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“Now…well done on coming so fa.”
A sudden creak of a door hinge echoed behind them. When they turned around, the main gate had already quietly swung shut at some point.
“…We can finally talk..members of Bofurin.”
Rakta stood in the shadow of the rooftop, his expression grim, blocking the only way down the stairs.
“?!”
“You knew from the very start?!”Hiragi was the first to react. He stepped forward, placing the first-years behind him, his stance guarded.
“Isn't it obvious? Some of you were here just recently, asking around.”Rakta pulled out a chair and sat down, his face expressionless, then raised a hand to signal the others to make themselves comfortable.
Seeing no hostility in him, Hiragi let out a small breath of relief.
“Let me introduce myself first. I'm Rakta. As you just saw, I'm the one who watches over this district.”
“Just as I thought, nothing gets past you, Rakta.”
“Hey!”
Hiragi moved to stop Umemiya from stepping forward, but Umemiya only waved a hand, telling him not to worry, and sat down calmly across from Rakta.
“Since you already know about Bofurin, I won't hide it either.” Umemiya smiled his usual easygoing smile and held out a hand.“I'm the head of that side. Umemiya Hajime.”
Rakta nodded, but made no move to shake it.
Umemiya didn't seem to mind, either, and drew his hand back naturally. He took out his phone, pulled up a photo of Suo, and held it out again.
“We came here to find this friend of ours. Would you be willing to help us?”
This time Rakta reached out and took the phone. Umemiya watched his expression closely, but that stern face showed neither confusion nor the faintest surprise, as though everything were already expected.
Of course. After all, he already knew about Sakura coming to ask around last time…
“What do you want with him?”
Rakta looked over the photo, then handed the phone back without a ripple of expression, saying neither whether he'd help nor whether he knew the person.
“He left without a word! There's so much we never got to settle!”
Rakta lifted his eyes to the boy in front of him, whose hair was black and white, and whose voice was urgent.
“You must be Sakura.”
“You know me? Did Suo tell you about me?!”
Rakta paused for a moment, then looked away from Sakura's gaze and explained flatly, “You came here before.”
It wasn't the answer Sakura had been hoping for, and the light that had just flickered on in his eyes quickly dimmed again.
“Suo-san withdrew from school all of a sudden, and he wouldn't tell us why.” Nirei struggled to steady his voice, trying not to let it tremble.“But he had such a pained look on his face back then. We're worried about him… There must be something he's not telling us.”
“So you came to make sure he's well, and… to properly say goodbye to him?” Rakta's gaze sharpened as he looked at them.“Is that it?”
“Of course we're also here to bring him back!”
Sakura stepped forward abruptly, his eyes reddening.“He promised me he'd be vice captain and help me out! He even told me to learn to trust people, but he's the one who broke his word. And yet…”
Sakura's voice grew quieter and quieter, his clenched fists trembling faintly at his sides.“We were supposed to be friends…”
Rakta seemed to notice something. He glanced briefly at the tightly shut door out of the corner of his eye, then continued, “Since you say he deceived you, do you still trust him now?”
Trust?
Sakura lifted his head, and for a moment his eyes went blank. Countless memories of his time with Suo flashed through his mind—the day they first met, the times they'd fought side by side, the times he'd been teased, the times they'd laughed together, the times he'd been looked after…
“Of course I do! But… that's exactly why… I can't make sense of any of this.”
Watching the pained look on Sakura's face, Hiragi let out a soft sigh. “In any case, could you let us see him? I think there must be some kind of misunderstanding here.”
“Is that so…”Rakta nodded. He rose to his feet, looked toward the door, and his voice suddenly rose.“That's what they say.”
Creak—
The door was pushed slowly open.
A figure in a crimson robe appeared in the doorway.
Golden tassels swayed gently in the wind beneath vermilion coral earrings. The boy they'd been searching for weeks appeared before them just like that, without any warning, like a falling autumn leaf.
