It's Summer! It's Holiday! It's Sakuya-chan! Part 1

“…so why did you guys barge in here first thing in the morning?” Sakuya glared at the three people standing in front of her apartment’s door. “What happened to the end-of-term ceremony?”

“We skipped it, of course!” Hiiro replied cheerfully. “After all, who can stand to hear the teachers rambling about without you around, Sakuya-chan?!”

“We also brought you some refreshments, so you don’t have to go out under the summer heat.” Ouji lifted the grocery bags in his hand.

“I tried to stop them, mind you.” I added dryly. “But they dragged me here anyway.”

Sakuya sighed and cradled her head. “Even though I have faith in your common sense, Ryuu…” She lamented.

“Why am I the only one at fault?!” I retorted. “And besides, common sense can’t win against pure strength when you’re being dragged against your will!”

“Aah…my precious sleeping time…” Sakuya seemed to mutter something else in small voice, but I couldn’t quite catch her words. “Well, never mind that, come on in then.” She gave up and let us in.

“ “ “Excuse us.” ” ”

All three of us followed her inside with a weird tension in the air. This was the first time I had stepped into a girl’s room. Even though we’d just visited this very same place yesterday, Sakuya turned us away at the door using her health as an excuse. She seemed healthy enough to me, but she did look distracted yesterday, so I pulled the reluctant Ouji and Hiiro away.

Today Sakuya seemed even more tired than yesterday, but at least she no longer had that distracted look on her face. I wondered if she had resolved something that had been haunting her all this time.

“Then, what do you guys want from me?” Sakuya asked bluntly after serving the cold drinks and snacks that Ouji bought to us.

We sat around a round tea table, since Sakuya’s apartment wasn’t equipped to receive many guests. It was quite small, but fortunately it didn’t feel cramped. I sneaked a look around the apartment. Contrary to my expectations, it was a terribly plain apartment. There were no photos nor decorations adorning the place, and it only had the bare minimum of furniture for a person to live in.

It was as if she didn’t want to leave any trace of herself in here.

“Sakuya-chan, it’s already summer break, you know!”

Hiiro’s voice snapped me back to attention.

“Why don’t we go out and have some fun together?” Hiiro suggested with a cheerful face.

Sakuya sighed. “Don’t you guys have anything better to do than pestering me all summer long?”

“Eh? Does this happen last summer too?” I interjected curiously.

“We tried to, but…” Hiiro pouted as he recalled what happened last year.

“Kagura-san always disappeared whenever we visited, so we couldn’t see her at all.” Ouji kindly explained for me.

“That’s why we decided to ambush you in the first day of summer break!” Hiiro added, returning to his sunny disposition from earlier. “Don’t tell me you have anything planned this summer, Sakuya-chan?”

At that question, Sakuya averted her eyes. “I-It’s not like I have anything planned, but…”

“Then, you can hang out with us for this summer break, right? Please, Sakuya-chan!” Hiiro grabbed Sakuya’s hand and gave her the puppy eyes.

“Ugh…even though I planned on laying low for a while…” Sakuya muttered in low voice.

“Eh? Why? Does your injury still hurt?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“No…” Sakuya shook her head before finally wearing a thin smile. “I guess a bit change of pace won’t hurt. Alright, today I’ll hang out with you guys, but you must promise not to disturb me for the rest of the week. I want to rest properly.”

“Ehh?! A week is too much, Sakuya-chan!” Hiiro protested. “How about three days?”

“Five days.” Sakuya shot him down without batting an eye.

“Four days!” Hiiro tried to haggle again.

“If you promise to let me rest five days, I’ll hang out with you guys again next week.” Sakuya crossed her arms.

“Then it’s a deal!” Hiiro smiled happily. “We should go to the aquarium, and then to the beach, and let’s not forget the pool, and then…”

“Hiiro, don’t forget that we’re all coming too, so don’t make plans on your own.” Ouji scolded him.

“Hm? I don’t remember ever inviting you two, though?” Hiiro smiled defiantly at his scowling upperclassman.

