I, the human, could accomplish at least that much.
When I was a monster, though, things were different. With my imagination at my fingertips, I no longer had to focus so intensely on myself.
It was the same as always. As long as I could preserve the status quo, everything would be fine.
As long as I could keep doing the right thing, as I always had.
I settled my resolve and straightened my back. I ascended the stairs alongside Kasai, walked down the hall, and stepped into the classroom.
It was then that it happened.
Something landed at my feet.
I don’t know what course of events lead to this, or what was going on, or why this thing had ended up just at my feet. At this juncture, I had no idea what the item might be. All I knew was that, besides Kasai, the eyes of everyone in the classroom were on the thing that had landed at my feet, and on me.
Wondering just what it was, I glanced at the bulging white paper bag at my feet. There was something written on it. I took in the warped lettering.
Yano Satsuki.
It was Yano’s.
This was the moment of truth.
All of the things I had been thinking about since dawn spilled over in my mind, and amongst those thoughts was a spot that went pitch-black. From out of that darkness a dim thought of Iguchi drifted out. Actually, it wasn’t Iguchi. It was something far more terrifying—the thought of Iguchi’s harassment.
Here I was again, at the mercy of Murphy’s law.
I looked once again at the faces of everyone in the classroom. Everyone there was scrutinizing my actions. Amongst them was Yano, rushing my way with an “Oh!”
A shiver ran down my spine.
I had to do the right thing.
There would be no making the excuse that I wasn’t thinking. Being careful meant one could never leave these sort of things to chance.
I reconfirmed what lay at my feet. Though it was not for long, I thought hard, made my decision, and acted.
With my right foot, I stomped down on the white paper bag.
The thing inside made a crunching sound.
It was as though that sound was the key that undid the spell. With that single step of mine, time began to move in the classroom once more. Everyone turned their gazes away from me and returned to what they were doing.
I felt relief. That sound had cleared up any doubts I had about myself. I had done the right thing as a member of this class. With that fateful stomp as my first step, I continued straight on to my desk.
I knew at once that, normally, such an action would see me criticized, but that was the right thing to do, here in this room. I had merely evaluated my options and properly aligned myself with the views of my classmates. Yes, that was what I told myself.
As I set my bag on my desk, desperately trying to steady my racing heartbeat, Kudou jabbed me in the side. At first, I was afraid that she was going to reprimand me, but instead there was a lively grin upon her face.
Even Kudou should have known how wicked a thing it was to step on something belonging to someone else. Not just Kudou—that should have been common sense for everyone in the room. And yet, here was Kudou smiling, not a single one of my classmates looking to rebuke me for it, because what I had done was the right thing to do, only now, only here. I had succeeded by the barometer of how much ill-will or anger one should show towards Yano, by the strange metric this class used to judge one another. That test was sacred within these walls.
And I knew that. And yet, my heart kept beating faster and faster, because I could not find solace in the shelter of our class’s unique mindset. I should have recognized how important this was, but facts that only I—that only I and Yano— knew, kept me from feeling that righteousness.
The heat within my body rose as a war waged within my own heart.
If such a thing would have been allowed, I would have done anything to question Yano at once.
Why?
Why hadn’t she left something important to her at home? Why would she bring it to school during the day? In my moment of panic, I hadn’t even thought to hesitate, not knowing what was inside that bulging white bag. But I should have at least known what it was for.
And yet, I had stepped on it.
“Oh,” said Yano, picking up the bag, before peeking inside. “It’s…broken,” she muttered, trudging to the back of the classroom and shutting it inside of her locker. I watched as she did this, still sitting next to a gleeful Kudou.
There was no need to even set my powers of imagination to work. I had known the answer just from looking at that bag. I did not need to imagine it at all.
For the first time ever, true guilt panged within my heart. The guilt filled me like a balloon until I was ready to burst.
After all, I had seen in the wake of my own footstep one other warped line of letters on that white bag, below Yano’s name.
To: Noto-sensei.
It should be “for,” shouldn’t it?
Within my heart, I could only repeat that it was none of my business.