Hope Blossoms - 6

The blood flowing from Sensei's shoulder was gradually soaking the cement floor. Seeing this, Sensei gave a bitter smile.

'I can't do this again... Getting shot and stabbed hurts too much...'

At that moment, a girl's voice was heard.

"Sensei... Why, why did you give such an order...?"

From within the Shittim Chest placed on the floor, Arona sobbed as she watched Sensei suffer. The thought that she couldn't protect Sensei again tore at her heart.

"Arona... Thank you for listening to my orders, for now..."

"Don't... Don't ever give such an order again...! I can't stand seeing you in pain, Sensei..."

Drops of blood fell onto Arona's sorrowful face. Sensei smiled at her and said,

"Alright... I won't give such orders anymore. From now on, I'll just ask you to keep protecting me... don't cry."

"I, I will... No matter what happens, Arona will protect you, Sensei...!"

"Sensei. Please, never give such orders again. We exist to protect you, not to leave you in danger...!"

Seeing Plana with her head down, Sensei felt apologetic. He spoke to her as well.

"I understand... I'm sorry..."

Sensei had to break through the unknown situation. He had no choice but to take a gamble. It was a single instance, but Saori had shot him and regained her senses. With that one point, Sensei had formed a flimsy hypothesis.

'The condition to break the curse is to inflict harm upon "me." I deliberately showed myself, knowing I would be met with hostility, to create that situation.'

Sensei had ordered Arona and Plana to protect only the vital spots that could lead to fatal wounds or instant death, and to simply watch over injuries to his shoulder or hand. They had naturally refused, but they had no choice but to comply with Sensei's earnest request.

'If I had told Saori or Wakamo, they would have strongly opposed it, so I said we could resolve it through conversation. Fortunately, the hypothesis was successful. Is the price of a dislocated shoulder cheap...?'

At that moment, a terrible pain shot through Sensei's shoulder. It felt as if a red-hot iron was being pressed into his shoulder.

"Ugh..."

Then, Wakamo knelt down and said in a trembling voice,

"My darling... What, what should I...?"

"Sensei!"

Saori, who had approached in the meantime, quickly removed Sensei's shirt. What was revealed was the bandage already wrapped around him, now dyed a deep red, with blood flowing freely. Saori couldn't help but be shocked. The blood was seeping from the exact spot where he had been shot before. The wound had not yet fully healed, and it had been reopened.

"I'm sorry, Sensei...!"

"What's there to be sorry about... Haha..."

The response was swift. They applied pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding as much as possible, and now they needed cloth to wrap the wound. At that moment, Sensei handed her the bandage.

"Please..."

"Understood. You, there, can you help? Lift his arm."

"......."

Wakamo lifted Sensei's arm, and Saori wrapped the bleeding area with the bandage. Sensei groaned in pain during the process.

"Sensei..."

Misaki, who had been held by Wakamo, tried to approach with trembling hands. It was her doing, and she had to help.

".......!"

But Wakamo glared at the approaching Misaki as if she wanted to kill her, causing Misaki to hesitate. Still, she had to go.

"Sensei... Are you okay? The blood..."

Seeing this, Wakamo's anger intensified, her expression darkening. She looked as if she would beat Misaki half to death if she took a few more steps.

"Don't come closer, you damn...!"

But it was Sensei who stopped Wakamo. Sensei shook his head and said,

"Don't hate her too much. She had no choice..."

"My darling, I..."

"Forgive her for now..."

Misaki stood before Sensei. Wakamo was clearly wary of her, but she didn't stop her anymore because of Sensei's words.

"Sensei."

Seeing her kneel down, Sensei responded with a smile.

"Misaki, do you not hate me anymore?"

"...Why did I...?"

She looked at her hand, trembling. On her hand was Sensei's blood. It was the blood from the wound she had inflicted with her own hand. Sensei saw this and used the handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the blood with his left hand, which now had only three fingers.

"Girls shouldn't walk around with blood on them."

Misaki was shocked again upon seeing his left hand.

"Your hand... What happened to it?"

"Well... Don't worry too much about it. It's just... various things happened. Haha. Maybe a crow pecked at it."

Sensei was grinning again, but Misaki felt a surge of emotion.

"Why... are you smiling? What's funny about this? You can smile even at someone who harmed you...?"

"Well... I can't just cry, can I?"

"That's not what I mean...!"

She scolded Sensei, sobbing. Sensei was taken aback by her tears.

"Just get angry at me...! Why do you forgive so easily? What are you thinking? What are you thinking...!"

"You didn't say it, but you were suppressing your sadness. You were suffering that much. I'm just sorry. Sorry for not realizing it..."

At his words, she buried her head in Sensei's chest and wept sadly.

"At least resent me...!"

"I don't resent you."

Sensei simply smiled and patted her back as she cried in his arms.

* * *

"Sensei. Is this truly the only way?"

"We have to try. There's no other choice."

Sensei smiled awkwardly and looked ahead. There, bound with rope and pinned down by Wakamo and Misaki, was Hiyori, glaring intensely at him.