“It’s not like you two are dating, so I don’t see any problem if we’re coming too.” Ouji countered with a verbal hook that made Hiiro stagger.

“If you’re not her boyfriend, then you don’t have the right to stop other people from tagging along.” I joined in, giving more mental damage to him.

“I’m not going anywhere with just the two of us, Tarou. I don’t want people mistaking us as couple. It’s too much trouble.” Sakuya gave the finishing blow that left Hiiro sprawled lifelessly on the table.

“M-My summer events…” Hiiro lamented with a depressed look.

“Putting that aside…” Sakuya ignored Hiiro’s pathetic display. “Don’t you guys have any plans for summer break?”

“No. My old man hasn’t even gone home from his work lately, so I don’t have anything planned.” Ouji answered curtly.

“My parents always go to the seaside during summer, and I’m going with them. It will only take a few days though, so I’ll bring back some souvenirs for you guys.” I answered.

“How nice, my parents won’t even bother coming back to Japan to check up on me.” Hiiro gazed at me with envious eyes. “They sent a plane ticket instead, telling me to spend summer at Italy without asking for my plans. I mean, how am I supposed to raise Sakuya-chan’s affection level if I’m going to Italy?!”

“Dude, I think I’m supposed to be jealous of you, not the other way around.” I retorted to Hiiro in exasperation. How rich was this guy actually?

“Speaking of which, aren’t you going to visit your parents back home, Kagura-san?”

Ouji’s innocent question made Sakuya froze in an instant.

Both Hiiro and I turned to look at her with curious eyes. Hiiro probably didn’t know her true identity, but I bet he at least had a suspicion.

“…no. I don’t want to bother them.” Sakuya answered stiffly.

“But they must’ve missed you, right? I mean, you never visited during holidays, and they also didn’t come visit you.” Ouji tilted his head. “Don’t you think you should at least contact them and ask about it?”

“No. That's none of your business, and I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” Sakuya looked away, her tone was final.

“Aah, Ouji-senpai, it’s better to stop here…” Hiiro tried to stop him, but Ouji kept pressing on without realizing Sakuya’s dark expression.

“Could it be that you had an argument with your parents, so you don’t want to come home? But they’re your parents, no matter what happened, they surely still love you—”

“Don’t speak as if you know everything!” Sakuya snapped angrily and slammed her hand on the table, knocking over the glasses. “You don’t know anything about me or my family, so stop forcing your ideal family to me! Just because your parents abandoned you, it doesn’t give you any right to preach to me! I don’t want to hear one more word about this!”

For a moment, the apartment was wrapped in a painful silence. Sakuya abruptly stood up and went to the kitchen without saying a word. I exchanged glances with Hiiro before following Sakuya.

She just stood silently in front of the kitchen sink, staring at her own reflection on the water as if searching for an answer. I walked to her, but I hesitated over what to say to her. Ultimately, I just stayed by her side quietly.

“…I know he meant well.” Sakuya finally broke the silence. “I know Pochi is simply worried about me. But…”

“You’re still afraid of your past.” I finished her sentence, pretending not to notice Sakuya flinching at my words.

“…yeah.” She whispered in small, helpless voice. “That place…is like hell to me. I don’t ever, ever want to come back there.”

She gripped the sink tightly, as if she would drown without it.

“I’d rather die than coming back.”

I was stunned by the words she spat out. Without realizing it, I reached out and grabbed her wrist. I felt like she would disappear if I didn’t hold her tight.

“Hm? What is it, Ryuu?” Sakuya looked at me in surprise.

“A-Ah, no, it’s just…” I quickly released her wrist and coughed awkwardly. “Shall we go back and sort things out? I’m sure Ouji-senpai also feels bad for pushing you like that.”

Sakuya hesitated for a moment before finally nodding.

When we returned to the living room, Ouji immediately prostrated himself in front of Sakuya.

“Kagura-san, I deeply apologize! I didn’t know anything, yet I kept saying things that hurt you!” He grinded his forehead on the carpet.

“No, I’m the one who should apologize for snapping at you. Please raise your face, Pochi.” Sakuya knelt in front of him and gently lifted Ouji’s face. “Sorry for touching your sore spot.” She whispered.

