The newly formed couple walked in their classroom, holding hands, when they got a happy greeting from Teshigawara and Mochizuki "Well hello, hello Misaki-san and Sakaki. Any interesting news on 'progress?" asked the teasing teenager; his answer didn't come out of a mouth, instead, it was the sight of the hands being held in each other. He fixed his eyes on a blushing Sakakibara and continued "I see." A clearly smug voice "You clearly got a yes" "You could say so." Yuuya took a second to speak "I'm glad for you two" "Thanks, Mochizuki". After analyzing the conversation her friends were holding, Mei asked "wait, you two knew this all along?" Kouichi's heart skip a beat at her question, while Naoya calmly answered "Of course we did. He was quite obvious to begin with. Besides, if we hadn't told him to, he would've probably never had the guts to confess his feelings for you"
Kouichi faced the floor ashamed, expecting a bad response, but then his girlfriend –didn't he love the way that sounded- tightened the grip in a warm, caring way. A small smile formed in her lips as she replied a "thank you", prompting everyone to blush at her sudden cute action. Their conversation got interrupted by the presence of their teacher, Tatsuji Chibiki.
"That would be all the homework for the next days." Said the old man while setting his glasses in a correct position over his eyes. He saw the students, young survivors of a horror caused, partially, by him and his other previous students. He knew it was the chance to show his plan, and took it.
"Before you go, I'd like to make an announcement." The students held still "First of all, congratulations; you survived a terrible fate none of you should have even known, and in a matter of months, you'll be completely free of the burden this year was." A short, happy chatter started. Chibiki spoke again.
"Secondly, a small reminder: as you've noticed, countermeasures against the calamity have proven mediocre, as best" Silence "This leads to my announcement itself; in order to act more directly against the curse, I've decided to…" He took a deep breath, as if trying to convince himself. "I've decided to return as class 3-3 permanent teacher"
Mixed reaction, triggered mostly by concern. The teenagers and the rest of the school recognized Chibiki as a particularly important person. Class 3 had him in high spot of respect. They didn't want him to risk his life that way, but it was obvious he did; when they noticed how the teacher remained calm, the classroom went silent again.
"I appreciate your concern for my welfare, but I assure I don't deserve it as much as you think; you know my role in the calamity, and that's why I want to have a greater influence to stop it; I'm also changing many of the countermeasures, but you don't need too many details about it"
After a small pause, he made one last announcement "What you do need to know is, I'll ask for your help" A different form of silence, caused by chilled spines, owned the classroom. "This is entirely optional and voluntary, I won't force anyone into this, but, I'd really like some of you to help me keep records safe, as most of you will leave the town, the calamity won't – or at least shouldn't- change them; also, no paperwork will link you to the class, so your safety, in and out Yomiyama, is ensued"
The Brown-haired boy stood up without a second thought. He took the calamity's effect to a rather personal level. He lost friends to it. His beloved's sister died as well. He even had to kill his own aunt, in order to stop more deaths. His mind was made as soon as the teacher finished his offer.
"It seems I got a volunteer; are you sure about this Sakakibara-kun?"
"I've never been so sure about anything before"
A smile was formed in the old man's face. Satisfied by the younger's answer. "Anyone else?"
An eye-patched girl stood up. Everyone's eyes fixed on her, and she claimed her compromise "I offer myself too, Chibki-sensei"
This turned out better than he expected. The already standing boy placed a questioning face at her. Her answer was a mere smile, one that said "don't worry, if you do this, I'll do it by your side". He still couldn't believe how much her pessimistic way to see life and loneliness changed.
The teacher asked one last time. Mochizuki and Teshigawara met gazes, nodded and stood up almost at the same time. "We'll be honored to help with this" "That's right, besides, you can't have all the fun, Sakaki" 'Sakaki' just shrugged the comment off.
"Then it's settled; you four will come with me to the library; to the rest of the class, you're dismissed"
"That should be the last of it" Tatsuji Chibiki stated as he turned off the photocopier. The many files regarding the calamity had now several backup copies which were handed to the four volunteers standing in front of their teacher. He proceeded his instructions. "I'd recommend you to send them in advancement as soon as you know where you'll be living; I've already got your phone numbers, but you're likely to change them later, tell me if you do so"
All four teenagers acknowledged the information. "Ok, then, any question?" The young boys refused in their own was, but Mei kept thinking about something. She looked at her friends, then at her teacher, then at her feet, and she made her mind. "Chibiki-sensei" she called "I might have something useful" and with those words she removed her eye patch, revealing her doll eye.
