Volume 3 Epilogue: A Ride to Summer

I didn’t sleep a wink.

Not even a second.

Even after I dropped her off safely at the condominium last night…even after I walked home under that same quiet moon, my mind wouldn’t stop racing. The image of her asleep against my shoulder kept replaying over and over.

She was totally defenseless, a far cry from that air of elegance and perfection she carried being the student council president of Komorebi High and beyond.

Takamine-san asked me if I’d run away with her.

But that's something I couldn't answer, right? I'm just a teenager without a sustainable income, a kid with the weight of the world on his shoulders, and someone that thrives on just being invisible and letting things happen around me without giving them any real importance.

And she's a goddamn daughter of the owner of the country's second biggest company, and I'm just one lawyer away from being brought behind bars due to abduction.

My life will be over on a whim. Ayase and Akio-san wouldn't have taken notice.

But saying no to her offer didn't do much justice either.

And now…the sun was rising. Today was supposed to be the field trip of Komorebi High School.

A day for laughing with friends, sneaking snacks into backpacks, and fighting over window seats on the bus. But here I am, head slumped towards the bathroom sink.

Alone.

Ayase was with Saori and Akito, that's for sure. I excused myself just to sulk over here and reflect with this borrowed silence and solitude.

My chest twinged, a burning sensation inside it. Maybe from the beer last night. Maybe there are other reasons.

I grasped my uniform and yes, it still stung, and it was another factor that left me restless.

All I could do was stare blankly at my reflection on the hallway mirror. I was a zombie in the sea of excited students.

I looked like a guy who should’ve cried buckets last night. But those tears didn't fall. All I felt was this…hollowness. Like someone carved me out and left the skin behind.

Have I done enough? Did I change anything at all?

I clung to the hope that maybe Takamine-san would still be here. Perhaps she’d show up like nothing happened. She was the student council president, after all. She always came in earlier than everyone else, making rounds before homeroom even began.

But this morning?

Takamine-san wasn’t at the gate.

No Madonna in the hallways. Even in the broadcast room where she usually prepared the morning announcements.

And in that silence, the answer wrote itself:

She’s already left.

I failed.

My stomach churned violently, my vision swimming, and before I could stop it, I hurled everything I didn’t eat. My body trembled as I washed my mouth out, the taste of bile and leftover beer lingering like punishment.

I should’ve done more. I should’ve said something—

—To at least stop her from going.

Wiping the accumulating tears in my eyes, I went out of the bathroom.

And that’s when I noticed them.

Two guys standing outside the building hallway.

There are no other students around, and just by the way they stared at me, I knew:

This wasn’t a coincidence. I was the subject of business.

Ino Arata, the rumored ex-lover of Takamine-san stood there, arms crossed, leaning on the wall like he owned the place. His golden hair gleamed in the morning light, his cold green eyes boring holes on my skin.

He had the reputation of a charming prince as a secretary of the student council. But seeing the student beside him made me think twice about it.

Whilst he belonged in the podiums, the other belonged to the depths.

Kanegawa Yuuto, the bruiser I beat up before. The one who spoke in punches, tried to open my past like a book cover, but I closed it with my own fists of justice.

Great. Of all places and timing.

Ino’s eyes scanned me from head to toe, lips curling into something between a smirk and a sneer.

The gold-standard student clicked his tongue and stepped forward, hands in his pockets, but his posture radiated arrogance and intimidation.

“So, you’re the guy, huh?” he spat, his tone dry but sharp like broken glass. “Ishida Haruki, was it? The one who’s been hanging around Shizuku lately like a lost puppy.”

I didn’t reply. I didn't have the energy to.

He tilted his head, examining me like I was a stain on his kempt uniform.

“Funny,” he continued. “I’ve been trying to get close to her for years, being the model student after her. I played nice with the teachers and earned respectable grades even with the Sentinel teachers. But you...”

His lips curled into something between amusement and disdain.

