13 – A mistreated manager and a troubled prince – 3
“Haru-chan. There is no need to be kind to students who have bad stories going around.”
I definitely said that.
To Haru-chan, who handed him a lunch box from behind the campus.
“Sister, Minsu is not that kind of kid.”
“……… So what kind of student are you?”
I asked with doubtful eyes as if inquiring, but Haru-chan said without hesitation.
It was the first time I had seen that child’s eyes like that.
A worried little sister who was always looking at the ground, trembling, or unable to properly express her self and her opinion, looking straight at me with her straight eyes.
“Nice… nice… What a sweet child!”
“………… Whoa.”
Because it was the first time I had ever seen that child compliment others that way. The conversation at that time lingered in me for a long time.
***
I opened the door to the insolvent room. First year Hanako and Shion came over and said hello. They chatted lightly and opened the refrigerator door.
There was a can of coffee I don’t remember buying. My favorite black coffee.
I asked if there was an owner, but I was the only one drinking this canned coffee in Boo. The juniors shook their heads and I put it on the road.
After that, Sayoko comes in. She still looks in a bad mood. Judging by the fact that he was looking around, it seemed that there was a member he was looking for. I knew who it was without even asking.
Because I tried to find flaws in the newly elected manager with the light on in my eyes. I tried to intervene at any time when the severity got worse, but so far it hasn’t happened.
The door to the club room opens and the juniors who have been waiting for Sayoko to catch and eat come in. I picked up a large box and set it down like Aoi.
“Hello~! It’s a uniform. The name and size are attached to it, so everyone find it and take it.”
“What… you….”
“Ah, senior. I also made a reservation for accommodation. I posted it on the chat room, did you see it?”
“……… Are you really done with that?”
“Yes… why?”
Is that really what Sayoko did?
How can a manager on his first day in office schedule training camps and order uniforms according to his budget?
For the first week, memorizing all the members’ names and faces is a daunting task.
“I told you to do it by this week!”
“…… Yes. So now….”
“Someone said to prepare in two days!”
Even though she was angry, Sayoko’s pupils were shaking. The manager was taken aback by her surprisingly quick execution.
Maybe… Aoi in the back must have helped.
Still, it was a great adaptability.
While getting angry with the manager who scratched the back of her neck with a smile, she involuntarily raised the corners of her mouth at Sayoko, who knew that she was forcing herself.
Looking at you.
For some reason, I keep watching.
The male manager of our department, who suddenly joined the athletics club, was adapting to the department faster than anyone else.
***
Students participating in club activities as well as track and field team members were all running on the playground after finishing school. In fact, it was more comfortable to practice alone.
Because of my role as a captain, group practice was inevitable, and it was my job to guide the juniors. I felt most comfortable when I was alone.
When you stopped by the club room after finishing your private practice and realizing that you had left your clothes to change into
“Ah… Are you here?”
The manager was there again.
“Are you working overtime today? No matter how hard you work, nothing comes of it.”
For several days already, the manager-kun, like me, stayed at the school until late to do managerial work. Even though I said several times that there was no need for that, my juniors once said, ‘I’m used to working overtime and overtime’ as if I were going to work.
People are looking at our wealth like some kind of black company.
As the captain, I’ve never had anyone do anything like that. Even Sayoko was like that. He was given a lot more work than previous managers, but this junior always handled them without showing it.
When I opened the refrigerator, there were numerous drinks lined up. I took one of them out and showed it to him.
“…… Did you put this can of coffee in?”
“Yes.”
“……… Do you like this too?”
As he rolled his pen, he raised his head.
“No. I can’t drink anything bitter.”
“……… Then….”
Tilting his head, the manager said.
“A senior.”
“……… ….”
“Sayoko-senpai has Strawberry Cream Soda, Michiru-senpai has Zero Coke, and Yuna-senpai has green tea… Was it?”
No one told the manager to memorize those things.
He recited the names of his seniors and their favorite drinks.
“Seniors… I always look for it after practice. It is pre-filled.”
“…… No one did that to you manager.”
“I like what I do.”
I was about to get a change of clothes and leave the room.
Without realizing it, I sat across from him and leaned on his chin and looked at him.
“Why are you working so hard?”
“……… ….”
“It would certainly be helpful if there was a line written in your life record that you were the manager of the track and field club at Sakuraba Academy, but….”
That’s just one line. Manager activities do not even have any awards or medals to prove their activities.
In other words, for that one line, you only have to be faithful to your job.
There is no need to stay in the clubhouse every day, take care of the work, and know the drink tastes of your seniors.
The manager who is so zealous has been in the track and field team since middle school, but he has never seen one.
“This is what I like to do. Don’t worry too much about it.”
“You… ….”
Take a sip after opening the can lid.
Sweeping away the bitter taste, it calms down the spirit that is about to collapse from exhaustion.
I always drink coffee to wake up rather than like it, but now it has become my taste.
I had never seen this manager even drink that coffee.
The manager, who always works at the same time as me, or even later than that, never showed displeasure despite all sorts of work done and the senior’s scolding.
***
My feet stopped unknowingly at the sight I saw by chance.
Yuu-chan and Haru-chan were a little later than usual, so I wondered what was going on, so I went down from the roof and looked around the 2nd year floor.
