Before the events took place. Ryou, Tomoyuki, Akiko, and Glenn joined the literary club. With the warm weather, school routines were going on, and in the club room, Yumiko was engaged in routine book reading. The silence in the room was also preserved by the dark-eyed Glenn, who was huddled against the closet. The young man was holding a newly purchased book from his favorite writer. Soon, with occasional glances back and forth between his book and her own, Yumiko decided to voice her interest.
"What are you reading?"
"Do you know the author who wrote The Filthy Passions?" A playwright who lived in the eighteenth century."
"I know him. How could I not?"
"That's what I'm reading."
"Great, what's the title of the book?"
"His posthumous work. "The Flowers of Innocence," seems to be about human needs in the norm of society."
"I haven't heard."
Glenn didn't take his eyes off the reading. Slowly reading the writing, the boy fantasized about every action written in the book. Glenn loved reading novels.
"And how do you feel about our society?" said Yumiko, advancing the subject. "How would you describe the human environment?"
"I think I relate to our human environment rather than looking from afar. The question rather builds on how do I relate to a certain stratum of people?"
"Maybe so. Deign to add: what is your opinion of the vast majority?"
"The masses will remain masses until the end of time. It only changes around them."
"What do you think: are such people good for the world and society in general?"
"Absolutely, at least for the state on the one hand. They pay taxes. They live, but they pay money to the state for their living."
"And for the people?"
"If people can make the saddened happy, their lives are already meaningful. The simple factors of service make the world a wider place."
"So happiness is in simplicity?"
"It is natural. Wouldn't you be happy if you were made happy?"
"I suppose I would be pleased."
Glenn only smiled kindly. "That's nice," he said, in a gentle tone. The boy saw Yumiko as his friend and wished her happiness. He couldn't have it any other way, for Glenn's nature was folded in doing good deeds. "People can always find a way out of any situation, it's natural for us. It's always possible to make amends and benefit society."
"But why don't many people dare to do such things! What does it take for them to figure it out?"
"Desire."
***
A couple of days after completing Saori Kobayashi's questionnaire at school, Glenn was washing his hands and thoroughly rinsing his mouth in the men's room. At an inopportune moment for the young man, Tomoyuki walked into the room, as if he knew Glenn was inside. The sly guy noticed the water Glenn was rinsing his mouth with was coming out bloody, and as he approached, he stared at his sore face. Glenn's eyes seemed weak, and his appearance boded of intense fatigue.
"Glenn-san, have you been spurting blood?" said the young man, and Glenn noticed his arrival. For his own personal reasons, he did not want to be seen weakened at all. Tomoyuki had his phone in his breast pocket, and the camera was peeking out discreetly.
"Damaged his tongue."
"A scar on your tongue doesn't make you that sick," Tomoyuki's interest in the situation escalated, and the young man decided to take advantage of the moment to intimidate. "It's kind of weird how things are shaping up."
"What are you…doing here?" the dark-eyed boy asked with a sickly tone, gripping the sink with his hands hard. It seemed as if he might have fallen to the ground and passed out.
"I was wondering why you go to the bathroom so often."
"Personal…"
"That's right!" goofed Tomoyuki in a non-serious tone. "What an unpleasant turn for you. And what to do… my sempai is sick with something terrible, but no one but him knows what! Gosh, you've been hiding it even from us?"
"You wouldn't be interested."
"And the truth is," pouted Tomoyuki, exposing his low tone to Glenn, "Does anyone know about it?" he stared at the dark-eyed man, to which Glenn remained silent. "But you count me for a friend, don't you? Won't you tell me what this is about? You do everything for friends."
The camera on his phone peeking out of his pocket filmed what was going on with clear quality so that Tomoyuki could use the evidence to his advantage. Glenn lowered his head and his thick, dark hair fell over his face.
"I thought I was going to have a hard time, but you buried yourself in a hole, Glenn-san. Sempai you are. What would happen if I told everyone you know about your illness? Society has disliked the sick and contagious since the beginning of time."
"Nothing…" choked up Glenn and spit out his saliva.
"That's where you're wrong. None of your friends will stay with you, because they don't want any trouble with a sick man who might soon kick the bucket. At least all the ones who hang out with you for the sake of appearances, right? I'm sure that half of those empty-nesters aren't even capable of mooing. You surprisingly have an incredible amount of people around you, even though you don't seem sociable from the outside. And yet, who will stay with you if you get into trouble? Probably… Yumiko-chan! After all, you're friends with her, but what would she think if she found out you were sneakily keeping such a secret from her?"