“You just freaking show up out of nowhere, start playing hero. And somehow, you get to be the one she looks at.”

I clenched my fists. "Why do you care?"

"Because you're her everyday goddamn topic!" he roared, the envy ripping from his throat. "How can she put so much attention on somebody that doesn't even know his tie is crooked, hair's a jungle mess, and doesn't have a physical existence! You're a goddamn disgrace!"

I know that it's already late to be self-conscious when you're in the face of danger. His envy might have calmed me a bit down, but the other punk had other plans.

Kanegawa Yuuto stepped beside him, cracking his knuckles. “Doesn’t look like much to me.”

“He’s not,” Arata replied. “But apparently, Shizuku likes to slum it.”

My breathing quickened, and something snapped in me.

“I didn’t steal anybody,” I muttered, eyes narrowing. “And with Takamine-san? She's not something you get to own. Not even herself can choose the road she wants to take.”

Arata’s expression darkened.

“You think you’re noble?” he sneered. “You think she chose you because she wanted to? You have no idea how her world works. You have no idea what you’ve done.”

Yuuto grabbed my uniform, snapping a button or two, and yanked me upward.

"...I know how her world works, Arata." I wheezed.

“You’re getting on my nerves.” Yuuto responded on his behalf.

And before I could prepare my defenses, a fist connected to my gut—right where the hapless pain is tormenting me since yesternight.

White-hot pain exploded in my torso, much worse than recently, and I dropped to one knee, choking on air.

I retched, coughing, barely holding myself up. The world spun in uneven loops.

Then another one connected to my cheek, throwing me down to the cold cement.

Yuuto reached down and pulled me up by my hair. “Still got that fight in you, huh?” his voice dripping with mockery.

I narrowed my eyes despite the lingering flare of pain in my body.

"Haven't you learned from the time I beat you up?"

I lashed out my free hand instinctively, shoving his arm off me and stumbling to my feet. But before I could land anything, Arata was already in front of me—slamming me into the wall.

His forearm pressed against my neck, choking the words right out of me.

“You think this is about pride?” Arata hissed into my ear. “This is about everything I’ve worked for. Everything I’ve built with her. And you ruined it.”

My hands scrabbled at his arm. His strength was no joke. My vision began to darken at the edges.

Assessing his strength alone made me realize that Ino Arata, the golden boy of Komorebi High, is a stinky delinquent leader working in the background all along. Takamine-san's rejection of him made sense. I would rather not hang around with people as rotten as him if I was in her position.

“She was mine to protect,” he spat. “And because of you, they pulled her out. You think she just left because she wanted to?”

My knees buckled. I was seconds from blacking out.

“Maybe next time you’ll think twice before playing hero—”

“Let. Him. Go.”

The commanding voice rang like a gunshot through the corridor, cutting the tension.

And it is very, very familiar.

Arata froze.

Slowly, he looked over his shoulder.

Takamine-san stood there, arms crossed over her chest, her blue eyes sharper than razors. Dressed immaculately in a white knit sweater, paired with a light denim skirt and low sneakers, her expression was unreadable.

But the chill in her voice left no room for misinterpretation.

Beside her stood Ogawa Airi, holding her phone up in full view. The camera light blinked ominously towards the scene before it.

Arata’s expression twisted, his posture shifting. “Shizu…ku…? You’re not—” His voice faltered.

“Gone?” she said flatly, her eyes brimming with the same venom as him. “You thought I transferred?”

“I—I thought they made you—”

“I made my own choice.”

Yuuto took a cautious step back. “Ogawa-san, this isn’t—”

The laid-back gyaru cut him off with a look of disappointment. "You're already rejected, brainless prick."

Yuuto gritted his teeth, his head slumping down in defeat.

“Save your apologies,” Takamine-san said. “I heard everything. I saw enough.”

Arata’s hands slowly dropped away from my throat. I collapsed to the floor, coughing violently.

“Shizuku, listen,” he began, trying to compose himself. “This guy—he’s bad news. I was just—”

She didn’t let him finish.