In front of Class 2-a’s classroom. The manager was there.
Even though it was lunch time, he didn’t leave the classroom and was sitting alone in his seat, engrossed in something.
“Isn’t that a bit offended? I am always alone like that.”
“Ah… The man who said he harmed Sakai-senpai?”
“Yeah, no one talks to him in class.”
Sneeringly, sophomore juniors pass by the hallway.
Do you have no friends?
Or is it gone?
The rumor I heard was that he chased down Sakai who was dating a girl and threw her glass down.
Now it has been inflated several times, and he has already become an unapproachable monster.
When he sees someone better than him, he takes a psychotic revenge.
The female student who talks to her persistently pursues and stalks her.
Always muttering to himself and laughing badly.
And so on…….
At least the manager I saw wasn’t like that.
As the manager of the athletics department, he runs around and supports the team members and always stays in the office until late to handle the work. He looks tired, but he doesn’t show it at all.
He energetically greeted the members and handled the entrusted tasks without complaint.
I knew another side of him.
Memories behind campus, floating rumors, and enthusiasm for managerial activities.
Which one is the real you?
As I realized, I had been following his image from the moment I entered the room.
“Ah… senior! Hello!”
“Thanks for your hard work!”
That day, he was nowhere to be seen in the room, as if something else was going on.
From noble mtl dot com
Sometimes it’s a little later than usual, but.
It’s a pity that I didn’t hear the greetings from the lively manager-kun when I opened the door to the club room.
“I, senpai… The coach stopped by the club room earlier.”
“…… What’s going on?”
The man who is a coach and advisor, but is not welcomed by the members even when he visits the club room.
Hanako said slowly, feeling apologetic for just conveying that.
“You found a senior… Later, after practice, come to the teacher’s office… You asked me to tell you.”
My eyes are furrowed.
However, he nodded his head while holding back his expression getting wrinkled in front of the members. Because Suda already knew why he called me.
At first, quietly enough to avoid being questioned or suspected.
And with the passage of time, the contours are gradually revealed.
That was obvious.
For some reason, the manager didn’t show up even after the practice started.
Sayoko was hoping that today would finally come. Should I say it’s a bit strange that she doesn’t even get in touch. She didn’t look like him.
After practicing with a complicated feeling, I stood in front of Suda’s office and knocked.
I open the door at the low and thick voice telling me to come in, and step into his private place filled with the smell of cigarettes.
I hated the smell of Suda’s cigarettes.
“Are you here? Sit here.”
All sorts of personal items and ashtrays were scattered on the desk. There is even a bed inside the curtains. I don’t know what the hell school is, I move my body at the order of a bad mood.
“…… Okay. Offer I gave you. Have you thought about it?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“How long can you talk like that to a teacher… ha… Well, that’s done.”
I calmly watch his face.
His eyes were cloudy and dark.
Unlike the shining eyes I’ve seen.
“Battle training next week. The next week is the competition.”
“I know.”
“You are in the third year and your time is running out. Do you know the arrangement?”
“…… What are you talking about?”
“You know that.”
He raised the corners of his mouth as he lit a cigarette in his face even with the student in front of him.
“Recently, the performance of the athletics department has been sluggish. You can’t do anything else, can you?”
“……… ….”
“There’s no way you, the captain, can avoid your responsibilities.”
The achievements of our academy’s track and field team are purely the result of the combined efforts of the team members and the former coach, who is now transferred.
It was not an achievement for this former athlete-turned-physical education teacher to be proud of.
“You… 4th place in the previous competition. Were you third in the competition before that?”
“……… ….”
“It’s difficult not to give me a prize. You must have known, too.”
Close your eyes.
I took a shallow, deep breath.
“…… Think carefully. There are good opportunities right in front of you even if you don’t dwell on such practice or grades.”
I clenched my fist.
No. Not now.
The moment someone assaults him here, all the achievements the track and field team has built so far will collapse.
As captain, I can’t ruin it.
Suda stood up from her seat. Then he smiled and put his hand on my shoulder. He hated even that light touch, but he couldn’t do anything but endure it…
“……… Keugh.”
I closed my eyes tightly.
That was the time.
“……… Excuse me! Mr. Suda! I’m here to clean!”
His hand stopped just before it touched his shoulder.
The owner of the lively voice I had been waiting for was behind me.
“What… what… What! I’ve never called before, but suddenly what!”
“Didn’t he ask you to come and clean the office after practice?”
Manager-kun tilted his head and went inside.
He had a dustpan and a wet mop in his hand.
“Ah… senior! Hello! Good job practicing!”
The eyes I’ve seen.
The true meaning of the strangely colored eyes stared at me and spoke brightly.
“……… You.”
I just stared blankly at him with those mysterious eyes, unable to answer anything.
“Don’t put the papers on the desk on your own! You don’t even have to open the window!”
“Sir, we need to ventilate before cleaning. Here, the smell of cigarettes is too strong.”
“Why is this guy who hasn’t even been cleaned for the past few days? Hey, if you search under the bed… !”
Suda, who had been intimidating me with a sinister expression until just now, is shaking the manager’s shoulder in embarrassment.
He used to run errands for senior staff members, and even take harsh insults from Suda.
I didn’t really know who he was.