The Bitter Conclusion

“Asano-sensei!”

This time, it was Yuuki himself who barged into the principal office without a shred of his usual politeness.

“Is it true that the other schools suddenly refused to accept our students?!” Yuuki marched toward Asano, who was sitting behind his desk. “Please tell us that it’s not true!”

Me, Asahi, and a score of other students were trailing behind Yuuki. We all wore the same anxious expression as we waited for Asano to deny our question.

However, Asano nodded instead. “…it’s true.” He answered in a low-spirited voice.

The principal looked as if he had aged a few decades in just a few days, and his body visibly slimmed down. Asano must’ve been under quite a lot of pressure all this time, with all of the rejections.

“Then…what will happen to us?!” One of the students shouted. “There are only three days before this school closes down! It’s impossible to look for another school right now!”

The realization hit us hard and the students started shouting amongst themselves.

Asano raised his hand and waited until everyone was quiet before answering, “Those schools will still accept our students…provided that the students can pay their tuition in full.”

“WHAT?!” “That’s absurd! Who has that kind of money right now?!” “They’re basically rejecting us!” “Those greedy, slimy bastards!”

A chorus of despair and curses filled the room.

“Everyone, calm down! Don’t forget that you’re currently in the principal's office!” Yuuki warned them all.

The students quietened down once they remembered their place.

“Of course, we’re trying our best to find a compromise with them.” Asano continued. “But I’m afraid that all of the schools in this area have put out the same condition. The other alternative is to try and reach out to schools in other towns, but…” His voice trailed off before he could finish his sentence.

We all knew that the alternative was not feasible. Going to a school in another town would cost us more transportation fees and time, notwithstanding the school tuition itself. Basically, we only had two choices—pay the tuition in full now, or wait for another year to continue our high school education. Both of them were hard choices we didn’t want to make.

Asano clapped his hands to gather our attention. “Everyone, why don’t you go home and talk it out with your parents, in order to prepare for the worst-case scenario? I’ll make sure to notify everyone if we have any breakthrough.” He suggested.

The students finally trickled out from the principal's office, including me, Asahi, and Yuuki.

“This is unbelievable.” Yuuki grumbled as we headed back to the auditorium. “First our school was forcefully closed down, now the other schools refuse to accept our students. We’re basically being expelled from school!”

When Yuuki put it that way, it sparked another suspicion inside my mind. Could this be another move made by the Kagura Family? Since Sakuya hadn’t showed up when Sakurasaki was being closed down, they decided to take the students’ future as hostages too.

My train of thought was suddenly interrupted when we nearly reached the auditorium. The delinquents were gathering in front of the auditorium, each of them seemed more anxious than the last after hearing the unexpected news.

“Ryuu! Is it true?!” Takashi, who spotted me first, instantly rushed at me. “That we won’t be able to get into any school without paying?!”

“It’s…it’s true.” I nodded reluctantly. “Asano-sensei confirmed it earlier.”

“Damn it! That’s completely unfair!” Takashi stomped his feet with indignation. “We’ve tried so hard with the test, and now they reject us?! Don’t joke with me!”

“That’s true! They’re playing us for fools!” “Let’s trash those schools!” “Let them know that we mean business!”

The delinquents started getting heated up in their anger.

“Whoa, whoa! Stop! No one is trashing anything!” I hurriedly reined them in. “Right now is a bad time to make trouble! Everyone, calm down and let's think about this together, okay?!”

I was a bit worried that my words alone wouldn’t be enough, but fortunately, they obediently calmed down after being told off. Perhaps they also realized that blindly displaying their anger wouldn’t get them anywhere.

“Wait, Ryuu, what about you?” Narumi spoke from among the crowds. “You got invited to Sakurazaki, right? Do you still have to pay?”

I smiled bitterly. “Yeah. Every student in our school has to, no matter which school they got accepted to.”

“Then we just have to ask Sakurazaki’s principal to make some exceptions! Abe, let’s go!” Narumi turned around and ran off with his partner-in-crime, Abe.

“Huh?! Wait, you two!” I blanched when I realized that they were serious about it.

