Chapter 11

### Chapter 11: On the Day of Enrollment - Behind the Banquet Hall (3)

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#5

Of course, it’s not easy to cut everything off from the start.

It will take quite a while to convince them. They might even try to hold on stubbornly. However, that’s something I won’t allow.

To be honest... it’s just too difficult for me to form deep relationships with anyone now.

I’m not that old, but I’m already tired of human relationships. I might seem like I’m acting as if I’ve faced the world’s storms alone. I don’t deny it. I might be overreacting.

Still, when you lose a place to return to, you naturally become isolated. The idea of shouting for new connections and finding a place to settle down again is just too scary and terrifying for me.

We’ll be seeing each other for the next five years.

Therefore, for both them and me, these complicated relationships are absolutely not beneficial.

The moment the kids find out what’s going on between us, the classroom atmosphere, which should be fresh and lively, will instantly turn as solemn as a funeral.

Miu always called me "senior."

Sometimes, when she was in a bad mood, she would just call me by my name, but that was extremely rare.

It’s unfamiliar for me too, but from now on, we need to be equals.

Swish.

I stand up from the bench.

“...Ah.”

Miu shudders and takes another step back.

I ask her, “...Do you have something to say to me too?”

“Ah... Well, senior—”

“Call me Elio.”

“...Elio. I... no, I...”

She stumbles over her words, clearly not used to it.

As she speaks, her voice starts to waver with a hint of moisture.

...Sigh.

A sigh escapes me.

If she starts crying here, it’ll be a mess.

“I don’t have anything to say to you. I already said everything in that letter.”

“...”

“...If you have something to say, let’s do it later. We need to attend the banquet. I’ll go in first, so you guys come in separately. If we go in together in this mood... it would be a bit awkward, right?”

The festive atmosphere of the banquet will be completely ruined.

I’ll be fine, but they need to compose themselves before coming in.

“Ruby, stop crying too.”

“...Hic, okay...”

I pat Ruby’s shoulder, who was crouching and sobbing quietly, and turn away from them, trying to calm my complex emotions.

...Until I reach the corner of the building where the banquet hall is, they don’t move a single step.

#6

It’s a rather shocking start to the day.

What will happen from here on out?

I need to completely revise the plans I made before entering Frontier.

I might have drawn too much unnecessary attention, but I’ll have to explain our relationship to the curious kids later, with some adjustments.

Clack, clack...

I’m about to reach the corner of the banquet hall building, slightly bowing my head and brushing my bangs aside.

“Hey.”

“...?”

What?

Someone was hiding in the shadows.

I couldn’t see them, but I could hear a voice. When I looked down, I saw them.

“What did you do to them?”

It was Yurie von Artena, with her bad habits. She had her arms crossed, looking more menacing than usual... As I’ve said before, she’s not scary when she acts like this.

A ridiculous kid.

The urge to mock her rises, but I don’t have the energy for it now.

“...What did I do?”

Yurie raises her voice, as if telling me not to pretend.

“I saw everything. Ruby and Miu crying their eyes out in front of you. How can you be such a bad person, making ladies cry? Hah, I guess I saw it right. I didn’t like you from the start, and sure enough, you are—”

“...”

I lower my head to meet Yurie’s gaze.

At that moment, Yurie falls silent.

Swoosh.

The sound of grass rustling in the wind passes quietly between Yurie and me, under the shadow of the lush leaves in the sun.

“...Eh, eh... You...”

Yurie’s mouth opens.

The attitude she had just a moment ago, where she was about to scold me with a furrowed brow, is gone. She seems to have completely forgotten what she was going to say, swallowing the broken words in her mouth.

Her hesitant movements are rather cute.

Seeing her, a sense of relief washes over me, as if I’ve escaped from a suffocating past. Without realizing it, I cover her small head with my hand, ruffling her hair affectionately.

My touch is much slower and weaker than before.

“Hya, you, again...!”

Yurie seems to be about to get angry the moment my hand lands on her head.

It’s a reflexive reaction. She seems to be about to bite her lip and shout.

But...

“...Get it off.”

Thud.

She grabs my hand with her heated face and shakes it off.

“...I really don’t like it.”

With that short remark.

She turns and walks away with a snort.

#7

After Elio left.

Ruby, who was dabbing her eyes with a floral handkerchief, and Miu, who had momentarily turned white, finally regain their composure.

...Elio, whom Miu had vaguely thought she would never see again.

He was standing right in front of her, perfectly fine.

The senior who had been out of touch for so long was right there.

Whatever happened in that short time, the small, adorable boy Elio Crani had grown into a solid young man, Elio Crani, standing in Miu’s field of vision.

It was a change so drastic that even seeing it with her own eyes, Miu couldn’t believe it... She doubted her eyes and seriously wondered if this was all an illusion.

The first time she saw the changed senior must have been at one of Frontier’s stations.

The unpleasant man who kept glancing at her. When she realized it was the senior she had adored so much, the unpleasant feeling disappeared, replaced by a faint fluttering in her heart.

