Chapter 173: Chapter 172 - See You Again
People slowly started leaving through the school gates.
Parents, teachers, graduation students—each one of them leaving in different directions.
Not everybody.
Kuro, Akari, Mina, Rika, Aoi... and Yui.
They all stayed behind.
For just a little while longer.
---
Yui arrived a bit later.
"Sorry... I had to stop to talk to my parents."
Akari waived her hand dismissively.
"You’re forgiven. Today there is no guilt allowed."
Rika agreed.
"Agreed. Laws of emotion are on hold today."
Aoi corrected her softly.
"There is no such law."
"Exactly."
---
They all just stood silently near the school gate.
None of them speaking first.
The wind carried the voices of other people passing from the school through the tree leaves.
The school was more silent than usual.
Empty wasn’t the right word.
Finished, maybe.
---
"So," said Mina, "Where should we go first?"
Akari immediately pointed.
"The roof."
Rika nodded.
"Library."
Aoi adjusted her glasses.
"Court yard has the highest density of nostalgia."
Akari gaped at her.
"Can you stop quantifying emotions?"
"I am not quantifying emotions. I am measuring the environmental patterns."
Yui smiled.
"I think... we should visit all of them."
That solved it.
---
They entered the school gates again.
But this time...
It wasn’t like entering anymore.
It was revisiting.
---
The hall going to their classroom was surprisingly silent.
Too silent.
Even their footsteps sounded differently.
Kuro scanned it slowly.
It used to be noisy.
Arguing.
Laughing.
Panic preparing for tests.
Now only memories remained.
---
They came to their classroom door.
Akari briefly hesitated and then opened it.
The classroom looked exactly the same.
Neat desks.
Clean chalkboard.
Sunshine coming through the windows.
But it somehow seemed smaller now.
Like it was holding its breath.
---
Rika went to her desk by the window.
"Still here..."
She touched it briefly.
Mina smiled softly.
"It feels like it is waiting for us to come back tomorrow."
Aoi shook her head.
"That is a wrong assumption. The academic year is over."
Akari sighed.
"Can you let the emotion breathe for five seconds?"
Aoi hesitated.
"...Five seconds allowed."
---
Kuro was standing in the back of the room, observing everything silently.
The empty desk where they used to sit.
The spots where they held those conversations accidentally.
He could remember the things that he forgot for so long.
Arguments.
Lunches together.
Tests panic before the exams that seemed now like another life-time ago.
---
Yui came up next to him.
"You’ve become quiet again."
Kuro smiled softly.
"I guess I’m just... noticing everything for the first time."
"Despite seeing everything everyday?"
"Yeah."
He looked at the room again.
"It looks different knowing that you are leaving it."
Yui nodded.
"I get that."
---
Akari clapped suddenly.
"Ok, emotional break over. Next destination—library!"
Rika groaned.
"You can’t turn your emotions off just like that."
"I can try."
Aoi followed calmly.
"Will note."
Mina laughed softly.
"Let’s go before she declares emotional independence."
---
They left the classroom together one last time.
The door closed behind them.
For the brief moment...
None of them looked back.
Not because they don’t care.
Because they already carry it with them.
---
The hall ahead was stretching.
Familiar.
Comfortable.
Final.
And for the first time today...
They were walking confidently forward.
It was quieter than they remembered it to be.
But not the kind of peaceful quietness they had enjoyed during exam weeks.
It was something else.
Weightier.
Almost as if the very building sensed their departure.
---
"Ok... This is officially too nostalgic."
Mina and Rika had already moved through the aisles.
"Who knew how many books we’ve ignored for our panic pre-exam studies," Akari muttered.
"You didn’t ignore any of them," Aoi corrected without looking up.
"We did," Akari insisted.
"Technically, you selectively avoided them."
"It means the same thing."
"It doesn’t."
---
Mina sat at one of the tables, tracing the wood surface with her fingers.
"This is where we used to study together."
"And failed to concentrate," Aoi said.
"And ate snacks instead of working," Akari boasted proudly.
Kuro smiled.
"Yeah, we’ve done more eating than studying in here."
"That’s how we managed to pass all our exams," Rika added.
Aoi pondered about it.
"Statistically questionable but emotionally true."
---
And then they went farther inside the library.
The study area that they used to occupy was still here.
Same table, same chairs.
Even the same scratch marks were present.
---
Suddenly Akari pointed.
"By the way, this is where Kuro fell asleep during group study."
Kuro blinked in confusion.
"I didn’t fall asleep."
"You got into the middle of a sentence."
