Chapter 7: Even After Graduation

Chapter 7: Even After Graduation

Chapter 7:

Even After Graduation

E ARLY IN THE MORNING, I returned to my room in the dormitory to check my phone and noticed that I had received numerous calls and messages from Satou. Of course, I had been expecting that development, since Karuizawa had almost certainly shared the fact that she and I had broken up. As I had hoped she would, Karuizawa had decided to say that she was the one who dumped me, probably because she knew it would be troublesome later if our reports on the situation didn’t line up.

However, Karuizawa’s best friend seemed convinced that she would never have wanted to break up with me, and that I must have been the one who initiated the breakup, so she contacted me, urging me to take Karuizawa back. However, even Satou knew. She knew that romantic relationships were basically something that were decided only by the people in that relationship, and there was extraordinarily little that any outsider could do about it. Even so, I couldn’t blame her for her feelings, for not being able to stop herself from meddling.

As I left the dormitory and headed for the main gates, I looked back not at the thread with Satou from yesterday, but at a different message, which I had received after the End-of-Year Special Exam, just to be sure. It read, “Ryuuen-kun has granted me permission to remain at school for a little while. There is still so much to talk about. I think I will be out in front of the main gate on March 31, the day that I leave this school.”

In response to Sakayanagi’s message, I replied back only that I understood and would be there at a specific time. This was my own personal speculation, but I suspected that Sakayanagi was making use of her valuable remaining time, wrapping up loose ends, including matters related to her class.

Sakayanagi was going to leave the school at eleven in the morning in a reserved taxi, and I had planned to meet with her before that.

“Good morning, Ayanokouji-kun.”

When I arrived, about ten minutes earlier than planned, I found Sakayanagi already waiting. To be clear, it was not Arisu, but her father, Chairman Sakayanagi, standing there instead.

“Good morning,” I greeted him. “Are you seeing your daughter off, by chance?”

“My dear daughter is starting a new chapter, after all,” the chairman nodded in his usual calm manner. “Did you come to see her off too, Ayanokouji-kun?”

“Yes. Well, technically, I had an appointment with her at ten thirty. You don’t seem shocked, Chairman,” I replied.

“Hmm? Oh, well, no, I suppose not. I had received a report from her homeroom instructor, Mashima-sensei, before the special exam, so I was mentally prepared,” said Chairman Sakayanagi. “Still, at the time, it came as a great surprise, but that girl’s decision must be respected. Of course, the fact that she would be making trouble for her friends in class due to her voluntary withdrawal from school is unfortunate. However, it would be wrong for me, the current chairman, to personally intervene, wouldn’t you say?”

Of course, a chairman could have annulled the bet if he had utilized his authority. It would’ve been simple for him to put a stop to the whole thing. If he did that, however, he would break the school’s rules.

“That is commendable,” I answered.

Honestly, I had a deep respect for his actions and behavior, which were a credit to his position. After flashing a somewhat embarrassed smile, Chairman Sakayanagi’s expression suddenly turned serious.

“I know that this isn’t really the place to talk about this, but I hear that your father is coming for the parent–teacher meetings,” said Chairman Sakayanagi.

“It sounds like it. What kind of curious turn of events led to that happening?” I asked.

“He is someone who never acts without reason. I think that he wanted to meet in person to see for himself what kind of growth you’ve undergone, and what kind of future you have in mind.”

Chairman Sakayanagi sounded somewhat pleased as he said that, although I knew that this was unlikely to be the case. If he were simply checking in on me, there were many ways he could do it. However, I did agree with the part about that man not doing anything without reason.

“If by some chance you run into some trouble, I want you to rely on me,” he added.

“Thank you very much,” I replied. “That’s reassuring.”

Chairman Sakayanagi then proceeded to let out a sigh.

“Is that about my father?” I asked.

“No, I was thinking about Arisu,” Chairman Sakayanagi answered. “To be honest, there’s been some unexpected trouble. Arisu has been accepted to a high school near our home for her transfer, which is good, but she had made an additional irksome request.”

“An irksome request?” I asked.

“Perhaps you could be the one to convince her to reconsider,” Chairman Sakayanagi said with a wry smile, looking like he was about to share that request with me.

“That won’t do, Father,” came Sakayanagi’s voice. “What are you discussing with Ayanokouji-kun, and without my permission?”

“Oh, uh, Arisu,” stammered Chairman Sakayanagi, blatantly shocked and breaking out into a cold sweat.

Sakayanagi appeared, cane in hand, but without a single piece of hand luggage on her. Beside her were Yamamura and Morishita, who had likely come to see her off, as her classmates.

“Oh, well, it’s, um… It’s nothing,” stammered Chairman Sakayanagi.

“If that is indeed the case, then that is good. I ask you once again: Do not make any unsolicited remarks,” said Sakayanagi.

Apparently, his daughter had previously forbidden him from saying anything.

“Ha ha, w-well, yes,” Chairman Sakayanagi replied, “I suppose we can talk about it at our leisure after we get back home today. That would be good.”

“Yes, I am sure that we will have an enjoyable conversation as parent and child,” said Sakayanagi.