Senior’s words just now were so heart-wrenching... but he definitely hadn’t forgotten her.

That’s why.

He recognized her at first glance, despite her own changes, and had been paying attention to her, wondering if she was a junior he knew...

It was a huge mistake. How could she have thought of him as an unpleasant man? Miu wanted to tear out the disrespectful part of her brain and cut it off.

If she had known it was senior from the start, she would have knelt and begged for forgiveness.

She had no idea it was him.

She never thought she would meet him again here.

...Should she thank God?

For senior being alive.

For senior achieving his dreams.

For being such a wonderful person...

But then, Miu shakes her head.

She no longer had the right to love senior.

Meeting him again was a series of tremendous shocks, and she immediately wanted to seek forgiveness, but it seemed senior had already moved on.

...Miu knew.

She and senior had ended their relationship long ago.

She didn’t dare to hope to win back senior’s heart. She only asked for a chance to make amends, but what she received was a heartfelt letter from senior.

That changed senior... had become an incredibly handsome man.

The moment Miu reunited with Elio, she realized she still loved him deeply and truly.

She thought she had forgotten all the joy and sorrow, but in front of him, the happy memories of the past kept resurfacing, and her heart, which had stopped, started beating again.

However, Miu’s heart also ached as if it were being torn apart.

How much effort did senior put in to become like this? How much pain did he endure? How much hardship did he face?

Until the day she carried the battered senior to the Sun Temple, he was still a young boy.

She knew nothing about what happened to senior. Miu, who had wanted to know everything about him, was desperately curious but realized she had no right to ask for the details.

...After losing senior, she wanted to be forgiven.

If she ever met him again, she would beg him on her knees.

She would do anything for him.

She was willing to live the rest of her life only for senior. She had committed such a grave wrong that the only way to atone was to spend her life doing so.

But Elio didn’t want Miu to find him.

He blamed himself for everything.

He hid inside himself.

Miu found it very sad.

Senior wouldn’t leave her mind.

She visited the temple every day, but the only thing senior left her was a letter... After that, she started to focus on her sword.

Obsessively.

She couldn’t clear her mind by reading books.

Books were too full of memories.

In the end, Miu found her solace in the sword. By dedicating her life to the sword, she became the Miu she is now. When a near-miraculous genius started to put in effort, no one could stop her.

Now that senior had reappeared, Miu no longer needed to hold onto the sword.

As she had once told senior, she preferred spending quiet time with him in a library, drinking and reading, over the sword.

...Now, it might not be possible.

But senior is alive.

He has changed a lot, but he is still senior.

For example, his eye color hasn’t changed. His slightly reddish black hair has turned ashy, but his mysteriously blue eyes remain the same.

The cute senior she used to hold in her arms is gone, replaced by a much taller senior she now has to lean into to embrace.

It’s awkward. But if asked if she disliked senior’s changes, she would say not at all. In fact, she thought he had become even better. Miu believed she no longer had the right to love senior, but she couldn’t let go of her love. It was beyond her control. Her body and heart belonged solely to senior.

...Senior told her not to call him senior anymore.

Those cold words pierced her heart deeply.

It was a cold blade that would never leave.

She couldn’t respond to senior’s words.

Because... it was true.

Senior and she are now classmates.

But not being able to call him senior anymore felt like the relationship that connected them had been completely severed. It felt like the massive pillar that supported her had collapsed. Her heart ached as if it were being torn apart. Dry tears turned into sharp shards, shredding her heart.

Senior’s eyes had changed too much. The lazy, yet attentive eyes that used to look at her... now she couldn’t read his thoughts at all.

She wouldn’t be able to see the loving senior who used to smile at her and shed a tear.

The future where she couldn’t see that was too painful... Miu couldn’t say anything.

The sobbing sounds of Ruby, who was crying next to her, gradually subsided.

“...”

Miu, still in shock, stood there blankly and then realized Ruby was there, clenching her teeth lightly.

This person. Ruby. Senior’s childhood friend...

What does she want to be forgiven for, crying like this?

Miu dislikes Ruby.

She is a kind and beautiful older sister.

But she was the childhood friend who dumped senior and one of the reasons he was pushed to the brink of death. Senior was driven to that state because of this damn woman... Miu clenched her teeth even tighter.

She has no right to blame Ruby. She herself was the one who dealt the final blow to senior’s already fragile heart.

Still, Miu dislikes Ruby.

Senior always seemed happier when talking about Ruby than when he was with her.

She knows. Senior is a considerate man, and he only talked about Ruby when she asked him to, reluctantly.

Each time, he would talk calmly, as if it was a bother, but... he couldn’t hide his feelings.

He liked her so much. Senior did.

Yet, Ruby coldly pushed away senior’s feelings. What was wrong with senior?

If Miu had received that much love from senior, she would have dedicated her life to him.

That’s why.

To reiterate.

Miu dislikes Ruby.

“...You. You were Elio’s junior, right?”

The same goes for Ruby.

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