"You were just thinking."
"You were snoring," Akari cut in.
"That was scientifically exaggerated," Kuro complained.
"I remember that you were," Rika said with a laugh.
"Confirmed," Aoi agreed.
Kuro sighed deeply.
"...Traitors."
---
Yui leant against the shelf near them, smiling.
"I remember that day."
"You said that you were only resting your eyes."
Kuro moaned softly.
"Why everyone remembers my worst days in such detail?"
Mina smiled at him gently.
"Because those were the days when we were all together."
It made the room silent for some time.
Even Akari wasn’t making jokes immediately.
---
Finally, they left the library and went up to the rooftop.
The door creaked open.
The wind greeted them, rushing out.
The sky opened above the school.
Open and endless.
---
Akari immediately took several steps forward.
"It still has the best view in the whole school."
Rika nodded.
"This is where we used to pretend that we had to make the most dramatic decisions in our lives."
Aoi put on her glasses.
"But most of them weren’t implemented."
"Exactly," Akari confirmed.
---
Kuro approached the railings.
Below them was the city.
Everything looked small from here.
Even the problems they had...
or maybe...
even they themselves.
---
Yui stood by him.
"This is where I told you that I wanted to quit my studying."
Kuro glanced at her.
"And you didn’t."
"I almost did."
She smiled faintly.
"But I didn’t because someone told me that I didn’t have to be perfect in order to move on."
Kuro didn’t say anything at once.
He just nodded.
"I remember."
---
Mina joined them, holding the railings lightly.
"I think that this place has changed all of us."
Rika leant backwards.
"It has made us more dramatic."
Akari pointed at her.
"You have always been dramatic."
"Fair."
"And you," Aoi said calmly.
"It has increased the emotional expressiveness of all of us."
Akari groaned.
"Why do you analyze everything all the time?"
"Because it’s accurate."
"That’s not comforting."
"It wasn’t supposed to be."
---
And they stayed on the rooftop for some time.
Nobody hurried.
Nobody even checked the time.
For once...
there was nothing waiting for them after this.
Just the current moment.
---
At last, they left the rooftop and went to the courtyard.
The same path they’ve been walking for thousands of times.
But now...
with every step they felt like collecting memories instead of doing routines.
---
Suddenly Akari slowed down.
"Hey..."
Everybody turned to her.
"This is kinda strange."
"What?" Rika tilted her head.
"I feel like if we leave the school... everything changes."
Silence followed her.
Not uncomfortable.
Just real.
---
"Yui said softly.
"It will change."
Aoi nodded.
"That’s statistically certain."
"But that doesn’t mean that we’ll turn into strangers," Mina smiled gently.
"We’ll stay who we are," Kuro said looking at everybody.
"Good. Because I don’t want any new friends," Akari crossed her arms.
"Too late, you’ll make new friends anyway," Rika laughed.
"Not by choice."
---
They stopped in the middle of the courtyard.
In the same place where they used to gather after school.
The same place where they’ve started and finished their conversations without prior plan.
The same place where nothing important felt important at that time.
---
Kuro took out his phone.
"I think... we should make something."
Immediately Akari leant over.
"What? A group photo?"
"No."
"A final dramatic vow?" Rika narrowed her eyes.
"No."
"Structured communication system?" Aoi put on her glasses.
"Kinda."
---
He opened a new group chat.
Wrote slowly.
---
Group Name:
"Still Together"
---
Akari gasped.
"I like it."
"It’s simple," Rika nodded.
"It feels right," Mina smiled softly.
Aoi agreed.
"It’s functionally appropriate."
---
Kuro added everybody.
One by one their names appeared on the screen.
Akari
Rika
Mina
Aoi
Yui
And he sent one message.
«Kuro: We’ll update this group when we get to university.»
Akari immediately replied.
«Akari: AND WHEN WE FAIL IN LIFE»
«Rika: And when we succeed»
«Aoi: And when statistically unexpected events occur»
«Mina: And when we miss each other»
«Yui: Always»
---
Kuro looked at the screen.
And at his friends.
And smiled.
---
Above them...
the sun was starting to set slowly.
The shadows of the school were stretching across the courtyard.
Golden light was covering everything.
Soft.
Warm.
Final.
---
Akari looked up.
"... We should go soon, right?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Because they all already knew it.
---
Kuro nodded.
"Yep."
After some silence.
"But not yet."
---
And they stayed a little bit longer.
Just standing there.
In the place where so many variants of themselves used to exist.
Until slowly...
the day started coming to an end.
And the school...
started becoming quiet again.
