Chapter 8 Chapter 3: Memories of Kyoichiro Kaga

I have interviewed all those who knew about Nonoguchi and Hidaka's past (especially their junior high school days).Of course, there must be other fish that slipped through the net, but the necessary information has been found.Although these materials are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle scattered all over the place, I can vaguely see their completed graphics, and that is the original appearance of this incident——I am so sure. The violent incidents in junior high school—maybe it can be said to be a portrayal of their relationship.When I think in this direction, there are many places that coincide.It would be impossible to explain the murder without mentioning their obscure past.

I have some experience with school violence.Having said that, I have never been bullied myself, nor have I ever done it (at least not in the mind).The experience I am talking about comes from the standpoint of an educator.That was already ten years ago, when I served as a tutor for the graduating class of the third year of junior high school. At the end of last semester, during the final exam, I found that there seemed to be such things in the class. A teacher came to me and told me: "Mr. Kaga, it seems that someone in your class is cheating." He said that for a certain question, five students had the same answer on their test papers. the same place.

"And the seats of these five people are concentrated at the back of the classroom. I'm sure this must be cheating. I don't mind me punishing them, but I want you to know first." The English teacher has always been calm in his work, and even at this time, he did not get angry because the students violated the rules in his classroom. I thought about it for a while and replied, "Let's leave it to me." If it was true, I don't think they would just choose English. "I don't care, it's just that this trend can't last long. Once they succeed once, the number of people cheating next time will increase." The English teacher's advice is very pertinent.

So I quickly asked the teachers of other subjects, is there anything suspicious about the papers of these five people?Of course, the social science (geography) that I teach myself should be investigated by myself. As a result, no obvious signs were found in the subjects of Mandarin, Physics and Chemistry, and Society.It's not that there are no similarities at all, but it can't be said that it is cheating.Regarding this point, the teacher of physics and chemistry said: "The guy who cheats is not an idiot, he shouldn't be so blatant, and children have their own ways." However, this method was successful in mathematics, and the mathematics teacher concluded that they must be cheating.

"A guy who doesn't even know mathematics at the level of first or second grade suddenly became enlightened after entering the third grade? This is impossible. Therefore, before the exam, I can roughly guess what this question is about. The students will solve, which students can only raise their hands and surrender. Take Yamaoka as an example, he can’t write the final proof question. Didn’t he write 'ADEF' on the answer sheet? In fact, it should be '△DEF' Yes. He has no concept of geometry problems, so he mistook the '△' mark in other people's answers for the A of the English letter."

As expected of someone who studies mathematics, his opinions are very convincing. Things didn't seem rosy, and I wondered what to do about it.With regard to cheating, the school has adopted a policy of not punishing the cheating unless it is caught on the spot and the circumstances are serious.However, those students must know that the teachers are not completely ignorant.In other words, they must be warned.So, I called them after school one day. I first told them that they were suspected of cheating, and the evidence was that the English test paper was wrong in the same place and so on.

"How? Did you do it?" Not half of them answered my question.So I named a student named Nakaoka and asked again. He shook his head and replied, "No." I asked others again, but no one admitted it. Because there is no evidence, I can't keep pursuing it.But it's clear to me that they're lying. Four of them had an arrogant and rebellious attitude from beginning to end, only one had red eyes, and he was called Qianye.Judging from the previous results, the other four must have copied him.Of course, no matter whether it is for others to watch or peek at others, they have to accept the same punishment. This is the rule of this school.

Maeno's mother called me that night and she asked if something happened at school that my son looked weird. I told her about the cheating, but she exclaimed on the other end of the phone, it must have been like a nightmare. "Assuming there is really cheating, I think Maeno is also the one who provided the answer. However, the violation is a violation after all. Fortunately, no evidence was found this time. I just gave a little warning and it was over. Was he greatly frightened?" Listening to my question, my mother choked up and said something unexpected: "He came home covered in mud today. Although he has been hiding in the room and refused to come out, I saw his face swell up for no reason. It looks like it's bleeding..."

"His face..." The next day, Maeno didn't come to school because he had a cold.Then the next day when he arrived at school, he was wearing a blindfold, and the bruise on his cheeks showed that he had been beaten. This time I finally understand.Maeno wasn't a friend of the bad guys, he was just forced to do what the other four said.The reason why he was beaten was also because the cheating incident was revealed, and those guys took their anger out on him.However, it is still impossible to judge whether this kind of incident happens frequently in two or three days. Then, summer vacation came and the timing was really wrong.Although I noticed that there were malicious tricks in the class, I didn't do anything during this time.If I had to explain it, I'd say it's because I'm too busy.Although it's summer vacation, I can't be idle for a moment in order to think about the students' advancement.There is a lot of data that must be collected, and there is a mountain of work that cannot be dealt with.However, this is just an excuse after all.In the summer of that year, Maeno was extorted by Yamaoka and the others at least 100,000 yen.No, worse, their entanglements became darker and more complicated, things I didn't know until later.

