#10
Friday
__
Almost every student came to the funeral, but additionally, no one bothered to count heads. Some students came, some didn’t. One of the more noticeable absences were Shoku who had stayed home, along with Geiju. Amai’s parents were likely planning a separate funeral somewhere more meaningful. Outside of Shoku, the rest of the Cooking Club attended, all with their own amount of grief.
Ajia refused to speak to anyone, and stayed near the back with her parents. Seiyo’s sister accompanied him, his own parents nowhere to be seen. He didn’t have many friends outside of the club, but Fureddo did come over to talk to him, which he likely appreciated. Kenko was here alone, but was surrounded by his classmates and peers, clearly attempting to steady his own mind after the incident. Despite his willingness to converse with his peers, he was still quiet and only gave short responses.
“Ayano.” Scilla called out softly, looking anxious as usual, but not entirely remorseful as the others looked.
Ayano turned to look at him, attempting to mock the dread on her peers’ faces, but likely only looking unsettled. Which he was. Hopefully this next weekend will give her time to properly calm down. “Scilla.”
“Hi.” Scilla clears his throat awkwardly. “I-I didn’t know that the cut was that deep.” He says. When Ayano doesn’t respond immediately, he haphazardly shoves his hand into his pocket. It looked to be a small, scuffed wallet, and was packed with a couple hundred dollars, it seemed.
Before reaching a hand out to grab it, Ayano lifts an eyebrow at Scilla, as if asking what exactly it was for. He didn’t seem like he could, but this could be some sort of bribe. With a nervous laugh, he says, “For like- h-hospital bills and stuff. Ahem. I know that they’re super expensive..”
Ayano pauses in thought, wondering if he was lying, before remembering that he did only recently move to Japan. “Universal Health Care covers my injuries.” She says, folding her arms. “I’ll go if it gets any worse.”
“Oh… Oh, yeah..” Scilla nods, his face red in embarrassment as he seems to recall that fact. “Sorry, I forgot. I went to the hospital pretty often in the US so…” He stops, realizing that Ayano probably didn’t care for the reason.
As Scilla stands awkwardly stiff and avoids Ayano’s gaze, she decides to speak up. “You don’t seem too upset about the current… event.” She says, looking back to the stage, which had the preparations hidden behind the giant curtain.
“I-I didn’t really know Amai that well.” Scilla quickly explains, lightly scratching the wallet in his hand. “...It’s sad that… that she passed, I know that. That’s why I’m here, to pay respects, and..” He clears his throat and takes a deep breath. “...I’m just trying to let people know that I’m sad she’s gone, too. I don’t have the… the best reputation, after all.”
“Sounds like you’re using Amai’s death to try to make yourself look better.” Ayano says, folding her arms with a judgemental look.
Immediately hunching his back over in shame, Scilla hangs his head, looking guilty. “Don’t s… Don’t say it like that, Ayano..” Despite his visual attempts to defend himself, he only ends up deflating. Rather than saying anything, he shoves the wallet into Ayano’s hands. “J-Just take this as an apology for the injury.” He says quickly, before quickly walking off.
Some might feel compelled to bring the money back, ‘It’s your money, and you’ve already apologized.’ But from how Ayano sees it, that’s a couple hundred less cash she has to worry about. She quickly pockets the wallet and looks around the gymnasium. The ceremony had yet to start, and so far students just mingled and mourned in the darkest wear they could find, if not black.
As Ayano looks around, she suddenly spots Kokona sitting down by herself, her gaze stuck on her phone. Not Riku or any of her friends seemed to be around, so Ayano assumed that this was because she asked to be alone. Of course, Kokona didn’t know that Ayano knew that, so approaching her would be an innocent act in her eyes. Checking up on her would be an ever more beneficial act to show how much Ayano “cared”.
“Hi, Kokona.” Ayano greets, unintentionally shocking the girl. Before Kokona abruptly turned off her phone with a sad smile, Ayano spotted that she was texting someone. She gives Kokona a sympathetic look and speaks in a soft tone as she continues. “You seem distracted. Is there anything wrong?”
