Chapter 53: "The Hand Reaching Into Despair"
The school bell rang, signaling the end of classes.
Those who were going home headed home, and those with club activities rushed to their clubs.
Izumi Chihiro, a member of the 'Go-Home Club,' walked down the stairs and was about to change his indoor shoes to outdoor shoes in the shoe-changing area downstairs when his gaze caught sight of something in his peripheral vision.
Three girls were forcefully pulling another girl, who appeared to be a first-year based on her school uniform.
Initially, he thought it was just friendly jostling, but after hearing their conversation, he immediately sensed something was wrong.
His gaze instantly sharpened.
"Bitch, don't you have an umbrella with you? Hand it over to us, now."
"Yeah, yeah, but one umbrella probably isn't enough, right? There are three of us, and we'll catch a cold if we get wet~"
"I have a great idea, want to hear it?"
"Hurry up and tell me, I'm listening."
"Look, this bitch is so pretty, it'd be easy for her to seduce men. Why don't we just have her borrow a few umbrellas for us?"
"I agree, I agree!"
...
The Silver-haired Girl, whose clothes were being tugged, remained silent.
She believed she had never done anything wrong, yet ever since she started school, she had been ostracized and subjected to silent bullying by this group of ugly girls, simply because of her looks.
But that was fine; she had nothing to talk about with these people anyway.
The wickedness of human hearts was nothing to be surprised by.
However, even though she had been carefully avoiding them, they continued to pester her, showing no intention of letting her off.
She tried to ask for help, but no one was willing to intervene.
The teachers only gave ineffective verbal warnings, which were utterly useless beyond that.
She could understand why; such matters were indeed troublesome, and most people were unwilling to get involved, as mishandling it could negatively impact their careers.
What disheartened her the most was that her parents were in the midst of a divorce and had no interest in her problems.
She felt as if she were in a small boat, barely surviving a storm, and with the slightest carelessness, she would be tossed from the boat into the vast ocean, plummeting into the abyss…
It's the end of the world, is anyone going to save me?
Perhaps, this was her doomsday.
Perhaps, this was what they called fate?
Her spirits had plummeted to rock bottom.
She was utterly disappointed with this world.
Thus, she no longer wanted to suppress her anger and wished to unleash it, pouring it all onto these three individuals.
1v3, she definitely couldn't win.
The important thing was whether she could inflict enough damage.
At the very least, she had to cause injuries severe enough for the school to give her a month of confinement!
Just as she was about to make her move, she suddenly heard a boy's voice beside her.
At first listen, it seemed to have a comforting quality.
No, it wasn't the voice itself that possessed this quality, but rather the words he spoke that deeply moved her!
"What are you three doing? Ganging up to bully her? How shameless! I've heard about school bullying before, but I never expected to see it happen right in front of me."
The speaker was, of course, Izumi Chihiro.
In just a few words, he characterized their behavior and spoke with such an imposing aura that the three girls' arrogant demeanor was instantly extinguished.
"He's a second-year, is he someone this bitch knows?"
"I don't know."
"Let's go, we can't afford to offend a second-year boy."
"What are you afraid of? I also know a few seniors; dealing with a pretty boy would be a piece of cake..."
The three whispered among themselves.
"Aren't you leaving yet? Do I have to beat you up before you'll go?"
Izumi Chihiro made a show of cracking his knuckles and flexing his muscles.
His threatening posture finally scared the three away.
"Hmph! You got lucky! But you just wait, daring to meddle..."
One of the most arrogant girls threatened him before leaving.
"Heh..."
Izumi Chihiro sneered as he watched them retreat in disarray, then turned to the Silver-haired Girl, his expression immediately changing.
"Are you okay?"
he inquired.
He had said before that he wrote demon slayer because it resonated with him, not because of its success, which actually indicated something.
He strongly agreed with the values expressed in the work.
Therefore, upon witnessing such an act of bullying the weak, he naturally could not stand idly by.
