The second semester started. Spring had arrived and everyone was back to school. The birds were chirping, students were in with the simple shirt and tie and out with the oversized thick blazers. It's a new year and everyone was on top of their game.
Everyone except Hiroyuki.
Ever since the message two weeks ago, Hiroyuki was in the dumps. He spent his spring break playing games in our rented home while acting like a toxic player in his online games, shouting bad words left and right.
It was so bad to the point that I had expanded my urban vocabulary by just being by his side.
I wanted to help him mend things with Ms Treasurer but there was close to no information for me to know why or what had happened. The best I could do was to run multiple possible simulations in my head to see if there was anything I could think of that might have been the reason.
Of course, as a young 16-year-old, my imagination may have been wild but in the end, reality wasn't.
Eventually, I had to grab Hiroyuki's phone behind his back and ask the student council members myself.
I managed to grab all their contacts and began exchanging information. But even so, luck wasn't on our side as none of us could come out with a concrete reason. Among us, the most likely candidate to know about her condition was Hiroyuki but as we can see, that wasn't going to work.
As the second semester went on, it had only gotten worse. Ms Treasurer wouldn't even talk to him. In fact, she was even colder than before to everyone including the student council. Of course, Hiroyuki was even more heartbroken and eventually, also began to act cold towards his peers.
As weeks continued to go on, Sports' Day drew nearer and nearer and it had become inevitable for the student council to remain distant. Sagawa-san still wouldn't talk to Hiroyuki and Hiroyuki wasn't being very productive. Eventually, it became a problem that slowly hindered their preparations for the upcoming Sports' Day.
Because of that, Kazue with the remaining members of the student council and I decided to hatch a plan. After many scenarios bending imagination, he found the perfect plan.
It was a week before Sports' Day, the school had ended and the student council were busy preparing the event. Kazue asked Hiroyuki to double-check the equipment in the school field and if they are missing any equipment, he should report back to him.
However, he also asked Yuuna to follow him as the treasurer to record down the extra funds that would be needed and made sure things were within budget. Without letting them speak another word, Kazue and the rest kick them out of the student council room, forcing them to talk even if they didn't want to.
.
.
.
.
And thus, their current situation.
Hiroyuki and Yuuna are left alone in the school field.
Hiroyuki, who is now a little numb from the emotional pain decided to make small talks with Yuuna. Hoping it would liven up the mood a bit.
Before saying his piece, he made a glance towards Yuuna to see her facing away from him. Hiroyuki's heart started to sink again but was quickly lifted back up as he used all his courage on his coming words.
"Mr President is such a bully, isn't he? Hahaha…"
Hiroyuki said along with half-assed laughter. Yuuna, who still remained unflinching, decided to just not go along with Kazue's plans.
"Kazama-senpai."
"Yes!"
Hiroyuki quickly responded as soon as he heard Yuuna's voice. There was a small pause before she continued her sentence.
"I'm sorry but I'm a little busy right now. Once you are done double-checking all the equipment, please write down all the missing equipment. I'll look over it tomorrow. With that, thanks for your hard work."
With that, Yuuna walked away before even turning to look at Hiroyuki's saddened face.
Hiroyuki, who could only watch as his love interest walk away from him, realized that this wasn't the ending he was looking for.
He was angry at himself. He was angry that he could only sulk whenever there was a misunderstanding between them. He was angry that he had to rely on his friends in trouble that they were not involved in. He was angry that he had to drag his team down just because of an issue he had with Yuuna.
But most importantly…
He was angry at himself for not being the nice guy that Yuuna once known him for.
With the last bit of courage left, he shouted with all his might, letting out all the emotions he had stored inside of him.
"Why are you avoiding me?"
Yuuna stopped walking.
"Was it something I said? Did I do something that made you not want to talk to me again? If I did I'm sorry but I don't want things to end like this."
Yuuna remained silent.
"I don't get it. I just don't get it! Weren't we having a lot of fun? Weren't we enjoying our time together? I don't want to say it but… I don't remember doing anything that made you feel this way!"
Yuuna remained silent.
"What about the time you told your father to fetch you late just so you could watch the cheerleader squad practice. And how you want to join them because it seemed fun. Was it because of that?"
Yuuna remained silent.
"How about the time we walked around town and talked about how dull my clothes were. And how you said you would introduce me to a clothing brand you liked? Was it because of that?"
Yuuna remained silent.
"And, and how about the time we tricked Jin into thinking you would actually get piercing and tattoo and try up 'gyaru' fashion? And how we even talked about getting fake tattoos to tell Jin how serious you were. Was it because of that?"
Yuuna remained silent.
"Speak Goddammit!"
"BECAUSE YOU ARE A BAD INFLUENCE!"
The school field was silent.
"You are the I was failing my grades," Yuuna turned her head as she continued her reasoning. "My father told me I was a terrible person for not getting the results he wanted and that I had been fooling around ever since I had joined the student council."
Hiroyuki finally got his answer but he wasn't convinced. He then noticed that there were cane markings around her legs and that she wasn't joking when she said her father was a 'strict' person. Not needing to ask about those, he tried to console him the best way he could think of.
"D-Didn't you get 4th placing in your year? That's a wonderful feat already. Even I have never gotten a 4th…"
"I HAVE NEVER GOTTEN ANYTHING LESS THAN FIRST."
