Chapter 36:

My Ideal Ordinary Life

The Pride of A Banchou


A month had passed after our second failed attempt at saving Sakuya. I had given up on any further attempt and returned to my normal, everyday life as a high school student.

Just as planned before, I started attending Sakurazaki Private Academy. The classes were far more difficult than what I had back in Sakurasaki, so at first I struggled to keep up with the class’ pace. But I didn’t get invited to study here for nothing. I finally got used to the advanced lessons and the cutthroat competition here.

To be frank, I was a bit glad that the classes kept my mind occupied for these few weeks. If it weren’t for that, I might fall into despair at the bleak reality that she was no longer within my reach.

The bell for lunch break rang, pulling me back to my senses. I stood up from my seat and stretched my stiff body. Some of my classmates called out to me as they made their way to the door.

“Shiba-san, we’re going to the cafeteria. Do you want to come along?”

I shook my head. “Thanks, but I’ve got to finish History assignment first. I’ll catch up later, so go ahead without me.”

They waved at me before leaving. I watched them leave with a slightly proud feeling. When I first came here, no one wanted to speak to me. They all looked down at me for coming from school that allowed delinquents to attend. In order to prove myself, I worked myself to the bone and dominated the top ranks in nearly all of the classes. From then on, my classmates slowly opened up to me, as if saying that they acknowledged me.

It was the ideal of an ordinary life that I'd been dreaming about, and yet, I didn't feel happy about it. On the contrary, I only felt emptiness and longing for the school life in Sakurasaki that I could never get back anymore.

“No, let's not think about it anymore. Now then…” I shook my head and started working on my assignment.

It took nearly half of the lunch break, but I managed to finish in time. It was supposed to be submitted by the end of today’s classes, so I had to sacrifice my lunch break to finish it.

With not much time to spare, I rushed toward the cafeteria.

“Shiba-kun!”

A familiar voice called out to me. I skidded to a halt and turned around at the upperclassman approaching me.

“President?” I blinked in confusion at the rare sight of Yuuki stepping out from the Student Council room during lunch break. Then reality set in and I remembered that he was no longer a Student Council president. “My bad, what is it, Yuuki-senpai?”

“Have you eaten lunch?” Yuuki gracefully ignored my mistake.

“No…I am in a hurry to get to the cafeteria, actually. I hope they still have something edible there.” I grimaced as I imagined the worst-case scenario.

Even though Sakurazaki was a prestigious school, the same couldn’t be said for their cafeteria. Sure, they had an amazing collection of food, but not all of them were edible, even less delicious. The school had a strict regulation that stated students must be fed nutritious, well-balanced food—which meant that they sacrificed taste for its nutritional values.

If you arrived early to the cafeteria, you still had the chance to choose some of the more edible food. But if you arrived late—like me now—you’d be stuck chewing raw vegetables at worst.

“Good timing then. Do you want to eat lunch with me?” Yuuki lifted a lunchbox in his hand. It was wrapped meticulously, with cute patterns all over the wrap cloth.

It was so unlike Yuuki that I gaped at it for a few moments.

“Ah…Marika made it for me. Again.” Yuuki scratched his head with a bashful look. “She made too much, so I can’t possibly finish all of these on my own. Will you help me?”

“Senpai…” I stared at him resentfully.

Asahi once told me that Marika had been diligently making lunchboxes for Yuuki every single day. It was quite clear that she was aiming to win Yuuki’s heart through his stomach. But Yuuki was either being annoyingly dense or purposely avoiding Marika’s love attacks, since he kept sharing those lunchboxes with the former Student Council members.

Right as I pondered over how to refuse his offer, my stomach decided to answer with a loud growl.

“…alright, I’ll help out.” I slumped my shoulder in defeat.

“Good, let’s find an empty table somewhere.” Yuuki grinned victoriously as he led me toward the school garden.

Unlike Sakurasaki, the garden in this school was very well-maintained. They even provided wood tables and chairs for students who wanted to spend time outside. We found an empty spot and immediately proceeded to enjoy our lunch.

