Chapter 18:

The Start of Summer Break

The Pride of A Banchou [Short]


I stretched my stiff body the moment I got out of the police station. The sky was still dark when I came with the police to give my statements, but now it had started to brighten up. I swore to myself not to rely on police next time if I could avoid it. They were surely useful, but their long and winding procedures cost me a good chunk of time that I could use to sleep.

“It seems everything went well, eh? Ojou-sama.”

I turned toward the man approaching me. He had a lanky built, with messy black hair and dark red eyes hidden behind thick glasses. His unhealthily pale skin, untouched by the sun, made him stand out like a ghost in this time of the day.

“Shinji. I’ve told you many times to drop that title.” I replied wearily. “Putting that aside, thanks for your hard work. If it weren’t for you, the prodigy hacker of the Kagura Family, I wouldn’t be able to trap Kikuchi like this.”

“My bad, so can you stop with that cringy title as well?” Shinji shuddered as if he just heard something disgusting. “I’m just a lazy guy who doesn’t want to have anything to do with the Kagura Family anymore. It’s been, like, 8 years since I threw away my surname.”

I smiled thinly. As someone who also ran away from the Kagura Family, I understood his feelings painfully well. Though, Shinji was in a better position than me, since he hailed from a far, far off branch family. Even if he disappeared from the main house, no one would care to chase after him. Unlike me, who would get dragged back the moment they caught wind of my existence.

“Anyway, I thought Kikuchi-ojisan was smarter than this.” Shinji clicked his tongue. “Or does this mean you’re the scary one for outsmarting him, Sakuya-chan?”

“While I do admit that I’m smarter than your average person, I had to thank Kikuchi for looking down on me.” I shrugged. “I’m surprised he didn’t think that I have another collaborator, actually. I mean, how else am I able to escape Kagura Family’s radar for two years?”

The one who helped me escape and hide for two whole years was Shinji here. Using his prodigious talent with hacking and a sharp mind that didn’t lose out to his talent, Shinji was able to protect my peaceful school life—provided that I didn’t stand out too much. Admittedly, the war last time was a bit too much for his ability, which resulted in this whole incident.

“Well yeah, someone with my level of talent is pretty rare, after all.” Shinji replied casually, which should be the biggest understatement of the century. “But it’s not surprising that Kikuchi-ojisan let his guard down. Normal people wouldn’t go out of their way to monitor their target twenty-four seven like you did.” There was a hint of exasperation in his voice. “Don’t you think you’re overdoing it this time?”

“But as a result, we’re able to gather enough evidence to frame him.” I refuted. “It was thanks to you that the police immediately rushed to save me after that phone call. Your idea for sending pre-recorded voicemail to lure the police there worked wonders.”

Shinji sighed. “Your acting also plays a big role in convincing them. You purposely let Kikuchi overpower you to cement the impression that he’s the perpetrator, didn’t you?”

I stuck out a tongue at him. “I will use anything and anyone that can be used—that’s how I survived.”

Shinji crossed his arms. “Then why didn’t you ask for your henchmen’s help? You got some useful people, right? Pochi, Tarou, and…what was his name again…I’m sure if you asked, they’d gladly help you trap Kikuchi, and you won’t have to go with such a risky plan.”

I stiffened the moment he mentioned my delinquent friends. “I don’t want to get them involved in family matters. If something goes wrong and they end up like him…” I lowered my gaze, unable to continue my sentence.

A warm hand patted my head. His gentle touch reminded me of someone else who used to pat my head like this. I closed my eyes, pretending that it was that person’s hand instead of Shinji.

“I get it—I won’t talk about this again. Just make sure to go home and get some rest, okay? Your big brother will nag me endlessly if you don’t take good care of yourself.” Shinji retracted his hand from my head.

“…yeah, thanks for everything, Shinji.” I thanked him quietly.

“Don’t mention it. I owed your big brother a lot, after all.” He waved casually before returning back to his own hideout.

I sighed, letting the tension leave my shoulders. Finally, I could have some peace and quiet after this whole fiasco. I looked forward to have a relaxing summer break…

*****

“…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 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 parent 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.

Koyomi
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