< < | NOZOMI'S POINT OF VIEW | > >

Leaning against the wall in front of the door of the principal's office, I crossed my arms impatiently while Kenzou stood across me, his eyes glued to the floor. For the past six minutes, no words had been spoken between us. The occasional passing of students along the hallway were the only noises that could be heard and that was if they weren't trying to be quiet like their lives depended on it.

I didn't even notice that I had been looking at him this whole time. Nor did I realize that I had been gripping my own arms tightly that my nails started to dig past my uniform into my skin. That's five thousand yen repair tomorrow.

The silence wouldn't seem to end soon if I didn't start the conversation, my patience was wearing thin anyway.

"Hey." I spoke out of the blue. He slowly lifted his head up to look at me, still not uttering a word. Knowing him, it would be better to just get straight to the point. "You were behind this, weren't you?"

He let out a sigh before looking away. Probably surprised that I had figured it out. "Well, sort of."

When he said that, I subconsciously thanked the passersby between us. Had it not for them, I would have jumped straight and kicked him into the other side of the wall. "Sort of?" I asked calmly. Though I'm not sure what my face looks like right now, I was pretty sure it wasn't exactly one that people would want to see.

He glanced at me. "There were things that went overboard, but my goal was still achieved-"

"Yamada Kenzou." I shifted, lifting myself from leaning against the wall as I uncrossed my arms. I have been known to act on impulse so I'm trying my hardest to stay calm right now. I took a deep breath before asking my next question. "What would you have done if Takahashi didn't choose to protect Shiho?" He looked away once again, unable to answer. "I am disappointed in you."

"Narumi wasn't supposed to be there." he uttered. "She overheard that Takahashi was in trouble, so she insisted on coming."

"And you still told Takahashi to release Serizawa?"

"I... thought he wasn't going to hurt her... Because I knew he had feelings for her."

"That doesn't justify the fact that you used Takahashi to have Serizawa expelled from this school."

His eyebrows narrowed, I raised mine. Did he really have the nerve to be angry? "Please keep your voice down, Ueda-senpai." said Kenzo. He rarely used that honorific with me and I could sense his sarcasm. "Besides," he added. "I didn't really force things to happen. All I did was make sure Serizawa's ego got trampled on by Takahashi's sudden fame."

"Tch.."

After what felt like forever, the principal's door opened. Serizawa Osamu and his mother walked out of the room passing by me and Kenzou not before giving us a look of disdain. Did he finally have the guts to look me in the eye knowing this'll be the last time he'd see me? This kid had potential. Masashi had almost picked him as our fifth member if he didn't meet Kugiwara. His failures had piled up, adding to his frustration, eventually guiding him to the wrong path.

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With that, Serizawa Osamu had been expelled from Kiyoto High.

"Are you happy now?" I blurted out to Kenzou who was about to to leave.

"I guess so." he said before walking off like nothing happened.

I wondered: How would Masashi handle this situation? He used to be the one who dealt with these kind of problems while I watched behind him. Since civilized discussions aren't my thing.

Maybe if I had died instead of him, everything would have been better.

Before realizing it, I started walking. Thoughts flowed through my head constantly until my feet eventually brought me in front of the infirmary.

"Right. Kenzou didn't even bother." I knocked several times before opening the door to a wide room. Patient beds were alined to the sides with only dark green curtains acting as dividers. I walked into the dimly lit room, most of the light was coming from the window through the blinders. "I'm here to visit Takahashi Haruto."

The school nurse directed me to his bed where I found him peacefully sleeping. Beside his bed was Shiho-chan sitting on the bench with some unfamiliar faces. "Ah.. Ueda-senpai." she greeted after seeing me. "I've already healed his wound but the nurse said he still needs to rest." she added. I looked at them one by one and they only glanced at me gloomily. "T-These are his club mates..."

The guy who seemed to be a second year like me stood up and walk up to me. "I'm Fujimoto Mitsuki.. leader of the Fujimoto club."

"I'm Koshimizu Reiko." another second year. The girl who looked like a first year like Takahashi didn't even stand up and introduced herself. It was subtle, but I had this feeling that she had something to say to me. "H-Her name is Murayama Akane.." Koshimizu added. "I-If you remember Shinohara Kazuki... He's her childhood friend."

I suddenly felt something stuck in my throat. It had become difficult to breathe as I felt my heart sinking to a bottomless pit. "Of course... I remember him." was the only thing I could dare to say.

Koshimizu shifted her gaze towards Takahashi who was soundly sleeping. "A lot has been happening to our club lately.. h-hehe.."

My hands had clenched into a tight fist. As I thought, I was way too incompetent to be the leader of this school.. of the student body. If Masashi were here, these things wouldn't be happening. "I'm sorry." I blurted out.

"N-No! None of this is your fault, Ueda-san!" She exclaimed.

"If anything," Fujimoto joined the conversation. "I am the one responsible here. Because he's my club mate."

I felt a light tap on my shoulder. "Ueda-senpai.." Shiho-chan looked at me with visible sadness.

We were just kids after all. Seeing our friends die and carrying on without them was something we never dared to imagine. We used to be invincible together. Heroes that everyone looked up to and relied on.

"I'm sorry... for *sniff* failing you. I'm no good. *sniff*"

"Eh!? U-Ueda-san!?" Koshimizu and Fujimoto suddenly yelled, even Murayama was startled.

"Who made you cry, Ueda-san?"

Takahashi's voice almost made me jump in shock, effectively bringing me back to my senses. I thanked the heavens for giving me superhuman speed to wipe my tears immediately. What the hell was I thinking!? And why the hell was he waking up now!?

"Takahashi!" Shiho-chan and the others enthusiastically exclaimed before rushing to him.

"What? Have I been out for a year? A decade?"

"We wouldn't be wearing our uniforms after a decade, moron." Murayama remarked, finally deciding to speak.

"It has been roughly fourty minutes since you passed out." Shiho-chan informed. "Don't worry, all of your injuries have been healed. You're back in tip top shape!"

"Thank you, Narumi-san." he replied with his usual pokerface. Maybe that was just the way he is, but everytime I see him interact with anyone, something tells me that something was wrong with him. "Anyway," he then looked over at me. "What were you crying about, Ueda-san?"

"Gh!?" Even I didn't know the answer so it wasn't like I could tell him. "Well... uh.."

"She was worried about you, Takahashi-kun." Shiho-chan said with a wide smile.

I looked at her with widened eyes. What gives!? That was so off! "Excuse me?"

"Was I wrong, Ueda-senpai?" she asked, playing innocent. What did I do to her to deserve this? Why was she doing this to me?

"I mean... I... Well, it's uh.." Shit! What has gotten into me!? My brain went blank that I couldn't even answer a simple question?

"Thank you for your concern, Ueda-san. You're such a reliable senior that you'd even cry for me."

I wanted to cover my face in shame so badly but that would be unbecoming of me. "Y-You... I wasn't crying!!!"

"I'm pretty sure you were."

"Was not!"

Everyone burst out in laughter. I just wanted the floor to swallow me whole.

"I didn't know Ueda-san had this side of her." Koshimizu remarked.

"You see, Koshimizu-senpai." Shiho-chan butted in. "It's really rare to see her in this state so feast your eyes!"

"Don't treat me like a rare natural phenomenon!"

[ END OF CHAPTER ]