“You were just exposing yourself to everyone,” she said coldly. “I hope that performance was worth it. Because it’s going to circulate faster than your father’s stock prices. Enjoy your field trip, former student council secretary Ino Arata-kun.”

Ogawa Airi smirked. “Already in the group chat, by the way. And I tagged the PTA.”

Yuuto went pale.

Arata looked stunned. He opened his mouth, but no words came.

Shizuku stepped closer to me and knelt down beside where I was still catching my breath.

She gently brushed my hair back. Her fingertips grazed my bruised cheek. I rallied her scent straight to me, as if it was something I lost completely.

“Are you okay?” she asked, her voice gentler now. Quieter. Like it was just the two of us.

I nodded faintly. “You stayed…”

She smiled softly. “I told you. I don’t want to say I’ll miss you.”

She stood, turning back to the two stunned boys.

“And as for you two,” she said, her voice hardening into ice, “consider this the last time I ever acknowledge your existence. Come near him again and I'll be the one ordering your expulsions, am I clear?”

The two delinquents stood humbled, but their fury against me isn't something easily taken. They're still glaring at me as if I was the one who dialed down their reputation.

"...Yes, president." the two of them said in unison.

After clicking his tongue, Arata retreated to the building exit, with Yuuto lazily following while scratching his hair.

Airi trailed after them, still recording their movements. “You two really thought you could get away with that in her school? Truly unfortunate. Don’t worry, the whole class will be watching this at lunch.”

When the three of them disappeared, Takamine-san sat next to me. A wave of relief washed over me, something that felt so foreign after a night of overthinking and constantly drifting, and I welcomed all of it.

I...was successful.

Exhaustion and pain took over me, and I found my head pressed against her shoulder, an intimate gesture I thought she wouldn't disregard.

But she didn't pull away.

In a much more surprising gesture, she pulled me closer and cradled me to her chest.

My frame stiffened for a bit registering the soft and warm feeling, yet hearing her rapid and weight heartbeat, it cued my body to relax against her grip.

"I thought I would be gone by the morning and already packed my belongings, but when I woke up, Shizumi was next to me, and my dad greeted me, so much out of character, and he just…said that I wasn’t going.”

I pulled away from her embrace and straightened my posture, clearly appalled.

“He…cancelled your transfer?”

“Miraculously. I don't know…I'm still in the middle of processing everything.”

Her voice lacked its usual edge. It wasn’t the one she used in the council room, or with underclassmen. This one was softer. Vulnerable, even.

I blinked, “But why? I thought—”

“That's the thing,” she cut in, shaking her head. “He didn’t explain. He just said, ‘You’ll stay till your graduation. It seems someone’s given me reason to believe you’re meant to be here a little longer.’”

Her eyes locked with mine.

“And he said…that someone reminded him of his heart, so much that he was convinced that he was missing it all along.”

A brief pause settled between us, and I don't even think that it steadied anything.

“I have a theory.”

I waited for her answer.

Instead, she searched for my eyes, provocative. “That it was you.”

I blinked again. “Wait—me? Why would I—?”

“You brought me home that night, didn’t you?” she said, assessing my very existence for unsaid secrets. “I barely remember anything. I was wasted, yeah. But I remember...your arms. I remember your heartbeat. I remember your voice—saying something like…”

She paused. Her voice wavered slightly.

“‘Let’s enjoy the field trip together.’ That’s what I heard. You whispered it. I remember.”

I looked away, suddenly too aware of my own heartbeat now.

She continued, almost in a whisper. "I asked Shizumi. She said that she was asleep all the time, but I can tell if she's lying or not. I can feel that everyone in the suite is hiding something from me."

“…I think you dreamed that,” I said quickly, deflecting. “I only walked you to the entrance. That’s all. Your guards took over. I didn’t even talk to your dad.”

She stared at me.

For a second, I thought she’d press further.

But then she let out a small, tired sigh.

“…You’re a bad liar, Ishida-kun.”