Ouji’s eyes went wide upon hearing that. “No…you were right. Ever since my mother divorced my father and left me behind, I unconsciously longed for an ideal family. You were the one who gave me a new family and a new hope, Kagura-san.

Perhaps that’s why…I forced my idea of an ideal family on you. If you have a perfect family that I could never have, it will ease my regret, or something along those lines.” Ouji smiled helplessly. “I’m sorry for hurting you with my selfishness, Kagura-san.”

Sakuya shook her head and pulled Ouji into her embrace. “No, it’s fine. We all have damaged parts in ourselves, and we might hurt each other because of it. But it doesn’t change the fact that, at the very core of us, we still care about each other. Don’t worry about it, Pochi.”

“…yeah. Thank you, Kagura-san.” Ouji slowly closed his eyes, comforted by Sakuya’s warmth.

He didn’t seem to realize that me and Hiiro were burning with jealousy over his intimate skinship.

“Okay! Now that we’ve all made up…” Hiiro forcefully separated the two of them. “Why don’t we go out and have some fun?”

*****

“Hey, Hiiro.” Sakuya called out to him with a frosty tone.

“Yes, Sakuya-chan?” Hiiro answered cheerfully, as if he couldn’t feel the frostbite from her voice.

“This is your doing, right?! No, this is definitely your doing!” Sakuya grabbed his collar and started shaking him violently. “I don’t care if you want to skip the ceremony, but don’t drag all of them with you!”

I smiled wryly, sympathizing with Sakuya’s exasperation. After all, every single delinquent in Sakurasaki Academy were lining up in front of Sakuya’s apartment. They looked very excited to see Sakuya, who had been absent from school since the incident.

“Kagura-san! I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“You’re literally a goddess, our savior, Kagura-sama!”

“Kagura-san, forgive us for not being able to help you back then!”

“I’ve missed you, Sakuya-chan!”

“Oi, there’s a Student Council officer mixed in here!”

“Ahaha…” Hiiro laughed without any guilty feelings. “I thought that the more the merrier, you see. Besides, they’re all very eager to see you again, Sakuya-chan. Won’t you let them know that you’re okay now?”

Sakuya was taken aback by Hiiro’s words. She slowly lifted her head and saw the delinquents smiling joyfully at her. They seemed truly happy that they could see her again.

“Kagura-san, listen to this!” Narumi broke through the crowds and raced toward Sakuya. His face was flushed and his eyes sparkled like a dog running to greet its owner. “I got 70 points in the remedial test! 70! It’s the highest score I’ve ever gotten in my life! And it’s all thanks to you! Thank you so much, Kagura-san!”

Sakuya smiled faintly at him. “I see, you’ve worked really hard, Narumi. Congratulations.”

“Ah, that’s not fair!” Abe quickly caught up to his best friend. “Kagura-san, I got 71 points on the test! Please praise me as well!”

“Me too! Me too!”

Before we knew it, the delinquents were crowding around Sakuya and demanding her attention like a bunch of kindergartners.

“Uh…should we help her?” I glanced at Ouji, who watched the ruckus calmly from the sidelines.

“No, let them be.” Ouji answered. “They’re really worried about Kagura-san, so it’s understandable. They’ll calm down in a few minutes.”

“Whoa…that’s really mature of you, Senpai.” I stared at him in surprise. “Usually you’ll be at the forefront, asking Sakuya-san to praise you first.”

“Hmph…I don’t need to do that anymore.” Ouji lifted his chin proudly. “Because Kagura-san has praised me first yesterday!”

“Aah…you mean that half-hearted praise she threw at you?” My gaze inevitably turned colder as I recalled our brief visit the day before.

Even though Ouji and Hiiro had passionately told her about our resounding victory on the bet, Sakuya simply nodded without a change in her expression. She kept glancing back into her room, as if she was anxious about leaving something alone. And so, when Ouji tried to tell her about his miraculous test score…

“Ah, that’s great. You did well. I have to go now, so I’ll see you later.” Sakuya interrupted him before closing the door on us.

