True Education: I Have a Life Simulator

During the summer vacation after the first semester, Karuizawa Kei didn't leave her home for an entire month. She locked herself in her room, ignoring the pleas and even scoldings of her parents. How could she explain it to them? Rumors were already spreading at school: that Wakada had committed suicide due to bullying. And the proof? Karuizawa Kei had once led the class to corner Wakada in the woods.

She was immediately branded a murderer. Overnight, her name became irrevocably tied to that of a killer. And what followed next was, as expected... revenge?

Kei didn't want to call what she experienced revenge. After all, if the students who acted under the banner of justice truly cared, Wakada wouldn't have been pushed into such despair in the first place. Even girls from the neighboring class who had genuinely bullied Wakada came forward to trample on her now, as if doing so could wash away their own guilt.

The terrifying thing about school bullying is how easy it is to pile on. Once someone takes the first shot, the victim is marked with shame. Like a bee signaling others with scent, more come swarming in to torment the already injured. "They've already been bullied anyway, what's one more hit from me?"

Besides, it wasn't like anyone was protecting her. That so-called "Kitagawa Ryo" hadn't appeared even after an entire semester. Most people hadn't even seen him. If so, why fear someone who only exists in rumors?

Instead, bullying someone who had already been bullied felt more justified. They believed it wasn't their fault. They took comfort in the collective action: everyone was doing it. And they weren't the ones who started it. They were just caught up in the mood.

Kei hid under her blanket, even as she wrapped her head tightly, she still felt that icy cold water poured from above, soaking into her bones. Her teeth clattered from fear.

The horrifying memories of her past overlapped with her current reality. She recalled the thumbtacks stuffed into her indoor shoes, the dead mouse in her desk, the red-ink graffiti smeared across her textbooks and desk. In a single night, the walls she'd spent months building crumbled like sand blown away by a breeze.

"Kei? Are you okay? Honestly, I think everyone was just emotionally carried away and did something bad. I've been trying to talk to them. Besides, you weren't the only one who went to find Wakada."

Her phone dinged with a message from Uehara Emika. Only then did Kei notice that it was already August 9th. Half the summer break had already passed.

Kei clutched her phone like a drowning person grasping at a final lifeline, reading the message one word at a time. Then, she let out a deep breath. She remembered how during the month before summer break, Emika hadn't bullied her like the others. She clung to that fact and imprinted it in her mind, telling herself: at least I still have one friend.

"Thanks."

She texted back and waited anxiously for Emika's reply, wondering if this was all just some cruel joke.

"No need to thank me. We're friends, right?"

Emika replied quickly, calming Kei's nerves.

"Want to go shopping this afternoon? I invited a few classmates too. It's a great chance to patch things up."

It was Kei's first invitation since summer began. The impact of it made her forget that Emika hadn't contacted her at all during the past month. Kei desperately needed someone to listen to her unease. Fearing the offer might be withdrawn if she replied too slowly, she hurriedly accepted.

After agreeing on the time and place, Kei began thinking about what to wear. If she wanted to change how others saw her, she had to first change the class's impression of her. Today was the perfect opportunity.

She pulled out a white sleeveless dress from her wardrobe — a gift from Kitagawa Ryo during their beach trip last summer. The temperature was already rising, and her old light-blue dress was no longer suitable.

The scent of salty sea breeze seemed to linger on the white dress, even after a year. Kei remembered walking hand-in-hand with Ryo on the beach at sunset. Her dress fluttered in the wind as she twirled playfully, the hem tracing white arcs through the air.

"How do I look?"

"Beautiful."

Ryo had praised her without hesitation.

"Too simple."

Kei tossed her sunhat at him, her honey-colored hair flowing free in the breeze, her sapphire eyes sparkling with mischief.

"That won't cut it. You need to tell me I look so good that only you should be allowed to see me."

Ryo had sighed, stepped forward, held her hand, and looked her straight in the eye.

"You look so good, I wish I were the only one who could see you."

A sudden breeze from the window stirred the white dress still hanging in her wardrobe. Kei felt as though her former self was mocking her from atop some high place. That confident girl in white, looking down at the current her.

She hesitated. Should she wear it or not?