Kokona opens her mouth to respond, and ends up letting out a tearful laugh as she looks back down to her shut off phone. “I-I really wish I was better at lying at times like these.” She inhales sharply as Ayano pats her on the back and exhales shakily. “I’m just… This week turned out to be such a disaster so quickly. I-I’m just not sure what to do with myself right now.”
“Take your time.” Ayano says quietly, rubbing Kokona’s back. “I’ll wait.”
After a moment of a few deep breaths and blinking rapidly, Kokona speaks up. “Riku couldn’t come today- or more precisely his parents wouldn’t let him come and they haven’t told either of us why, yet. I could not stop crying earlier so I sat over here to calm down, and- and then I decided to ask Saki’s parents about her and- and they just–” Kokona sucks in another deep breath and just hands Ayano the phone.
The conversation between Kokona and Saki’s mother was nothing short of cruel. It could likely be excused as dread on Saki’s mother’s part, but that didn’t entirely excuse the things she was saying to Kokona. The conversation starts ten minutes ago with:
You: I’m at the funeral right now. Have you still not heard from Saki?
Mrs. Miyu: If I had I wouldn’t tell you, Haruka.
Mrs. Miyu: I don’t know why you keep messaging me.
You: I’m just worried about Saki.
You: She’s my best friend.
You: She hasn’t contacted me either.
Mrs. Miyu: And she shouldn’t.
Mrs. Miyu: If Saki wasn’t so adamant on following you to that wretched school, none of this would have happened.
You: I know you’re upset, Mrs. Miyu, but Saki made that choice on her own. I couldn’t have told her what to and not to do in that situation.
Mrs. Miyu: Chinatsu shouldn’t have bothered trying to get to know you or your blasted father.
Mrs. Miyu: You’re just like that old wreck.
You: My father hasn’t done anything wrong!
Mrs. Miyu: Except influence you to influence my daughter.
Mrs. Miyu: If you weren’t so “supportive” of her, she would have changed that addiction of hers and wouldn’t have been so susceptible to that girl’s death.
Mrs. Miyu: I guess in the end it’s my fault for allowing all of this to happen.
You: It isn’t an addiction, she just likes sweets!
You: And she’s been trying her best to change her habits. I think she’s doing very well.
You: It’s just that you and others around her are pressuring her to do so at the same time and it’s stressing her out.
Mrs. Miyu: Are you questioning my parenting?
You: I think if everyone was a bit more gentle on her
You: No! Not at all!
Mrs. Miyu: Saki was always so rebellious when it had anything to do with you.
Mrs. Miyu: Constantly sneaking out to watch your “dates” and buying you things with MY money.
Mrs. Miyu: You oughta be ashamed of yourself!
You: I’m sorry.
Mrs. Miyu: Nothing good ever comes from Saki whenever it has something to do with you.
You: I’m sorry
Mrs. Miyu: If anything, YOU are the most suspicious person to me since YOU seem to have SO MUCH control over her actions!
You: I promise I wouldn’t do anything to hurt Saki
You: I’m so, so sorry
You: Just please don’t talk about her as if she’s already gone
<This number has blocked you. Any further messages will not be sent unless you are unblocked.>
“Kokona, that’s…” Ayano starts, but stops immediately upon seeing Kokona with her knees pulled up to her face, refusing to look up at her.
Kokona sniffs into her dress, her voice shaky and muffled because of the fabric. “Nothing is going right, Ayano. I wish- god, I just wish that none of this had happened. Everything went so horribly in less than an hour, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about it..”
It was normal for Kokona to react this way about this whole situation. Ayano just didn’t know what to say about it. Her plan of seeming like a great person backfired as soon as Kokona began crying. She’s never cried, so her mother never needed to comfort her. What would her mother have done in this situation?
“I wish Riku were here. I wish Saki were here.” Kokona pauses, before muttering quietly. “I wish my mom were here…”
Ayano’s mother never comforted Ayano. But whenever she was comforting others, she would often offer a hug. An embrace in hopes of making the other party feel better. That would have to work for now.