Hiiro and I stood dumbfounded at the closed door, but Ouji was too ecstatic to care about it.

“Yeah. Even if I die now, I have no regrets left.” Ouji put a hand on his chest and wore a blissful expression.

“Uh…sure.” I averted my eyes and subtly distanced myself from him.

“Alright everyone, give Sakuya-chan a space to breathe!” Hiiro intervened and separated Sakuya from the crowds. “Let’s stop wasting time here and go have fun together, okay?”

“YES!!!” Everyone answered cheerfully.

“Um…” One person among the crowd raised his hand hesitantly.

“Yes, what is it, Tanaka-kun?”

“What do we do with the Student Council officer?” Tanaka pointed at Asahi, who was cleverly hiding among the delinquents.

“Of course, beat him up and leave him all tied up here!” Hiiro answered with a beautiful smile, as if the person in question had nothing to do with him.

“Hey, isn’t that a bit harsh for your childhood friend?!” Asahi retorted.

“I don’t show mercy to pests around Sakuya-chan!” Hiiro shot back.

“Well, why don’t we let him come with us?” Unexpectedly, Sakuya threw him a lifeline.

“Wha—?!” Hiiro was shocked by the sudden betrayal (?).

“Really?!” Asahi instantly brightened up.

“Yeah, the Student Council did save us from Takamine delinquents. If you want to come with us, then by all means, go ahead. It’s my way of showing my gratitude.” Sakuya replied kindly.

However, I could tell that she was hiding her black-hearted intention behind her pure smile. She must’ve thought to use this chance to clear her debt with the Student Council, so that Yuuki wouldn’t be able to demand anything from her.

“Such a scary person…” I smiled wryly.

In the end, all of us—including Asahi—went together to the shopping district.

A bunch of delinquents walking together in an orderly fashion must’ve intimidated everyone, because they all steered clear from our path. I couldn’t even begin to count how many times we were stopped by patrolling police officers, who misunderstood us as trying to start a territorial war.

When we finally reached the shopping district, I staggered to the nearest wall and slumped down, completely exhausted. Sakuya had dumped the job of talking to the patrol officers to me, since she was too lazy to repeat the same thing every time an officer stopped us.

“Are you okay, Ryuu?” Kazu approached me and offered a cold drink.

“You’re a savior, Senpai.” I accepted the drink gratefully.

After emptying the whole bottle, I realized that our surroundings became a bit too quiet. I looked up and found that only a few delinquents were around. The rest of them—including Sakuya and her loyal dogs—were nowhere to be seen.

“Huh? Where’s Sakuya-san and the others?” I asked.

“Well, all of us going into the same shop will freak everyone out, so we decided to move separately.” Touma, who also stayed behind, kindly explained to me.

“Then why didn’t we do that from the beginning?!” I slammed the empty bottle into the nearest trash bin.

“You’ll have to forgive them for that. No one wants to be separated from Kagura-san, after all.” Kazu smiled helplessly. “The last time we saw her was when she collapsed with a body full of injuries. All of us were anxiously waiting for the day we can see her again, all healthy and back to normal.”

I sighed, but I couldn’t refute him. During the two weeks when Sakuya was absent from school, it was the first time I saw the delinquents acting so depressed, as if they had lost the will to live. I guessed today was the outburst of those feelings.

After taking a short break, I went to look for Sakuya in the spacious shopping district. As I walked around, I noticed that the delinquents were dispersed according to their hobbies.

Inside a game store, Hiiro was involved in a deeply heated discussion about the newest dating sims game with Asahi and a number of like-minded delinquents—including Delinquent A and B. On the other hand, Ouji, Takashi, and few delinquents were trying out different bamboo swords in a martial art’s supplies store.

I finally found Sakuya inside a boutique. The sheer number of delinquents there far surpassed any other stores. They practically took over the store with the way they kept ordering the clerks around while Sakuya kept changing clothes as if she was in the middle of a fashion show.

“Oh, Ryuuji-kun! Where were you?” Asahi greeted me casually, but his arms were full of female clothes.

“You took so long that we nearly finished trying all of these clothes!” Hiiro added without looking up from the pile of clothes he was sorting.

