The anniversary of the Ousou Academy took place at midnight. Yashiro tried to arrive early, so she did not have to greet everyone. At first there were not many people and she walked around, absorbed by how large and majestic the hall was. When guests started to arrive, Yashiro studied the suits and dresses they wore. Parents were holding each other's arms and meeting with other relatives to talk, having as their main topic the dairy lives of their daughters, how they were doing with their grades and what they planned to do in the future.

Suddenly, she heard a voice calling her in the distance, until it became closer and she could soon discern among the people the face of Shimotsuki Mika. This time her two best friends—those who always seemed to be by her side—were not there. Otherwise, she was surrounded by four other girls who belonged to her class. When they were in front of her, they stood still and silent as if they had passed into another dimension, while observing her from head to toe. Yashiro was, in truth, one of the few women in the hall who had not attended in a dress. In her case, she wore a two-piece set consisting of a silver pant and blazer that passed around her waist, a white shirt underneath and matching moccasins.

"I thought you were a teacher," Shimotsuki admitted with a mischievous smile, pausing for a long time. "How I'd love it if there were boys so they could ask me to dance! Don't you think?"

Yashiro stared at the girl. As always, Shimotsuki Mika was a person who liked to speak out aloud to get attention, even unconsciously. A twinge of discomfort swept through her body, and as she looked back at her companions, she felt an innate desire to make up an excuse to leave, even though they were observing her with some enthusiasm and were so close to her like a gang planning an evil deed, although to Yashiro they resembled more a flock of vultures surrounding their prey.

"Why don't you tell them about Sadao?" a serene voice rose behind her.

Yashiro blinked a couple of times until she finally decided to turn around, facing the inopportune presence. She could not help but observe him in his entirety, since he had a three-piece beige suit that matched the amber of his eyes, the one that studied her keeping every detail, even intimidating her. She had to blink again to stop analyzing his style, and though she did not understand the question, she joined the stream of his words with total naturalness.

"We lived in the same neighborhood," Yashiro began to narrate, losing her sight high up and closing her eyes for a few moments to swallow. "We were scamming to go out."

Makishima slowly crossed his arms, while still examining her. The other students listened in rapt attention, like girls at a camp who are overwhelmed by a horror story.

"Tell them about Shinjuku," he added.

Yashiro arched an eyebrow, not knowing where he was going with that strange interrogation. She could not figure out what he wanted to get out of it, but she went ahead anyway. The situation was a bit funny in her mind, and in those moments, she would do anything to get rid of the young girls.

"It was night… there was a bar. People still didn't go there at that time, and I made friends with the owner's son, who was a couple of years older than me."

"What did you do?" Makishima questioned.

"We talked in the alley. I sneezed to give the signal, and Sadao came in. Then I told the lad that I would see him another day, and I went to meet Sadao again."

A sly and mischievous smile lit up the young man's lips, though it went unnoticed by the other students.

"What did you do with the money?"

Yashiro giggled softly and shrugged.

"Nothing illegal, really. We went to the movies, to the theater… but when he was upset about me buying books, that's when I got mad."

Her companions burst out laughing, and it took almost a whole minute before they managed to contain themselves. One of them continued recounting her own experiences, with somewhat innocent funny anecdotes and other more serious ones that had happened in her childhood. They went on for a long time, confessing things that Yashiro was used to hearing when they were alone, and with the excuse that she was going to look for her classmates, Yashiro bid them farewell. Turning to Makishima she breathed an air of relief, mentally grateful for the interruption. The two walked slowly through the hall, and Yashiro thanked everyone around her for thinking she was just another adult.

"How did you know about Shinjuku?" Yashiro asked looking at him.

Makishima released an enigmatic smile for a few seconds, and stopped to turn slightly in her direction. When Yashiro looked down, she noticed that he had extended his left hand, while the other remained hidden behind his back. Her whole body suddenly became paralyzed, but that affectionate gaze encouraged her to play along, and a couple of endless seconds passed before she finally dared to offer her own hand, discovering the warm and soft touch.

"I didn't," he confessed.

Yashiro frowned and stared at him with an arched eyebrow, demanding a more coherent response which never came. Instead, Makishima placed his right hand on her waist and his left hand joined Yashiro's, while she posed hers on his shoulder with some hesitation. When she accompanied his movements, which were slow and to the beat of the music, she did so at first with difficulty, but gradually, with free rein. Makishima bowed his head and broadened a mocking smile. It was the first time Yashiro had ever danced.

"You brought it up," Yashiro insisted arching an eyebrow.

The splendor of his eyes absorbed her for a few long seconds, and she even wondered if he had planned it all beforehand. Coming from him it did not surprise her.

"It was a lovely story…"

Yashiro allowed herself to smile boldly as she stared into his eyes, and he turned her over with great delicacy, aware that she was not familiar with his expert steps.

"I made it up."

