncture:
"Until the year I was twelve, when I was falsely accused of... molestation by the family of a girl I had saved."
He spoke the word very lightly, but the bodies of the two opposite him stiffened almost imperceptibly.
"That was the first collapse of my world." His voice remained steady, but a trace of suppression could be heard if one listened closely. "I couldn't understand why someone could fabricate such a vicious lie out of thin air. Why would some people rather believe an accusation riddled with holes than the obvious facts? I was completely isolated at school, marginalized, labeled with all sorts of nasty names, and even... bullied. I began to hate school, hate that environment, and even started to doubt if I had really done something wrong."
"However, my father... he was very open-minded." Mentioning his father, Kuchiba Hiro's tone softened slightly. "Seeing my state, he didn't force me or give me lectures. He just said to me directly: 'If you're not happy, then don't go anymore.'"
"So, I dropped out for two years. That's why I'm eighteen and only in my Second Year of High School."
He described his experiences during those two years:
"The first year, I did nothing. I had no idea what to do. I lost my direction and faith in the future, the world, people, and myself, like a wandering soul. My father didn't demand anything of me; he just took me everywhere to play and tried his best to satisfy my various requests. He wanted me to forget that painful experience. But...", he shook his head. "It was useless. The doubt and deep hatred for this world were already branded into my heart."
"I told these feelings to my father. Then, he made a decision that I found incredibly cruel and agonizing at the time—"
Kuchiba Hiro's voice paused here, as if he needed to gather some strength to say the words that followed:
"He actually made me, only fourteen years old, go out to work and earn money for myself."
He even imitated his father's cold tone at the time, recounting: "He said to me: 'Do you think the world revolves around you? Put away that pathetic grievance of yours! No one is obligated to spoil you! Feeling bad? Then go taste the true hardships of life! See if your little trouble is more painful, or if not being able to eat is more painful! Either pick yourself up or rot in the mud; don't expect me to support a useless person!'"
"That was my second collapse." Kuchiba Hiro's eyes became somewhat distant, carrying the embers of the pain from that time. "I felt that... my only relative didn't love me anymore. Carrying a heart full of grievance, anger, and fear, I began my working life. At that time, I felt I was the most helpless and pitiful person in the world."
He began to talk about the "reality" he witnessed while working:
"I thought people were equal, kind, and honest because that's what the books taught. But the reality was that almost everyone I met was lying—for profit, to be lazy, for all sorts of reasons. Fairness? That's even more of a joke. I saw people working themselves to death only to get a meager salary, while others could sit back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor through connections or means. The world isn't the smooth, perfect sphere I imagined; it's rough, full of sharp edges, and even... a bit dirty."
Following Kuchiba Hiro's calm yet detailed narrative, Yukinoshita's originally hollow eyes gradually focused and she began to look at him seriously. Hachiman Hikigaya was also no longer in a state of complete closure; although he still kept his head down, he was clearly listening.
Kuchiba Hiro saw their subtle changes and continued, his tone gradually shifting from the pain of memory to a settled calmness:
"I once hated my father, hated his cruelty, and hated his indifference. I suffered countless cold shoulders and hardships in the places I worked, and I thought about giving up many times. But strangely, in that relentless daily grind, after I had to observe, learn, and deal with all kinds of people and things for survival..."
He paused, as if organizing his words:
"I slowly understood my father's intention. It wasn't that he didn't love me; quite the opposite, he used this borderline cruel method to forcibly pull me out of that illusory 'perfect world' and throw me into the real, rough, but also vibrant human world while I still had a chance to reshape my worldview."
"He later said to me: 'Son, books teach you to recognize truth, goodness, and beauty, and that's not wrong. But reality is equally full of falsehood, evil, and ugliness—even more so. True strength isn't living in a sterile greenhouse, but having the ability to protect yourself, find your own path, and even... still be willing to discover and cherish those scattered bits of beauty after recognizing all the roughness, injustice, and even darkness of this world.'"
"My world went through three collapses—the first was the collapse of trust in others, the second was the collapse of trust in family (the surface of it), and the third was the collapse of the beautiful illusion of society as a whole." Kuchiba Hiro summarized, his gaze sweeping over Yukinoshita and Hikitani. "But after every collapse, I picked up something harder and more real from the ruins. I began to learn not to measure reality with the perfect yardstick from books, but to understand the operating logic of reality and accept its rough essence."
He looked at Yukinoshita, his tone exceptionally serious:
"Yukinoshita, your family might not have given you a 'correct' education, and it might even be full of calculations. But that doesn't mean your life is destined to be a tragedy. Realizing the roughness of the world and the complexity of human nature isn't a reason for you to despair, but the starting point for you to truly begin to know this world and think about how to live within it. Hypocritical? Who doesn't wear a mask? Ridiculous? Which idealist hasn't tripped? The important thing is, after falling, do you lie there in self-pity, or do you get up, see clearly what material the road beneath your feet is made of, and then keep walking?"
He glanced at Hikitani again:
"Hikitani, closing yourself off and wrapping everything in negativity and self-mockery seems safe and 'wise.' But in essence, it's still a form of escape, a fear and rejection of the rough side of reality. Truly recognizing reality includes recognizing yourself—your desires, your weaknesses, your limitations—and then... finding a way to coexist with them, or even utilize them. It's not about blindly vilifying the outside world to glorify your own retreat."
Finally, he said, his voice not loud but carrying a strange power:
"The world has never been perfect, and it never will be. It's rough, chaotic, and often disappointing. But this is the only reality we have. Instead of being immersed in the pain of shattered illusions, hating yourself or cursing the world, why not try to accept this roughness and then see what kind of flower you can grow on this coarse land—even if it's a thorny one, or an inconspicuous little flower."
"Gird your courage and face this rough world. It's not that good, but... it might not be that bad either."
After saying this, Kuchiba Hiro spoke no more. He just sat there quietly, picked up the remaining sandwich, and began to eat slowly, leaving the time for digestion and reflection to the two people across from him whose hearts were currently experiencing a tempest.
Inside the Service Club, it remained quiet, but the atmosphere that had been solidified like ice seemed to have quietly cracked open a fissure.
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