Umemiya rose to his feet on reflex, a flicker of surprise crossing his face before it bloomed into a bright smile.
“Long time no see, Suo.”
A sudden autumn wind swept across the rooftop, lifting the fallen leaves off the ground and scattering them through the air. Watching this almost dazzling sight, Suo felt for a moment as though he were back on Furin's rooftop, sunlight falling over him, everything just as it always had been, as though this were nothing more than an ordinary, quiet afternoon.
“Yeah. Long time no see, Umemiya-san.”
He watched a withered leaf drift down in front of his feet, and when he raised his head again, the smile on his face was as gentle as ever. “And everyone from Furin, too.”
In that moment, not just Umemiya but every Furin member present felt a flicker of disorientation, as though the person before them had never left at all.
“What the hell…”Sakura clenched his fists, the anger he'd held back for so long forcing its way out between clenched teeth.“After all that has happened, you still dare to wear that expression as if nothing ever took place…”
The smile on Suo's face seemed to scatter in the wind, dimming just slightly.“I guess so..”
But almost at once, an even more flawless smile settled back over his face.
“So, what is it that brings all of you here to find me?”
Nirei had seen that smile before.
It was the same expression Suo had worn the day he said goodbye. He was smiling, and yet there was no warmth to be felt in it at all, as if a thick wall of ice stood between them. It made Nirei feel that Suo was more distant than ever.
“Huh?! Obviously we're here to find out why you suddenly vanished!” Sakura was in no mood to entertain any of this. He'd waited far too long for a confrontation like this, face to face.
“Because I withdrew from school.”
“So I'm asking why you withdrew?!”
“Personal reasons.”
“What personal reasons? Just tell me!”
“Well… that's confidential.”
“Huh?! What kind of answer is that?!”
“Sorry, there are some things on my end that are hard to talk about.”
“You never had any intention of being honest with us from the start, did you!”
A vein kept bulging at Sakura's temple. He laced his fingers together, and his knuckles cracked sharply. Suo's detached, indifferent attitude had thoroughly infuriated him.
“‘Being honest,' huh. You're still so rough around the edges, Sakura-kun.”Suo lowered his eyes, his tone carrying a familiar note of teasing.“Didn't you say it yourself before? Everyone has one or two things they don't want to be asked about. Isn't that only natural?”
Don't let him lead you off track, Sakura-san.
Nirei recited it silently in his heart.
Looking back on it now, he’d probably also been stirred emotionally that night when Suo-san came to say goodbye, so he failed to press him for further details.
He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and stepped forward to stand in front of Sakura.“Suo- san, you just said there were things hard to talk about. So there really is something troubling you, isn't there? Can you tell us?”
“Ah, well, this is confidential and I can’t disclose it.”
“Then…”
Nirei kept his eyes fixed on Suo, not letting a single flicker of emotion on his face escape him.
“Then, Suo-san, is leaving Furin really the outcome you wanted?” The smile at the corner of Suo's mouth stiffened for the briefest instant.“We came this time because we wanted to hear how you truly feel! Why did you make such a pained expression at the very end that day? Why did you say you didn't care, and then deliberately let me hit you? If it were really you, you could have dodged it easily, couldn't you?”
The rooftop fell into a brief silence. Everyone held their breath, waiting for Suo's answer, and only the rustling of dry leaves was audible in the empty quiet.
Standing off to the side, Rakta looked at Suo's solitary back and let out a silent sigh.
“I see. Thank you for worrying about me all this time, Nire-kun.”Suo's tone softened slightly, and he raised his head to look at everyone.
“If all of you went to the trouble of coming all this way just because you were worried about me, I'm grateful.”He bowed his head slightly.“But as you can see, I'm doing just fine. You can all set your minds at ease now.”
“You still haven't answered my question.” Nirei kept his eyes fixed on him, refusing to back down.
