Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher!? — Monologue of the Shadow Operator
Sanshokuin Sumireko is invisible. The plain library committee member with thick glasses and a braid—too pretty to approach, too quiet to notice, alone since middle school. She's spent three years perfecting the art of being unremarkable, and she has exactly one hobby: watching Kisaragi Amatsuyu.
She knows his gentle smile is a fabrication. She knows the kind, pure-hearted boy everyone adores is a mask for a cunning, calculating schemer who rains silent curses on his childhood friend even as he
Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher!? — Monologue of the Shadow Operator - The Unmasked Confession — The End and Beginning of the Observer's Garden
The air in the gymnasium froze.
On the stage stood Sanshokuin Sumireko. The thick, black-rimmed square glasses were gone. The braid was undone. Glossy black hair cascaded from her shoulders down her back. Her chest, wrapped in binding cloth, swelled so richly that it was obvious even through her uniform.
The gazes of roughly seven hundred and twenty students pierced straight through her.
(...They're looking at me.)
Sumireko murmured inside her heart.
(My true self, in front of everyone.)
Her knees threatened to tremble. Her fingertips were cold. Her heart pounded so loudly it was unbearable.
(I'm scared.)
(But I won't run.)
Sumireko slowly raised her face.
Her large dark eyes caught the gymnasium lights and glittered.
In that instant, the silence shattered.
"You...you plain little—!!"
The one who came charging up onto the stage was Ooga Taiyou. Tall—nearly six feet. Handsome features. That face that always wore a refreshing smile was now twisted bright red with rage.
"You're trying to frame me with doctored photos, aren't you!? A sneaky woman like you could never prove Kisaragi's innocence! Everyone, don't be fooled! She's been sleeping with Kisaragi! That's why she's desperately covering for him!"
Taiyou's voice echoed through the entire gymnasium.
Sumireko looked straight at him.
(...San-chan. When you're cornered, your voice gets louder, doesn't it.)
(And when you lie, you always stare fixedly into the other person's eyes.)
Sumireko didn't miss how Taiyou's pupils had dilated, just slightly.
"Ooga-kun."
Sumireko's voice was quiet.
"Kisaragi-san is innocent. You planted the stolen goods in his desk. And you threatened me—told me to go out with you. I have records of everything."
Sumireko held high a copy of her observation notebook.
The pages fluttered with a dry rustle.
"Here I've documented everything—photos of the moment you entered Kisaragi-san's classroom, a record of your movements. Dates, times, places, and—even who you spoke to and what you said."
The blood drained from Taiyou's face in an instant.
"Wh—why do you..."
"Because I've been watching Kisaragi-san all along."
Sumireko spoke matter-of-factly.
"Everything you did to set him up—all of it."
Taiyou's fists trembled.
"Don't screw with me!! Don't you dare order me around, you ugly bitch!!"
Taiyou grabbed Sumireko's shoulder, violently.
And that was the moment.
"Stop it, San-chan!!"
A voice like a scream rang through the gymnasium.
Shaking her small frame, Hinata Aoi came running up onto the stage. Her bright brown ponytail was in disarray. Tears spilled from her large amber eyes.
"I saw it...! I saw Pansy-chan taking pictures. And I saw San-chan putting something in Joro's desk...I saw it...!"
Aoi's voice was hoarse from crying.
Taiyou glared at her.
"Aoi...what are you saying..."
"I'm sorry, San-chan! But I can't lie anymore! Joro would never do something like that! Because Joro always helped me when I was in trouble! Even when I was crying that I didn't have the courage to confess to you, he stayed right by my side! There's no way Joro would shoplift!"
Aoi shouted, her face a mess of tears.
The gymnasium began to stir.
"Hinata-san...""Even Hinata-san is testifying...""Then Kisaragi really was innocent?"
The students' whispers spread like waves.
Then, another voice rang out quietly.
"...I'll testify too."
Akino Sakura, a third-year, slowly climbed onto the stage. A cool beauty with a great figure. The student council president of Nishikizuta High. Her eyes, usually so calm and composed, were now red and swollen.