In the second semester, Maeno's grades took a turn for the worse. From the mouths of a few conscientious students in the class, I learned that school violence had become a routine.His head was burned in six places by cigarette butts, I couldn't even think about it. How should I cope?Some of the teachers at the same school advised me that I was already in the third grade, so I just pretended not to see them and just wait for them to graduate.But, I can't do this kind of thing.This is my first time taking a third grade class and I don't want the misfortune of being a student in my class.

First of all, I will talk to Qianye first.I asked him how did it start?What happened so far? However, he didn't say anything.He was afraid that if he accidentally said something, he would be punished even worse.His fear was extraordinary, the sweat streaming from his forehead and the trembling between his fingers explained everything. I thought to myself, let's start by building his self-confidence.At this time, I thought of kendo. I have always been the instructor of the kendo club, and I have seen many cowardly teenagers become more and more courageous because of practicing kendo. Having said that, it seemed too late for him to join the kendo club, so I gave him individual instruction every morning.Although Maeno looked like he lacked interest, he still came to the dojo on time every day.He is a smart kid, of course he understands why the rookie teacher suddenly wants to improve his swordsmanship, and he is probably embarrassed to live up to my good intentions, right? He finally became interested in one thing, and that was flying knives. In order to cultivate my concentration, I occasionally practice throwing a pair of knives at the standing tatami.Sometimes it is thrown with eyes closed, and sometimes it is thrown with its back.I worry about accidents, so I only do this exercise when no one is around.It happened that Maeno ran into him once, and he was very interested. He asked me to teach him, of course I couldn't agree, I only allowed him to watch from the sidelines.He always stood far away, watching me throw the knife intently. When he asked me the secret, I replied, "Believe that you can do it." Soon after, Yamaoka, the leader of the violence, was hospitalized for appendicitis.This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!I thought to myself that doing nothing and waiting for the incident to subside is a passive and useless approach. I must make good use of this opportunity to resolve Maeno's subservient psychology when facing Yamaoka. I ordered Maeno to make a photocopy of my notes and send them to Yamaoka.He turned me down in tears, but I refused.I don't want him to be a coward when he graduates. What happened in the hospital, I don't know.Maybe Maeno left the notes without saying a word and ran out of the ward; or maybe Yamaoka covered his face with a quilt from beginning to end.I thought to myself that it doesn't matter. Shortly after Yamaoka was released from the hospital, I became convinced that the method was working.I asked a few students without any trace, but I never heard about Maeno being bullied.What the students said may not be true, but compared with before, the front field is indeed much more cheerful now, so I judge that things have really improved. How wrong!I didn't realize it until the very end—after the graduation ceremony. I was so relaxed.The future of the whole class is assured. I believe that the problems have been solved, and I think confidently that I will be able to hold the coach smoothly in the future. Suddenly, a call came to me. It was the police from the youth team.His words were like a basin of cold water pouring down from the top of my head. He said Maeno had been arrested for assault. The crime took place at an amusement park, and the victim's name was Shan Gang. When I first heard it, I wondered if the other party had made a mistake.The victim was Maeno, and the perpetrator was Yamaoka. However, after listening to it, I understood.He said that when Maeno was arrested, his clothes were torn, his body was covered with injuries, and his face was distorted and deformed. Needless to say, I know who made him so miserable.Nakaoka and the others specially waited until Qianye was alone, and several people surrounded and beat him together.The reason why this group of guys had been slow to do anything before was because there was a teacher named Kaga in school who would talk nonsense.Before leaving, they even pissed on Qianye's face. No one knows how long Maeno had been lying on the ground, but after he got up enduring the pain all over his body, he went straight to the school's kendo hall and took the knife from my drawer. He knew where Yamaoka and the others would hang out, because he had sent money there several times before.Maeno found Yamaoka who was laughing and cursing in front of the video game console. Without hesitation, he bullied him from behind, took out a knife and stabbed Yamaoka's lower left abdomen. The people in the store called the police.Maeno just stood there until the police arrived. I rushed to the police station immediately, but I couldn't see Maeno because he refused to see me.And Shan Gang was sent to the hospital immediately, and it is said that his life is not in danger. Two days later, the police officer in charge said to me: "Maeno seems to be planning to strike three times for three times. As for the boy in Yamaoka, I asked him why he was violent against Maeno, and he replied that it was because he was uncomfortable watching him. I asked, why did he look at him?" Unhappy, he couldn't tell why, he just said that he was unhappy." It's depressing to hear that. After that, I never saw Maeno or Yamaoka again.Especially Maeno, according to his mother, the last person he wants to see in this world is me. In April of the same year, I also left my teaching position, which means I ran away. I still think this is the biggest failure of my life.