Chapter 174: Chapter 173 - The Beginning After Goodbye
The sun shone low in the afternoon sky.
It was as though the afternoon was painted in the golden tones of sunshine and shades of orange.
All had grown quiet around the campus.
The majority of the graduates had all gone home along with their family members.
All the laughter that had filled the hallways earlier in the day had turned into a peaceful silence.
The six students stood still in the courtyard before Akari suddenly stretched out her arms overhead.
"Well."
"Guess this is it then."
Nobody said anything.
Not because they didn’t agree with Akari.
Because there was nothing else to say.
---
They started walking.
Slowly.
There was no discussion on who should walk in front.
They took the familiar route to the front gate.
They had taken the same route hundreds of times after school but today...
Each step had a new meaning to them.
---
The hallway was empty.
Lockers remained closed.
Classroom doors remained shut.
The afternoon breeze blew into the windows and brought with it the scent of cherry blossoms.
Kuro couldn’t help smiling.
Yesterday...
He had been unsure about his future.
Today...
His future had started.
---
Akari was the first to break the silence.
"So..."
"Since we are going to become responsible adults..."
They all looked at her.
"Don’t laugh."
Rika raised an eyebrow.
"We have not heard from you yet."
"I wish to become..."
Akari paused for dramatic effect.
"Somebody who can make people smile."
They stared at her.
She scratched her cheek uncomfortably.
"I know."
"It sounds embarrassingly sincere."
"But..."
"I like it when people smile."
"When people smile due to me..."
"It makes me happy."
Once...
Nobody made fun of her.
Mina just smiled.
"It suits you perfectly."
---
They continued walking.
Rika waved around her graduation certificate playfully.
"My dream hasn’t changed."
"I want to become a manga artist."
"A real one."
"Not some amateur who draws in the corner of the class room."
She looked down at her sketch book.
"I want to write stories that can make people smile..."
"...And cry a bit."
Akari nodded enthusiastically.
"I’ll buy every single volume."
"You’ll want me to give them to you for free."
"...That’s right too."
Everybody laughed.
---
Aoi adjusted her bag.
"I’m going to continue my research in cognitive psychology."
Akari heaved a dramatic sigh.
"Translation?"
Aoi took a second to think.
"I want to understand how people think."
Kuro smiled.
"That’s typical of you."
She nodded.
"True."
But then after a slight pause she said quietly,
"And I want to put this knowledge to use."
Everybody exchanged shocked looks.
She had changed.
Less of that old Aoi.
More of what she had become.
---
Mina glanced down at the homemade bookmark that she had kept for herself.
"I have always admired teachers."
She smiled.
"They change other people’s lives without always knowing about it."
"I hope..."
"...To be the kind of teacher who sees the silent students."
"The ones who think no one has seen them."
Kuro looked at her.
"You will be."
She laughed.
"You sound very sure."
"I am."
---
They got near the stairs which led to the entrance.
Only one person hadn’t said a thing.
Yui.
After a moment, she smiled.
"I wish to become a doctor."
These were simple words but everybody knew how much they meant.
"I know that this will not be easy."
"I’ll surely fail sometimes."
"I’ll make mistakes."
"But..."
She gazed up towards the sky.
"I want to be the kind of doctor who knows how frightening it is to be a patient."
Kuro thought of all the sleepless nights she had spent worrying.
Of all the tears she had shed and of how exhausted she felt.
How relieved she felt when she found out that she had passed her entrance exams.
She had earned every dream she now wanted.
"You’ll be fantastic," Mina told her gently.
Yui smiled.
"...Thank you."
---
The group emerged out of the school building.
The front gates waited before them.
Open.
Just like they had welcomed them on the first day when they had come here as first year students.
They had walked in here with doubts.
Today...
They walked out with hope.
As they got close to the gates, Kuro slowed his steps.
Standing beside the gates was Minami.
She had changed out of her ceremonial robe and was watching all the departing graduates.
As she saw the group of six coming towards her...
A gentle smile appeared on her lips.
The kind of smile only a teacher could give after watching her students mature.
Kuro stopped.
All of them stopped.
For a brief second...
Neither student nor teacher said anything.
Some moments...
