"He must have been incredibly unpopular with the committee back then."
After my dry chuckle faded, I voiced my honest assessment.
"What makes you think that?"
"Because he’s socially awkward. Stubborn, too..."
"True. Well, I only went to help out occasionally, so I can't say for certain, but there’s no denying he was always at odds with the third-years."
"I knew it."
"But make no mistake, Yamamoto-kun was the hardest worker on that committee. He drafted the schedules and checklists because the chairman had zero motivation. Not that he ever received a single word of thanks for it."
I could see it clearly if I closed my eyes: the committee chairman forcibly snatching away the materials Yamamoto had created, putting them to use without so much as a nod of appreciation.
A surge of indignation rose in my chest.
...But he probably hadn't even been angry about it. He was the type who likely thought that as long as things worked out in the end, it was fine.
The reality, however, had been disastrous.
"Kako-chan, was Yamamoto’s job back then... was it related to the ordering and logistics?"
"No. Not exactly."
"Then—"
"He was essentially doing everything."
My jaw dropped.
"Well, it turns out that way every year with the festival committee. Everyone wants to make memories with their own class, right? So they prioritize that. The teachers should have kept a tighter leash on the committee to prevent it from falling apart."
It was all too easy to imagine that the "leash" held by the man they were supposed to rely on—Mr. Sakaigawa—had been incredibly loose.
Even so, to say he had done everything...
"I can’t say the students who actually showed up were particularly motivated, either. They’d say, 'This is the only task I was told to do,' just to protect themselves. As a result, the workload that fell into Yamamoto-kun’s lap was endless."
"...That’s horrible. It’s cruel."
"It was a mess. A total disaster."
"...Why didn't anyone help him?"
I knew I didn't have the right to be angry, but I’d reached my limit. The words slipped out of my mouth.
Suddenly, a certain memory surfaced.
They were words spoken by the man for whom I now harbored secret, burgeoning feelings.
"In the end, people are just self-centered creatures."
...Could that be the reason Yamamoto had said that to me?
Kako-chan shrugged.
"In the end, people are self-centered."
And there it was.
The reason Yamamoto had told me people were self-centered back then.
It was because he had a past where he’d been disparaged and exploited by those very people.
"Isn’t it wonderful to be able to live for the sake of others? Even if you were to destroy yourself in the process, I think you should be praised for it. But strangely enough, there isn't a single person in this world who will praise you for doing something not just anyone can do. A hero is praised unconditionally after spending half his life to defeat the Demon King, but even if you destroy yourself, you won't get a single word of thanks... not even from your lover."
I remembered those words again.
Recalling them made the depths of my chest ache with a dull heat.
He must have been so exhausted and exasperated after being victimized by those selfish people.
The reason he told me those things...
...It was surely because he didn't want me to suffer the same fate.
He was telling me not to go through the same pain he had.
Wasn't that exactly what he was trying to do?
Self-centered.
He’d labeled himself that way once.
But...
Good grief.
That man really is impossible. He can’t be honest for a second.
"Who's the selfless one here?" I whispered.
That day... when I had tried to crawl back to my ex-lover, he had shown me the futility of what I was doing.
He spoke from experience. He’d walked that path before.
...It was him.
The person who did what no one else would, and wasn't praised for it... he was talking about himself.
...Thinking back, it had always been like that.
When he tried to get me to go back home to my parents' house.
When he looked after me after the domestic violence.
When he gave me a place to hide in that room.
He called all of those things self-centered acts.
But if I really looked at it... wasn't it the exact opposite? Weren't those the most selfless things a person could do?
"...When I go back, I’m going to properly thank him."
"Eh?"
"We're living together."
"Wait, what?"
"...So, when I get home, I’m going to say thank you."
"...Megu?"
"Yes, Kako-chan?"
"Are you two... living together?"
...I’d let it slip in the heat of the conversation.
Even though I’d promised myself I wouldn't say a word about it.
I offered a silent apology to Yamamoto in my head and gave a small, sheepish smile.