Classroom of The Elite : The Marionette

Satonaka Ayase's SS: Guilt

Since I was little I was often praised by the people around me. "Aya-chan is a good girl", "Aya-chan is so smart", and "Aya-chan is so obedient" that's what they often tell me. I always do what adults say. If my mom tells me to study, I will study, if they ask me to buy something at the next shop, I will, if they say not to come to this place then I won't go there. Thanks to that adults tend to like me. They often say to their children, "Look at Aya-chan. Can't you be like her?" They really like me because I'm an obedient child, but not so with Ryou-chan.

Ryou-chan is a naughty kid. He is an orphan who lives with his grandmother who is very old. He is the opposite of me. When I was often praised, he was often scolded by everyone in our neighborhood. He had run away from home several times, although he did not dare to go far. His grandmother always told me. "Aya-chan, please advise Ryoutaro, don't let him do whatever he wants, even though he's naughty, he's actually a good-hearted kid. If you stay with him maybe he can learn to control himself." and that's what I did. Every time he wanted to go to a dangerous place, I stopped him, every time he wanted to fight with other kids, I would stop him as well, over time I unknowingly spent most of my time with him.

At first, Ryou-chan wasn't very happy with my presence. In his eyes, I might just be a smart-ass girl who likes to suck up to adults. He often get angry at me and tried to tell me to leave, he even pushed me so that I fell down and cried. In the end his grandmother forced him to apologize. As time went on he started to give up on getting rid of me and let me be around him. Over time he also got used to it and became a little more friendly.

Ryou-chan's grandmother was right. He's not a bad person. Even though he likes to fight but he never bullies the weak. Although rude, but he is also honest. He is often misunderstood and most people don't even try to get to know him properly. Maybe that's why he doesn't have friends, coupled with the social stigma against children like him.

When we were in middle school Ryou-chan finally met people who accept him. Unfortunately these people are some sort of youth gang. His reputation is falling. Even my parents warned me not to approach him again. Even so I know Ryou-chan is not a bad person. In fact, it was the gang that had tricked him, that's what I believed at the time.

For the first time in my life, I started ignoring my parents' warnings. When everyone started giving up on him, I never gave up. I kept meeting with him and kept persuading him to leave that delinquent group. Even so, Ryou-chan still ignored me. He said I know nothing and they weren't what I thought they were. I then heard the news of their fights with other gangs and started to think, what part of it that was different from what I thought? They only drag him deeper and deeper into the path of violence.

I started looking for help. In my school there is a brilliant child. He is very smart and good at sports, he is also quite popular. The teachers love him. He was elected as student council president at my school and at that time I became his secretary. Back then I had heard rumors that this kid had experience in taming naughty children, that's why he said that was happy to help me out.

Unfortunately, I should have learned from my experience with Ryou-chan. I should have known that things weren't always as they seemed. I already know that not everyone is as bad as they seem, and this time I'm going to learn that not everyone... is as good as they seem.

The boy I mentioned, never intended to help Ryou-chan. Later I also found out that that person didn't tame the 'rogues' but instead worked with them. Just like me, he also tried to live up to his family's expectations, but this man's family was much stricter than mine and it was stressing him out. Feeling burdened with the demand to be perfect, he began to use drugs. All that he got from his delinquent friends. He started to panic because the police had started to notice, so he needed a scapegoat, and I indirectly gave him the perfect target.

I don't know what happened next in detail but after that, most of Ryou-chan's gang members were caught by the police. Their leaders were arrested on charges of possession of illegal drugs and only a few managed to escape. An angry Ryou-chan then came to our school to beat up that guy. I, who at that time still didn't know the truth, tried so hard to stop Ryou-chan.

Ryou-chan insists that the boy framed them and that his gang leader wouldn't commit such a crime. Of course, no one believed him. No one would believe the accusations thrown by a delinquent at an honor student like him. At that time I thought that Ryou-chan was just blinded by anger.

After a few weeks, the truth was revealed. The boy had planned everything as neatly as possible, but in the end his efforts were in vain. The medicine he was taking started showing side effects, making him fall ill. An examination at the hospital finally proved his involvement in the case and he was immediately taken to the rehabilitation facility.

That's when it hit me that I had messed everything up. I should have listened to Ryou-chan's words. I shouldn't judge people by their appearance. I, who have always been praised, feel that my judgment is the most correct. Because of me, Ryou-chan has lost his friends. It's because of me Ryou-chan is getting hated by people. My self-righteous nature has destroyed Ryou-chan. I have broken my promise to his grandmother. If only I was more willing to listen to him, if only I didn't follow societal narrow-mindedness, Ryou-chan might still be able to have fun right now.

When I found out that Ryou-chan also applied to this school, I was very surprised. My heart is very happy, but at the same time worried. I want to fix everything back, but I'm also afraid that people like me who already destroyed his life once, don't deserve to be with him. I'm too scared to even spend the time with him. That's why I asked Kurose-kun for help. I thought that Kurose-kun might be able to provide a place for Ryou-chan, and that's exactly what he did. Even though his method was a bit questionable, he managed to make Ryou-chan study with other classmates.

After the midterms ended, Ryou-chan attended a small party with his study group. I was very happy because Ryou-chan could get along with normal students, but another problem arose. Kurose-kun is said to be involved in the expulsion case of 8 students. When I heard that, my heart felt like it was struck by lightning. Am I making the same mistake? Have I chosen the wrong person, again? Higashi-kun said that Kurose-kun is a good person, but is that really true? Tomorrow's inquiry will prove it. If it turns out he's not a good person as I thought...then I'll do everything possible to keep him away from Ryou-chan.

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I'm actually not very satisfied with this SS. That's why I might rewrite this one if get a better idea. If you had some complain about this SS then don't hesitate to tell me.