Needed no words.
The afternoon breeze carried cherry blossom petals across the school gate.
Quietly floating between the students and the teacher.
Minami gazed upon the six faces standing in front of her.
Only for a second...
Not graduates.
But the students who had filled the class with joy, disputes, questions and precious memories.
She smiled.
"So..."
"I guess this is goodbye."
Akari quickly shook her head.
"No."
"See you again."
Minami chuckled.
"You are right."
"Yes."
---
The six students bowed down.
"Thanks for everything, Sensei."
Voices of the six students merged into one.
Sincere and grateful.
Minami answered the bow.
"Thanks for being such nice students."
When she straightened up, her eyes seemed red.
But her smile stayed gentle.
"I have seen all of you growing."
"All of you surprised me."
"In various ways."
Looking at each of them.
"Aoi."
"Do not let your curiosity die."
"Mina."
"Do not let your kindness go."
"Rika."
"Tell stories that only you could tell."
"Akari."
"Do not let anyone to make others unhappy."
"Yui."
"Do not forget your compassion which brought you here."
And finally...
Looking at Kuro.
"And Kuro..."
Kuro gazed at her.
"You’ve spent most of your life listening to others."
"But it is nice..."
"That you finally started listening to yourself."
For a while Kuro had no idea what to say.
Then he stepped forward.
"Sensei..."
"If I hadn’t met you..."
"I probably would never found out what I wanted to become."
"You never told me what it is."
"You just asked the right questions."
He smiled.
"And somehow..."
"That led me to finding my true self."
Minami’s face changed.
"This means..."
"That I have done my job."
Kuro bowed once again.
"Thanks."
"To you."
---
The six friends walked together through the school gate.
No one turned back right away.
They wanted to enjoy the road ahead of them...
Before saying goodbye to the place behind.
Talking about everyday things.
What will they eat for dinner.
Who will oversleep at university.
Will Akari somehow lose her way during orientation?
"I definitely won’t."
Rika raised an eyebrow.
"You had gotten lost in our own school."
"That was once."
"That had happened six times."
"I refuse your version of history."
Laughter filled the quiet street.
The laughter that belonged only to those who spent years growing together.
---
At last...
They reached the train station.
The place which meant separation.
Separation into different tracks.
Different trains.
Different futures.
For a while no one moved.
Akari glanced around.
"...This part sucks."
Mina nodded.
"Just a bit."
Rika smiled.
"We are acting like we will never see each other again."
"We’ll meet."
"We promised."
Aoi showed her phone.
"’Still Together’ group chat already has twenty-seven messages."
Akari grinned.
"Most of them belong to me."
"They do."
Yui gazed at all of them.
"Let’s meet again."
"Even if life will be too busy."
Kuro smiled.
"We will."
And there wasn’t a shadow of doubt in his voice.
---
One by one...
The friends got on different trains.
Akari waved from the doorway till the very last second.
Rika showed her sketchbook with the final picture of all six of them.
Mina smiled with misty eyes.
Aoi waved sincerely.
Yui touched the window and smiled.
Then...
The trains slowly departed.
Each carrying someone to a new future.
---
The station became silent.
Kuro stood there for some time.
With a bag lying light on his shoulders.
And the graduation certificate safely inside.
Then he turned back.
In the distance...
The building of the school was still visible among the trees.
Bathed in the golden light of the setting sun.
He looked at it one last time.
Not sadly.
But gratefully.
People thought that graduation was the end of youth.
Closing Chapter of a happy story.
But looking at it...
Kuro understood something else.
Graduation was not an ending.
It was a sign that they grew up enough to write their own story.
All those years they spent together would never vanish.
And they would be part of every decision they will make.
Of every person they will help.
Every dream they will chase.
Every failure they will overcome.
These ordinary days...
Would quietly continue to accompany them.
Kuro smiled.
Then...
Without any delay...
He turned to the road ahead.
The sun lit his path.
Step after step.
Towards the future which no longer scared him.
Future with a lot of questions.
With hope.
With people whom he has not yet met.
With lives he wants to change.
He took a deep breath.
And went forward.
"The future had never been waiting for us. It had been walking beside us all along. All we had to do... was take the next step."