“Shiba-kun, go and stop them!” Yuuki immediately urged me. “We’ll keep an eye on everyone else!”

“O-Okay, I’ll leave it to you, President!” I hurriedly chased after the two delinquents.

They went toward the side of the school, which puzzled me. If they wanted to reach Sakurazaki, wouldn’t they have to go through the front gate? But then I finally realized their aim.

“Hey! Abe! Narumi! Don’t do this!” I shouted desperately, as the two nimbly climbed over the school wall that directly bordered Sakurazaki.

“Don’t worry, Ryuu, we’ll take care of this!” Narumi gave me a thumbs-up before jumping into Sakurazaki’s school yard.

“Abe! Stop him, please!” I pleaded with the remaining delinquent.

“Ryuu, this time I agree with Narumi.” Abe grinned. “You’ve done so much for us, so it’s time we did something. We might fail, but we’ll never know before we try.”

After saying that, Abe leapt after his friend.

“Aah, that’s totally unfair!” I grinded my teeth at the looming school wall in front of me. My poor physical ability wouldn’t get me up the wall, even less leaping from on top of it like those two.

With no other choice, I took a detour and went through the school entrance like a normal, civilized person. Of course, I was detained by the security—again.

“Ha!! I see you’ve come back for another attempt to break in!” The large-built security officer blocked me before I could enter Sakurazaki’s gate.

“I thought we’ve established that I got the wrong school last time.” I replied wearily. “But this time is an emergency. Please let me in so I can drag my friends back before they make any ruckus!” I lowered my head to the security.

Of course, he completely didn’t buy my story.

“What kind of pathetic lies are you spouting this time?! There’s no way I’ll let any students from other schools enter Sakurazaki, even less those ruffians from Sakurasaki next door!” The security officer roared at me.

“I’m telling the truth!” I glared at him. “Two of my friends sneaked inside, so we have to stop them before they start any trouble! If you don’t believe me, then why don’t you come with me?! That way, you can keep an eye on me, as well as detaining those stupid friends of mine!”

“Ha! Nice try, kid!” The security officer crossed his arms. “I see you’re trying to lure me away while your other friends sneak inside when I’m not here! Well, that’s not going to work!”

“…can’t you just call another security officer to stand guard here while you go with me?” I suggested half-sarcastically.

Instead of refuting, the security officer fell silent for a moment. It seemed that he hadn’t thought of that option.

“Ahem! A-Anyway!” But he quickly recovered his wits. “I still won’t let any unauthorized person into the school grounds! Even if I have other security officers that I can call to help!”

I started getting impatient at his stubborn attitude. “And I’m telling you—!”

The rest of my sentence was drowned out by a loud ruckus from inside the school. Sakurazaki students, who were currently on their lunch break, were all running toward the source of commotion.

“What the…?” The security officer looked toward the direction of the commotion, but we couldn’t see a thing from the front gate.

“That must be them. Look, just call the other officer and go take a look over there with me.” I urged him.

The security officer finally relented and did as I said. The two of us hurried toward the source of the ruckus. To be exact, the officer parted the crowds with his giant body, while I followed closely behind him to ensure that I wouldn’t get crushed by the crowds.

We finally arrived at the hallway in front of the principal's office, where the source of commotion was located. Two students in Sakurasaki uniforms were cornering Sakurazaki’s principal and interrogating him. The principal’s face was terribly pale and he sweated bullets under the intense pressure of those delinquents.

“Hey! What’s going on here?!” The security officer bellowed, gathering everyone’s attention.

“Takuma! You’re finally here!” Shusei’s face brightened instantly. “Please remove these two delinquents from the school grounds immediately! They have no manners and dare to threaten the principal of another school!” He ordered.

“Shusei-sensei, please forgive my idiotic schoolmate.” I interjected before the security officer, Takuma, could make a move.

“Ryuu!” Narumi beamed at me. “You came too! Why don’t you also tell him to make an exception—”

Before Narumi could make me his accomplice, I quickly dragged him and Abe away from the principal.

“W-What are you doing…?!” Abe protested, but I silenced him with a glare.