At that statement, Makishima narrowed his eyes and smirked showing his teeth sideways, with an almost palpable irony as if he had expected the comment. Letting out a peaceful and hypnotizing laugh, he shook his head and analyzed each of her features in depth, as if he needed to memorize them.

"You really don't waste any time," a sly voice exclaimed.

They both stopped, directing their attention to the one who had interrupted them. Leaning against one of the pillars was Touma Kouzaburou with an empty cup in his hand, his arms crossed. Yashiro rolled her eyes, though the first to part was Makishima himself, who cast a lifeless glance at his partner. The latter went on to observe her more closely, as if examining a picture by his favorite painter. He wore a different style, with a dark brown pants and buttoned vest, a white shirt and a crimson tie.

Yashiro felt the night cooling, but it was her own body that was decreasing in temperature, encouraging her heartbeat. It was the first time that, in exchanging a glance with her social science teacher, she had to make a great effort to respond with the same kindness. Yashiro went right through him, searching for the young man she had known until then, hoping to find the one she thought she knew completely. The only thing she found, however, was a crystal whose reflection denoted an unfathomable abyss.

"If I had known you were here, I would have brought you another drink," Yashiro joked, drawing a fleeting knowing smile.

Touma released a loud but instantaneous laugh, leaning forward. Yashiro knew he was thirsty, since a simple glass was not enough for him. When he finally managed to restrain himself, he stood up again, and connected the gleam of admiration in his eyes with the silvery ones he knew so well. Yashiro held her breath feeling strangely small, as if the gaze was trying to absorb her, to plunge her into the depths, and she came to realize that Makishima kept staring at him with his eyebrows slightly together, as if even he anticipated his thoughts and did not like them.

However, Touma did not have time to make a comment and suddenly raised his head towards the center of the hall, as abruptly as if a person were about to fall in the middle of the crowd, which was the basis of his later laughter. Yashiro turned around in disguise to follow with her gaze what had caught his attention, and Makishima accompanied the movement.

They were able to spot a grown man who Yashiro was slow to recognize at first. He was Abele Altoromagi, an Italian human rights lawyer. Touma had a friendly smile on his face, but she could sense the bitterness building up in his entire mind. The man was grinning as he talked to others his age. Despite the distance you could tell that he was not interested in drawing attention to himself, much less exaggerating his virtues, as they could see in the others.

"Is the daughter that young woman you mention so much?" Makishima finally asked.

Touma was more enthusiastic than usual. Leaning against the pillar, he kept feeling on his legs as if he were following the rhythm of a song in his mind. When he realized the question, he simply responded with a nod, implying that he was too immersed in his own thoughts. Makishima turned his attention back to the crowd, studying their movements and the way they behaved, detecting patterns. It must have been a long minute before he saw out of the corner of his eye that his companion was leaving his hands unmoving on his legs, and leaning his entire body forward a few inches.

"It's her."

Touma was speechless and immobile, completely lost in the student of his dreams. Yashiro analyzed the way he transformed his whole appearance. It only took a few seconds for a stimulus like Kirino Touko, to ignite an adolescent spirit in him. To Makishima's surprise, Yashiro realized that Touma had not mentioned to him that he was in love with a student, even though his beloved's father would not agree with the relationship. It was not right for a teacher to become emotionally involved with a student, especially in an establishment as conservative as Ousou Academy. He must have been totally enraged, and she was beginning to wonder what he would do next.

"Why don't you go and talk to her?" Yashiro suggested, surprised by the very echo of her voice.

When she looked at him, she noticed that for the first time, Touma Kouzaburou seemed nervous. He kept silent and did not stop studying the girl following her every move, the people she was talking to. He was not willing to admit that he did not know exactly what to say to her. Yashiro turned her attention to the girl who was younger than her. Naturally, Touko avoided being surrounded by people. Her hair was long and black, somewhat wavy at the ends. She did not like everyone praising her constantly, although she was always grateful and seemed to be very respectful of comments.

"Just avoid talking about the monotony of the academy and, above all, don't praise her."

Both teachers arched an eyebrow and cast a glance at Yashiro. Touma, for his part, ended up giving a satisfied smile as if he were thanking her in silence. Then he moved away from the pillar and made an eternal arm stretch, extending them forward like a cat rising from a deep sleep. He exchanged one last glance with Yashiro and then walked to the center of the hall, where Touko was. Some minutes later, they were able to observe the unusual pair. Touko seemed to enjoy being with Touma, and her father was not in the hall at the time.

"Will it come to a tragic end like Romeo, or will it succumb to hate?" Makishima asked in a barely audible whisper.

Yashiro watched them dance in the distance, absorbed by the words. She had no time to ponder the meaning as Touko's father came back on the scene, and this time she could notice a gleam of concern in his eyes as he saw his precious daughter with the social science teacher. The same one he had known since he was just a boy. Yashiro glanced at Makishima quickly, noticing the inexpressiveness on his face.

"When Touma was fourteen years old a charity rescued him from Ogishima, his hometown," Yashiro explained lowering her voice. "He didn't exactly take it as a rescue, though. The director of that organization is—"

"Abele Altoromagi."

