"Welcome back, everyone. Now…it's actually quite interesting you said what you've just said, Kawakami-san. I really do respect you and I think you're a hardworking person…10 years of your life, all in the name of education, and you've never had a year like this one." Sasaki states to begin with.
"Your point?" Kawakami glares. Right on cue, you skank Sasaki thought to herself.
"Take a look at these." The screen then flicked to some very damaging tweets from some students who didn't care about having to be quiet as well as those who transferred out of Shujin Academy. For the sake of national syndication, the expletives were blurred out in front of the screen but it's pretty clear what the tweeters were saying.
"the teachers wanting me to keep quiet, even though that rotten f- happened to admit every nasty thing he did…smh."
"f-k Shujin, f-k all the teachers, f-k all the doctors and anyone ever employed into those gates, your teaching pass is hereby revoked!"
"it's all on Kamoshida? Those lying motherf-ers…"
reply on 16:21: "They always shirk off blame to elsewhere."
"that fat f-k didn't do shit despite the screams and shouts behind the walls of the office…don't listen to a f-king word these ass-es say!"
"those suits only give a f-k about their careers…"
"stay away from Shujin if you know what's good for y'all…"
"Here lies Shujin Academy, born: 1929, died: 2016. Don't go unless you're willing to end up societal sh-e."
"Silence of the Lambs? More like Silence of the Students…"
"These are YOUR students. Well, technically, these WERE your students. Just a handful of the unheard complaints and grievances towards the place you're so proud to teach from. These are the ringing voices who have had enough of being told to wait and be quiet, being fed the same empty promises that life will change when nothing ever did and nothing ever does!" Sasaki preached, gaining a genuinely raucous applause from the studio audience. A lot of the students were definitely sick and tired of the top brass just doing whatever they liked and Rie Sasaki now had them in her pocket. Well, hers and Ken Sakuma's.
"One student strangled, one forced to do dirty bidding and one who DATED the man in question. ALL three under your classroom. It really makes a person wonder…were you actively paying attention to the students you are directly responsible for?" Sakuma broached. Kawakami refused to answer. A response like that was more than enough to continue spreading doubt across the students. The only thing that wasn't accounted for was the levels that Ken Sakuma would go to for exposure.
"I think you've failed in that regard, Kawakami-san. Not just you, of course, but the other acquaintances you know."
"Excuse me?"
"The students under Kamoshida's coercion are naturally expected to speak up when time and time again, it's been proven to do absolutely nothing? Are you kidding me?" Another applause…the students really are vocalising their feelings Kawakami pondered.
"...It's probably a reason why Amamiya-san took so long to even want to trust you."
"Sorry to interrupt you, Sasaki-san, but that's entirely untrue." Ren defends, convincing himself a jaded thought: The alibi's slipping right under our feet…I've got to put these interviewers in their place. In reality, he simply felt the need to protect his teacher from the questions he perceived as a cruel onslaught.
"Amamiya-kun?" Kawakami uttered.
"Is it now? Then can you please tell us why it took so long for you to trust Kawakami-san?"
"The truth of it is that it didn't just extend to her or staff members that I did see. The culture was business as usual for students. In no way could I really trust anyone without observing them for myself. The only way to really see a person is to not…see them, if you know what I mean. Now I'm not arguing with what you said because as you rightly said, again and again, students speaking up and nothing happening…of course, speaking to the teachers got nothing done. Still, the very same students who've walked away, hid behind their screens and sent in those tweets were students that probably sat back and did nothing. They can't shoulder the personal responsibility that needs to be taken."
"Personal responsibility?"
"No one dared to break the cycle. And when I say no one, I'm including the friends of the victims who DIDN'T attend Shujin, their parents and the top brass of the sporting industries for poor regulations."
"...But that isn't necessarily fair! What could we have done?" A student yelled out in the audience.
"You could have kept on shouting to the rooftops! You could have used a multitude of online services to ensure you are heard! You could all have worked with one another to come up with something effective!" Ren shot back. The atmosphere turned from a battleground to a rioters affair with lots of comments from the other students drowning out their teachers' instructions to keep quiet.
"Why are you on their side?!"
"Kamoshida strangled you! They did f- all for a whole week!"
"Have you been forced to do this s-?"
"You don't have to defend them!"
"One of your fellow students brought up a good point...have you been forced to do this, Amamiya-san?" Sakuma asked, a false sense of concern in his tone.
"I came voluntarily."
"Why are you so keen on taking a chance on Shujin Academy, happy to sing nothing but praises for it when easily preventable failures regarding responsibility, teaching and trust has been a plague throughout your time there?" Ren silently smiled a nastily crooked grin inside, having likened this opportunity to the way an eagle closed on its prey. You fucked up now.
"Correct me if I'm wrong but have I actually said a positive word about Shujin since sitting on this sofa?"
"…" All on the stage stayed silent as Ren spoke.
