A wise man keeps away from danger.
Ever since I was little, I've always kept my distance from people.
Why did I make such a choice?
It was easier that way, and, most importantly, it stopped me from getting wrapped up in trouble.
No making friends, no making enemies.
It was simpler to maintain neutral relationships.
However, one day, I was wrapped up in a non-sensical fight between some children.
The only reason being that I was close by.
Three out of the four people there excluding me were relentlessly attacking one person.
The three's attitude in particular was arrogant, but they weren't that unreasonable, and it had all started with a lie.
The child that was being attacked was clearly upset towards the three, and had lied to them.
It should really have been a trivial thing.
I think it was about whether he received a sign from a famous person or not.
It was the three's wish that he admit his lie and apologize to everyone.
On one side, a lone person insisting that he isn't lying and refusing to apologize.
I coincidentally encountered them on the spot and analysed the situation as an observer,
and encouraged the lying kid to admit that he was lying, but in the end, he wanted to keep the lie up.
A flimsy lie. He was pointlessly stubborn.
I thought that things might escalate and he might be harmed, but I didn't do anything.
It's his fault for telling a useless lie in the first place.
I don't know if he wanted to show off or what, but it really was foolish.
There's no need to save him or anything.
It has nothing to do with me.
I sincerely thought so.
No, I actually even thought that he should get hit once and learn his lesson.
However... Things ended without getting too serious for the kid.
A third party suddenly appeared in this predicament and used his quick wits to save the kid.
Just because they were friends, he protected him without blaming him for the lie.
I didn't get it. That's not justice.
The three who had not lied should have been in the right.
My uncertain heart wasn't clear.
Who's in the right?
The three who had not lied but had used violence, or the one who stuck to his lie?
Was it the third party who protected his friend while knowing that it was a lie?
There was one adult who watched the trouble unfold from the start until the end.
That person put his hand on my head, and said "If you don't have the strength to save him, you can just ignore him running away. Having the strength and not using it, now that's something a fool would do." I didn't understand it back then.
I thought that he was telling me to save that liar.
However, as I started growing into an adult, I understood.
The word "save", there was no reason that it had to be about the kid who had lied.
I think he meant that if you have the strength to dominate the scene, I could have brought the situation to a finish, no matter what point of view I stood on.
It was the moment that something in me came alive, something I didn't know I had;
something passionate, intense.
I still can't forget the words of that person whom I had met for the first time.
After I enrolled in the Advanced Nurturing High School, I reluctantly chose to socialize with people.
If there was someone in trouble, I remembered to help them, even if only a little.
I wanted to keep being supported by Ichinose's side, who had been confirmed as the class leader.
However, in the end, things didn't go well and I lost my motivation.
It was Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's words that saved me then.
Ayanokoji... Really, destiny is a strange thing.