Real teaching, hypocritical gray life

"So stubborn............"

"Well, we should set off now!"

Fanbo nervously took Amakura-san's arm and said a brief goodbye to me and Jiye, then left with the girls. We stayed where we were and watched them leave in silence.

"............Jino."

"what happened?"

"You just said one sentence, can't you help me?"

"Don't force me to do something I can't do. Isn't it okay to leave it to Luo?"

“That’s true, but it’s tiring.”

"I'm just too lazy to talk because I'm tired."

"What a blunt excuse... Try to change it at least. If it continues like this, it might become a problem."

"I know, I know~"

This reaction is totally indifferent...

After picking up movie tickets from the machine the day before, the two of us checked our tickets and went in.

Most of the people in the cinema were staff members of this school. There were empty seats on the left and right sides, but the back was full of people.

The aroma of popcorn and the smell of hot dogs tickled my nostrils.

Nothing special happened during the movie.

However, there are some subtle elements in the content of the movie, which I need to mention in advance.

Chapter 222: Full of disgust in the dark night/Bad bastard!

The distance from one street lamp to another along the riverside of the street is a little off-putting to me.

[In the pitch-dark night...]

Although I can accurately answer a variety of questions in basic education, I have always had doubts about it. Whether it is the concept of numbers in mathematics [1] or the simple grammar taught in Japanese language classes (Note: the writing rules of an article, generally used to refer to the arrangement of words, phrases, short sentences, and complete sentences and the rational organization of an article.).

Everything that can be understood by my reason cannot be accepted by my emotion.

[Pitch black]

I stretched out my palms along the radiance of survival in the cracks. Even though there were dark clouds covering me, in the open space a little distance from the street lights, the fingers of my hands were still clearly visible. This was something I couldn't even understand.

How low does the brightness of the surroundings have to be to reach the point where you can't see your hand in front of you? Unless I rely solely on my vision to sense the outside world and close my eyes, I can't imagine any other way to make the world completely dark; otherwise, the structure of the surrounding space and my own body parts will subconsciously appear in my mind.

The only difference in doing this compared to opening your eyes is the change in perspective.

How does it sound sad? Whether I open my eyes or not, I always have a clear understanding of my surroundings. However, I can't destroy all my perceptions for such a desire for knowledge. My will is more inclined to the freedom of my own actions............

What kind of feeling do street lights give people in the dark?

It is probably warm and cold at the same time. The reason is that there is a faint light in the darkness.

Then there was the distance from one street lamp to another, which I felt disgusted with.

Because the light from the street lamp under my feet dragged my shadow and stretched it continuously, and sometimes even split into two people, one in front and one behind. Although they were both born from under my feet.

The reason for hating it is that you have exposed your whereabouts too much. In the past, you would be in danger of suffering pain or losing your life, instead of just feeling relieved so calmly and easily.

So, is this really what is called clarity?

I have fully understood the reason, but I am unable to accept it emotionally.

Perhaps I have had the same feelings before, and my memory can reproduce the scenes at that time, which are still vivid in my mind.

However, I feel unimaginably strange about the scenes I have experienced, the people I have met, the sounds I have heard, the tastes I have tasted... in my past memories.

It feels like the neurons in my brain are establishing new neural connections instead of activating previously activated brain areas. According to neuroscientist Nikolay Kukushkin, I am not the same person as I was before.

A rather horrifying speculation. I hesitated from the bottom of my heart.

If the self denies its own existence, then what will be left?

So compared to the former speculation, I hope my memory is just a movie.

[It seems that to this world, I am just an outsider. ]

Since neither reason nor emotion can easily lead to a conclusion, the problem can be solved by simply changing the guess. Therefore, similar statements can make me feel at ease.

It doesn't matter if others call me escaping, this matter has lost its meaning from the moment I start thinking about it. The only thing left for me to hope for is that I still have a name.

Therefore, I can still be recognized by others in this world. Although these concepts can be easily blurred, as long as I can ensure that similar things don't happen, I may be able to get the conclusion I want............

