Kuzu to Kinka no Qualidea
Chapter 8 : Yuu-3 When I was still attending elementary school, there was something my teacher said

Yuu-3

When I was still attending elementary school, there was something my teacher said to me.

“Chigusa-kun, you really are a beacon of excellence. You’re good at school and sports. You’re the apple of everyone’s eye. You have good parents and I’m sure you’ll become someone important one day.”

Yes, I certainly will. How did you know?

The teacher smiled at my self-satisfied response and said, “However. If you don’t take care, there will come a time when you will look down on those around you, convinced that you are number one. One day, something unexpected might happen and it will trip you up. I hope you keep that in mind. Chigusa Yuu, you’re not meant to be alone in this world. You, me, him, her. Each and every one of us is different and special&h.e.l.lip;”

Rather than scolding me, my teacher’s voice sounded as if it was gently attempting to persuade me.

A deep shame fell over me for the arrogant thoughts that had filled my young heart. Even now, I can hear my teacher’s warm words whenever I close my eyes, just as I did right then.

Each and every one of us is different and special.

I see. That was exactly right.

Human lives are steeped in inequality.

I believe that people who worry about their place in the school hierarchy bear a terrible burden. They cause and receive pain through comparing apples to oranges, and they exist in perpetual conflict within the fish bowl known as the cla.s.sroom.

However, it is fruitless to think of life solely in those terms. It matters not which group people belong to, or how much influence one holds within the cla.s.s.

I am different from them. Justice requires only very simple cla.s.sifications. Everyone else is equally worthless in my eyes. My superior qualities stand out precisely because everyone b.u.mbles around, so clearly inferior to my beauty, sensitivity and intelligence. I must treat others with the equal care and attention they deserve.

I understand perfectly well what my teacher uttered to me.

Knowing that, I could forgive even what had happened to me today. I could forgive it with all the kindness overflowing in my heart. Here is what I shall do: increase the ten per cent interest every ten days to thirty per cent. I shall also sell the textbooks in Maria-san’s locker to a used bookseller.

Ah, but here was the rub.

This was not nearly enough to fill the hole left by those who had bailed out on me. I wonder just how much money I had lost over these past three days. Life is bounded by time. Time is money. Ergo, money is life.

When I thought about how much of my life I had lost via that syllogism, tears began to cascade down my face.