In the real world, inside Sōbu High School.
Kuchiba Hiro's merciless, almost venomous critique on the light screen was like a giant boulder thrown into a calm lake, creating massive ripples in the hearts of several people involved (except for Hachiman Hikigaya).
Hiratsuka Shizuka-sensei, who had been directly named, was currently leaning against the window of the faculty office. A slim cigarette was held between her fingers, and amidst the swirling smoke, her expression was somewhat complex.
Was she angry? A little, certainly. Anyone would feel bad being so bluntly belittled by a student (on the light screen), especially their own student. But more than that, it was a sense of shock at having the truth exposed and... a sliver of helpless agreement.
"A teacher who hasn't even changed jobs, whose life trajectory can be seen all the way to the end at a single glance..." she whispered, a bitter curve touching the corners of her mouth.
She took a deep drag, slowly exhaled a smoke ring, and muttered in a voice barely audible even to herself, "Heh... he's... damn well right."
Aside from her identity as a teacher in a school, her understanding of other sectors of society mostly came from books and hearsay; she lacked firsthand, weighty practical experience. Having this cognitive limitation pointed out so nakedly gave her a sense of powerless clarity.
Inside the Service Club, Yukinoshita Yukino's face was pale. That "self" on the light screen had been humiliated beyond measure, and in reality, she too felt the sharpness of those words. She couldn't help but reflect on her original intention for founding the Service Club and the philosophy she had always upheld.
"Living in a fantasy woven by education... arrogant... looks fake at first glance..." These words echoed in her mind. She had founded the Service Club under the banner of "teaching people how to fish." Deep down, did she truly harbor an aloof, condescending sense of superiority? Was she really a bit... "arrogant"?
She had to painfully admit that perhaps, yes. She had once naively believed that with philosophy and the right methods, she could solve the predicaments of others and even herself.
On the other side, Hachiman Hikigaya, who had also received special "attention," had a completely different reaction. Looking at Kuchiba Hiro's evaluations of him on the light screen—"spineless coward," "self-centered idiot"—there was no obvious change in his expression. He felt no embarrassment, no anger, and couldn't even muster a single thought of rebuttal.
He just silently lowered his head, his eyes stagnant.
Yes, no aggression. His aggression had long been worn down and dissolved by society, the environment, and those so-called "correct" values.
Society constructs a perfect world for students—fair, free, democratic, where everyone is equal and loves one another. Yet the harshness of reality can easily puncture this perfect fantasy. Once the fantasy is pierced, people collapse.
Accepting the harshness of reality, the harshness of work, the harshness of relationships, and the various harsh realities of life. Only when one experiences the harshness and chaos of life and can adapt to it can it be called growth.
Those who cannot accept it will only feel that everything in this world is fake, closing themselves off and isolating themselves completely from reality.
He was used to dealing with everything through self-deprecation and avoidance. He wanted to vent but couldn't, because this society does not allow for the existence of aggression. He buried his true, potentially "aggressive" emotions deep inside, or even turned them against himself.
Kuchiba Hiro called him a "spineless coward," and deep down, he couldn't even find the will to object, because that seemed... to be his state of existence all along. A sorrowful accuracy.
Meanwhile, in another classroom, the real, physical Kuchiba Hiro was staring intently at the light screen. Seeing his counterpart on the light screen pour out those long-suppressed, sharp words without reservation, his clenched fists slightly relaxed, and he felt an indescribable sense of... relief!
Those were all things he wanted to say but had suppressed in his heart to avoid unnecessary conflict and maintain the peace of school life! To avoid trouble, he almost never had direct confrontations with people, let alone insulting them so bluntly. At most, he would vent a few words to his father after returning home to soothe that aimless aggression within him.
He still clearly remembered that Hiratsuka Shizuka had indeed taken him to that so-called "Service Club" back then. When he heard Yukinoshita Yukino explain the club's philosophy and heard the request contents like "helping others" and "solving troubles," he had only one thought: Isn't this just working for people for free? And it was unpaid labor driven purely by "kindness" and "philosophy" with zero protection!
Then, hearing Yukino use her distinctly superior, idealized tone to explain her "teaching people how to fish" theory, he had turned and left on the spot, not wanting to stay for another second.
"Just how brainless must a person be to fantasize about 'changing' others?" The real Kuchiba Hiro sneered in his heart, feeling a strong resonance with his counterpart on the light screen. "You can't even change your own mother! And yet you expect to change strangers you don't even know, who all have different minds? If this isn't boundless arrogance, then there's really something wrong with your head—not even a shred of basic social common sense or understanding of human nature!"
Being brainless is the norm. People who want to change can do so on their own; they can seek out people of high standing and reputation to learn from. Why on earth would they come to you? Is your ass that big, or is your mouth lined with gold?
Furthermore, he had seen through Yukinoshita Yukino's true purpose for founding the Service Club almost at first glance. It wasn't for some noble "helping others" at all; it was more like a compensatory behavior for her lack of status and control within her family.
She attempted to gain the recognition and sense of power in this small club—through "helping" and "guiding" others—that she couldn't get at home, proving to her brilliant older sister and her parents: "I'm more impressive than you think."
To him at the time, this act of packaging personal psychological needs as noble ideals seemed both hypocritical and pathetic.
As thoughts inside and outside the light screen intertwined and reality mirrored the illusion, everyone caught up in it was forced to confront the corners of their hearts they might not want to admit.
And Kuchiba Hiro's sharp words, which tore through all the warmth, were like a potent medicine forced down the throat of this world that was overly preoccupied with "correctness" and "harmony."
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