Silently, Ayano wrapped her arms around Kokona’s form, which seemed smaller, almost more child-like now that she had hunched herself up. As soon as she did, Kokona leaned her head into the crook of Ayano’s neck and sobbed quietly. Thankfully, there were already other tearful parties littered in and outside of the gymnasium, so Kokona’s breakdown didn’t drag over any attention.
After a couple of minutes of crying and then silence, Kokona leans back and wipes her eyes. “Thank you, Ayano. I’m glad that you’re here, at least.” She says, standing up with her small purse in hand. “I… I probably screwed up my make up, right? I’m going to the bathroom..” She sniffs, slowly shuffling out of the gymnasium.
Ayano’s own dress was now wet with tears on her shoulder, but others probably wouldn’t notice. She didn’t stand up, and instead stared at the phone that Kokona left behind. After staring at it for a moment, she gets a text from her own phone.
Info-Chan: Extra info points if you download me onto this phone as well ;D
That’s really all Ayano needed to see to stand up and stuff the phone into her own bag. She begins walking to the gymnasium door. Before she can leave, however, Kenko appears at the doorway, about to walk through as well. “Oh, Ayano.” He blinks, a bit surprised, but he almost looks relieved to see her. “Hi. How are you feeling?”
Internally, Ayano almost feels drained by all of the mentions about Amai. She was already dead, and Ayano didn’t want to think about her anymore. Of course, it would be foolish of her to think that everyone would be discussing their favorite books at a funeral dedicated to Amai.
“..I don’t think I’ve come to terms with it just yet.” Ayano claims, folding her arms and looking away. “I feel like… all of it just… hasn’t caught up to me yet. I dread when it does, though.”
Kenko sighs, frowning sympathetically to Ayano. “I understand how you feel. This was an event that… no one saw coming.” He tugs at his sleeve and fixes up the tie of his suit. “Shock or not, you seem to be taking this well, Ayano. I’m glad to see that others aren’t too… lost in sorrow despite the events. We might need more calm people like you around.”
Ayano gives a small smile. “Well, don’t say that.. I’m more concerned that you haven’t shed a tear yet.” She says, tilting her head to the side.
“I have. Of course, I have, just… not here.” Kenko says, folding his arms as well. “Me breaking down here would only serve to make others run to me instead of focusing on the matter at hand.” He nods to the stage curtain. “I’m of course not saying that anyone crying is looking for attention. But… I just feel like that’s all I can do for Amai right now.”
He pauses for a second before adding. “..Shoku is the only one who’s invited to Amai’s proper funeral out of everyone in the club.” Kenko pulls out a small picture out of his breast pocket with a frown. “It’s not my right to be upset about that choice. Shoku was closest to her and… it’s her parents’ wish. I won’t try to convince them otherwise, but… I wish I had a chance to apologize to Amai.”
Before Ayano can respond, Ajia suddenly runs past the two, and Seiyo quickly walks after her. Kenko grabs his arm and gives him a stern look. “Seiyo..” He sighs, “I know you don’t mean any harm, but if you get punched, it’s not her fault.”
Seiyo frowns and nods. “I’m… prepared for that.” He says, walking off again as soon as Kenko lets him go.
After Kenko sighs, Ayano speaks up about their topic before they were briefly interrupted. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Kenko.” She says, patting his arm in an attempt to be comforting.
The gesture seems to work to an extent, as Kenko smiles at her, but not for long. “I know. I did my best ever since she came back. I made sure to. Everyone in the club knows that, and I know she knew that, too.”
Kenko closes his eyes and exhales, raising his hand up not to his tie, but to his neck, rubbing the front of it with an almost distressed expression. “I guess I want to apologize for… for not noticing what she was going through, maybe. Not everyone can talk about their struggles. The line between that resulting from cowardice or bravery is very blurry, but I believe that that makes Amai very strong. I’m… sorry for not being as helpful as I thought I was being. Every one of my efforts this week seems like it meant nothing now that she’s gone.”