“Nire-kun, I believe I already told you this once.”Suo turned his head to the side, and a lock of hair slipping down past his ear covered his left eye, making it impossible for Nirei to read his expression.“If your resolve is to raise your fists against me in order to dig out the truth, then… silence is my answer.”
“So your resolve is to keep your mouth shut, even if it means you have to throw punches at your friends?!”
Sugishita, who had stayed silent this whole time, finally snapped.
“If that's Nire-kun's will, then of course I'll respect it.”
“Well, in that case, not standing by while a friend gets beaten.”Sugishita glared at the person before him who had once been his companion, both hands hanging at his sides already clenched into fists.“That's my principle.”
“Wait, Sugishita!”Hiragi hurriedly reached out to stop him.
“Sugishita-kun really has changed a lot, hasn't he, to say something so plainly.”To their surprise, Suo laughed softly, as though he were talking about someone else's business entirely.“Seeing everyone grow like this is a pretty good memory for me, I suppose.”
“What's with that outsider's tone of yours, talking like you're not even one of us anymore.”Sakura gripped the paint-peeled railing behind him tightly, because if he didn't, he was afraid he'd lunge forward the next second and grab Suo by the collar.
“Well, I already submitted my withdrawal request, after all.”
“About that withdrawal request, it’s with me, actually.”
“Eh?”
“Eh?!”
“Huh?!!”
Unexpectedly, not just Suo but the other Furin members also wore looks of astonishment. Umemiya pulled from the inner pocket of his jacket the withdrawal request Suo had submitted.
“Well… since I hadn't seen you in person, Suo, and I didn't know anything about the situation, of course I couldn't just go and submit it without thinking. Something like this deserves a bit more care, don't you think?”Umemiya blinked his large, innocent eyes and held the withdrawal request out to Suo.“I said it before, back at Furin, didn't I?If any of you get into trouble, we seniors will stand by you.”
The smile on Umemiya's face was every bit as warm as it had been back then.“If you don't want to talk about it, Suo, I won't press you. But why don't you think it over a little more? I don't want to see you left with any regrets.”
Suo silently accepted the envelope Umemiya held out, the one containing his withdrawal request, and found himself remembering that autumn night, and the feeling he'd had when he left that envelope behind at school.
“You really do have me beat, Umemiya-san…”
Before anyone could even breathe a sigh of relief at seeing Suo accept the withdrawal request back, they heard him continue,“You're right, this is important. I think it would be best to explain it directly to the teacher myself.”
“Hey, do you really have to leave, no matter what?!”
“Yeah… I've already decided…”
Rakta lowered his eyes. Of everyone there, only he caught the loneliness hidden behind those words.
“Then what about us?! What are we to you, exactly…”Sakura's voice grew quieter and quieter, carrying a faint, barely perceptible hoarseness.
Suo fell silent for a moment. He smoothed the envelope in his hands gently.“…These past six months, I had a wonderful time at Furin. For that, I'm grateful to all of you.”
Out of everything Suo said in this conversation, that was the one line spoken with the most sincerity.
“What, that's all it amounts to…”A self-mocking curve twisted at the corner of Sakura's mouth. In something close to desperation, he played his last card.“So is it really true what the rumors say — that you’re an officer over at Red Chanpuru, and that they mean more to you than we do…”
“Hey, Sakura!” Hiragi cut him off at once.
“That's not something I can pretend I didn't hear.”Rakta's expression darkened in an instant.“Where did you hear that piece of information?”His gaze swept over them coldly, his voice dropping lower still.
“Rakta.”
Suo raised a hand and lightly held it up in front of Rakta.“It's fine.”Suo smiled, self-mocking, a trace of loneliness flickering in his eyes.
“Is that so… You even dug up something like that.”Suo turned his gaze back to everyone.“I suppose it makes sense, though. You did manage to find your way all the way here. I really did underestimate you.”
