The story we started

[“Although I managed to establish a good relationship with you guys and made friends with many of you, but…”]

[“It was also from that time that I realized I didn’t understand my students very well.”]

[Hiratsuka Shizuka looked at the students walking towards the school gate on the playground outside the window. Her eyes became a little deep and she gradually fell into her own memories.]

[“Although I understand your preferences and pursuits, understanding is not the same as understanding. In fact, I have never really understood why you like those things. This is probably the so-called generation gap.”]

[“…When it comes to the current generation of students, I suddenly realize that—”]

[“Now, I have no idea what the students are thinking, nor can I understand their feelings.”]

[Having said this, Hiratsuka Shizuka paused and remained silent for a while before speaking again.]

【But the voice is much lower than before. 】

[“This generation of students nowadays all have a muddle-headed attitude towards life. Not to mention pursuing their dreams, they don’t even have any expectations for the most practical life. The things they like are completely incomprehensible to me. The struggle and hard work we believed in before have now become symbols of “stupidity”. Lacking and entertainment have become the current trend. Students with good grades used to be admired and regarded as goals, but now they can only be called “nerds”.”]

[“It’s like the two ends of an hourglass are turned upside down. Everything that we disliked at that time has become the “right way” now, and the things that we considered to be right are now being abandoned by people.”]

[“I have reprimanded students who have poor grades and who take life for granted countless times, but they not only look indifferent, but also always answer me with “Yeah, right, right”. Even the teachers who are supposed to discipline and admonish students have come to persuade me not to meddle in other people’s business.”]

[“In terms of teaching, parents of students ask for more study time so that students can learn more and become talents, but the higher authorities and students have always hoped to reduce the burden and hope that students can have more free time for entertainment and time to participate in club activities.”]

[“Each side has its own reasons and insistence, and I am stuck in the middle and don’t know which side is right and which side is wrong. I don’t know who I should listen to.”]

[“There are many other things besides these, and these things make me feel that my teaching methods are incompatible with today's students. Perhaps in the final analysis... it is because I have always been educating students in the way and view of my generation.”]

[“I have been teaching for so many years, but I feel…I am increasingly confused about what “education” is.”]

[Hiratsuka Shizuka opened the window of the service department, and the sea breeze blowing in from the seaside blew up her black hair tied into a ponytail. ]

[She leaned her hands on the window sill and lowered her head to speak, with a hint of self-mockery in her tone.]

[“I think this era is telling me that Shizuka Hiratsuka is no longer suitable to be a teacher.”]

[“I’ve been teaching for so many years, but I haven’t learned anything.”]

[“What a failure… What do you think, Yukinoshita?”]

【“…”】

[No response came from behind, only the sound of a chair being pushed away.]

[Sure enough, she also thought that my idea was right. Hiratsuka Shizuka couldn't help but laugh at herself, and her smile was very bitter.]

[I am no longer suitable to be a teacher now——]

[“You are wrong, Mr. Hiratsuka.”]

【"?"】

[The unexpected answer made Shizuka Hiratsuka turn her head in astonishment, and Yukinoshita Yukino's dark blue eyes came into her eyes, staring at her very closely with a very serious look.]

[“Perhaps you are not really able to teach students now, but your teaching career over the years is definitely not meaningless.”]

[“——There is a person who has always kept your teachings in mind and used them as the source of his heart to move forward.”]

[After Yukinoshita Yukino finished speaking, the figure of a white-haired boy immediately appeared in Hiratsuka Shizuka's mind. ]

[The boy leaned against the wall, looking up at himself in confusion, with raindrops falling down his face.]

[“You mean——”]

【“Zaimokuza-san.”】

[Yukinoshita Yukino interrupted Hiratsuka Shizuka's words for the first time, and the unprecedented seriousness and solemnity in her eyes made Hiratsuka Shizuka stunned.]

[“I don’t know what agreement you made with him, but I believe that the reason why Zaimokuza-san was able to acquire 2,000 skills through his own efforts is definitely because of you.”]

[“I want to protect everyone’s smiles”… This is what he keeps saying now.”]

[“And now, he is fighting to protect everyone’s smiles with the 2,000th skill he has learned.”]