"My darling. We cannot allow you to be hurt any further. This is not right!"

"Then what other option is there? This is the only way to bring her back to her senses."

"There is! We could make her smash her head against the floor a hundred times like I did! If that doesn't work, we can increase it by fifty each time!"

At Wakamo's crazed words, Hiyori's hate-filled eyes briefly turned into eyes of fear. Sensei sighed and said,

"That's only possible for you. And if we did that, she'd probably hate me again after she comes to her senses."

"If she shows such a rude attitude, we'll make her smash her head 200 times..."

"Hey! Stop it. Saori, prepare it."

Saori placed a knife in Hiyori's hand and held her arm tightly to prevent her from swinging it recklessly. Sensei slowly approached Hiyori.

"Ugh...!"

Her eyes burned with intensity. Hiyori usually had a vacant look, so Sensei felt saddened by this change.

'Geez...'

Sensei was completely in front of her now, and Hiyori struggled with all her might to raise the hand holding the knife. Sensei held out his arm in front of her.

"Saori, get ready."

Saori loosened her grip slightly, allowing Hiyori to swing her arm a bit. And then...

"Ugh!"

She swung the knife at Sensei's arm. Since it was completely intentional, the wound was shallow. However, blood was trickling down his arm.

"You!"

"Hey!"

Wakamo was about to strike Hiyori's head, but Sensei stopped her immediately. Sensei kept showing Hiyori his wound.

'Please... Let it work... Let it work...!'

About 30 seconds passed.

"Oh... Oh? Sensei?"

Hiyori's eyes returned to their usual vacant look, and she faced Sensei. Sensei asked,

"Hiyori, do you recognize me?"

"Yes, yes... But why am I pinned down...? Oh...?"

She saw the knife in her hand and the blood flowing from Sensei's arm and quickly threw the knife aside.

"Why did I...?"

"Well, that happened. I couldn't bring snacks. Haha!"

"You're saying that even in this situation... Adults are really scary..."

The others released the pressure on her. Sensei smiled and said,

"Wow, I'm glad you're back to normal! I was worried. I thought you could only return to your senses if I were stabbed or shot! Then you'd have to be hit hundreds of times... So even a small wound like this works!"

"But you still keep getting hurt, my darling. It doesn't seem like a good method. Just beat her up..."

"Hi... Hik?"

Sensei shook his head at Wakamo's persistent suggestions of beating and said,

"Tsk! Don't say that! Anyway, it's the next person's turn! We need to bring Atsuko back!"

Sensei moved on to the next person, and after she also wounded his arm, she returned to her senses after about 30 seconds.

"Sensei...? What did I..."

"Princess! You're back!"

"Atsuko!"

"Waaah!! I'm so glad!"

The Arius Squad rejoiced. Seeing this, Sensei smiled brightly and said,

"Well, I'm glad it worked out. I'm glad..."

Sensei looked at Wakamo and held her hand, saying,

"Wakamo, thank you. I couldn't have done it without you."

"M-My darling...?"

Her face instantly turned bright red, and she was speechless. Saori, who had seen her ghost-like behavior just moments ago, was taken aback by this change.

'How can her personality change so quickly...?'

Saori had yet to realize that love can drive a woman mad.

* * *

"Well, anyway... I'm glad you all are back. Honestly, I was lost. I didn't know how to live going forward."

"No, we're sorry... You helped us so much, and we treated you that way..."

As Atsuko lowered her head, Sensei brushed it off as if it were nothing.

"No! The one who cursed you is the problem, not you guys! The person who stabbed with the knife might be the problem, but you can't blame the knife."

"The person who stabbed with the knife...?"

Misaki turned her head and lowered it deeply, prompting Sensei to quickly change the subject.

"No, no. I won't talk about that. And I need to get to the main point. Can I stay here for a while? I have nowhere else to go right now."

"Sensei, are you sure? This isn't the best environment."

"That's right...! The water doesn't come out well, it leaks when it rains, and it's not a suitable place for you to stay...!"

"But I can't be picky right now, can I? I'm being hunted. If there's a safe place, I'll sleep in a thorn bush. And I'm in a position to be indebted to you, so how can I complain?"

"Sensei..."

Sensei smiled and replied,

"Well, it would have been nice if I could have brought something with me... But as you know, I'm labeled as a bad guy now. I have no home, no money, and if I'm caught, it won't end well. I'll probably die."

"Huuue... You're innocent, how could they do that... Will you be crucified, have nails hammered through both your hands, tortured, and then burned to death? Even your life is meaningless after all..."

At hiyori's gruesome imagination, Sensei was startled and said with a slight sweat,

"No, am I going to die that horribly? If I'm caught, should I just bite my tongue and die?"

Saori reacted to Sensei's joke.

"Who's going to die! As long as we're here, we won't let that happen!"

"Thank you, Saori."

"Yes, our squad will do whatever it takes to help you."

"This time, it's our turn to repay you."

"Waaah... I don't know if I can be of much help, but I'll try!"