"I was also told by Ooga-kun that 'Kisaragi is just using you both'...and I believed it. That Kisaragi-kun was using me and Himawari-san for his own purposes. But I was wrong. Kisaragi-kun knew we had feelings for Ooga-kun, and even so, he supported our love. He suppressed his own feelings to do it."
Sakura's voice trembled.
"Kisaragi-kun, I'm so sorry. I...I believed you were the worst kind of person...I'm sorry I couldn't trust you."
Sakura bowed deeply toward Kisaragi Amatsuyu from the stage.
The atmosphere in the gymnasium shifted completely.
Taiyou stared at the two girls.
The expression drained from his face.
"...You're betraying me?"
It was a low voice, rumbling from the depths of the earth.
"You're betraying me. After everything I did for you. Himawari—when you were in a slump with tennis, wasn't it me who encouraged you? Cosmos-senpai—when you were struggling with student council work, wasn't it me who helped you? And yet you side with Kisaragi. That Kisaragi—that nobody with nothing to offer."
Taiyou's voice was cold and sharp.
Every student in the gymnasium held their breath.
"You'll all regret this."
Leaving only those words behind, Taiyou leaped down from the stage.
And then he strode toward the gymnasium exit.
No one could call out to him.
Taiyou's back disappeared beyond the gymnasium doors.
The sound of the heavy doors slamming shut echoed unnaturally loud in the silence.
Afterward, the principal took the stage and declared that Kisaragi Amatsuyu's punishment was rescinded.
"Kisaragi-kun's punishment is hereby withdrawn. It has been acknowledged that the stolen goods were planted by Ooga-kun. Kisaragi-kun, I am truly sorry."
The principal's voice rang through the gymnasium.
The students all turned toward Kisaragi Amatsuyu at once.
Amatsuyu stood frozen on the stage, dazed.
His black hair was still sleep-tousled. His gentle brown eyes stared at Sumireko as though seeing something unbelievable.
Sumireko stared back.
Her bare face, without glasses.
And she smiled, just slightly.
"Kisaragi-san. It's over."
That smile was softer and warmer than anything anyone in the gymnasium had ever seen.
Deep in Amatsuyu's chest, something pulsed hard.
(...What is this.)
(My chest hurts. But it's not a bad hurt.)
(Sanshokuin-san is smiling.)
(Sanshokuin-san, without her glasses, is smiling at me.)
Inside Amatsuyu's heart, for the first time, his feelings for the girl named Sumireko took clear shape.
After the assembly, in the deserted library.
The evening sun streaming through the windows dyed the bookshelves orange.
Sumireko sat in her usual seat by the window.
The glasses were gone. The braid remained undone.
Sumireko's profile, lit by the setting sun, was more beautiful than anything Amatsuyu had ever seen.
Amatsuyu slowly lowered himself into the seat across from her.
Silence flowed between them.
"...Why would you go that far for me?"
Amatsuyu broke the silence.
"I...I never did anything for you. If anything, in my head I was thinking awful things—'plain girl,' 'why's she sticking her nose in,' all of it. So why? Why would you expose your own secret just to save me?"
Amatsuyu's voice was trembling.
Sumireko placed a hand on the bookshelf and slowly rose.
The setting sun glittered through her hair.
"...In middle school, I saw you on the grounds, comforting San-chan."
Sumireko's voice was quiet.
"San-chan had lost a match and was crying. Everyone around him was laughing. But you were different. Even while being laughed at, you desperately kept calling out to him. 'It's okay,' over and over and over."
Sumireko looked out the window.
"That was the first time I saw someone who could cry for another person's sake. Someone who could throw away shame and dignity and give everything for someone else. Your clumsy kindness—it saved me."
Sumireko turned back toward Amatsuyu.
Her large dark eyes gazed straight into him.
"That's why I've been watching you all this time. Since middle school, all the way until now."
Amatsuyu was speechless.
(...Since middle school.)
(All that time, she's been watching me.)
Inside Amatsuyu's heart, his feelings for Sumireko came flooding out.
"...I only ever thought of you as the plain library committee member...I'm sorry."
Amatsuyu hung his head.
Sumireko gave a soft smile.
"I know. I know all your inner thoughts."