It wasn't the first time any of the present saw it. Kouichi was the first and knew as much as he could about it; that said he still wasn't sure about the girl's reasons to show it right now. Chibiki, Yuuya and Naoya saw it right after the incident at Sakitani Kinenkan, when the couple reached the other survivors on the car, her left eye was exposed after the fight with Akazawa; however, the situation was desperate so none of them could pay too much attention to it, explaining the relative surprise from them.
"A green eye?" Confusion and curiosity. "An artificial eye, actually." A correction. "It allows me to see… ´what isn't supposed to be seen´" Sakakibara recognized those words, he knew what they meant, what she meant. His teacher tried to process them.
"I assume it was quite important to find out who was the extra one" She nodded at his smart reasoning. He continued "And you're offering this perk of yours to help us find out the future extra students, but doesn't that mean" "I'm not leaving the town anytime soon, sensei"
Now he couldn't contain it. If he was surprised, now he was outraged. "What the- Mei, are you sure" "Mei, huh?" "Cut it, Teshigawara, this is serious" Mochizuki let out a chuckle. "Didn't you want to leave? Study in a big university?" His voice started to break, his last words coming out as a whisper "Maybe even go with me?"
Then, a small, porcelain-like hand held his, fingers entwined. His head made a small jump and his eyes opened. She tried to reassure him with a smile, but she couldn't hide the sadness in her words. "I wasn't going to leave either way. She wouldn't allow me to. Not that easily. And you know it." He fell silent at this. She was right all along, he knew she wouldn't go with him to Tokyo. He just had a small form of hope, most likely delusional. He shut his eyes and nodded; he couldn't change her mind and preferred to drop the subject.
The older man took this as his cue to speak. "Very well, then. I can find you a place in the school –not in the class itself, of course- so you can get paid for it; it'll also facilitate any required interaction and assistance between us." "I'll consider it, thanks Chibiki-sensei" she bowed. "If that's all you have to ask or suggest, you can leave now"
All four teenagers gained some composure, bowed respectfully and set their steps to the exit door.
It was finally graduation day. Quite expected by all students in class 3-3. Not only would they go out to the world as soon-to-be university students, but they'd finally leave the bloodshed that was the calamity behind.
Everyone was excited, except for Kouichi Sakakibara, who had a rather bittersweet sensation. It's been almost half a year since he could (successfully) confess his feelings to Mei Misaki, and still, he felt his quality time with her has been too short. He knew ending the school year meant going back to Tokyo, and probably never seeing her again; he could call her, yes, but given she wasn't fond of cell phones, that wasn't the brightest idea. "It also means a new charge" he thought as he took a sip of his drink, remembering Chibiki's request for him and others, including her.
His thoughts were interrupted by his friends' arrival. Yuuya wore a grey t-shirt that matched his eye color, black pants and shoes. Next to him, Naoya wore his flowers shirt with grey informal pants, almost as if dressed to annoy Kouichi, who whore his almost elegant white shirt, black jacket and formal black pants. When he pointed it out, the lighter haired boy defended his posture claiming that the saloon had no etiquette rules, and he was the one overdressing. Mochizuki was just glad he could find a decent balance in formality.
Teshigawara was right though. The official graduation ceremony took place in the school. Every diploma had been given already, and they were at the informal party. While there was no more need this particular year, class 3-3 had a separated party from the rest of its generation. The students were ok with it; they were already used to the isolation.
They dropped their argument after a few minutes. They got serious for a moment, remembering the calamity and those dead because of it, and then they cheered for their own existence. They talked about their past, their present and their possible future. And then, they talked about the girl.
He didn't show it as much as his friend, but Mochizuki did enjoy teasing Misaki and Sakakibara together. Reason why he started this session by stating how grateful he should be to them. This took the boy aback, and Teshigawara seized this off-balance position to keep on the torture, forcing him to blush with his replies.
"Face it, you'd be lost without us" "Lonely, wondering if Mei-chan would like you back." "Don't use her name like that!" "And just by picturing her face, you even m-" "Misaki-san, over here!" A timely arrival, pointed by Yuuya's greeting; the raven-haired centering this subject appeared in front of the boys. She asked in a soft voice "What were you talking about?" Naoya refrained from what he was about to say. Even he had a limit "Oh, nothing. Right Sakaki?" Nothing indeed came out of his mouth. Kouichi was awestruck by the beauty before him.