The fleeting look of dejection on Suo's face struck Sakura like a needle. The retort he'd meant to make caught in his throat and turned into something bitter and hard to swallow.
“I believe I've said everything that needs to be said. I'm sorry, but I have other matters to attend to.”Suo turned around.“Rakta, would you mind seeing the Bofurin members out?”
“Wait, wait! Is this really how it ends?”Umemiya spoke up quickly, trying to hold on to this conversation before it drew to a close.
“Is there something else?”
“Well, um… ah! That child from before! I'd like to check on that kid's condition once more before we leave.”It was obviously an excuse Umemiya had come up with on the spot.“That's… not too much to ask, is it?”
“A child?”
Rakta leaned in slightly and murmured a brief explanation into Suo's ear.
“Ah, I see.”Suo's expression softened somewhat. He bowed slightly toward the group in thanks.“Thank you for helping him.”
Suo glanced at Umemiya, then finally nodded, as though giving in.“Fine. You already know about most of what goes on here anyway.”He pushed open the rooftop door, a touch of resignation in his voice.“Since that's the case, come with me. I need to head over there myself anyway.”
Before setting off, he turned back to caution them.“But I need all of you to promise me one thing: don't reveal your connection to me, and don't ask any more questions than you need to.”His gaze swept over the group and lingered for a few seconds on Sakura and Nirei.“None of you want to see this blow up any further and get more complicated, do you?”
With that, he led the way out ahead of them.
None of them had expected such a sudden turn of events; things seemed to be heading in an entirely unexpected direction.
“Sakura-san, it looks like this direction leads toward this district’s center.”
Nirei quickly noticed that the buildings around them were growing shorter, and the streets no longer looked as lively as before, almost entirely empty of people.
“Yeah.”Sakura stared ahead, his expression complicated.
“Seems like what you said before was right.”
They were heading now toward the very center of this district—the stronghold of Red Chanpuru.
Somewhere along the way, evening had crept in. The setting sun cut through the streets dyed a deep orange, stretching their shadows long behind them. Sakura watched the shadow spilling out beneath his own feet overlap with Suo's shadow ahead of him, then separate, then overlap again.
They walked on like that until the sun sank completely below the horizon, until everyone's shadows were swallowed by a darkness greater still, seeming to melt into one.
At last they came to a stop before a Chinese-style courtyard house. The carvings on its stone pillars looked worn with age, and yet still magnificent. It reminded Sakura of the Chinese-style teahouse where he'd once met with Endo. The two buildings looked strikingly similar in style.
A great plaque hung above the gate, carved with bold, forceful characters, though Sakura couldn't read them.
“Don't forget our earlier agreement.”Before they went in, Suo turned back once more to remind them.
What was that supposed to mean, when he himself hadn't kept his own promise?
Sakura grumbled inwardly, but he'd already raised his guard, carefully surveying his surroundings.
The courtyard inside was larger than they'd imagined. Stone tables were laid out neatly, lanterns hung thickly beneath the eaves, casting the whole yard in bright light.From some tree, faintly, came the calls of birds returning to roost, and yet there wasn't a single person in sight.
“At this hour, everyone should be having dinner.”
Suo led them toward the loft on the left. Only as they neared the entrance did they catch the faint sound of children's chatter and clattering dishes drifting from inside.
“Hey, what took you two so long? We've been waiting forever.”A tall young man of Western build appeared abruptly in the doorway, his blond hair striking under the light.
“Don't make such a racket, Bacchus. You really ought to do something about that loud voice of yours.”Rakta didn't slow his pace, walking straight past him.
“Ah! It's Sun Fei-ni!”
“Rakta-ni's here too!”
Several children noticed them at once and greeted them enthusiastically.
Sun Fei? Could that be Suo?!
Sakura turned his head in astonishment to look at Suo, who was standing among the children with an incredibly gentle smile, ruffling one of their heads.
Had this guy been lying about his name this whole time too?!