Amatsuyu looked up.
"Huh?"
"What you think of me in your heart—I see all of it. 'Plain girl,' 'why's she sticking her nose in,' 'so annoying,' 'give me a break'...I know everything."
Sumireko laughed mischievously.
Amatsuyu scratched his head, embarrassed.
"...Seriously? That's way too embarrassing."
"And even so, I love you. Including all the mean parts inside your heart."
Sumireko's voice was serious.
Amatsuyu's heart leaped.
"...The only one who likes me...is you?"
The words spilled naturally from Amatsuyu's mouth.
Sumireko froze for a moment.
Then, with her glasses-free eyes, she stared fixedly at him.
Her long lashes cast shadows in the setting sun.
And she smiled.
"Who else would there be, you thick-headed fool?"
That smile was more dazzling than any Amatsuyu had ever seen.
"...'Thick-headed fool'..."
Amatsuyu muttered, hiding his embarrassment.
Then Sumireko stood directly in front of him with a serious face.
"Kisaragi-san."
Her voice rang quietly through the library.
"Please go out with me."
Sumireko told him, straight on.
Amatsuyu's heart pounded hard.
(...She confessed.)
(Sanshokuin-san confessed to me.)
Amatsuyu gazed into Sumireko's large eyes.
In them overflowed anxiety, hope, and a direct, honest feeling.
"...If you're okay with me."
That was Amatsuyu's answer.
Sumireko's face lit up brightly.
"...Thank you."
Sumireko murmured softly.
And there by the library window, the two of them held hands for the first time.
Sumireko's hand was small and warm.
Amatsuyu's hand was slightly sweaty, and trembling.
"I've been watching you from this seat all along."
Sumireko said quietly, looking out the window.
"You can see the schoolyard so well from here. You talking with Himawari-san, you laughing with San-chan—all of it."
Amatsuyu gazed at Sumireko's profile.
(...From this seat, all this time.)
(She was watching over me.)
Deep in Amatsuyu's chest, a gentle warmth spread.
"...From now on, watch me from right beside me."
Amatsuyu said, embarrassed.
Sumireko gave a small chuckle.
"Yes, I will."
The setting sun dyed their joined hands orange.
A few days later.
The school was buzzing with talk of Pansy's true face and San-chan's scheme.
"Hey, did you see? Sanshokuin-san.""Under those glasses, she was that beautiful?""I heard Ooga-kun really did plant stolen goods on Kisaragi-kun.""The baseball club's been suspended, apparently."
In classrooms and hallways alike, the students' gossip never stopped.
Ooga Taiyou was completely isolated in his class.
No one tried to talk to him.
Taiyou sat at his own desk, alone, staring out the window.
His expression was blank—impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Kisaragi Amatsuyu watched him from a distance.
(...San-chan.)
Complex emotions swirled in Amatsuyu's heart.
(Since middle school, I always thought we were best friends.)
(But you resented me, didn't you.)
Amatsuyu did not reach out to Taiyou.
(Anything I say to you now won't reach you.)
(Besides—I can't forgive you.)
Amatsuyu looked away from Taiyou.
Lunch break.
Himawari and Cosmos came to visit Sumireko.
"Pansy-chan, I'm so sorry!"
Aoi stood before Sumireko and bowed deeply.
"I couldn't believe in you, Pansy-chan, and I said terrible things! I'm truly sorry!"
"I'm sorry too. Even though you believed in Kisaragi-kun, Sanshokuin-san, I believed Ooga-kun's words and doubted him."
Sakura bowed deeply as well.
Sumireko looked at the two of them and smiled quietly.
"Don't apologize. You were just used. San-chan skillfully manipulated you—you had no choice but to believe. You two did nothing wrong."
Sumireko's voice was kind.
Aoi raised her face.
"Pansy-chan...!"
Aoi threw her arms around Sumireko.
"...Hey, Himawari-san."
Sumireko, flustered, gently patted Aoi's back.
"Come now, no more crying."
"But...but..."
Sakura smiled too, her eyes red.
"Sanshokuin-san, thank you so much. For saving Kisaragi-kun."
Sumireko looked at Sakura and
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