[“Two thousand skills? A smile that protects everyone?”]

[“Smile?”]

[Hiratsuka Shizuka suddenly froze, and the pupils in her eyes slowly shrank.]

[“That’s right…!”]

【Remembering something, Shizuka Hiratsuka quickly walked around Yukinoshita and went to the backpack she had placed next to the table. She unzipped the backpack and took out a picture book.】

[Hiratsuka Shizuka quickly flipped through the album and turned to the morning page, staring intently at the agreed time and the Q-version avatar with tears in her eyes.]

[Although the lines of this portrait are simple, it is very vivid, and fully conveys the boy's sad but smiling expression, which overflows from the paper.]

[“I remember now… This is the promise Zaimokuza and I made at that time!”]

[Touching the Q-version avatar with tears and a smile on its face, Hiratsuka Shizuka's eyes gradually widened. 】

[“Zaimokuza and I made an agreement at that time that we would meet at the Service Club of Sobu High School on March 2018, 3.”]

[“If he has learned two thousand skills when we meet, I will——”]

[Hiratsuka Shizuka turned around excitedly, wanting to tell Yukinoshita Yukino what she remembered about the agreement.]

[But as soon as she turned around, the scene she saw made Shizuka Hiratsuka's words stuck in her throat. ]

[——In Hiratsuka Shizuka's eyes, a thumbs-up sign was reflected.]

[“This is what you and Zaimokuza-san agreed to, right?”]

[Yukinoshita Yukino raised her right thumb and spoke softly to the stunned Hiratsuka Shizuka.]

【""teacher.""】

[At this moment, Yukinoshita Yukino's voice overlapped with another voice hidden deep in her memory. ]

[The dust in my heart seemed to be swept away by a strong wind at this moment, and light gradually shone into the depths of my dark heart, bringing with it warmth that penetrated my heart.]

[Memory flows like water, and a picture slowly floats up from the bottom of the soul in the flowing sea of ​​memory.]

[——The boy with glasses stood in the rain and raised his right thumb to himself.]

[There were still traces of water on his face, whether it was rain or tears, and his eyes behind his glasses were red, but his slightly chubby face was smiling through his tears, and he was smiling very happily.]

He said:

[“It’s a promise! Hiratsuka-sensei.”]

[“When we meet again, I will definitely be someone worthy of your finger.”]

["...Taimu Seat?"]

[Opposite the boy in the memory, the current Hiratsuka Shizuka said his name with a stunned expression. ]

[In the torrential rain that washed over the sky, his past figure was reflected in her trembling eyes now. ]

[That smile is just like Zaimokuza's now. ]

【——Never changed.】

77. The glory given to you is the flame that ignites the future in three parts

[Chiba Prefecture, Sobu Prefectural High School, former site of the Service Department. 700txt.com]

[The thumbs up of Yukino Yukinoshita cast a reflection on the ground under the sunlight, and on the opposite side of this reflection, another thumbs up slowly approached her thumb. ]

[Two thumbs up stand close together and face each other, and their reflections on the ground are like butterflies spreading their wings, about to fly towards the sun that gives light.]

[“…I remember everything now.”]

[Hiratsuka Shizuka gave a thumbs up, with a blank look on her face.]

【"Hiratsuka-sensei?"】

[Yukinoshita Yukino looked at Hiratsuka Shizuka who was lost in thought and memories, and couldn't help but ask softly. 】

[Hiratsuka Shizuka did not respond to her question, but turned around, took the picture book on the table, and walked quickly towards the podium.]

【Snapped! 】

[She spread out the album on the old podium of the Ministry, supported the table with both hands, lowered her head and took a deep breath.]

【"call……!"】

[Hiratsuka Shizuka suddenly raised her head and opened her tightly closed eyes, looking seriously at Yukinoshita Yukino standing in the audience, and stretched out her clenched right fist towards her, gently raising her thumb upwards.]

[“Zaimokuza Yoshiteru, do you know what this gesture means?”]

