He told us that "to believe" is the same thing is betting the coin engraved with "hope" onto the table. Hence, ..."to believe" is to shoulder risk onto yourself. When you win, you gain tremendously, but if you don't, you lose something valuable.
Just like every gambler out there, we try to bet our coins on a match that can be won. But just like any other game out there, there is no such thing as a game that can be won absolutely.
You win some, you lose some. And that how you start accruing the hope coins.
But if you start to constantly lose, you begin to become reluctant in betting. ...And that's when you realize; if you don't bet anything, you don't lose anything.
However, not betting anything is equivalent to not believing in anything. Not believing in anything, is the same as not being involved in anything. And when you're not involved in anything, that's the same as saying that you don't even exist in the first place.
Hence, she was "never here" all this time.
She has one coin left. If she loses that, she will disappear.
...All this time, she was afraid in losing that final coin, so she never placed that on the game table. She constantly was running away from the game board for the fear of placing a bet.
But just like in the game of poker, you also lose a coin when you fold. The last time, she came very close to losing that coin for folding.
And finally, ...she failed to realize one last thing. ...Well actually, I didn't know this either.
Your chances of winning...increases with the more amount of coins you have in your pocket to place bets on
So it was inevitable that we have been losing all this time. The more we feared, the more we lost.
It's exactly the same as carrying a
mikoshi. It is impossible for one person to carry such a heavy thing all by himself. But once everyone helps out, that thing can be carried unbelievably simply.
There is a simple boundary that lies between it being so heavy and so light. It's the same as how a little addition to a scale can tip it from its equilibrium.
Everyone is having so much trouble trying to lift that mikoshi up in front of me. Everyone is trying their best, but they can't lift it. I'm looking at them doing their best, but I don't even try because I judge myself that I can't lift such a heavy thing either; just like I don't enter into a game because I don't think I can win it. Hence, I don't place a bet with my coin.
...But that's where I've been wrong.
Maybe, just maybe, that mikoshi might be lifted really easily if I help out.
I have submitted myself to being an observer all this time. All this time, I thought myself as being a spectator watching people placing their bets, seeing and prospecting if they were going to win or lose. And I thought wrong!! I'm not just a spectator, and I shouldn't be one. I should join in!
The game in front of me may look unwinnable. It looks as if I'm going to lose my bet anyway.
But maybe, just maybe, the odds of winning this game would turn around with me joining in and placing my bet on the table!
Betting something is equivalent to believing in something. Believing in anything, is the same as being involved in anything. And when you're involved in anything, that's the same as saying that you exist.
That's why she is "here" right now.
School bell clanging
Chie Sensei: "Alright, back to your seats everyone! It's this morning's homeroom time!! Talk time is over~. Class leader, go ahead."
Mion: "Kiri-tsu! Rei!" (Stand! Greet!)
Everyone in class: "Good morning!!"
Mion: "Chakuseki~!" (And sit~!)
rustle rustle rustle
It was morning as usual. The only thing different about today was that the homeroom started a bit later.
Chie Sensei is the type who always follows the time accordingly, and she comes into the room always at the same time. But today, she came a bit late.
The reason of her being a bit late crossed my head. It was the rumor that I heard in this classroom this morning.
Sensei turned her head toward the hallway and asked someone to come inside. And one cute little girl entered...
Hanyu: "......auauau...."
Chie: "Her name is
Furude Hanyu, and she's a new transfer student. She'll be your new classmate starting today"
Male kids in classroom:
Oh hell yeah---!!!
The classroom was immediately filled with clamors of welcomes, joy, and surprise.
Rena: "Furude? Hmm, does that mean she's related to Rika-chan?!"
Rika: "....Yes. She is a
very distant relative of mine."
Satoko: "I was very surprised when I first learned that too, you know?! I never knew Rika had a relative."
Mion: "Yeah, ojisan here was surprised too! Oh well, the family tree of the gosanke is very difficult to understand, so it doesn't surprise me that I didn't know either."
Rena: "But, I can tell she's related to Rika-chan! Hau~, kaiiyo~!!"
Hanyu: "....auauau..."
The classroom was filled with excitement with the newcomer. I can tell this new student is a bit taken aback by the commotion surrounding her.
Rika-chan is calm and easy-going, but I can already see that Hanyu is a direct opposite of her. Let's see...she is a bit shy and similar to small cuddly animal. ...Simply said, she's exactly the type in which Rena would jump at.
...See, look at that. Rena's getting ready to gobble her up to take her home at this very instant...
Chie Sensei: "Alright, quiet everyone! Let's have Hanyu-san introduce herself to this classroom! Are you ready, Hanyu-san?"
Sensei left the teacher's stand and told her to go up front of everyone.
The class became eeriely quiet and she seemed to be a bit shy under the pressure. ...I understand her feeling that must be going through her now very well. These things tend to be a bit nervous, right?
Hanyu: "...um...auau..., ...um, my name is Furude Hanyu. ...Well, auau...I am Rika's relative...."
Rika: "....Mi~! That's right, she's my relative. Please be friendly to her."
Rika instinctively knew that she was nervous in introducing herself.
Yep, I understand the difficulty of the pressure of introducing one's self in a quiet room, so we decided to lend a hand to loosen things up a bit as well.
Rena: "She's the same Furude-san as Rika-chan~. Hau, now there are two Furude-sans in this classroom."
Satoko: "Then why don't we call her Hanyu-san instead? If we say Furude-san, then Rika might answer mistakenly, you know?"
It is our rule to call our friends and classmates with our names. Since she's one of us starting today, we should let her in on this rule.
Mion: "So it's decided! We'll call you Hanyu starting today! By the way, I'm the class leader, Sonozaki Mion! You can call me Mion-!!"
Satoko: "O-hohoho!! I'm Houjou Satoko! Nice to meet you, Hanyu-san!"
Tomita: "Um, uh! I'm Tomita Daiki! My house is the tofu store, so please feel free to drop by anytime!"
Okamura: "My, my name is Okamura Suguru! Uh...If you have anything that you need help in, feel free to ask me anything...!"
Other kids: "Hello~. Let's be friends! What year are you in?"
The other students in class began to crowd up around Hanyu and started greeting her with their introductions. It is joyous to see everyone wanting to open and welcome a new student into the class.
I too was a recent transfer student to this school. And they welcomed me with such warmth just like they are doing now. It really helped me loosen up as I was a bit nervous in meeting new classmates.
And as a student who has the most recent experience in transferring here, I must give her advice and lead her into becoming one of us!
Rena: "That's right, we should help her become assimilated into this classroom."
Kei: "Oh that's right. You transferred here too right, Rena? Were you nervous when on your first day of school too?"
Rena: "Mm-hmm. But Mii-chan helped me tremendously and I quickly became friends with everyone."
Mion: "Yep! It's part of the gosanke's duty to welcome newcomers too."
Kei: "Pfft. You become the gosanke when it's to your advantage. But, I guess there's some truth to that. It's pretty quick and easier to get to know this place with your help, Mion."
Mion: "Okay, then let's make it equal. Why not let you guys handle the new comer here then?"
Kei: "That sounds great! You helped both me and Rena when we transferred here, so now it's our turn to lead the new transfer student into this class!"
It's very interesting to see how much the atmosphere of this classroom changed with just a new transfer student. And I feel great since I've gained a new responsibility too!
We immediately decided to have Hanyu be the topic of the day during our lunch hour....