“Marika-senpai’s cooking skills are seriously good.” I praised her as I chewed the perfectly cooked egg roll.

“I couldn’t agree more.” Yuuki nodded. “She’ll make a great wife someday.”

I choked at his words and coughed violently. “Senpai…are you purposely saying that?” I glared at him with teary eyes.

Yuuki averted his eyes. “Sorry, it just slipped out…pretend you hear nothing, Shiba-kun.”

I drank a mouthful of water to wash away the clogged up feeling in my throat before replying, “Senpai, if you already knew, then why aren’t you saying anything to her?”

“Well…that’s…” Yuuki fiddled with his food. “You might laugh at me for saying this, but…I’m a bit…afraid.”

“Afraid? Of what?” I tilted my head.

Yuuki hummed and hawed for a moment before he finally confessed, “You see…Marika always seems like she’s burdened by something. She might not show it, but she subconsciously draws a line with everyone, even me. And then, just recently, she suddenly changed. She began lowering her guard and allowing other people to come close.”

“A-Ahh…” I averted my eyes. The sudden change must’ve been because Marika didn’t have to keep her secret identity to herself anymore. The knowledge that someone else knew who she really was seemed to set her free.

“At first I was really happy, especially when she clearly shows her interest in me. But somewhere along the line…the fear started to creep inside of me.”

Yuuki put down his chopsticks and looked away toward the distance.

“What if…when someday I found out what was burdening her all this time, I’d judge her for her past? What if I didn’t like who Marika really is? Wouldn’t I just be hurting her by giving her false hope? It’d be better not to accept her feelings in the first place if I had no confidence of being able to make her happy.”

“Senpai…” I stared at Yuuki in surprise.

As far as I remembered, Yuuki had always kept his composure, even when he was faced with unexpected or pressing situations. This was the first time he let down his guard and showed his weakness. It reminded me that even the flawless (former) Student Council President was still human.

“That’s why…I kept avoiding her approaches. You can call me a coward and a scumbag, since I deserved it.” Yuuki continued in a self-deprecating tone.

But I shook my head. “Everything will be fine, Senpai. Even if you come to know everything about Marika-senpai, I’m sure you’ll be okay.”

Yuuki finally looked back at me in disbelief. “What? What do you mean? Why are you so sure about that?”

“Because you properly worried and fretted about this kind of things.” I smiled. “If you didn’t really like her, you wouldn’t care this much. It’s because you thought of Marika-senpai as someone precious that you're afraid to hurt her.”

“That’s…” Yuuki was rendered speechless.

“Besides, it’s impossible to have a relationship where you never hurt each other.” I fondly recalled the big fight between Sakuya and me. “You might butt heads, get annoyed, or disagree with each other. But in the end, if you really love her, you’ll find a way to make up again.”

“…hearing that from you, who joined and left the Student Council just because of a lover’s quarrel, is strangely convincing.” Yuuki narrowed his eyes as he recalled the same fight.

“Ugh, being pointed out like that is embarrassing...” I planted my face on the table.

“Well, anyway, thanks for the advice.” Yuuki sighed and stretched his body. “I feel a bit relieved now.”

“…glad to be of help.” I replied begrudgingly.

“Speaking of which, how are you doing?” Yuuki changed the topic. “You don’t seem so spirited lately. Are you missing Sakurasaki’s leisurely classes?”

“Mm…instead of the classes, I’d say I’m missing everyone from Sakurasaki.” I raised my face and confessed.

Spending the days quietly, without Ouji to pick me up, or the boisterous delinquents pestering me to go to the arcade with them, or Sakuya sending me to do a menial chore, really made me feel empty inside. I realized once again just how much those guys meant to me.

“And they’re also cold-hearted enough to forget about me!” Before I knew it, I already vented out my complaints to Yuuki. “Not a single message or phone call ever since we transferred schools! And here I’ve prepared myself for telling them about Sakuya!”

