" I wonder if all these bad things will change when I’m a high schooler…”

“At the very least, they most certainly won’t change if you intend to remain the way you are.” Way to go, Yukinoshita-san! Not going easy on the young'un just after you finished apologizing to her!

“But it’s enough if the people around you change,” I remarked. “There’s no need to force yourself to hang out with others.”

“But things are hard on Rumi­-chan right now and if we don’t do something about it…” Yuigahama looked at Rumi with eyes full of concern.

In response, Rumi winced slightly. “Hard, you say… I don’t like that. It makes me sound pathetic. It makes me feel inferior for being left out.”

“Oh,” said Yuigahama.

“I don’t like it, you know. But there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Why?” Yukinoshita questioned her.

Rumi seemed to have some trouble speaking, but she still managed to form the right words. “I… got abandoned. I can’t get along with them anymore. Even if I did, I don’t know when it’ll start again. If the same thing were to happen, I guess I’m better off this way. I just­” She swallowed. “­don’t wanna be pathetic…”

Oh. I get it.

This girl was fed up. Of herself and of her surroundings.

If you change yourself, your world will change, they say, but that’s a load of crap.

When people already have an impression of you, it’s not easy to change your pre­existing relationships by adding something to the mix. When people evaluate each other, it’s not an addition or subtraction formula. They only perceive you through their preconceived notions.

The truth is that people don’t see you as who you truly are. They only see what they want to see, the reality that they yearn for.

If some disgusting guy on the low end of the caste works his arse off on something, the higher ones just snicker and say, “What’s he trying so hard for?” and that would be the end of it. If you stand out for the wrong reasons, you would just be fodder for criticism. That wouldn’t be the case in a perfect world, but for better or worse, that’s how things work with middle schoolers.

Riajuu are sought for their actions as riajuu, loners are obligated to be loners, and otaku are forced to act like otaku. When the elites show their understanding of those beneath them, they are acknowledged for their open-mindedness and the depth of their benevolence, but the reverse is not tolerated.

Those are the fetid rules of the Kingdom of Children. It truly is a sad state of affairs.

"You can’t change the world, but you can change yourself". The hell was up with that? Adapting and conforming to a cruel and indifferent world you know you’ve already lost to – ultimately, that’s what a slave does. Wrapping it up in pretty words and deceiving even yourself is the highest form of falsehood. "

― Wataru Watari , やはり俺の青春ラブコメはまちがっている。4