"Because I haven't. At least not yet. The fact is, I chose to be the first person to speak about their experience under Kamoshida to let other victims know they're not going to go unheard. If a criminal like me can get up and freely talk to people like you and not end up silenced, surely any idiot would see they can do the same." Kawakami turned to look at her most troublesome student, a concern in her eyes that this information was now really and truly public.
"It's in the public domain what I've done and no doubt people are going to bring it up a lot more after today. Those irresponsible actions I took out of misguided justice should have landed me in a juvenile facility. But my parents didn't want that for me, even with all of the trouble I left on their plate to clean. As I overheard them calling establishment to establishment in order to find a suitable place for me to continue my education, many rejections came their way for the fear of trouble I may cause. Painstaking days and nights having gone by to keep me out of a cell. And then it all paid off in the end - Shujin Academy came along and said yes. Did our family know there were ulterior motives? Absolutely not. And sure enough, it was a horrible surprise to find that out. Ulterior motives or not though, it is thanks to them taking a chance on me that I'm not without a future in Japan or better yet, the world. It's thanks to them I was able to begin reviewing how I saw everything and everyone around me, to begin letting people into my heart, being more positive about life and just feeling like there was a generally positive thing to come out of my trial. Is it so bad that I want to take a chance on Shujin when they took one on me?"
"Even with everything that's happened?"
"I wouldn't change a thing." With this line, the games finally came to an end. Everyone just happened to forget their goals and intentions on the stage. Rie and Ken were no longer interested in trying to squeeze a headline beyond the headline, Ren was no longer thinking about whether his parents would hear his pleas and Kawakami was no longer worrying that the narrative for Shujin had or hadn't stuck.
"I suppose our next question is what now? What is in store for Ren Amamiya?" Ren scratched his forehead a little, took a sip of the water from his glass and then answered Sakuma.
"Haha…I don't really know where to begin." Ren calmly answered.
"Well…is there a lucky lady in your life?" Sasaki asked.
"Not telling." Gasps of oohs and aahs went around the studio and the current love of Ren's life Shiho happened to approve of her boyfriend's answer.
"That's my transfer, alright." she smiled.
"I'm happening to see a new counsellor for therapy sessions, Maruki-san, actually. He's plenty friendly and really accommodating to me, not once judging a thing about who I am based on my profile. We've started working on tasks to help me face the world a little more. There's no deadlines imposed on their completion and his door's always open. Well, more specifically, open from 8:35am to 3:15pm. And for anyone who still thinks I'm forced, it's completely optional. I respect that the most about Maruki-san." That should do the Maruki plug Ren silently thought.
"His doors are open to any student is what he means." Kawakami didn't want people fetching the wrong idea because he flat out lied about that.
"Wouldn't have said it better, Kawakami-sensei." he retorted.
"Interesting. As your principal has informed us, he was brought in to hear you and several of Kamoshida's other victims out. Has your stance on the infirmary in your school changed since?"
"...I'm still on the fence."
"Is there any more that you can let us in on?"
"Well, after this, I don't really know how much clearer I can make it…I want to continue my educational journey at Shujin. Kamoshida was something I never expected to happen to me but everyone else there's made me feel welcome. I've never felt like I'm being excluded from lessons or given discriminatory treatment - I'm just a regular student who's there primarily to receive a better education. Nothing more, nothing less."
"What does your family think of your intentions?"
"...I'd rather not provide that answer, thanks." Residing in the mountainside of Matsumoto in Nagano, in a particular lodging you wouldn't think twice about, two highly accomplished parents would sit and watch their son bravely face down the highly intimate questions the interviewer asked with raw, sincere answers.
"Misao…" Daigaku started.
"I know. He really seems to love that place, doesn't he?" Misao replied.
"…And to think all this time, he was really listening in on us."
"Sojiro really has hammered some life lessons into him. To think in just one month Ren would have grown so much. We've never stopped to think how it must have been in Ren's shoes." He contemplated.
"Even so...we'd be irresponsible to just back down because he wants to stay whilst conveniently ignoring the horrors that place has. He's really gone and laid his roots." she responded.
"It's just gone and shown us how much he's grown since starting there though." Daigaku considered. It then occurred to him they took the task on alone and that it didn't need to be this way.
"Maybe we can discuss the options available to him over the phone." He proposed to which Misao countered with a wilder idea.
"How about we do one better and pay him a visit? I've not seen Sojiro in years…plus we can finally meet Wakaba's little girl too."
"Hmm…I dunno. Sojiro might be sick of us both." While the two parents thought about their options, the interview came into its closing chapter.
"My apologies. If you were to continue to head to Shujin Academy, what would you get up to?"
"I'd hopefully get a club up and running." Ren answered.
"Interesting…could you tell me more, Amamiya-san?" the male host prompted.
"Yes, I can. I've had the idea floating in my head for a while and I was happy to hear it would go through: Weapon Appreciation Society, a place to talk freely about the weapons our ancestors wielded during the wars and other whatnot. If you wish to be bored to tears, I'll happily accommodate you." The audience kicked up a ruckus and laughed along with the hosts and a certain owner in a certain store in a certain alleyway.