Regardless, I am seeking the truth in my own way.

The street lights in the dark night are not standing alone on the street by the river, and the elongated shadows under my feet do not belong to me alone. There are also several other shadows belonging to Ji Ye next to me.

"I never noticed before... Himeno seems to like candy very much."

"About the same. I prefer sweets. And if it can be poured with sour sauce, I won't mind. But it's not excessive to the point where I can ignore the sweetness."

As he said this, Jiye changed the position of the lollipop in his mouth and licked the right side of his cavity. It seemed that because it was a bit sour, or maybe it was just a coincidence of coldness, Jiye shook his body.

"Especially lollipops... strawberry flavored."

"............You really observed it carefully. It's a pity you didn't notice it until now."

"No. Even if I noticed this normally, I wouldn't say anything about it. The reason I mentioned it now is because I was holding a large bucket of popcorn. We agreed to solve it together, so why did you leave me alone so cruelly?"

"That was completely Luo's own decision. I didn't even have the chance to answer at that time. Anyway, even if it's a large bucket of popcorn, you guys can easily finish it, right?"

"That depends on the situation. I don't have that much space left after just eating."

"So don't waste points buying big buckets............"

"This is a promotion at the cinema. A large bucket of points is cheaper than a small bucket."

"............You can explain it however you want. Anyway, I didn't agree to it. I don't want to have a sore throat, nausea and vomiting when I wake up the next morning............"

"Hey~ You are really knowledgeable about health care."

I don't really want that to happen.

I looked down at the more than half-full bucket of popcorn in my hand and didn't know what to do.

Because I was full, I didn't savor the popcorn carefully. It would be a pity to just throw away this rare opportunity............

As expected, it can only be stored in the refrigerator in a sealed container, although the taste of the popcorn will deteriorate due to moisture.

"............By the way, I kept wanting to ask Luo Jun a question while I was watching the movie just now. It was the same before, I always forgot it even though I thought of it."

"That means it's not particularly important, otherwise I wouldn't have been disturbed so many times."

"Well, it's really not very important to me, but I just want to figure it out."

Ji Ye paused and yawned at the slightly distant path in front of him.

The winding asphalt road, the chirping of insects in late autumn mixed with the roars of other unknown creatures, the inconspicuous grass on the street... In short, there was no trace of anyone except the two of us in the field of vision, and the only moving things were the various lights in the sky and on the roadside.

"Can we beat Class B in this special exam?"

"【Paper Shuffle】? I don't know either."

"Hey, aren't you sure of winning?"

Ji Ye was surprised at my answer. He didn't expect me to give such an answer.

"That's for sure. The questions for this final exam are completely in the hands of the other party, and I can't judge the level of the questions set by Ichinose. Assuming that the level of the question setter is equal, based on the class average scores shown so far, the academic ability of our two classes is also equal."

"Either we know nothing, or we are evenly matched. This way, we can't come to any conclusion."

"Ichinose-san didn't tell Raku-kun about the test information. This is really unexpected...... Ah, that's not what I wanted to say."

"What I really want to ask is, did Luo-kun prepare for this special exam? What methods could have led to victory? Like getting the test paper set by Class B... Come to think of it, Luo-kun still hasn't explained to me who the [class betrayer] is, and has the problem of arranging the partner combination been resolved, Ichinose-kun?"

"So far, everything has been as expected, so there's no need to worry. Also, I think I've made it very clear in my previous remarks. For this special exam, all we students can do is work hard to prepare for the exam. At most, we can harass the enemy class like the students in Class C... Well, I did some unnecessary actions, but it doesn't matter."

"Hmm, what, what extra movement. Can you tell me?"

"I leaked the test questions to Class B."

"............Wait, wait a minute, what did Luo Jun just say?!"

"Didn't you hear me? I leaked the test questions to Class B."