"You guys..."

Sensei was deeply moved. He had been the target of all of Kivotos' hatred during his escape, so this was especially touching. Thinking about the past days when he couldn't be cheerful no matter how positive he tried to be, Sensei's eyes welled up with tears.

"Thank you so much. Thank you..."

Atsuko asked, seeing his reaction,

"Sensei, what should we do?"

The rest of the squad was waiting for Sensei's words. Sensei put on a serious expression and said,

"Alright, what we're going to do now is..."

"Is...?"

"Nothing."

"?"

Sensei continued,

"And even if there's something to help with, I'll try not to let you get involved as much as possible."

Everyone was taken aback by his words, and Atsuko immediately asked,

"Sensei, what do you mean?"

"Hmm, well... I told you about my current situation, right?"

"Kill-on-sight order..."

"Yes. I've become a terrible person in Kivotos. So, if that's the case, how would someone who helps such a person be treated?"

"An accomplice...?"

"Correct. If they find out you're associated with me, you might also get a kill-on-sight order. Originally, it's just me who dies, but now the arrows will fall on you too."

Misaki reacted to this,

"But we're already wanted people. It doesn't matter."

"It's not a matter of it not mattering, Misaki. You don't know what will happen to you just because you're associated with me. In the worst-case scenario, we'll all be crucified upside down and then burned together. It might not be lonely to die together, but I can't put you in danger just to save myself."

"Sensei."

Saori immediately responded,

"Sensei, don't say that. We already owe you our lives once, and this time is no different. So, telling us to ignore you when you're in danger is ridiculous."

Sensei sighed deeply and said,

"I helped you because I wanted you to have a better life. I promised you a future, so would I be a teacher if I broke that promise?"

But Atsuko countered Sensei's bitter words,

"If we ignore you for that reason, if we let you die like that, do you think we can still have a better life? We absolutely cannot."

"Atsuko..."

Misaki spoke next,

"Sensei, you keep talking as if you're going to die. You always told me to live, so what are you saying now? You shouldn't be a teacher who says one thing and does another."

"I guess..."

"Th-That's right... If you're here, we can eat delicious food... and you can take us to good places... Right...?"

"Hiyori..."

Sensei corrected his thinking. The reason he was trying to fix this wasn't just for his survival, but because he thought this "curse" could be inflicted on other children too. If he died, another student might be targeted next. He needed help to solve this. Sensei realized the contradiction in his actions and smiled.

'It was a ridiculous assumption from the start...'

Sensei looked at the Arius Squad again and smiled, saying,

"You're right, I was wrong. If I leave you, I'll be abandoning you. So, you'll have to help me. Can you do that?"

"Yes."

"Yes..."

"Of course."

"We will."

"Of course, I'll help too! This Wakamo will never leave your side!"

Wakamo hugged Sensei, making him very flustered.

"Wakamo, can you not do this in front of them...?"

"Oh, you mean you only want to do it when we're alone? Understood."

"Ahaha..."

Hiyori was getting flustered by Wakamo's affectionate actions towards Sensei.

"Ugh... Doesn't she know shame..."

"Well, she's just being honest with her feelings. Don't you think that's good, Hiyori?"

Atsuko smiled at her, and Hiyori gave an awkward smile in response. But the other two watched with displeased expressions, unable to smile.

".........."

".........."

Unaware of their gazes, Sensei began to think about what to do next.

'But there really isn't anything we can do right now. It's not like I can take the squad and go around making each person harm me. And if we tried that right now, we'd be caught in no time.'

Sensei felt frustrated, but there was nothing he could do. He sighed inwardly and thought,

'It would be easier if there were just people coming after me without thinking...'

Regardless, Sensei managed to achieve quite a bit today. Three students regained their senses, and he discovered a rule. This definitely gave Sensei a sense of hope.

'I'm sure things will work out in the future. I'll make it so.'

* * *

".......There are no customers."

Rikuhachima Aru, the red-haired, horn-headed girl and president of the Problem Solver 68, was sprawled across her desk. Faced with another slump, she was in despair.

"Well, it's a common occurrence, right Aru-chan? Khuhu..."

"It's nothing to laugh about. Mutuski, this is serious! We're out of money!"

"Boss..."

"Well, what can we do? So, did you think of anything, Boss?"

At Kayoko's words, the boss presented a poster.

"Yeah, honestly, we might have to close the Problem Solver office for a bit and find someone."

"Khuhu... We're going to catch this guy? That sounds fun."

"I get more irritated the more I look at him..."

"He has a disgusting face. I want to kill him."

"Right. He's a truly repulsive human being. And above all, there's a 100 million yen reward."

She declared before her employees,

"From now on, we're catching 'Sensei'. We'll catch this cunning and wicked guy and show everyone! Who the true 'evil' is!"

"Yes... We'll kill him without a trace...!"

"Then we won't get paid, will we~ Haruka-chan? Khuhu."

Burning with hatred for Sensei, Problem Solver 68 began to prepare for action.