I didn’t say anything.

“But fine.” She dismissed me with a scoff. “If you want to pretend, I’ll play along,” she said, looking off to the entrance again. “Maybe I dreamed it. Maybe you didn’t whisper anything. Maybe you didn’t carry me in your arms like a princess in some cheap drama Shizumi loves watching.”

Her voice cracked with something like a laugh.

“But,” she added, “if it was you…thank you. Because I think he saw something in you that made him hesitate. He’s not the type to be moved by words. But maybe by sincerity…maybe by someone who carried his daughter all the way home and didn’t ask for anything in return.”

The wind picked up towards us, carrying a faint scent of flowers with it.

I didn’t know what to say.

She was right that I'm a bad liar. But letting her know what really happened that night would complicate the already compromising situation.

Am I unfair for doing this? Or maybe selfish? Takamine-san doesn’t like outsiders making decisions about her life without consulting her first. If so, how am I different from her dreaded parents? She might call it a pet peeve, but at least that shifted her destiny.

I am fine with a little scolding, but I knew Takamine-san wouldn't let me get away so easily with it if she ever found out the truth.

“You know honestly, I’ve always hated field trips,” she voiced out gently, breaking my trance. “Too many people. Too much noise. No control.”

I looked at her. “So why come today?”

She met my eyes, finally.

“…Because of that promise somebody whispered to me,” she whispered. “Even if you deny it, I’ll believe I wasn’t dreaming.”

“I didn’t carry you,” I lied again, gently, even though Takamine-san wasn’t so oblivious to the underlying meanings.

“I know. And I didn’t cry in your arms, either.”

We stood there for a few moments longer, holding on to an unspoken truth that neither of us dared to say aloud.

Eventually, I glanced toward the buses.

“We should go. Airi will start rumors if we’re late.”

“She’ll start them even if we’re on time,” Shizuku said with a light laugh.

We turned together toward the path, my hands remaining pressed to my chest.

And just before we stepped out into the open where the buses and chatter awaited us, I felt her fingers brush against mine. Maybe it was accidental. Maybe not.

But in that moment, the memory of almost losing her overwhelmed every rational thought.

So I didn’t dare to think.

I held her hand—firmly. Our fingers interlaced like it was the most natural thing in the world.

My cheeks burned bright red, and my heart pounded so hard I was sure she could feel it.

We stayed like that for a while, caught in a pocket of silence that didn’t need to be broken.

Then, I heard her voice again—soft, almost carried by the wind.

“Hey, Ishida-kun.”

“Yeah?”

“…Thank you.”

I didn’t answer right away.

I looked at our hands, slowly letting them slip apart.

“You don’t want them to spread rumors, right?” I said, forcing a little smile. “I’ll walk a bit behind.”

Takamine-san, realizing what we just did, chuckled nervously. “I guess so. I said it myself that I hate too much attention.”

And as she stepped ahead, sunlight caught in her hair like it was framing a goodbye.

But it wasn’t goodbye.

It was something else.

A beginning, maybe.

You said it yourself that if it weren’t for me, you would've just drowned yourself.

You hid your pain that day on the smiles you faked, the false courage the alcohol carried.

But I saw rawness in those eyes.

Because the eyes never lie.

You said you never wanted to be saved by me, because you thought that you’ll just fall again into the cycle of others trying to decide your future.

I understood that.

So I leaped with you in that river, and decided that I’ll drown with your pain too. For at least you have disappeared, you weren’t alone in the lament.

The chorus of the crowd pulled me out of my profound pondering.

When Takamine-san gained a considerable distance, I released my palm covering my chest, and I was right, my uniform was already blood-soaked beneath it.

“Looks like the wound from last night reopened…”

I am fine.

This is fine.

Sometimes, when we crave freedom—even for someone else—we have to bleed for it.

“I finally broke her cycle, huh?”

I found myself smiling towards the sun, ready to embrace my journey towards a fleeting summer paradise.