“Our deepest apologies, Sensei. They are simply confused about Sakurasaki closing down. They mean no harm to you nor your school.” I forcefully made them bow their heads as I asked for Shusei’s forgiveness.

“No harm?!” Shusei glared at me. “So you mean them suddenly ambushing me and demanding—nay, threatening me to give some special treatment is considered harmless?!”

“Yes, I’m sure they’re only swept by emotions.” I replied calmly. “Once they've calmed down, I’m certain that this incident will not be repeated.”

“This better not happen again!” Shusei huffed, but he had lost the will to stay angry. “Just go back to Sakurasaki, then! I’ll send a written complaint about this incident to your principal!”

“Wha—?!” Narumi was about to open his big mouth again, but I quickly shut him up.

“Yes, I understand. We’ll leave now.” I said to cover Narumi’s words.

Shusei turned around to enter his office, while Takuma approached to escort—kick us out from the school grounds. But before that happened, I called out to Shusei’s back.

“Shusei-sensei, if I may, there’s one more thing I forget to mention.”

The principal’s hand rested on his door’s handle. “…what is it?” He asked with a disgruntled tone.

“Does the school’s refusal to accept Sakurasaki students have something to do with Kagurazaki Company?”

Hearing that, Shusei whirled toward me with wide, shocked eyes. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before he finally choked out his rebuttal.

“O-Of course not! Why would you suddenly mention that company’s name?! And we’re not refusing those students! It’s just that the school’s budget won’t be able to accommodate new students without the appropriate fund!”

Despite Shusei’s desperate attempt to refute it, his reaction had told me everything I wanted to know. Kagurazaki Company was indeed behind the schools’ sudden refusal.

“…I see. It seems I’ve made a mistake. Thank you for your answer, Sensei.” I gave a quick bow to him before leaving with my delinquent friends.

*****

When we got back to Sakurasaki, both Abe and Narumi got the full course of Yuuki’s special lecture for three long hours. Within that period, Shusei had sent the complaint letter to Asano, resulting in him sending all students home until the day of the closing ceremony. Clearly Asano didn’t want other students copying the two idiots' attempt.

Thus, two days passed uneventfully.

The evening before the closing ceremony, I sat inside my bedroom, staring vacantly at the calendar on my study desk. Ever since I knew about the schools’ refusal, I’d been trying to brainstorm any kind of idea that might help with our current situation, but I drew a blank. There was barely any time to organize any big movement, nor did we have enough resources to fight Kagurazaki Company. They had completely cornered us, without giving any chance to retaliate.

Although, to be honest, there was still one thing that could turn everything around.

That was, if Sakuya gave herself up to the Kagura Family.

Once that thought popped up in my head, I immediately shook it off. I felt guilty just for thinking about it. I might not know what that family had done to Sakuya, but judging from her extreme reaction of hate and fear, it was a terrible thing to ask her to go back there. It was the same as pushing her back to the abyss.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

I was so startled that I jumped out of my chair, got my foot tangled with the chair, and promptly crashed to the floor.

“Ouch…! Damn it, who’s calling me?!” I grumbled as I climbed back to my chair and grabbed my phone. I saw Hiiro’s name on the screen before accepting the call. “What is it—?”

“Ryuu!!! Come here quick!”

Hiiro’s voice was so loud that I had to distance the phone from my poor, ringing ear.

“What?! Why are you yelling?! What happened?!” I shouted back to him.

However, Hiiro’s next words completely froze me.

“It’s Sakuya-chan! We saw Sakuya-chan just now!”

It took me a few seconds to regain my senses. By the time I realized it, I had stormed out of my room and rushed toward the front door.

“Tell me where you are now!”

*****

When I found Hiiro and Ouji waiting in front of the station, I was already out of breath. I had run here as fast as I could, ignoring the weird stares that people threw my way. Despite that, Hiiro still complained at me.

“You’re late! What took you so long?!” He protested.

“Where is Sakuya-san?” I ignored his protest and went straight to the point.

“We just happened to catch a glimpse of someone who resembles Kagura-san.” Ouji took over and explained for me.