A dark blue dress with black and white pattern that finished in an elegant skirt with spongy white edges. A small bow, sealed with a little red rose, surrounding her neck. Black tights and dark purple shoes. Finally, a sort of tiara with matching colors crowned her head, both tips covered by a red rose. The sight was so good for the boy, he forgot for a second how to breath.
"Hey, Sakaki, are you there?" It didn't work, so Naoya tried snapping his fingers. That did the trick. "Huh, wha- what?" His friends couldn't contain the laughter, even his girlfriend let out a small chuckle "You spaced out for too long, man. I thought you were a goner for sure!" Now he was blushing furiously, but then he used said words by his advantage "Well, I certainly do feel in heaven" he directed that comment at Mei. It was her turn to blush now, which somehow made her look even cuter than she already did.
"How flattering" "I know, but…" He held her right hand "I want to do more than that." He kissed it now; the other boys' presence seem to matter very little to him right now. She asked with a curious and slightly seductive tone "How so?" and then that song started. The very song they confessed their mutual feelings with. It was perfect, and they both knew it. "Would you dance this piece with me?" She extended her left hand for him to take. He complied with the unspoken order as she answered "It will be my pleasure"
And with that, the couple walked holding hands to the center of the dance floor, leaving their friends alone, probably muttering something about Mei's lack of taste in men or Kouichi's unfairly good luck.
It was now the two of them. The brunette boy remembered his dream from that night. He considered the contrasts and matches, both between that night and this moment. Misaki wearing a red dress, Misaki wearing normal clothes and then, Mei wearing a dark dress. In all cases, they were enjoying themselves. As happy as they could, given the way their lives were. He didn't want to lose this moment, holding hands, dancing together, with their eyes fixed in each other's.
Eyes. Unsure to why he didn't notice it earlier, Kouichi blinked in surprise at realizing her girlfriend's doll eye uncovered. It was a welcome sight, of course, but that didn't stop his curiosity from taking form in his voice "Mei, your eye…" "Oh" A calm and quiet response, as always "I was wearing my eye patch a few minutes ago. Then I saw you and, well" she blushed while trying to look away in embarrassment "you said you liked my eye uncovered"
He couldn't help a smile. In fact, he couldn't help a chuckle. The girl turned her sight at her boyfriend's reaction (He didn't know, but she loved the sound of it just as he did) with a questioning look.
"My dear Mei Misaki, you've misunderstood me. I've said your eye is beautiful. You are beautiful. You are" he had to pick the right word "Perfect." She lost her breath for a second "You are perfect. Your smile cheers me. Your voice soothes me. Your eyes hypnotize me" She started to look down, failing to contain a smile "But above all, your soul captivates me. From the day one, you were an oddity. A girl whose very presence meant something unique was going on. How we changed from strangers, to classmates, to two of a kind, then friends. And now, we're lovers" a lonely teardrop rolled down porcelain skin "And that's why it hurts" More tears, coming from other eyes "Having to leave now. After all we've been through, all this pain, to finally have you in my arms" And so she was; she muttered his surname. "And then just get away. It's unfair. I know what you think of relationships, how we're alone no matter what, but I…"
He separated from her, enough to stare at her face, his arms still wrapped around "I want to be alone with you. For the rest of my life. Even if it ends tomorrow. I want you to be there, with me." "Kouichi-kun" A gasp.
"Mei…" "I know what you mean, what you feel. And I feel it too. But we also know we can't. We'll continue our lives away from each other, but we still have two things to keep us close" "What are those?" Misaki smiled faintly "First of, our new commission to keep new generations safe, and secondly" she peaked him in the lips "the love I have for you. I'll never forget you, no matter what"
Sakakibara dried his tears of his face, adorned with a smile that almost said 'I understand. Thank you', he then took Mei's soft hands and pressed his forehead softly against hers. He then made a promise out loud, both to her and himself. "Someday, in the future. No matter how, no matter when, I'll see you again. And I'll never leave you. I'll be yours for the rest of our lives. It's a promise." He kissed her hand to seal it.
"I'll see you then, Kouichi-kun" He liked the way that sounded. They kissed one last time in the lips, wanting to never be apart, but knowing they'd be together one day again. The song had long ended by then.