“Wait, weren’t you two in the game store just now?!” I looked back, wondering if they perhaps had split themselves into two different bodies.

“How could I miss the glorious moment of Sakuya-chan dressing up?!” Hiiro flared back at me.

“Don’t say that with such a proud face!” I retorted.

“We ran here the moment we heard Sakuya-chan wanted to try some clothes.” Asahi answered nonchalantly.

“I am not trying it out of my volition!” This time Sakuya threw in a retort as she came out of the dressing room.

“Huh? Then why…” The moment I looked at Sakuya, my mind blanked out.

She was easily the most gorgeous person in the store right now. Sakuya was wearing a summer dress with the same color as her eyes. The upper part of the dress hugged her petite body, emphasizing her dainty figure, while the hem flared out and showed off her beautiful legs. The crimson-colored dress contrasted greatly with her pale white skin, evoking the image of a single red rose on a snowy plain.

“What do you think?” Sakuya twirled in her new dress, oblivious to the boys’ captivated stare. “I really like the short skirt, and the materials are cool to the touch. But I’m not sure when I’ll get the chance to wear this dress. Maybe I shouldn’t buy it…”

“I’ll buy it for you!” Hiiro snapped out of his daze and yelled passionately.

“No, I will! You’ve bought the previous ten dresses, so yield this one for me!” Asahi argued vehemently.

Sakuya stared in exasperation as the two started bickering. “I can buy my own clothes, mind you. And anyway, I’m only looking for one or two pieces of summer clothes. You guys were the ones who forced me to try half the store’s clothes.”

“Sakuya-san.” I spoke up, my eyes refused to move away from Sakuya’s charming figure. “Can you let me buy this dress for you? It suits you very well.” I said seriously.

“O-Oh…” Sakuya stepped back, clearly flustered. “I-If you insist…then I’ll let you buy me this one…” She said shyly.

The blush on her cheeks made her even lovelier, to the point where I instinctively wanted to hug her tightly.

All of a sudden, two different hands grabbed each of my wrist.

“Eh?” I looked alternately between Hiiro and Asahi. “W-What?”

“Don’t play dumb. You were going to hug her, weren’t you?” Hiiro glared daggers at me.

“I won’t let you steal the march any further, Ryuuji-kun.” Asahi declared.

I realized that I was nearly acting on my instinct and quickly stepped away from Sakuya. “T-That’s not what I’m going to do! I mean, sure, she looks very lovely, but even I have enough tact not to hug her in front of everyone!”

The moment those words left my mouth, I realized that I had said the most embarrassing thing in my life. I covered my face and crouched down, wishing that I could find a hole and hide there for the rest of my life.

“Um…a-anyway, I’m done picking clothes, so I’ll go get changed.” Sakuya muttered before fleeing into the changing room.

By the time Sakuya finally came out in her usual clothes, Hiiro and I had finished paying at the cashier. The store clerks tearfully sent us off, while begging for us not to come back. It seemed our presence there scared off the rest of their customers.

Since it was nearly lunch time, we all decided to take a bite in the shopping district as well. It felt like we were in a school trip, where everyone just spread out and went wherever they wanted to eat. While the stores we visited earlier were clearly afraid of us, the restaurant owners were instead competing to get as many customers as possible. They all went out of their restaurant and started promoting their dishes to us. It was amusing to watch the delinquents being forcefully dragged into different restaurants, since they’re usually the ones forcefully dragging other people.

After we settled the chaotic lunch, we all regrouped in front of the biggest arcade center in the shopping district.

“Hey, hey.” Asahi spoke up as we were waiting for the rest of the delinquents. “Why don’t we compete to see who can get the highest score in every—geh?!”

Asahi abruptly stopped talking in the middle of his sentence. His eyes were fixed at something across the street.

“…geh?”

I curiously turned to look, and my eyes met with the Student Council president.

“…ah.” We’re so screwed.

“A…SA…HI!!!!!” Yuuki instantly dashed toward us, his murderous glare locked on to his traitorous subordinate.