【“——”】

[Looking at Shizuka Hiratsuka standing behind the podium and giving her a thumbs up, Yukinoshita Yukino's dark blue eyes widened involuntarily at this moment. ]

[At this moment, the figure of Hiratsuka Shizuka and another person overlapped in her eyes, both of them straightened their backs and stretched out that finger towards her.]

[The white bangs swayed on his handsome face as the breeze blew in from the window, casting a few swaying dark feathers. His expression was always that cheerful smile, making people feel that the sunshine hanging high in the sky seemed to be overshadowed by the smile on his face.]

[And the tone and expression of Shizuka Hiratsuka when she said this also made Yukinoshita Yukino feel as if she had returned to Sobu High School many years ago at this moment. ]

[When I was still a student here, Shizuka Hiratsuka taught Chinese class in the same way. She always put her hands on both ends of the podium and taught the students with a serious expression. Under her gaze, the students all involuntarily straightened their originally casual sitting postures. The courage of an elder and a teacher in her eyes made no one dare to cheat.]

[At this moment, both the people on and off the stage came to the former Sobu High School, and each other's eyes reflected the familiar yet unfamiliar figure buried in their memories. ]

[In Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes, the current Zaimokuza Yoshiki is reflected. 】

[And in Hiratsuka Shizuka's eyes, the past Zaimokuza Yoshiki is reflected. 】

……

【Chiba Prefecture, suburbs of Togane City. 】

[“Ugh!”]

【"snort!"】

[The truck dragged Zain through the wilderness, turning left and right. Because there was no one to control it, it deviated further from the original road and drove towards remote and dangerous sections of the road.]

[While struggling, Zain's hand that was originally grabbing the collar of the windbreaker was squeezed upwards to tightly pinch the neck, and the huge force pressed on Kousaka Kyousuke's neck, and his fingers pressed through the flesh and blood to the fragile throat and bones underneath. ]

[Kousaka Kyosuke felt that he could hardly breathe, and could clearly hear his throat making a dangerous wail under the pressure of this big hand.]

[His face gradually turned blue and purple due to lack of oxygen, bloodshot gradually climbed up along the whites of his eyes, the shadow of death spread in his mind, and his pupils began to roll up.]

[“Ah—Ugh—Gu—”]

Chiba Prefecture, Takasaka family.

"——Kyosuke!"

Kousaka Yoshino watched her "son" on TV being strangled by an unidentified life form, falling into a state of hypoxia and almost being strangled to death. She covered her mouth with the back of her hand with tears in her eyes, her eyes full of panic and fear.

Daisuke Takasaka felt that his wife suddenly increased the strength of the hand that was intertwined with the ten fingers of his right hand. The force that erupted from the originally thin palm and fingers was like an iron clamp, squeezing his palm so hard that it hurt, and the thick bones seemed to creak.

But he said nothing, his expression calm, as if he didn't feel the pain in his right hand at all, and he gently covered his wife's palm with his left hand.

"…Don't worry, Kanano. That's not the current Kyosuke, but the future Kyosuke."

"But dear! Our son is in the future! He will be killed in the future!"

"Will not."

Faced with his wife's tearful cries, Daisuke Kousaka shook his head calmly.

He reached out and cupped the back of Kousaka Yoshino's head, gently pressing her against his broad chest, and leaned close to her ear to whisper words of comfort as his wife sobbed.

"We have to trust Kyosuke. Hasn't he encountered danger like this many times before? But he was able to escape danger every time, and he will definitely be able to do so this time as well."

"We must trust our son... and his friends."

"husband……"

[If you continue like this, you will die——You must give number 22 to——! ]

[The scene in his sight has begun to blur, and the only remaining rationality tells Kousaka Kyosuke that he will surely die if he continues like this, and he must save himself as soon as possible.]

[His trembling hands let go of Zain's wrists that were pinching his neck, reached down into his arms, and unsteadily took out the police revolver he carried with him.]

[At this time, the truck without Kousaka Kyosuke's control has been dragging Zain, who is still outside the car, straight into a high cliff. At this speed, it will hit the cliff in about ten seconds.]

[At this speed, no one can survive except for unconfirmed life forms that are beyond common sense! ]

[“Go to hell! Lindo’s warriors!!!”]

[“——Guaaaaaaaaa!”]