Yashiro nodded as she turned her attention back to the crowd. Touma was at that moment conversing with Touko's father, making kind gestures with his hands for emphasis and displaying one of his biggest smiles. Touko, on the other hand, was talking at a distance with other students her age, although Yashiro noticed that from time to time, she would cast a worried look at Touma.

Then the two men walked slowly side by side as if talking business, heading for the second floor. They went up the wide stairs that were upholstered in a dark red, until Yashiro lost sight of them. The image conveyed an immense chill over her body and soul, but she shook it off with a deep sigh. She did not know how long they had remained silent, contemplating the people walk, until Makishima released a soft and guttural laugh as he noticed a family congratulating their daughter, greeting her as if an eternity had passed.

"What's funny?" Yashiro wanted to know.

Makishima raised his head a few inches, while emitting a victorious and somewhat haughty guttural sound, implying that he had been discovered. When he finally looked at her slowly, he softened his expression by noticing that she frowned eagerly searching for the reason of his distraction. He shook his head, enjoying her uncertainty.

"Can't imagine you leaving any offspring."

Yashiro's eyes glowed in metal as never before, opening slightly as they returned their attention in the distance and she clicked her tongue, searching, in fact, for an excuse to avoid the strange magnetism that such a glance exerted on others. Her lungs filled with air and she nodded with delicacy; as a woman, she knew that responsibility that parents, directly or indirectly, transmitted to their children during adolescence and even adulthood, like a whisper that reminded them of the objective of bringing someone into the world before their death. Although it was more common among women, it was also true of men, especially when they grew older and were not well regarded if they had not yet been parents.

"I once asked a pregnant woman why she made the decision to become a mother," he began to say with a mournful gleam in his eye. "She looked at me indignantly as if I were asking something unheard of, and when she realized I was serious she answered it was something beautiful and natural. And when I asked her why she thought that she was speechless, until she simply ended with an iconic just because."

When she was little, she had asked her own mother exactly the same question, and the answers ended up being similar. Yashiro lifted her chin in a fleeting moment when she realized that she had never spoken to a man about it. At the Ousou Academy she only found comfort in Ouryou Rikako, while for the rest it was taboo topics, such as death itself, and they never talked about it as if they were embarrassed, in a way, to question what they were used to.

"You try to rationally ground what for many is based on the emotional," Yashiro replied. "With that utilitarian stance, you are not very different from the Sibyl System."

Makishima remained silent for a few moments as if the words had stabbed him in some way, a sensation that Yashiro had wanted to provoke. She shared his opinion, but unlike him, she did not despise the decisions of others unless they affected her somehow. Each individual was free to make the right decisions guided by his own interests and tastes, as long as they did not conflict with the freedom of others. Makishima's gaze was lost on the crowd even though he was focused on her, his eyes narrowed in a solemn and reflective way as if he accepted Yashiro's words, but still wished to undo them by all means.

"They still believe that their fundamental role in society is to procreate… but they shouldn't be ashamed to aspire to something different."

When the party was over, the director of the Ousou Academy said a few words to the guests until he ended by thanking them for coming. After a round of applause from everyone present—with the exception of Makishima and Yashiro, who were further away— they began to head for the exit, while some stayed a little longer to chat or look at the pictures hanging along the wall.

In the center of the hall a group of students surrounded someone, with strangely worried glances as they searched for something around them, with dissimulated caution. Yashiro squinted, discovering that it was Kirino Touko who had become so popular. A brief smile gathered on her face, noticing the discomfort she must have been feeling at the time. She found it certainly adorable. However, when she raised her head to look over the other faces, she connected with Yashiro's and managed to make the satisfaction she felt disappear.

"Takahashi-san, did you see Touma?" Touko asked when she got close enough.

She shook her head, admitting to herself that she felt flattered by the confidence she had in her, Touko being a person who did not make friends so quickly. Her voice had sounded hurried and even broken, so Yashiro tilted her head towards her to study the fearful reflection in her eyes. Something caught her attention, but she did not know exactly what it was. And then, she understood. The teacher's absence had aroused a suspicion within her.

Makishima was several meters away talking to some teachers, but in a brief moment he gave her a sly look. Yashiro arched an eyebrow and avoided it, turning to Touko. Sometimes Makishima's insight made her uneasy. He seemed to be aware of everything that was happening as if he had eyes and ears everywhere. When the other students began to leave for the courtyard, both imitated the movement and left the hall.

"Wasn't he with your father?"

Yashiro looked at her out of the corner of her eye as they strolled through the courtyard, noting the way her hands joined and her shoulders fell withered. She had to adapt to her slow and dull rhythm, until Touko proceeded to sit on one of the nearby benches. Yashiro stood with her hands behind her back, eager to hear whatever she had to say. For almost a whole minute she rested with her eyes closed, and when she opened them again, she looked up to find Yashiro.

"That is the problem. My father has disappeared."