Chapter 154: Chapter 153 - The Person That Everyone Depends On
The staff room was unusually quiet.
School had been let out for around thirty minutes. Most teachers had already left. Only a few remained, sorting out some paperwork or planning their lessons for next week.
Minami sat alone, going through quizzes.
Usually, she would be done within an hour.
Today, however, her red pen had hardly moved. She was thinking. More precisely... About a certain student.
Kuro. Minami sighed and reclined in her chair. "...What am I missing?"
It was not the first time something was bugging her.
Not because Kuro had gotten into trouble. No, quite the contrary. He never did anything wrong.
And somehow... This is what seemed weird.
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
The counselor walked in, carrying a folder.
"Still working?" Minami smiled.
"Barely." The counselor laughed.
"I thought I’d find you here."
He placed the folder on the table and then noticed that Minami had been staring blankly ahead.
"Something on your mind?"
Minami hesitated for a bit.
"...Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"Have you ever met with a student who did not stand out either academically... or physically?
In short... didn’t show any specific talents... but managed to be the center of everyone else’s life?" The counselor smiled wisely.
"You’re talking about Kuro." Minami looked up.
"...You noticed that too?"
"Months ago."
The counselor sat across from her. "Do you know what surprised me?" He asked.
"This year, I’ve had many students. And Kuro’s name appears surprisingly often."
Minami frowned. "For disciplinary issues?"
The counselor laughed. "Oh no, the opposite."
He flipped a few pages of his folder.
"Each time I ask students to tell me about whoever had helped them during a hard time..."
"The answer is often the same."
Kuro.
Minami slowly put away her pen. That evening, as she walked around the near-empty building, flashes of memories kept coming to her mind. Not big, heroic memories.
Small, ordinary ones. Memories most people tend to forget... Such as... Yui. After failing another practice test, Yui had locked herself in the library.
Everyone was worried. But when Minami finally found her... Kuro was already there. He was not trying to motivate her, was not giving her unsolicited advice.
He just sat next to her and read his own book. Without pressuring her... Until Yui finally decided to say something... To which he listened.
Nothing more. Nothing less. There was also Rika. Each time she got tired with her stories, she used to disappear to the literature room.
Eventually... Kuro would visit. Either just randomly... Or because someone had asked him to go and check up on her.
Hours later, Rika would return smiling.
I’mOne time, Minami asked what had happened. Rika’s answer was short and clear ,"He listens until I find the solution by myself."
Then there was Akari. The most lively girl in the class. Always smiling, always full of energy, always pretending nothing bothered her.
But Minami knew how the day after the drama festival had been for Akari. The whole class mocked Akari about her accidental kiss with Aoi.
She joined the laughing. Until lunchtime. When she quietly went to the rooftop. Ten minutes later, when Minami went up to meet her... Kuro was already there.
Sitting by her side and simply watching clouds with her. Ten minutes later... Akari was laughing again.
Not because she was not embarrassed anymore. Just because someone was sharing this silence with her. Mina.
Each time she started doubting her future as a teacher... She somehow managed to find herself talking to Kuro.
Not because he knew something about pedagogy.
Because he asked questions other people would not think of. "What kind of teacher do you want to become?"
Not... "What job do you want to do?"
The difference was important. Even Aoi. Who rarely needed help from someone else. Gradually, she began consulting Kuro.
Never on scientific theories. Never on mathematics.
Only on people.
"If someone reacts in such a way..."
"How do you think he feels?" Minami smiled to herself.
Aoi relied on facts. But when it came to emotional matters... She trusted Kuro. The list of memories kept growing.
Memories of Yui, Rika, Akari, Mina, Aoi... And even those of other students.
First-year students asking her for directions.
Children during the tutoring lessons.
Patients at the hospital.
The old man who simply wanted to play chess with someone. No matter where Kuro was... People somehow became relaxed near him.
Not suddenly. Not miraculously. Gradually. As if they understood they were allowed to stop pretending around him. Next morning, Minami arrived early.
Before the first bell, she stopped at the entrance to Class 2-B. The classroom was almost empty.
A few students were in it. Kuro sat by the window, reading a novel. Exactly as usual. There was nothing extraordinary about him. No aura of a genius or superhero. Ordinary. Just as usual.
Then, there was a knock on the door. An anxious freshman appeared.
"Umm..." Kuro lifted his head.
"Can I help you?" The boy hesitated.
"I was told to give those papers to your class representative."
"Rika is not here yet." Kuro smiled.
"Don’t worry, I’ll pass them to her."
"Thank you!" Then he left, bowing multiple times.
Minutes later, another student entered.
"Kuro."
"Hm?"
"Do you remember the assignment from yesterday?" Kuro nodded.
"Sure, I will explain it."
"Thanks!" said the girl, and another one entered.
"Can you check something for me?"
"Sure," replied Kuro...
And soon, five different students entered the room and asked him for something. None of them because of his intelligence or good looks.
They simply did not feel uncomfortable around him. Quietly observing from the corridor, Minami did not notice how her colleagues began entering.
Nobody else did. Including Kuro.
At lunchtime, Minami met the counselor. "I think I finally get it."
The counselor smiled. "What?"
"You know why Kuro couldn’t fit in anywhere during the career aptitude test?" The counselor nodded.
"I had my guess."
"So do I." She crossed her hands.
"We all kept trying to understand which job suits Kuro."
"When we should’ve been asking...
"what kind of person he is?"
This afternoon, classes finished early. Preparing to go home, Minami ordered Kuro to come to the staff room.