Ayano pauses for a moment. Unlike the others, Kenko doesn’t seem like he doubts that he was the best he could have been during Amai’s return. Naturally, this doesn’t leave him without some form of… regret? Ayano wasn’t sure. She never could be. She sighs silently and removes Kenko’s hand from his neck, instead cupping it inside of her own hands. “I know you don’t need to hear this, but I’m sure Amai was thankful as well. I didn’t know her as well as you and the others did, and I wish I had the time to, but… I feel like if Amai had any lingering expectations for anyone, you wouldn’t be one of the options.”
Ayano squeezes Kenko’s hand a bit, and he responds with a genuine smile. “I agree… I think.. Heh.” He shakes his head at himself with a light chuckle. “You’re very sweet to help make me feel better, Ayano. We haven’t interacted much, but I appreciate your kindness. And your help a couple days ago. I hope that after this incident I can get to know you better.” He says.
Nodding to her thank you, Kenko continues past her in order to speak to one of their other mourning peers. Ayano watches him leave for a quick second, at the very least so it didn’t look like she was desperate to leave to others. After that quick second she did indeed walk back to the school.
Thankfully, there were no rules against going through the school halls, even grabbing some stuff if anything was left after the rush on Wednesday. The only thing off-limits was the roof until the tall fence was finished being built.
Similar to the process with Mai, Ayano was able to easily put Info-Chan’s functions into Kokona’s phone. As she was walking out, however, she bumped into one of her peers. Who, as it turns out, was not mourning with the rest of them.
“Oh, hey.” Bea lifts an eyebrow Ayano’s way, before glancing behind her to the rows of computers. “What’re you doing in here?” She asks, looking back at Ayano nonchalantly.
Ayano shakes her head dismissively. “Just needed some time alone.” She says, nodding to the room. “I usually sit in here when I need that time.”
“Hm.” Bea folds her arms with an almost suspicious grin. “Yeah, well, it’s an awfully strange place to mourn. But to each their own, I guess.” She looks down to Ayano’s hand, which was still holding Kokona’s phone. “Ain’t that Kokona’s?”
Looking at the phone in question, Ayano realizes just how easily identifiable the phone was as Kokona’s. She was one of the few who added charms and customized her phone, and her style was very recognizable. Flowers and baked goods stickers and such. “...yes. Kokona left it with me and I forgot to bring it back.”
The reasoning seemed believable enough, as Bea simply shrugged at her response. Before Ayano can excuse herself, however, Bea holds out her hand. “You can keep chilling in here, then, I guess. I’ll take this back to Kokona for you.”
While originally suspicious of Bea, Ayano realized that keeping the phone to herself could be ruled as suspicious in her own right. If anything, playing the “too sad to do it myself” card might be beneficial for Ayano to some extent.
With that thought, Ayano nodded and handed her the phone. “Okay. Thanks.” She says. Bea nods in response and heads back down stairs in order to look for Kokona. For a moment, Ayano will likely have to sit in the computer lab so that her story actually sticks together.
So, Ayano grabs one of the chairs and sits down on it. As soon as she does, she gets an immediate text from Info-Chan.
Info-Chan: Did you do the full process?
Yan-Chan: What?
Info-Chan: Did you complete the hacking process?
Yan-Chan: Yes. I did exactly what you told me to last time.
Yan-Chan: Didn’t you gain access?
Info-Chan: For a moment.
Info-Chan: But Kokona Haruka is no longer on my records of access.
Yan-Chan: I already finished.
Yan-Chan: I should still get my pay.
Info-Chan: Very funny.
Info-Chan: No access, no pay.
Ayano scoffs, standing up and walking back out of the room despite her earlier judgment. She wasn’t sure how much time she had left before the funeral officially started, but she figured that she should use whatever time she had either finding another phone or doing some other task.
That’s when she ran into someone for- who knows how many times by now. Based on the sudden shove Ayano was awarded with, she would have assumed that it was from a student council member she ran into, but it wasn’t. It was a shorter student with long black hair, who wasn’t actually wearing anything dark to support the event, but instead just a variant of the regular school uniform.
The girl glared at Ayano after her firm shove and briskly walked past her, looking left and right as if in search of something. Ayano held a hand to her stomach. Frankly, not even Aoi had given her such a needlessly violent shove- if Ayano were to be dramatic, she’d even call it some form of punch.