Glenn's self-serving words were the last straw for Glenn's peace of mind. The young man suddenly straightened up and turned grimly toward the young man. His stern shoulders revealed a rage in Glenn that he could not suppress with silence. The boy's shadow fell across the short Tomoyuki's face. A chain with the symbol of a cross popped out of Glenn's shirt. Tomoyuki was confused.
"Wrong man you found to manipulate," the tall guy declared with a blank stare and hand wrung out the wet underside of his hair. Earlier, his hair had gotten wet as he washed his face with cold water. "Tell whoever you want. Unlike some, I'm not bothered by the opinions of the herd around me."
In Glenn's words, the bewildered young man heard no slander, only truth.
"D-do you expect me to p-think you don't care about your position in society?"
"If I am rejected, so be it. I will only know who is dear to me. But you won't change anything with your words."
"H-how are you s-sure of that?"
"How can you believe someone who has been convicted in a murder case?"
Tomoyuki fell silent. He lowered his eyes slowly, and his clenched teeth covered his lips, which ceased to betray the young man's fear. He buried himself in himself for a moment, imagining his past, which had haunted his mind for years. Glenn, on the other hand, came to his senses and shrank back from his anger. Realizing he'd said too much, the tall guy showed a pitying face.
"Don't look at me with those damn eyes, you monster…" shuddered Tomoyuki. His voice was hoarse, as if the guy could barely pronounce the letters. He was clearly greatly upset by Glenn's words. "Why are you blocking my way? You know how spoiled and undecided these… our boys are. They won't do any good, they must be crushed…"
"You're not thinking right…" answered Glenn, quietly. "Any man can be re-educated…without physical force. With kindness."
Tomoyuki averted his eyes grudgingly to the side, and Glenn jabbed right at his head. The taller young man grasped his head and forcibly turned his gaze in his direction.
"Hey! W-what are you doing?!" misunderstood the young man, trying his best to escape his strong grip. "You're going to crush my head!"
But Glenn just stood there like a pillar. He did not move, but only stared in amazement at Tomoyuki's blue eyes, in which he noticed the very essence of his life.
"Tomoyuki-kun. Why do I see… hell in your eyes?"
"You're crazy!" shouted Tomoyuki, and with deft movements of his hands he broke away from the stunned Glenn, using the fighting technique he had been trained in from long ago. Fixing his clothes, the guy moved toward the bathroom exit. "You're all crazy in here. The whole bunch, a bunch of weirdos," he added, and walked away.
Glenn's shoulders were powerless, and he lowered his arms. His darkened eyes saw in Yamasite the unbelievable hell the young man had been able to go through in his years. He couldn't know for sure, but Glenn was embarrassed to learn something new for himself.
"How did we all get carried away together…" said Glenn, weakened. "It just can't be an accident. How could our hearts have met? Among millions of different people…" he continued muttering to himself, illuminated by the coincidence of his meeting with the rest of the guys. In his mind, their acquaintance had taken place at that time and place.
***
"How do you think people get off track and switch to the right one?" asked Yumiko in one of her private conversations with Glenn in the literature club office. Outside, the bitter, sunset light glittered.
"People start doing things for themselves. Self-development comes with experience. One changes because one tries to grasp a happy future."
"You know, Glenn-kun," Yumiko spoke with a warm, uncharacteristic tone that made the young man himself stare at her, "I'm new to dealing with new acquaintances, but…" she added, and then raised a happy look at the young man. "I'm glad your views coincide with mine. I'm lucky to have new friends, and before, I couldn't even think of such a thing."
Glenn was baffled by the warm words of his friend, whom he considered the only person whose gaze was always sincere and whose personality gave off an aftertaste of tenderness. Glenn was glad that he could help Yumiko find friends.
After all, he always, always saw her lonely. Both at school and beyond her borders.
He thought it wasn't fair. That the whole world was being unfair to an innocent girl whose soul was coated with warmth. She should just open up, Glenn thought at the time, but he hesitated to help.
He believed that Yumiko was an outstanding girl among the masses, who had purity, simplicity, honesty, and genuineness in her mind.