He seemed somewhat scared. "...Did I do something?"
"No."
"Then why do I have to come?" Minami smiled.
"To ask you something." Kuro sat opposite her.
"Okay."
"When someone comes to you for help with their problem..."Why do you always help them? " Kuro stared at her for a moment.
"...Because they ask."
"What if you are busy?"
"I’ll find the time."
"But what if it’s inconvenient for you?" Kuro shrugged his shoulders.
"Problems rarely pick a convenient moment to appear."
For some reason, Minami fell silent. Looking straight at Kuro.
"What if you cannot help him?" Kuro smiled faintly.
"I usually cannot."
"Then why do you keep staying with him?"
Without thinking for a second, Kuro answered. "Because loneliness makes the problem seem much worse."
There was dead silence in the room. Something clicked in Minami’s head. All her observations.
All her conversations... All the memories of how people behaved around Kuro. They all suddenly became clear.
It did not occur to him even once to believe he could solve people’s problems for them. He never tried.
He just did not allow people to face those problems alone. It was different from everybody else. That is why they depended on him so much.
Not because he always had the answers...
But because he was ready to listen.
Listening to the person alone in a problem. Not listening to the problem. Listening to the person facing the problem alone.
Kuro stood up.
"...Is that all, sensei?" Minami nodded.
"Yes."
But when Kuro was almost to the door, she suddenly said his name.
Kuro turned around. "...Yes?"
"I hope..." She hesitated for a second.
"...you never lose that about yourself." Kuro frowned in confusion.
"I have no idea what you’re talking about."
"I know," she whispered, smiling faintly.
"That’s exactly why I’m saying it." Kuro silently left the staff room.
The door clicked behind him.
Minami observed the group of students outside through the window of her classroom.
For several weeks, everybody had tried to determine Kuro’s future.
Doctor.
Teacher.
Researcher.
Writer.
Counselor.
But none of these options described him.
They just showed different settings where he used the same unique talent.
Minami finally understood.
It wasn’t teaching that made Kuro special.
Nor medicine.
Nor writing.
Nor counseling.
His greatest gift wasn’t even listed in his aptitudes.
Because it had nothing to do with profession.
His talent lay in the ability to make other people feel safe.
Not just physically – emotionally.
And maybe...
This quality was unique to this world.
That day, as soon as she was done with her routine duties, Minami left the staff room and began to walk toward the main entrance.
The school seemed deserted.
All sports teams had ended their training.
The sky was beginning to turn orange.
Approaching the courtyard, Minami noticed Kuro sitting alone on one of the benches.
He was not reading this time.
He just sat on the bench watching the sunset.
Approaching him, she asked:
"Are you waiting for somebody?"
Kuro glanced up at her.
"Oh, Sensei."
He managed a slight smile.
"Not really."
Minami took a seat.
As the wind brought faint sounds of cars passing near the school territory, both remained silent for some time.
But it wasn’t a disturbing silence.
In fact, Minami knew that the moment was perfect.
At last, Minami decided to break it.
"You know, most students hurry back home once classes finish."
Kuro gave a shrug.
"I enjoy it here when it gets quiet."
"It helps me think."
"About the future?"
He gave a light chuckle.
"...Unfortunately."
Minami gave a slight smile.
"Can’t figure it out yet?"
"No."
"I keep thinking about others’ occupations."
"Yui has medicine."
"Mina wants to teach."
"Rika lives for her stories."
"Aoi belongs in a lab."
"And Akari..."
He hesitated.
"...Well, I still have no idea."
Minami chuckled.
"She hasn’t figured that out yet either."
Kuro smiled along but then his expression grew serious again.
"Everybody seems to have a purpose in life."
"Except me."
Looking at the sky, she answered.
"Have you ever wondered whether some people are born knowing their destiny?"
"I thought some are."
"Very few."
Folding her hands on her lap, Minami continued.
"When I was your age, I wanted to become a pianist."
Surprised, Kuro turned to her.
"...Really?"
Nodding, she said.
"I practiced everyday."
"I believed music will become my future."
"What happened?"
"I understood something."
She gave a nostalgic smile.
"I loved music."
"And what I liked even more..."
"...was to help my peers appreciate it."
"I enjoyed seeing how they improved."
"This is how I discovered teaching."
Silent, Kuro listened to her words.
"So your destiny changed."
"No."
"It evolved into something new."
She looked straight into his eyes.
"The destiny isn’t supposed to reveal itself all at once."
"It can take time."
Lowering his gaze, Kuro said:
"...I never looked at it that way."
"I know."
"I always compared my destiny to your middle."
Silent, they observed the sky.
After a moment, Kuro addressed Minami.
"Sensei."
"Hmm?"
"And if I spend years in search..."
"...and still won’t find my destiny?"
Minami gave a gentle smile.
"Well, keep walking."
"Only this?"
"Yeah."
Leaving the bench, she brushed the dust from her clothes.
"You see, most people find their destiny not by searching for it."
"They find it just because they keep moving forward."
Starting to leave, she added.
"And Kuro..."
"Yes?"
"The destinies you’ve shaped..."
Minami smiled to herself.
"...might someday help you find yours."
Having said that, Minami went away, leaving Kuro to observe the gradually fading sunset.
While pondering her words, Kuro remembered Yui, Mina, Rika, Aoi, and Akari.
All of them found their dreams despite numerous failures and fears.
Maybe...
He did not have to have all the answers now.
Perhaps all that he needed was to move one more step.
Suddenly, the uncertainty ceased being so terrifying.
The destiny was still waiting for him.
And this was enough.