"Well, is there anything that won't bore us you can tell us about?"
"Haha…I suppose I could but be warned. We've got a model and a half for you all. I believe Takamaki-san has it with her today?" The formal response to Ann would dissuade even the keenest of viewers to the intimate knowledge that she was Ren's vice leader and right hand. He'd looked over to her and the audience followed his eyes to focus on the blonde beauty.
"Eh?!" She exclaimed, clearly not expecting this development.
"Takamaki-san, it's perfectly okay." Kawakami reassured, not knowing how much it did the exact opposite. Nonetheless, Ann kept a straight face as she walked up with a bag containing two things: the first of which was a shimmering platinum silver rapier for which Ann handed it over to Sakuma with grace, bowed her head and then left the stage. Kawakami almost fainted on the spot seeing the 42-inch blade revealed like that.
"My goodness…it's sensational." Sasaki exclaimed.
"Is this a real weapon?" the male host asked, standing up and taking a swing of the exquisite creation.
"What 16 year old has access to real weapons?" Ren smugly answered. There were some hushed laughs here and there but a harrowing silence otherwise.
"And the other thing in here…OH S-!" Rie Sasaki blurted when she pulled out a gun that closely resembled the Beretta 9mm. Of course, this was blurred out on the air. A few shrieks and shouts came from the audience who clearly weren't expecting this development. Security came over to reassure her of its safety while Ren got up, picked the gun up and let her look at it closely.
"It's okay. Both replica models are designed to look indistinguishable from a real thing. There's no point talking about appreciation when you can't see or feel how it looks for yourself. I definitely put a right scare into my teachers when they saw the sword the first time." Ren answered stoically, sitting down with the model gun in hand not knowing the evident alarm Kawakami had.
"You were okay that this was approved?!" Rie was still jolted from earlier and for the first and only time, the two ladies would see eye to eye.
"Not in the slightest! We don't normally approve something as oddball as weapon appreciation in the first place but these…models, they're news to me!" Kawakami hastily replied.
"See folks, this is why you don't sign things before reading the fine print!" Ken Sakuma got a genuine laugh from Ren who was glad that he'd not have to say that out loud and make a fool of his teacher on TV.
"I like the way you think, Ken. Can I call you that?"
"Well, that's if I can call you Ren?"
"Alright. There's no other place I can name off the top of my head that allows something like my club to even exist. I originally wanted to reveal this much later on during the year - I suppose the cat's out of the bag now." Ren lied, rather shamelessly.
"…If it's not too much of an ask, could you please put the gun away?" Rie asked, still erring on the side of caution.
"Of course." He then placed the gun into the bag along with the sword. In the back alleys of Shibuya where an unassuming store banner hid its goods, a loud laugh boomed from the owner.
"This kid…talking his ass off, waving my merch off like that. He'd better not complain that I charge him a premium rate heading forwards." Iwai said, to no one in particular. His previous line of work and the type of clientèle he catered to wouldn't afford for the following reaction, for it would be perceived as a sign of challenge to the former and a betrayal of the indifferent personality established to the latter. Nonetheless, it was the first time in a long time something genuinely amused him.
"It's highly alarming knowing these replicas look so real. How will you ensure that no one tries to slip genuine weapons that could seriously injure or even kill anyone?" Rie Sasaki cautiously asked, not really wanting to go deeper in the iceberg.
"We'll put some security in place and keep a backlog of every replica we own. Furthermore, our checks will occur every time we start the club. Of course, there's some secrecy involved with where we get them but other than that, we will ensure they aren't maliciously used. I trust my deputy completely for the times I'm not going to be around."
"That's a good response, leader." Ann whispered.
"Lastly, is there anything you wish to say directly to the viewers?"
"To anyone who's watching and might be going through similar treatment, I've been in your position. You're not alone. There will always be someone in your corner whether they're physically there or virtual. Your experience is most likely unique to you so while it may not mean much now, as you can see, I've weathered the storm thanks to finding and trusting the right people." There was a gentle applause that followed Ren's words of empowerment.
"What rousing words." the male host answered.
"You've heard it first here. Thank you for your time, both of you, and I wish you the absolute best of luck." As the last set of applause for Ren and Kawakami resounded through the studio walls, they once again shook the hands of both interviewers and was finally put out of his misery. The male host happened to discreetly slip him a card with a number and name: Akenai Matsumoto. This is his agent…you want to get more interviews out of me?
"We're off air!" The three on the interviewee sofa stood up, bowed to the interviewers and then went back into their allocated dressing room. Once closing the door, Ren breathed an overly heavy sigh, no longer as tense as before. Loosening the top two buttons on his blazer, he chugged down a Dr. Salt and looked at the chat log of his group chat reacting to the interview. His eyes flickered over to the door and when Kobayakawa entered, he had nothing but praise for Ren's efforts: the way he sounded made Ren think he was no more than a yes-man.