"I will not tolerate such atrocities!"
He particularly liked this line spoken by Tanjiro.
"Yes, I'm fine."
The Silver-haired Girl raised her head, her usually vacant eyes now holding a bit more color.
"Oh?"
Izumi Chihiro let out a soft exclamation.
"What's wrong?"
The Silver-haired Girl saw the change in his expression and asked.
"It's nothing..."
Izumi Chihiro quickly changed the subject, asking, "How long has this been going on?"
"It's been like this since shortly after school started, and it's gotten worse recently... If Senior hadn't come, I would have already made a move just now."
Hatred gleamed in the Silver-haired Girl's eyes.
"Have you asked anyone else for help?"
He hesitated before speaking.
"No one can help me."
The Silver-haired Girl turned her head, her gaze dim.
Clearly, she had been deeply hurt during this time.
"Can you tell me about your situation?"
Izumi Chihiro took a deep breath.
Since he had decided to help, there was no turning back. If he were to just walk away and abandon her, it was very likely that those three guys would vent their resentment towards him on her.
So, he was determined to find out more information.
The Silver-haired Girl's eyes showed a hint of surprise.
She hadn't expected this second-year Senior to be so kind, extending a helping hand to a stranger just because he saw her being bullied, without considering the potential trouble.
"Let's talk somewhere else."
Izumi Chihiro looked around and noticed various strange gazes falling on him.
"...Okay."
The Silver-haired Girl chose to trust him.
Or rather, she had been waiting for someone to appear and save her.
When people are in despair and see a lifeline, they naturally want to reach out and grasp it.
The two walked all the way to the top floor of the school building and then sat down at the stairwell leading to the rooftop.
To the sound of music playing from the nearby music room, the Kazuko Hashima slowly recounted her experiences.
As she spoke, Izumi Chihiro gradually clenched his fists.
This was something he had never experienced, but as she narrated, he felt a deep sense of empathy, and anger quickly rose to his brows.
If those three guys were to appear before him now, he feared he wouldn't be able to resist unleashing that impulse.
"That's too much."
He said through gritted teeth.
the Silver-haired Girl remained silent.
"Perhaps it was my indulgence that allowed them to..."
"That has nothing to do with it."
He immediately interrupted her.
"Senior, how come you're angrier than me?"
The Silver-haired Girl suddenly laughed.
As she laughed, she started to cry again.
"Ah, this... I'm sorry, my constant questioning made you recall sad things."
Izumi Chihiro was at a loss.
He certainly couldn't use the same methods he used to comfort Eriri to comfort her!
"It's okay, I'm crying because I'm so happy... It's really great to have met Senior."
The Silver-haired Girl wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.
"Oh, by the way, Senior, I haven't asked for your name yet."
Her sincere gaze looked over at him.
"My name is Izumi Chihiro."
He replied.
"Senior has a very nice name; I like it a lot."
The Silver-haired Girl said with a smile.
The smile that bloomed was full of warmth.
"Well, Senior, I think I'll head back now."
The Silver-haired Girl suddenly stood up, patted her ample buttocks, and prepared to leave.
She was afraid that if she stayed longer, she wouldn't be able to hold back the hot tears in her eyes.
She didn't hope that this kind Senior could solve the problem that troubled her so much.
Being able to speak her mind was already enough to satisfy her.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it."
Izumi Chihiro said firmly.
"Eh?"
So much so that she could entrust everything to him.
...
This kind of thing was actually very difficult to handle; he was a bit overconfident.
If such matters could be easily resolved, they wouldn't become campus problems that troubled educators for so long.
However, by using an unconventional method, this matter could be quickly resolved.
Problems he couldn't solve didn't mean no one could.
He wasn't so stubborn as to insist on solving it purely with his own abilities; acting within his means was the rational approach.
His method of handling it was very simple—he would call Aunt Sayuri.