Yuuna screamed as her voice cracked midway.
Hiroyuki recalled what Kazue said last semester about how she was the top student every year she was at. It would seem that the reason behind it was the abuse of her father.
Hiroyuki couldn't possibly imagine the position she was in. Thus, he kept his mouth shut and let Yuuna finish her rant.
"My father said he was disappointed at me for how I would sink so low just because of some guy. Yeah… he noticed thanks to the popularity of our relationship on the school's social media. Who knew he was part of the PTA… He told me he would let me continue studying here and continue being part of the student council as long as I stop 'fooling around.' So I abide by his rules and did just that."
Yuuna had finished his piece as Hiroyuki could watch from afar.
The wind was cold and flowers on the trees were blooming. The out-stretched clouds float in the orange-red sky and the sunset slowly descent towards the edge of the earth. If it weren't for the situation, one would have thought this would be their confession scene.
However, reality was harsh.
Yuuna calmed down and turned her back around once more.
"Please stop talking to me from now on. And please forget about the things we did the past few months. It was fun but this is where it ends. Let's go back to just being acquaintances, just as we were during day one. Farewell, Kazama-senpai."
"Fine!" Hiroyuki said with tears in his eyes. "But can you promise me one thing?"
"What is it?"
Hiroyuki rubbed his tears with his hands and looked towards Yuuna's back. He recalled all the fun memories he had of her, preparing to store it in a box behind his head. Knowing one day he could only look back at those fun times as just fleeting memories.
However, Hiroyuki Kazama wasn't about to let his story end here. He turned the tides of reality and said with a forced but genuine smile on his face.
"Can you say those words, without that face?"
Yuuna stood there for a couple of seconds. As if the mood was just right. She immediately turned and showed the obvious tears running down her face.
She was more than 20 arms away from him, the furthest she had ever been.
However, that day…
She wanted to be in his arms.
And as if the situation had called for it…
She ran towards Hiroyuki.
Her braids undid themselves as she ran towards Hiroyuki. Noticed that her glasses were in the way, she tossed them away, not knowing where they landed. As soon as she was within an arms reach, she was in his embrace.
Hiroyuki was hugged by Yuuna as his hands were hovering in the air. He didn't know where to touch. But given the situation, all he could think of was to pat her head.
Yuuna cried like a baby. Not caring about the looks she was giving, she kept crying and crying while letting Hiroyuki pampering her.
Her tears filled her face and stained Hiroyuki's shirt. Her hands kept crawling onto his shirt as her body couldn't stop shaking. Her legs were giving way and eventually, they had to be supported by Hiroyuki's weight.
Her tears may have been just water from her eyes but they spoke length of what she had gone through in her life. She finally had someone she could lean on and show her true emotions.
She couldn't show her weakness to her father. Needless to say, her brother wasn't an option either. Her mother was never home and even if she was, she didn't want her mother to worry for her.
But that day she was finally able to have someone that she was comfortable with to cry on. It may have been tears of sadness, but at least they were finally out.
After what felt like an eternity, she was able to talk once more.
"Of course there was no way I could not give you that face! I had so much fun with the student council. They were so nice to me and they accepted me for who I am and not who I was. They were the best people that have ever appeared in my life."
Hiroyuki was glad that Yuuna could finally let out all her feelings. Eventually, he also gave up holding in his tears.
Yuuna raised her head and looked into Hiroyuki's eyes. They were both crying their eyes out but they didn't care. The only thing that was in their head was the scene of them being nose to nose during the tour Hiroyuki gave her.
As she looked into Hiroyuki's eyes, she continued to confess her true feelings with a tearful smile.
"It was thanks to the student council, I get to meet you."
Yuuna kept going on.
"You who may not be the best looking boy in school. You who may be the smartest person I've ever met. But you, who let me know what fun was. It was thanks to you, I felt like I can slowly overcome my trauma. I felt like I was finally having fun for the first time in my life."
Eventually, the sun had fully set and the sky was dark. And as the street lights around the school field were switched on, so did a switch in her heart.
"I would rather not talk to you than to leave the student council. I want to still be able to see you and everyone else even if I can't befriend you anymore. The day I leave the student council is the day you leave the student council... I'm sorry Kazama-senpai, I don't mean to ignore you, it's just that… I was so afraid of my father's action that I had no choice but to abide by his rules. I just don't want to be that timid, protected, fragile young girl that could only live to study hard anymore."
"You aren't making it very convincing, given our current situation."
Hiroyuki teased her as he continued to pat her head. Realizing a little of Nobuo's teasing had rubbed onto him, he also noticed Yuuna was pouting as her tears slowly dried up.
"Don't kill the mood."
"My bad."
None of them knew how long they had hugged for but they weren't about to stop anytime soon. As Hiroyuki gathered his resolve, he asked Yuuna a simple question.
"Hey, Yuuna?"
"Yes?"
"I like you. Will you go out with me."
Yuuna was surprised as her eyes widened. Because she had just cried, her eyes were glittering as the lights around the school reflected on them. Her cheeks blushed till they were red all over. Her heartbeat was quick as her ears showed signs of embarrassment.
At this point, she had already stopped crying. She gently pushed Hiroyuki, signifying him that she was fine now. She then took a step back while still maintaining eye contact. She then gave the largest smile she had ever shown to Hiroyuki and told him the magic words.
"I'll think about it."