“Wait, what about Kagura?” Yuuki, always being the sharp one, quickly latched onto my words.

“Ah.” I stiffened. I had completely forgotten to update Yuuki about what happened with Sakuya.

“Don’t just ‘ah’ me. What happened?” Yuuki scowled at me.

In the end, I told him about our failed attempt at saving Sakuya. Since he already knew about her family, it made explaining things easier.

“And you decided to give up?” Yuuki looked shocked.

“…” I averted my eyes.

“That’s…quite unexpected of you. I pegged you as a loyal, die-hard follower of Kagura.” Yuuki muttered to himself.

“What am I supposed to do in this situation?!” I snapped bitterly at him. “If I could take her out from that twisted family, I’d do it in a heartbeat! But we’ve tried, and…” Look at where it brought us.

I looked down at my hands. It was bigger than Sakuya’s delicate hands, but it couldn’t protect anything. Ever since then, I’d avoided thinking about the incident again, for it felt like ripping open an old wound. My chest would tighten in pain and I would have difficulty breathing, as if choked by those guilty feelings.

“I see…if you can’t take her away from the family, then why don’t you try changing her family from the inside?”

“Huh?” My head shot up at Yuuki’s simple suggestion.

“You guys have been trying to take her away because the Kagura Family is a twisted, merciless household, right?” Yuuki elaborated on his point. “If you can’t separate her from them, then you might as well try to change the family to make it more bearable for her to stay there.”

“That…is that even possible?” I scowled at Yuuki, having a hard time believing it. I couldn’t imagine the ruthless Kazami ever caving in to Sakuya’s ideals. “The family is fully controlled by her father. What can she possibly do?”

“She might be only one person, but the situation will change if she gathers more allies who have the same beliefs as her. Even a small group of people have the potential to change the whole system.”

Yuuki paused for a moment at my doubtful look.

“Shiba-kun, you’ve served in the Student Council, so you must’ve experienced it first-hand. The school is run by the principal, correct? We, the Student Council, have no real authority to run the whole school. And yet, we’re capable of influencing the students to make them follow our ideals. It’s the same as Kagura’s situation.”

I lowered my gaze. I knew Yuuki had a point there, but we couldn’t exactly compare the peaceful environment of a school to the bloodthirsty yakuza family.

“Believe in her.” Yuuki suddenly reached out and patted my head. “She has the strength and conviction to make her ideals come true. Just like how Kagura had changed the delinquents that even I had given up on—she’ll be able to change her family as well. She…” Yuuki stopped and averted his face. “…is a great Banchou after all.” He muttered in a small voice.

“Senpai…” I looked at him in surprise.

It was the first time I heard Yuuki acknowledging Sakuya for what she had done. His words gave me the hope and courage I needed the most.

“Thank you very much!” I sprang to my feet. “I need to go now!”

I ran off, just as Yuuki shouted behind me, “Wait! The lunch break is about to—!”

Ringgg!!!

My steps faltered at the sound of bell ringing, signaling the end of lunch break. But then I remembered Sakuya’s tearful face as she said her goodbye to me, and my feet started moving again—

“Stop right there!”

A hand yanked on my collar and forced me to a complete stop.

“Ugh! Let me go, Senpai!” I turned to glare at Yuuki, who easily handled me with one hand.

“Are you seriously trying to skip classes in front of a former Student Council President?” Yuuki asked me with clear exasperation written all over his face.

“Yeah!”

“Stop being as shameless as Kagura! And besides, you’re going to contact the other delinquents, right? Are you planning on barging into their school when they’re still in class and drag them out?” Yuuki scolded me harshly.

“Uh…that’s…” I averted my eyes.

I’d completely forgotten the fact that the delinquents were now attending classes like normal students in Takamine Academy.

Yuuki let out an exasperated sigh at my blatant reaction. “Wait until the school’s over and go visit them normally. I swear, those delinquents are being a bad influence to you.”

With those words, Yuuki ended up dragging me back to my class.

Ochroleucous
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