Staring at the dress for a long moment, Kei finally reached out.

Piece by piece, she put it on. Thankfully, it still fit — mostly. She carefully smoothed every crease and fold, as if she were donning armor rather than a summer dress.

But she had grown. Some parts that were once loose now felt snug. Walking in it, she felt slightly off-balance. The dress weighed on her like armor.

Kei didn't dare look in the mirror. Silently, she closed her door, greeted her surprised parents, and stepped outside.

-------------------------------------

Shiina Hiyori quickly noticed that Kitagawa Ryo had been writing letters to someone. One day, as they were leaving the library reading room together, she curiously asked about the fact she'd been quietly observing.

"Kitagawa-kun, are you writing letters to someone?"

Had that question come from anyone else, it might've felt like an intrusion into his privacy. But after a month of getting to know her, Ryo understood Hiyori's nature—she simply had a habit of speaking in that direct, slightly whimsical way.

He glanced at her calm face, patiently waiting for an answer, and couldn't help but think: This must be what people mean by 'natural airhead.'

"Yes, I've been writing to my childhood friend."

"Eh? Why don't you just contact her by phone? Is it because international calls are expensive?"

Ryo shook his head.

"No, it's not that. I lost her contact information for… certain reasons."

"To be precise, her family moved, and they changed their landline number."

"Oh." Hiyori nodded thoughtfully.

"Then wouldn't the letters not get delivered either if they moved?"

"Yeah, exactly. So I'm not actually sending them. I just write down what I want to say to her."

He admitted his somewhat childish behavior with a wry smile.

"Everything happened too quickly. I hadn't even seen my parents before the move—I was suddenly told that my father was some big-name figure, and the next thing I knew, I was dragged off to study in the UK."

"That sounds like something out of 5 Centimeters per Second."

Hiyori squinted, amused, but quickly added, "Not that I think you won't end up together—it's just, feelings that start in childhood are rare in real life."

"That's probably why they matter more."

Ryo looked up at the evening sky tinged in smoke-colored clouds.

"I won't be coming next Friday."

"Hm? Why not?"

He smiled at her.

"Because, like the protagonist of 5 Centimeters per Second, I've decided to go see her in secret."

He gazed toward the horizon, where a crimson sun was slowly sinking between the buildings.

"Though unlike him, I'm not just taking a train from Tokyo to Tochigi—I'm sneaking all the way from London to Tokyo."

Clutching the letter in his hand a bit tighter, Ryo spoke as if to Hiyori, but also to himself:

"With this much sincerity… surely the cruel scriptwriters of fate won't force a tragic ending on us."

Hiyori pulled up the calendar on her phone. She changed her note for next Friday from "Recommend a novel to Kitagawa-kun" to "Read alone." That date, August 9th, she was already planning to mentally skip.

Squeezing the strap of her backpack, she thought of the book she'd brought to recommend—a habit of hers. Since he already had plans, she just smiled.

"You'll definitely end up together."

"But, what kind of person is Kitagawa-kun's childhood friend?"

"Kei?"

His memories stirred at her question. Ryo smiled gently.

"Kei is… both weak and strong. The kind of girl who makes you feel sorry for her but also frustrated with her."

"That sounds contradictory."

"Humans are contradictory. No one's personality fits neatly under a label. In fact, you could say that every single moment defines a different version of a person. That's what makes people unique."

They sat on a bench by the roadside.

"I wanted to fix the parts of Kei that weren't good. But thinking like that is arrogant."

"So what I can do… is just be by her side and watch her grow."

A flicker of bitterness crossed his eyes, but he quickly masked it with a light tone:

"You know what's strange? People always say pain and hardship are part of growing up. They even thank their suffering once they succeed. That's ridiculous."

"If someone grew up strong and healthy after going through bullying and abuse, do they have to forgive and thank the ones who hurt them?"

Looking toward the east, Ryo closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his usual smile had returned.

"Pain can lead to growth—but growth doesn't require pain. And we certainly don't owe it anything."

"I just want the people I care about to grow up safe and happy. If some unreasonable suffering comes their way…"

He stood up.

"Then I'll beat the hell out of it."

"If Kei can't… then I will."