“Hm? Who are these people?”The blond man they'd called Bacchus finally noticed the group of unfamiliar faces trailing behind Suo, and looked over at them, puzzled.
“Ah… these people are…”Suo paused and glanced at Rakta, not knowing what identity Rakta had already assigned to the Furin members in front of their other Red Chanpuru comrades.
“They're janitors we brought in,” Rakta answered evenly.“I'll explain the details later.”
He glanced around the room and quickly spotted the boy they'd rescued before. The boy sat somewhat awkwardly in a corner, taking small bites of rice from his bowl, a little girl clinging close beside him who was, presumably, his younger sister.
At the sight of Rakta and Umemiya coming in, the boy's eyes lit up. He quickly set down his bowl and chopsticks and hurried over, pulling his sister along by the hand.
Umemiya crouched down with a smile, naturally brushing a grain of rice from the boy's cheek.“I'm so glad to see you're doing well. Is this your little sister?”
Rakta stood by, translating for the two of them.“He says he and his sister are both very grateful for your help. They can eat their fill here, so there's no need for you to worry.”
“Is that right? That's wonderful!”Umemiya's face relaxed into a smile of relief, and he ruffled the boy's hair.
Rakta then switched to Indonesian and spoke to the boy.“All right, Dasha, go on and eat now. You can come every day from now on, too.”
Seeing that his name had been remembered, Dasha's eyes brightened further. He bowed once more in thanks to everyone who'd helped him, then took his sister's hand and returned to the table.
Sakura eyed the food in the children's bowls with some curiosity. The smell of onion was especially rich, mixed with other vegetables besides, though it didn't quite look like curry either. Even Sakura, who hated eating vegetables, couldn't help glancing at it more than once.
“It smells really good, Sakura-san.”Nirei, drawn in by the aroma too, leaned close and murmured,“I've never had a dish like this before, either.”
“Would you like to try some, then?”
Suo had come up behind the two of them at some point, and asked with a touch of hesitation.
“Ah, we couldn't possibly impose…”Hiragi, still maintaining his reserve as a senior, reflexively tried to decline.
“You all came all this way just for my sake. I can't very well send you home on empty stomachs.”
Sugishita snorted and deliberately turned his head away from Suo. He clearly hadn't forgiven Suo for his earlier excuses.
“In that case, could we get five more sets of bowls and chopsticks?”Suo turned and signaled toward the kitchen.
“Since when do we cover meals for the janitors, too…”Bacchus, kept entirely in the dark, grumbled under his breath, but obediently went along with Suo to help out in the kitchen anyway.
“Sorry to trouble you, but please put these five meals on my tab.”
“Ah, come now, Sun Fei, there's no need to stand on ceremony with me.”
Suo exchanged a few words with the middle-aged man who seemed to be the cook, then helped Bacchus and the others carry out the Furin members' dinner.
“I've never seen a dish like this before, it's delicious! One more bowl, please!”
“Hey! Umemiya, rein it in a little, would you?”
“Ha ha ha, it's no trouble at all. I'm happy enough that it suits the taste of you kids from outside.”The cook laughed good-naturedly, took the bowl, and filled it for Umemiya once more, heaping it full.
The way things were unfolding now was more than a little strange.
Suo-san had refused to talk to them, wouldn't consider returning to Furin, and the atmosphere between them had been so tense just moments ago, and yet now here he was, inviting them to dinner at his own stronghold…
Nirei glanced at Sugishita sitting across from him. His expression was still grim, but he'd cleaned every last bit of food from his bowl. Seeing Umemiya get seconds, he hesitated for a moment before holding out his empty bowl too.
Probably… he was still angry, but satisfied with the food anyway… maybe?
Sakura shoveled food into his mouth while surveying the room. It looked just as old as the gate to the estate. The floor and walls were made of stone, and the wooden tables and chairs bore the marks of years of wear, and yet everything was kept spotlessly clean.