According to him, they were walking around this area to find any lead on Sakuya’s whereabouts when they saw someone that resembled her. That person had the same petite body, with roughly same height as Sakuya. They hid their face under a hood, but the moment they turned at the corner, Ouji saw her ruby-red eyes looking back at him.

The two of them immediately chased after her, but she was nowhere in sight. As if she had magically disappeared into thin air.

“I see.” My shoulders were slumped in disappointment. “So you called me here to have me help find her?”

“Yeah, there’s no way we can cover the whole block with just the two of us.” Hiiro nodded.

“And how does adding another person change that?!” I retorted.

“Then, what do you suggest? Telling the other guys about the Kagura Family, and have them help out? It will be really flashy, I’m telling you.” Hiiro argued.

This time, I had no way to argue back. So we all split up and searched the whole block. Ouji had given me a detailed description of her appearance, which made it easier to ask around about her.

And yet, we hadn’t found anything even after searching for two hours. Forget this block, we’ve even expanded our search to nearby areas, but the girl they saw had vanished without any trace.

“This is ridiculous…how come there’s no trace of her anywhere?” I grumbled as we regrouped at the station.

“At least it confirmed that the girl is indeed Sakuya-chan.” Hiiro said. “If it’s another girl, we’ll be able to find her rather easily.”

“How about we stop here for today? It’s getting dark and we have the closing ceremony to attend tomorrow.” I glanced toward the sky, which had started to darken.

“Not yet.” Ouji immediately refuted. “Let’s go around the block one more time.”

“Senpai, we’ve searched the whole block, but…” I frowned.

“Just one more time.” Ouji stared at me pleadingly. “Then we’ll go home.”

There was a mix of fear and hope in his eyes. Hope that we’ve finally found a trace of Sakuya after days of fruitless searching and endless pursuit. Fear that we might lose the only trace we had if we gave up now.

Those emotions deeply mirrored my own, which I desperately buried in my heart. I was actually quite jealous of the two, who could throw everything away just to get a chance of seeing Sakuya again. I wanted to do the same thing, but my common sense was holding me back from doing things I might regret in the future.

But this time…I might regret it if I didn’t follow my heart.

I finally nodded. “Just one more time, then. But you two have to promise to attend tomorrow’s closing ceremony. It’ll be the last time we get to be Sakurasaki students after all.”

“I promise.” Ouji immediately answered.

I turned toward Hiiro, who scratched his head with an annoyed look.

“…I’d rather use that time to look for Sakuya-chan.” He admitted honestly. “But since it’s the last time…I guess it’s fine.”

I smiled in relief. “Then, we’ll regroup here after searching the block one more time.”

We split up again, this time I took a different direction from before. Just as I turned at the corner, I crashed into someone.

Thud!!!

“Ouch!” The girl that collided with me fell to the ground. Her grocery bag fell and the content spilled everywhere.

“S-Sorry!” I quickly offered my hand and helped her up. “Are you alri—huh? Marika-senpai?” I blinked in surprise when I finally recognized her.

“Eh? Ryuu—Shiba-kun?” Marika stared back at me with shock mixed with something else—guilt?

But I wasn’t able to make sure of it, since Marika then crouched down to gather her scattered groceries.

“Ah, I’ll help you. Sorry that I crashed into you, Senpai.” I knelt down and helped her out.

“It’s fine, I’m also at fault for not paying much attention.” Marika smiled at me. “What are you doing out here in this hour, Shiba-kun?”

“Oh, I heard that Sakuya-san was spotted around here, so I’m looking for her.” I figured that she must’ve heard about Sakuya disappearing from Yuuki, thus I didn’t pay much attention to what I told her.

“R-Really?” Unexpectedly, Marika’s face paled when she heard that. An apple slipped from her hand and rolled to the ground.

“Ah, you dropped it. Are you okay, Senpai?” I picked it up and handed the apple back to Marika.

“Y-Yes, I’m fine. Did you find her?” Marika took it, although she still looked shaken to the core.

“Unfortunately, no.” Feeling suspicious of her behavior, I pretended to be depressed as I observed Marika’s reaction closely. “But I’m certain that we’ll find her soon. After all, Hiiro and Ouji just saw her around this area.”