Chairman Sakayanagi had a wry, forced smile on his face. Apparently, they had been keeping a certain level of distance between them until now as chairman and student, but it looked like that wasn’t necessary anymore.

“This may be tactless to ask, but where is your home located, Sakayanagi Arisu?” asked Morishita.

Morishita let loose a question that had no thought behind it, which seemed to shift the atmosphere over all of us. It was true that matter was a little curious, come to think of it. The teachers lived in the dormitories, but what about the chairman?

“We live about a fifteen-minute drive from the school grounds. One bus ride away,” said Sakayanagi.

“That is so close!” exclaimed Morishita immediately.

Taking only distance into account, it was just a stone’s throw away. Of course, the students residing at this school were not allowed to leave the premises, except under exceptional circumstances such as traveling for club activities and such, so it wasn’t possible for anyone to just casually go pay her a visit.

“There is plenty of time before my taxi arrives. May I speak with Ayanokouji-kun for a moment, in private, please?” asked Sakayanagi.

Her request prompted the chairman, Yamamura, and Morishita to nod and move far enough away that they wouldn’t be able to hear our conversation.

“I didn’t expect that Yamamura and Morishita would be seeing you off , ” I remarked.

“If this happened earlier, I suppose it would have been Masumi-san, Hashimoto-kun, and Kitou-kun,” she replied.

Kamuro had been expelled and Hashimoto had betrayed her. As for Kitou, he didn’t seem to be the type of person to appear solemn and moved during a farewell, so it looked like no one close to Sakayanagi was going to come.

“I have spent only a short time with Yamamura-san, but we have managed to become close in that short time, thanks in part to you, Ayanokouji-kun.”

Yet now they were being pulled apart because of me.

“And Morishita?” I asked.

“It would appear that she has been clinging tightly to Yamamura-san,” said Sakayanagi.

In other words, she had invited herself along.

“Morishita-san has never been one to be friendly with anyone in particular, but recently, it seems that she has been intentionally trying to get closer to Yamamura-san. She is a clever and perceptive student, and I believe she is concerned about the future of the class, in her own way,” said Sakayanagi.

“That may be so,” I replied.

Morishita had an incredibly unusual personality, but I sensed that she also had extraordinary talent. I think that my calling up both Morishita and Yamamura a while ago and talking to them may have had an influence too.

“Well, then, I suppose today will be the last time that I will talk to you for a while, Ayanokouji-kun,” said Sakayanagi.

“Seems so.”

Sakayanagi, staring up at me intently, then spoke without restraint.

“It would appear that you were dissatisfied with me as your opponent, but as a result, things have turned out the way you wanted. Do you feel a little guilty for having intervened in my match? Please tell me how you feel right now,” said Sakayanagi.

“I do feel guilty…is what I would like to say, but I don’t think that such superficial lies would work on you,” I replied.

What she was hoping for here were my real intentions. Sakayanagi smiled happily, as if saying, “Yes, that’s exactly right.”

“If I may be so bold, I’d have to say that you were just too strong,” I answered. “I don’t doubt your abilities, and although I don’t know the details of what happened during the End-of-Year Special Exam, you definitely should have surpassed Ryuuen. It’s just—”

“Ryuuen-kun. Horikita-san, and Ichinose-san too,” Sakayanagi said. “There is still significant room for them to grow, even if no one can predict what kind of person they will turn into.”

“That’s right. I would like to see that,” I replied.

“Just as I thought. Even though I knew the answer, it still hurts to hear it.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s all right. I understand that you are that kind of person. Besides, it’s my own decision to move on, and I can only blame my own excellence for having understood your message.”

Of course, even I had no idea what the outcome of the exam would have been. I just thought about whether Ryuuen or Sakayanagi was the person I wanted to stay, and had faith in my message. Ryuuen was free to convey the message or not, and the rest was up to Sakayanagi: Whether it was received, understood, and answered were all up to her. Even so, if I could decipher and analyze Ryuuen’s personality and Sakayanagi’s thought process, I could see that the chances of this outcome were reasonable.

“I have said many mean-spirited things, but I do not intend to blame you, Ayanokouji-kun,” she said. “I just wanted to make things clear about the matter of squaring up our debts.”

“Yeah. Personally, if I can take care of things now, I’d like to get it over with,” I said. “What do you want?”

I owed Sakayanagi a big debt that needed to be repaid.

“In that case, I have two requests,” said Sakayanagi.

I nodded and waited for her to make them, intending to hear her out at the very least.

“First…” she said, pausing to consider it. “Yes. I would like a hot, passionate kiss, right here and now.”

She was being mean and spoke of wishes that I couldn’t take either seriously or jokingly.

“That’s… How am I supposed to take that?” I replied.

As her answer, Sakayanagi took a step closer to me, raised her chin lightly, and closed her eyes. I was honestly too scared to look at the faces of the three people watching us. Just as I was about to double-check whether she was really serious about that request, Sakayanagi slowly opened her eyes.

“Hee hee,” she giggled. “That was a joke.”