“So, you’ve met her.” A voice said in a quiet tone. Turning, Ayano realized that it was Frankie, who stayed to the side until the black-haired girl turned the corner. “Lori, I mean.”
Ayano frowns with a nod. Thinking back, Lori’s appearance and the description Frankie, Hana and Cassie gave matched incredibly well. Short, black haired, clearly very antisocial if not just outright violent. “I guess so.” Ayano says, looking back down the hall to where Lori just left. “Is she looking for you?”
“Yeah. Well, I mean, probably.” Frankie says with a shrug. She barely out of breath, as if she’d been running from Lori this entire event. “I went to the girls’ room to wash up and she was just- waiting there! I think there might actually be a dent in one of the lockers right now from the punch she tried to land on me.”
With an uncomfortable expression, Ayano patted her stomach where Lori had shoved her. “I… can’t imagine what it must be like being actively beaten by her.” Realistically, Ayano didn’t feel much concern for Frankie, but it seemed stupid to allow herself to be harassed and assaulted like that almost daily. “Why haven’t you called the cops yet?”
Sighing, Frankie shakes her head. “I did. Once. But then Lori started, like… crying when she was brought to the station. They took her into another room and next thing I knew she was getting left off the hook.” She shrugs.
Frankie takes another peek past Ayano suddenly, but calms down after seeing that it was just Kuroko down the hall. “She’s been more sneaky about it, I’ll admit. If I’m around a big group of people or something she’ll back off for a while.”
Ayano folds her arms, tilting her head to the side. “So, why haven’t you told anyone? Budo, the staff, your parents I’m sure would do something about it if you told them.” She points out, to which hesitates, pulling her lips into a tight line.
“....well, about that..” Frankie pauses again, before sighing, “...I mean, it’s more- ohhhh shit..” She stops abruptly and speed walks away from Ayano. When Ayano looks at what Frankie had seen, she spots the familiar dark-haired girl speed walking- nearly jogging after her.
Part of Ayano wanted to follow them, maybe help Frankie out, but then she realized that being bloodied and bruised while trying to help likely wouldn’t do her any good- not for a slightly better reputation at least. Thankfully, an announcement on the intercoms interrupted her thoughts.
“The funeral is now starting. Students and staff, please make your way to the gymnasium.”
With one last press on her stomach just to make sure she was alright, Ayano continued on her way to the gymnasium, following the other group of students who weren’t in the gymnasium yet.
__
“Ajia, you– mph!” Seiyo pauses momentarily as his face is met with his own apron after the girl had thrown it at him. He had followed Ajia into the school when she stormed off. It was his presence that caused her to excuse herself from her family and run off, but Seiyo felt like this was a desperate time. Maybe the only time Ajia might even be desperate enough to shut up and listen to him for once. Desperate times do call for desperate measures, after all.
“Always nagging me.. Always SO persistent!” Ajia groans loudly, walking to the other side of the counter to stay at least a couple feet away from Seiyo. “And of all times, too! You just can’t LIVE without following me around, can you?!”
Seiyo was always a patient person, sure, and now he had to be more patient than ever since he was the one pushing his luck. “I-I know, Ajia, you hate me, I’ve come to terms with that, but this is the one time that I need you to listen to me.”
Throwing her arms up in the air, Ajia lets out another dreadful groan. “Of course you do! It’s always been about you, hasn’t it?! ‘Ajia, I need this! Ajia, please listen to this!’ What sort of moron would continuously bother someone who clearly doesn’t care at ALL for what they have to say?!”
Seiyo paused, thinking over how Ajia worded it. She was right, to some extent. He did always nag her. If she ever left the room without them speaking, he would follow her for a couple of minutes in order to tell her something.
It didn’t matter if Seiyo tried to make the topic about something he knew Ajia liked. It didn’t matter if he tried to say one thing and then let her comment on it in an attempt to not ramble on and on. At the end of the day, Ajia just hated him. Again, that was something that he was aware of. He had just also convinced himself that maybe if he took different approaches, tried to be a little bit less of himself, he could find a way for Ajia to stand his presence.