It was obviously just a simple matter, but Jiye acted unbelievable. The next moment, I felt a stiff tug on my arm, and I was forced to stop and face Jiye.

“…There’s no need to do it right away. I almost fell down.”

"Sorry - that's not the case. When you said [leaking the test questions to Class B], did you mean the sticky note that appeared on the desk every morning that Sakayanagi-san mentioned in our class last time?"

"Yeah, that's what I did. It's pretty impressive, isn't it? I had a hard time getting it in there."

The presence of the camera doesn't matter to me. As long as it's not me who's taking action, it's fine.

"After doing something like this, Luo is still here asking if he's powerful or not. He must be lying, right?! After all, Luo has no chance to get in touch with the test questions of Class A."

"It's actually very easy to get the class test paper. All I have to do is go into Ichinose's dormitory room... and use my connections. This shouldn't be a difficult task for me, right?"

"But Ichinose has already explained that the leaked test questions are different from the ones given in class, so don't go too far even if you're joking, or I'll get angry."

Ji Ye looked at me angrily, but I didn't feel that he was angry at all. On the contrary, he even looked a little cute.

"Doesn't Himeno know Ichinose's personality? Regardless of whether the leaked test questions are the same as the class questions, Ichinose will only make one choice - to conceal it. Only in this way will everyone in the class not be suspicious of each other, nor will they worry about it. Isn't it?"

"We can't be convinced by their words alone, so we have to expose the test questions to gain trust. This is a very common practice."

"Luo, did you really... do that?"

I didn't reply, this was to test the other party's ability.

Jiye pulled hard on the lapels of my uniform jacket, and soon wrinkles appeared on it.

"So the leak of the [entry list] at the sports festival was also......?"

"Although I guided it, it was not me who did it."

"But if there was no guidance, the [entry form] would not have been leaked at all."

If Kushida doesn't have that intention, then I will do it myself.

I want to say this, but that would be too much of a thrill.

"So what is this, the [class betrayer] is actually referring to himself? The one who put Ichinose in trouble is also him. You are definitely kidding, right?"

"No, what I just said is true."

I flatly denied Ji Ye's naive thoughts and told her the [cruel] truth.

"Huh? Then why, why would you do something that would endanger the class? Hasn't Luo been helping the class get promoted to Class A?"

“I don’t have any special thoughts about the class.”

Ji Ye slowly loosened his hands and took a step back in confusion.

"What does that mean? Has Luo only been doing what he wants to do so far? That's a lie............"

"Do what you want? Maybe, but there are also reasons why you have to do so. However, I think Himeno misunderstood me."

"Did you misunderstand me? Then please explain it more clearly. I am really confused now."

"Until now, our class has been taking the special exam under the leadership of Ichinose, right? For the students in Class A, Ichinose is someone they can trust absolutely. Whether it is the right choice or the wrong judgment, it will obviously be a problem if it continues like this. Therefore, I hope that the ideal state is to change the class to [39 people against, 1 person in favor]."

"What do you mean? Isolate Captain Ichinose? Even if that were to happen, it would be a bigger disadvantage."

"Of course, I didn't mean that. I hope there will be more students who can express their own ideas. Although our Class A looks like a solid block, it is not a whole in the true sense. In a situation where there are patches everywhere, there are also many students who go with the flow. Isn't that the case with Himeno?"

"Me? Why are you talking about me? Now is——"

"You don't actually agree with everything Ichinose does. Unlike other students who blindly follow him, you're confused, aren't you?"

"That's, that's——"

Ji Ye understood what I meant a little, so he lowered his head in silence.

"But there's no need to go to this extent... This is impossible. They don't want to see others get hurt more than they do themselves. They are all people who can only say nice things like this... The class won't change that easily."

"Is it really okay to keep going like this? In fact, Himeno also has doubts about the existence of the class, right?"

"There's nothing I can do about it... I'll just go on like this... I'll go back first."

Although Ji Ye said this, his body did not make any movement. He stood there like a child who had made a mistake, not knowing which way to go.