“P-President, please wait for a minute! I can explain!” Asahi quickly ran behind my back and shamelessly used me as a shield.

“You better give me a damn good explanation!” Yuuki roared angrily. “What kind of Student Council officer skips out on the end-of-term ceremony to go hang out with delinquents?! You’re setting a terrible example for everyone else! You’re lucky Mitsuki-kun covered it up as you resting from a cold at home, or else I’d have come and dragged you back to school at once! You need to be more aware of your position…!”

As Yuuki nagged and nagged at Asahi, the rest of the delinquents subtly sneaked away from him. After all, everyone here—excluding Sakuya—also skipped the ceremony.

Unfortunately, Yuuki was too sharp to be outwitted.

“And all of you!” Yuuki turned his anger away from Asahi to the rest of the delinquents. “Even if you’re delinquents, you’re still students! Attending the ceremony is a part of your duty, no matter how long or boring it is! Shiba-kun!”

“Y-Yes?!” I inadvertently straightened my back like a military cadet.

“You’re the person with the most common sense around here! So it’s your duty to beat some of it into these delinquents’ heads! Don’t get swept off by their pace!”

“That’s unreasonable, President!” I protested. “I didn’t even mean to skip the ceremony! I was dragged off by them in the first place!”

“And you, Kagura!” Yuuki splendidly ignored my complaints and directed his murderous glare toward the nonchalant Banchou. “They’re your subordinates, so hold their reins properly! Is that title of yours just to show off?!”

“In case you forgot, I was suspended for half a month, so how am I supposed to know what my subordinates are up to?” Sakuya shrugged without any guilty feelings. “And even if I knew, I wouldn’t stop them from skipping. After all, I planned to do so myself.”

I looked at Sakuya in surprise. Her first reaction to us skipping the ceremony was anger, and she scolded us like a mother would. But now she took our side and directed Yuuki’s anger toward herself. It was truly like her to step up and protect her people.

“Kagura, you…!” Yuuki’s face darkened and he stepped toward her.

But before he could reach Sakuya, Hiiro suddenly interjected between the two of them.

“Okay, okay, we all apologize for skipping the ceremony, President, so why don’t we leave it at that? The ceremony’s already over anyway, so there’s nothing we can do about it.” Hiiro said in a soothing manner. “Putting that aside, why don’t you come and play with us in the arcade? It will help to channel your anger somewhere else, you know?”

“What?! I don’t…”

“Come on, President, I think that’s a good idea!” Asahi came out from behind my back and clung to Yuuki’s arm, preventing his escape. “Consider it a part of our Student Council duty to watch over the delinquents and make sure they don't cause any trouble! Okay? Okay?”

“Ugh…even if you say that…” Yuuki had a conflicted face.

I stepped forward to save him from the situation, since I knew how terrible it was to be forced into something you didn't want to do. Alas, I was a beat too late.

“I guess the President is afraid that he’ll lose to mere delinquents in a game.”

At Ouji’s merciless words, Yuuki froze.

“Ah, I agree. After all, he doesn’t seem like he had ever set foot in the arcade.” Hiiro added while smirking annoyingly.

“…you asked for it.” Yuuki muttered in a barely heard voice.

“Hm? President, what did you say?” Asahi inched closer to hear him out.

“I said, fine! I won’t hold back, okay?! You asked for it!” Yuuki snapped.

“Aah…he fell for it.” I cradled my head.

“Okay, let’s get started then!” Hiiro, Asahi, and Ouji half-dragged Yuuki inside the arcade.

“Sakuya-san, will President really be okay?” I asked her worriedly. “I can tell that Hiiro and Asahi play a lot of games, while Ouji-senpai can be really competitive. What if…”

“Well, I guess we should worry.” Sakuya nodded with a contemplating look.

“Then, why don’t we stop this before President gets humiliated…?”

“No, I’m not worried about that guy.”

“H-Huh?” I looked at Sakuya in surprise.

“I’m worried that Pochi and Tarou’s spirits will get crushed by him.” Sakuya started walking inside, and I hurriedly followed her. “Well…on the other hand, maybe it’s a good way to keep them quiet.”