A/N: Here it is! The epilogue!
I considered using the events from Episode 96, but I was getting too many dirty ideas. So I just decided to stick to Misawa's days in the White Association.
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Six Months Later
The air-conditioning repairman was LATE!
In fact, it was the second time he was late. He hadn't even showed up the day before, so Emi had been forced to reschedule the appointment.
It looked like today the repairman would give an encore presentation of not showing up.
And of course, the air just HAPPENED to break down in the middle of a nasty, humid heat wave! It was now so hot in the infirmary, Emi was sure she was going to faint.
Maybe it would actually be cooler outside. At least Emi might be able to catch a breeze coming off the ocean.
And that was how Emi came to be sitting in a shady patch near the White Dorm, desperately fanning her face.
THEY probably had the air-conditioning on full-blast! The jerks.
Emi was actually considering begging the dorm for temporary shelter from the heat when a commotion broke out.
"Yes, we KNOW that you've won some medals, now GET LOST!" a boy was shouting.
Emi got up. She had no real power over this White Association, but maybe a threat of detention would break up this fight.
But...it wasn't a true fight. Emi could not see who the other person was, because a clump of trees blocked her view. Nevertheless, she could clearly see that it was only the visible person who was doing the arguing.
This person suddenly saw Emi watching all this and quickly shouted at the unknown person,"Okay, you got lucky this time!"
He ran off, but not before casting Emi a dirty look.
Okay, now she would just check to see if this other person was okay, and then she'd...
Oh no, NOT AGAIN!
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She had been fervently hoping that all that crap had been halted months ago!
For once again, it was Misawa who had been picked as the target of senseless verbal abuse.
Misawa was not making this easy for Emi.
He adamantly denied that any bullying had taken place, even though Emi had been a witness to it.
What was more, he had scraped up his knee pretty badly when the bully had shoved him to the ground.
Misawa saw nothing wrong with this, either.
"I told you already, it was my fault! I was in his way, so he taught me a lesson!"
Misawa was shouting this as Emi was dragging him to the infirmary by the arm.
Just what had this society done to Misawa? He no longer bothered to be hurt by what others did to him!
When they got to the infirmary, Emi noted that the repairman had picked this time to decide to fix the air conditioning.
Oh sure. He had had all afternoon to arrive, only to show up at the least convenient time possible!
Emi glared at the repairman when his back was turned to her.
Misawa tried to use this opportunity to try to sneak out the door.
Fortunately, Emi saw this and held out a hand to stop him.
In her best teacher voice, Emi said, "Do you WANT an infection in your knee, young man?"
Misawa apparently decided that he didn't, because he finally let Emi get out the first-aid kit.
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When Emi was preoccupied with cleaning the scrape, Misawa said something very random and surprising.
"Ayukawa-sensei, you should join the Kessha!"
Emi was kind of expecting an attempt at recruiting, but was not expecting it to be so out of the blue. She simply said, "Thanks, but no thanks..."
Misawa was not deterred. He kept going on and on about how the Kessha was the only sacred thing, and all people who weren't part of it were evil.
"I don't want you to be evil, Ayukawa-sensei! You'd like it there. You would probably become one of Saiou-sama's advisers! And you could..."
Suddenly, the glow went out of Misawa's eyes. He looked at the floor, embarrased.
Emi forced herself to not ask him to finish the statement. Anyway, she was done, so it was time for Misawa to go back to his dorm.
But before he left, Emi reminded him to tell her immediately if any more bullying took place. She promised that she would try to find a way to punish the offenders.
Emi had hoped to make Misawa feel better with this statement. Instead, he actually seemed to be angered. He paused to glare at Emi.
"Weren't you listening before? I told you, I was wrong, and they corrected me! Stop interfering with our plans! I'm perfectly fine with getting hurt, if it means that the Kessha can fulfill its plans more easily!"
Misawa then sniffed and slammed the door behind him.
Emi now had a headache. What had this...cult...done? She just couldn't see any merit in a society that turned its members into self-sacrificing robots!
Well, there was still hope. Maybe Misawa would come to realize just how much he was being abused.
If that happened, Emi vowed that she'd be there.
Until it happened, all she could do was hope.
(A/N: Writing this fic made me really want to write a romance involving these two characters. However, I promised that there would be no romance in this fic. And anyway, I'm generally against student/teacher pairings in fanfiction.
I guess it COULD be written, but I think I'll leave it to someone who has more courage than me.