Swallowing a lump in his throat, Seiyo nodded. “I know, I get it. But I know you need help right now, and I don’t want to see you in such a horrible state. It feels… it doesn’t feel nice to see you in such a mess when it isn’t my fault.” He sucked in a shaky breath and quickly added, “And also, it’s not your fault, either.”
“You-!!” Ajia gripped the collar of her dress in frustration as more tears spilled out of her eyes again. She seemed to choke on her own words and gritted her teeth in anger.
“It’s not! I want you to know that!” Seiyo said quickly and loudly, hoping that he could somehow seem louder than whatever horrible thoughts were flooding Ajia’s mind at the moment.
“I don’t care!” Ajia grabbed her phone from her pocket and threw it at Seiyo, successfully hitting him in the eye. “I don’t care what you want! It is! It…” She takes a moment to look at Seiyo’s eye, which he quickly covers with his hand, and his troubled expression.
With several shaky, quick breaths, Ajia’s legs eventually fail her and she crumples to the floor. “It.. It.. It is my… my fault…” She insists beneath sobs, her breath barely coming through correctly through her panicked huffs and gasps.
Seiyo walks over to her side immediately and kneels down next to her. “Ajia, I promise you it’s not.” He repeated, tearing up himself at her dread.
“She.. hhh… she said…” With another shaky inhale, Ajia eventually spits out her words. “She said.. ‘I know you’re a good person deep down’, Seiyo!” She raises her hands to cradle her head as she continues sobbing. “That means- I- I didn’t SHOW her that I was a good person! I didn’t make that OBVIOUS! And now I’ll never fucking get to!”
“Ajia.. that…” Seiyo hesitates, thinking as quickly as he can to decide how exactly he could reassure Ajia.
“How- hic- how bad of a person do I have to be, that… that acting how I have my whole life is enough for someone like Amai to believe that I’m not a good person?! I–” Ajia’s breath becomes heavier and she keeps her eyes shut tight, sick of staring at a blurry, dark floor. “-I’m so- so- horrible! I’ll never be a good per-son and I’ll never- hhh- ever make it up to Amai for everything I’ve done to her! It’s my fault it’s… hhh… my… hhh… Fault.”
As soon as Ajia allowed her arms to fall to the floor, Seiyo wrapped his own arms around her shoulder and kept her close to his chest. For once, Ajia didn’t intervene and simply sobbed into his chest, hardly being able to catch her breath due to the panic and dread running through her veins right now.
After about five minutes, an announcement rang on the intercom, telling everyone that it was time to attend the funeral. Still, though, Ajia hadn’t been able to calm down, and didn’t react to the announcement at all. A couple minutes later, Ajia’s sobs had decreased to muffled heavy breathing into Seiyo’s chest.
As she got quieter, Seiyo gently patted her head and said in a quieter tone, “I know you hate me, Ajia. But I don’t hate you at all. The people you think hate you really don’t, especially not Amai.” He pauses, trying to keep himself from crying as well.
“What happened is something I’m sure we could have helped with, but only if Amai had told us what she was going through.” Again, he felt the need to add. “It’s not your fault, Ajia. It’s none of our fault.”
Ajia didn’t respond, so Seiyo leaned his cheek on top of her head and continued speaking softly. “…I know you hate me, Ajia, and that’s alright. You don’t need to like me at all. But, again, I do really care for you and I admire you. I followed you because I hated seeing you upset, and even if I couldn’t, I wanted to try to help make you feel better.” He gently rubs her back and closes his eyes. “This is going to take a while to handle, Ajia, I know. But you have all the time that you’ll give yourself. …I sincerely hope that you give yourself all the time you need to cope. You don’t need to stay in the cooking club and you don’t need to cook again, but I know you can.”
Exhausted, Ajia’s breathing finally settles down, but she still remains silent. Still, Seiyo stays with her. “I believe in you, Ajia. I always will.”
__
The ceremony was just about as Ayano expected. If anything, it was draining to look as depressed as she did throughout the whole thing. Putting effort into an expression for an extended period of time always was stressful for Ayano.