Could this place be Suo's home?
“What should we do next, Sakura-san?”Nirei asked quietly, lowering his voice.
“After all the trouble we went through to find him, there's no way we're just going back obediently like this.”
He looked over at Suo, standing not far off. Neither he nor the other two from Red Chanpuru seemed to have any intention of sitting down to eat with them; they simply stood beside the children, watching over them.
“Sun Fei-ni! I beat Vuvu today!”
“Huh?! That was just a fluke! I'll win next time for sure!”
“All right, no shouting at the table.”
Suo gave the two of them a soft scolding, then bent down and patted the head of the boy who'd won.“You've been training hard, haven't you? That's
really impressive.”
Then he gave the losing boy's shoulder a pat as well.“Keep at it, Vuvu. I'll come watch next time.”
“Really?!”
The boy's face lit up at once.
Umemiya paused mid-chew and looked up, watching Suo, who stood among the children.
He knew that tone well. He himself treated the children at the orphanage the very same way.
Gentle, patient, taking each child's expectations seriously. Suo seemed to be just like him in that regard, deeply loved by the children around him.
But besides that, there was something else that had caught his attention…
“Hey, Rakta, are all the children here like that boy, unable to get enough to eat out there?”
He could tell this district had fallen on somewhat hard times, but seeing so many children in need of help still came as something of a shock to him.
“Helping each other through hard times is a common thing around here.”Rakta cleared away the children's finished dishes without offering much more of an explanation.
Just then, hurried footsteps sounded from outside the door.
“Sun Fei, trouble!”
A young man burst in abruptly, the same tattoo marking his arm as the one on Rakta's.
The Red Chanpuru members exchanged a glance and quickly gathered together.
“What happened?”
“Those people are back! There are even more of them than last time.”
Suo glanced quickly back at Sakura and the others, and when he spoke again, he'd switched to English.
“Where?”
“Over at the 'Palace.' They’re still locked in a standoff right now.”
“Understood. Go notify the others. Bacchus, come with me first, let's go see what's happening.”
The young man gave a quick acknowledgment, then turned and rushed back out.
Bacchus was about to follow him out, but then saw Suo turn back to say something to the group of“janitors”
“Sorry, something's come up. I need to step out.”
“Huh? We still haven't settled things from before.”
“I believe I've said everything that needs saying. What you make of it after that is entirely up to you.” Suo's voice wasn't loud, but it left no room for negotiation.
Nirei caught Sakura, who was about to rise up in protest, by the arm, shot him a look, and gave a small shake of his head.
Seeing the calm, resolute look in Nirei's eyes, Sakura sensed his resolve and slowly loosened his clenched fists.
“Are you running away?”Sugishita raised his head and stared straight at Suo, demanding an answer.
Suo gave a bitter smile and didn't answer Sugishita's question.“Once you're done eating, Rakta will see you out. There's no need to worry.”With that, he took one last long look at the Furin members.
“Well then… goodbye.”
Suo turned to give Rakta a nod, then, without lingering any longer, vanished swiftly into the pitch- black night together with Bacchus.
The Furin members exchanged glances with one another, some unspoken decision passing wordlessly between them.
They finished off their dinner quickly, thanked the cook, and stepped out of the room. At the door, Rakta had been caught by a few of the younger children and was crouched down, saying something to them.
“Thank you so much for today,”Hiragi said, glancing once toward the direction Suo had gone before turning to Rakta.“You must still be busy. We remember the way out, so there's no need to trouble you.”
Rakta rose to his feet, his sleeve still caught in the grip of one of the crying children.
He stared at Hiragi's face for a few seconds. Hiragi felt those emotionless eyes bore into him with frightening depth, as if piercing straight through him like an arrow, and an inexplicable chill crept up his spine.
“Is that so… Still, you'll need to leave your passes behind. You should have more than one, I'd imagine.”After a moment he drew his gaze back and lowered his eyes to the crying child, as though finally giving in.