“That’s impossible…!” Marika blurted out, only to realize her mistake and quickly corrected her words. “I mean, is that really possible? If I’m not mistaken, Kagura-san has been missing for quite some time, right? Will she really be hiding nearby?”

I narrowed my eyes. “Why do you think it’s impossible, Senpai? And why do you sound so sure about it?” I questioned her.

Marika abruptly stood up and flashed me an awkward smile. “I’m sorry, Shiba-kun, but I have to go home and cook dinner now. Let’s talk again tomorrow at school, okay?”

Before I could answer, Marika hurriedly left that place as if running away. I quietly stood up and watched her go.

*****

In the end, our search didn’t yield any result. All three of us went home, agreeing on continuing our search after the closing ceremony. After all, we wouldn’t have any school to go to after tomorrow.

The next day, when I stepped into the auditorium, I instantly felt suffocated. The air was terribly heavy, as if I was attending a funeral instead. The grand decorations around the auditorium only made the atmosphere feel even more depressing. We were supposed to celebrate the time we spent together and continue on with our own path in life, yet Kagura Family had robbed us of that chance.

I sighed as I settled myself into my seat.

“So this is the last day we’ll be classmates, huh?” Shou remarked as he took the seat next to me.

“Yeah…it has only been a few months, but I really enjoyed my time with all of you.” I smiled bitterly at him.

“What are you going to do next? Go to another school in a different town?” Shou leaned back on his chair.

“To be honest, I have no idea.” I shrugged. “I’ll probably wait for another year before applying to Sakurazaki. And in the meantime…I want to look for someone.”

Hiiro’s call yesterday really shook me to the core. It made me realize just how much I missed Sakuya, and I didn’t want us to separate without properly saying goodbye. I lowered my gaze and clenched my fist. I haven’t even told her about my feelings, so I wouldn’t let our relationship ended here without taking the first step.

“Ah…so you chose to wait for another year, huh? Wish I could do the same.” Shou sighed with a rare defeated look on his face. “I have a lot of younger siblings, so I need to quickly graduate and find a good job. With the way things are, I guess I’ll find a part time job while searching for a school that will accept me.”

I looked at Shou in surprise. He always seemed so cheerful and carefree in class. This was the first time I saw this side of him.

“If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me.” I said quietly. “I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”

It was an empty promise from a similarly powerless child. And yet, I wanted him to know that he had someone by his side. That he wasn’t fighting alone.

Shou’s eyes widened when he heard that. Then he finally flashed his usual smile. “…thanks, man.”

As I looked away to hide my embarrassment, I noticed that it was already time to start the closing ceremony. However, the principal was nowhere in sight. Most of the students were too depressed to notice, but I saw Yuuki and the Student Council officers were quietly panicking about it.

Right when I stood up to help them out, the auditorium door swung open. The man we were all waiting for, Asano, rushed inside. He went straight to the stage without even sparing a glance toward the Student Council, showing how much in a hurry he was.

“Ahem! Everyone, if I may have your attention.” Asano started, and all eyes fell on him. “I apologize for delaying the ceremony, but I have just received a most joyful news for all of you.”

His words sparked hope in everyone’s eyes. They all leaned forward on their chair, impatiently waiting for Asano’s next sentence.

“The other schools’ principals had just contacted me one after another. They all had unanimously agreed to accept Sakurasaki students, free of charge, as per the former agreement. In other words…”

Asano looked around the auditorium with the biggest grin on his face.

“You are all going to attend your new schools just as we planned for.”

Shocked gasps and the clattering sound of chairs falling erupted here and there. The next second, the whole room was filled with students cheering loudly at the good news. Everyone was celebrating the sudden reversal of situation—all except me.

I stared at Asano with shock and horror. There was only one reason why the schools suddenly changed their minds—Kagurazaki Company had withdrawn their pressure. And that company wouldn’t change their decision on a mere whim. They had gotten what they wanted, so they were willingly letting their ‘hostages’ go.

In other words, the Kagura Family had gotten Sakuya back.