It was the end of the ceremony, and everyone was either talking again as before, or leaving immediately. Amongst the crowd, Enpitsu seemed to be standing alone. Ayano couldn’t entirely place his expression. It seemed like he was exhausted. He was one to socialize, so maybe he was more affected by the atmosphere than he seemed.
Others that Ayano had spoken to like Tsubaki, who helped bring a bunch of flowers, were just as depressed and almost awkwardly standing alone. Perhaps she was just too uncomfortable to speak with anyone right now. Mai was also sitting alone, just staring at her phone. She had dyed her hair a light, soft green, which didn’t match the color scheme. Apparently, she had done so because it was Amai’s favorite color, and she wanted to honor her for a time.
Toga was speaking with Kuroko, who seemed the most troubled out of the whole student council. As much as Ayano would like to learn more about what they were talking about, she knew that getting in hearing range would arouse some sort of suspicion. So instead she turned her attention to…
…Taro Yamada. He looked stunning in a suit. If only the school uniform were more dull and dark instead of the light color palette it had today. After all of her months of stalking, she realized that he did indeed look better in black, dark red, and darker colors in general. She didn’t know how he did it.
Currently, he was speaking to Osana and Kyuji, obviously about the past events. Maybe they were trying to make him feel better. But, then, that raised the question, where was Raibaru? As Ayano looked around, there was a tap on her shoulder. Lo and behold, Raibaru stood there with a sympathetic smile. “Hi, Ayano. How are you holding up?”
Before Ayano can answer, Raibaru suddenly backtracks and sighs. “Oh, what am I kidding? I guess that’s a pretty stupid question to ask right now, huh?” She says, shaking her head disapprovingly at her own question.
“I appreciate you asking regardless, Raibaru.” Ayano says, holding her arms behind her back. “It’s the thought that counts in this situation, isn’t it?”
Raibaru gives a light sigh but nods. “Yeah, I guess it is.” She says with a sad frown. “I’m not sure how the cooking club is going to be able to recover after this.” Looking down, Raibaru crosses her arms. “I know that I didn’t really know Amai that well, but I know that she was a very sweet person. Everyone knows that. It’s…” She shakes her head. “..well, I guess rambling about it isn’t going to fix my problems. You never did answer, did you?”
Ayano smiles. “I’m doing alright. The only problem I’m having right now is the thought that I may be taking this too lightly.” She says fauxing a nervous look as she looks to the floor. “I didn’t know Amai personally either, so the only thing I’m depressed out, I think, is the toll her suicide will take on the school. Is that… bad?”
“I don’t think so, Ayano.” Raibaru shakes her head, and then offers Ayano a smile. “In fact, it’s pretty noble of you to think of the school at a time like this. Not to say that everyone focused on Amai is selfish, of course. But setting grief aside to focus on bigger, longer-lasting matters is a very mature thing to do.” She points out with a smile, “So, good job.”
As Ayano folds her hands together, she offers Raibaru a brighter smile. “Thank you. That’s relieving to hear.”
“Students. Guests.” A voice called from the microphone. Miss Kunahito stood up there with her own black gown on, and bowed her head respectfully. “We’ll unfortunately need to leave the school at this moment in order to leave the halls and outer grounds open for the fences on the roof to continue being built.” She gave a solemn look, one full of regret and despair as she looked over to the makeshift memorial of flowers, gifts, and pictures set up on the stage. “Say goodbye if you need to, and please make your way to the exit at your own pace. Thank you.”
Raibaru sighs. “I’m going to go check on Osana.” She says, rubbing her hands on her dress almost nervously. “These past events have been… dreadful, to say the least, but I’m sure with people like you around, we can get back to our prime.” She says, smiling at Ayano before taking her leave.
Ayano herself simply left after that whole event. Her presence was known. Her peers knew that she attended the funeral, and frankly, that was all that she needed. It was more exhausting than she had hoped that it would be, but the effort she put into her reputation would eventually pay off.
Info-Chan: Once again, congratulations on eliminating your rival.
Info-Chan: Attending the funeral will show to your peers that you care about their well-being and health :)
Info-Chan: Keep this up, and you’ll win over your Senpai in no time. ;D
__