ardent: (You knew the game and played it)
Kiyotaka Ishimaru (石丸 清多夏) ([personal profile] ardent) wrote 2014-02-09 03:22 am (UTC)

But can you say we're really any better than you, in the end?

[Bishop; B7-C6, capturing the pawn.]

There isn't any shame in being ordinary; I'm perfectly ordinary myself. But I excelled, and was accepted into a school primarily full of geniuses, because I adhere to the solidarity of hard work.

[He toys with the pawn he's captured between his fingers, thinking; he seems to realize what he's doing after a moment and sets it down on the table beside the board.]

And I think that's the blessing that comes with being ordinary. You may not have any special skills now, Naegi-kun, but that doesn't mean you're subpar. It means you can excel in any skill you want, if you're willing to work for it. If anything, you have more potential than any of us, so please don't feel bad for being average - that means you can do literally anything you put your mind to.

And that's the sort of world I want for everyone, I think. One where we aren't afraid to challenge ourselves; where we learn how to succeed, rather than just how to proceed because everything is handed to us. Where we can all be the best we can be. It's that sort of spirit that's going to change the world - not through any sort of genius, but through the efforts of ordinary people. Extraordinary effort from those considered ordinary...

That's why I work so hard, Naegi-kun. A good amount of it is for others, to prove to them that hard work and sacrifice really is a way to succeed, that it's enough to change the world...but it's for myself, too. It's definitely for myself.

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