“Haha, I knew it. You found us out.”Umemiya laughed, a little sheepish, and along with Hiragi held out the passes with both hands.
“Lending out passes isn't permitted here.”Rakta took the passes, his tone softening somewhat.“I've already spoken to the ones watching the gate. You can just go straight through.”
He paused, then added,“Still, there's a lot to thank you for today, too.”
This time, it was Rakta who held his hand out first.
Umemiya shook it, smiling genuinely.“Not at all. We caused you plenty of trouble too.”
With that, Umemiya stepped back.“Well… we'll be taking our leave now, then.”
As though they'd finally given up, the first-years trailing behind, every one of them looking utterly dejected, they walked out of the courtyard.
“Heh. Well then, best of luck to you all.”Rakta watched their retreating backs, a meaningful trace of a smile surfacing in his eyes, and patted the head of the child beside him.
“Rakta-ni, you look happy.”
“Yeah. Maybe friends willing to help Sun Fei have finally shown up.”
“Eh? Who is it?" another child asked, eyes wide with curiosity.
“Secret.”
Pit-pat-pat!
A flurry of footsteps echoed rapidly through the dim alleyways. The moment they were out of Rakta's sight, the Furin members took off at full speed in the direction Suo had disappeared.
“Nirei, they were speaking English just now, right? Could you catch what they said?”Sakura called back over his shoulder as he ran.
“It was English!”Nirei panted, struggling to keep up with Sakura's pace. "But they were speaking too fast. I only caught the word ‘Palace.'”
“It sounded like they were saying someone’s in a standoff with them over by the palace.”
Every pair of eyes snapped toward Umemiya at once.
“What's with that look? I am a senior, you know.”Despite running the whole time, Umemiya's voice carried not a trace of strain.
“Your English is finally coming in handy, Umemiya.”
Sugishita nodded emphatically, but unlike Hiragi's“your English is actually pretty good” tone, his carried the respect of “as expected of Umemiya-san.”
“That palace, I think, must be the onion-shaped building we used as a landmark when we came in.”Nirei forced out the useful piece of information between gasps for breath.
“Nirei, you remember the way there, right?”
“Yeah. Turn right at the intersection up ahead.”
They cut swiftly through the narrowest of alleys, racing onward past shops that had already closed for the night.
Sakura had a powerful premonition: this was the closest he'd ever get to Suo's secret. If he let this chance slip away, their lives might never cross again.
“So I don't want you to regret this later, either.”
Kawa's words still echoed in his ears.
He didn't know where the road ahead led, nor what truth it would finally bring them to.
But he knew that the moment he stopped, it would all be over.
That guy had always given him a push whenever he was lost. Even now, Sakura still remembered clearly the gentleness in that person's eyes after hearing his past, when he'd said to him:“Don't ever forget. Right now, this is where you are.”
So no matter what, Sakura wanted to convey those words to the Suo of now.
There was still so much he hadn't said to Suo, and so much about that guy he felt he'd only just begun to touch.
The unresolved misunderstandings, the responses never received, and all the memories of the past pulled him forward.
Since that person had said it was his own choice what to make of it, then he would find the answer himself, and witness the truth with his own eyes!
In a lull between gusts of wind, Sakura thought he caught another sound, as though someone were shouting something in the streets not far off.
“I can already see the spire of the 'Palace'!”Nirei shouted from behind.
Sakura looked up. Not far away, the onion-shaped dome rose high, its outline particularly striking under the cold moonlight. And the closer they got, the clearer the noise became.
“All right, let's go!”Sakura drew a deep breath and picked up his pace.
Even if Suo tried to shake him off, it didn't matter.
This time, it was his turn to reach out a hand, and tell him—
A bond wasn't something withdrawal from school could sever.
Your place to belong was never just the one.
You belong at Furin too.