“…A bad one,” I replied after a moment.

Inwardly, I let out a sigh of relief. If we were just in front of her classmates, that would be bad enough, but her father, the chairman, was watching us as well.

“Regarding my first request, and I assure you that I am not asking to be egotistical, but my role is now over, is it not?” Sakayanagi asked.

At those words, I casually turned my attention to the chairman, then immediately back to Sakayanagi.

“You are the person who is always ten or twenty moves ahead. With that in mind, wasn’t there some other benefit to be gained by my choosing to voluntarily withdraw from school, aside from keeping Ryuuen-kun here?” asked Sakayanagi.

That was as expected, with Sakayanagi. In terms of strategy and thinking, she could arrive at answers on her own without assistance.

“I had it in mind as a strategic preparatory move for the game. I don’t see a future where it will be the case yet, though,” I replied.

“Don’t worry. I am satisfied just hearing that you are thinking of it as a strategic move,” said Sakayanagi.

“I may simply be using you, though.”

“Even so,” Sakayanagi continued. “I do not wish to lose contact with you. Although this school will cut off my connection with you, I have not given up on fighting you again in the future, Ayanokouji-kun. I intend to undergo trials myself during the coming year so that I may become an even more suitable opponent for you. So please promise me that I will see you again after you leave this school.”

“That’s your first request?” I asked.

“Yes,” said Sakayanagi immediately, without even a moment’s pause.

“There are things that are beyond my power, though,” I wanted to clarify. “Even so, are you really okay with that request?”

“I will have faith,” Sakayanagi answered, more forcefully than before, looking straight ahead.

“I see,” I said, after a moment. “If it’s you of all people, I may be able to see you once again,” I replied.

As I had just told her, there were many things that I couldn’t control. Even so, someday, when I myself wished to change the future with my own hands, the promise of a reunion with Sakayanagi could be of immense help.

“Of course, I too am aware of your environment, the White Room. However, right now you are standing here, and your life’s path is yours and yours alone to decide. Please do not forget that,” said Sakayanagi.

“I suppose so. I hope that the day comes when I can think like that.”

That was all I could answer with at this moment, but Sakayanagi nodded, seemingly satisfied.

“And your next request?” I asked.

“Oh, yes, that’s right… I was honestly a little worried about the future of my class after my departure, and I thought it would be boorish of me to include this in my wish,” said Sakayanagi, prefacing her wish. “It is regarding the matter of dealing with Hashimoto-kun in the future, individually. I have not given any details about him to the class whatsoever.”

“There might be other students who suspect Hashimoto because of various matters, but in the absence of conclusive evidence, it’s a situation where they have no other choice but to presume him innocent, right?” I replied, prompting a nod from Sakayanagi.

“However, there must be someone who knows what he did, and what he was trying to do, and they can draw conclusions from that. May I entrust you with the task of making that ruling? Do not concern yourself with a deadline.”

“In other words, you’re asking me to watch over the next year and judge him as innocent or guilty?”

“Yes. The heart within my chest can be both forgiving and unforgiving. I had wanted to walk with him and see how things ended, but that is no longer possible.”

If she was leaving everything to me, no matter what judgment I handed down, then there was no reason not to take on the task.

“Got it. I’ll play the role of judge,” I replied.

“Thank you very much. Well, then, with that in mind, I can go and see Masumi-san,” she said.

I was sure that Kamuro would be exasperated before she was delighted, upon reuniting.

“Now then, I suppose it is about time I call the others back over,” Sakayanagi said.

“No, before we part, there’s something I need to say to you too,” I replied.

With that, I took out my phone and showed Sakayanagi a picture of her that I had taken in my room before. Then, I deleted it, right in front of her eyes.

“I had been holding onto that in case of an emergency, but there’s no need for me to use it anymore,” I told her.

“Oh, so does that mean you and your girlfriend have already—?” began Sakayanagi.

“Karuizawa herself knew how it would end,” I replied, interrupting her.

“I see. If she really does possess a strong will, I am sure she will be independent again.”

Because, even if she couldn’t stand on her own, Karuizawa had friends that she could rely on.

“Oh, but that reminds me,” Sakayanagi said. “That means you have gone back to being a free agent now, doesn’t it, Ayanokouji-kun?”

“I guess so, yeah,” I replied.

“In that case, perhaps I didn’t need to refrain from requesting a kiss,” teased Sakayanagi as she flashed a wicked grin and slowly opened both hands. “Would it be all right for you to at least give me at least this much, as a farewell present?”

The time for goodbyes was approaching. I also spread both hands and silently pulled Sakayanagi close to me.

“I am left with many feelings of regret, many feelings of still wanting to talk to you, but I suppose it is just right that I am left with those. I will look forward to the day when we can meet once again,” said Sakayanagi.

“Yeah,” I replied.

My future was currently closed off, but nevertheless, that situation could change. Sakayanagi felt small, yet dependable, in my arms. I was certain that she had a strength that no one else had, out of everyone I knew. In the near future, I could meet Sakayanagi once again, even in the outside world.

I was fully confident in that hunch.