THE START OF SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL

by Dark Moon Ministry

Disclaimer: I do not own GTO or any of its characters.

Note: This story is not at all related to my previous GTO fanfic "Awakening", even though they share similar themes and settings. While "Awakening" is solemnly based on the manga and is a side story of its own, this one is a short fic that is more of a small addition to the main plotline of GTO, regardless of any media. I tried to write it so it could fit in with both the manga and the anime, and so it could be tied in with "Awakening" or be viewed as a separate story.

Winds brushed the boy's hair as he walked on the mountain trail. His sneakers made soft thumping sounds against the thick, white sand. The evening was warm and peaceful, and he felt comfortable wearing only trousers and a t-shirt. After some climbing, the boy reached an opening in the dense tropical forest surrounding the road. He put up his hand to shade his eyes. He had reached a lookout point atop the mountain, and the place was bathing in golden sunlight. He smiled. Looking out from the high cliff, he had a perfect view over the shoreline and the Okinawan sea. As the sun was slowly preparing to settle for the day, crimson, violet and red tones painted the landscape. It was truly beautiful.

The boy was Yoshito Kikuchi, also known as one of the two geniuses from class 3-4. He was famous for his sharp intellect and cool attitude, but that did not mean he was without an artistic sense. This scene was so beautiful it could make anyone cry, not that Kikuchi would ever allow anyone to see him cry, of course.

His eyes stuck on a rock resting near the cliffside. It was not exactly five stars, but when you were out on mountain paths you had to take what you could find. Kikuchi sat down on the heavy stone slab. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Holding his hand to stop the wind, he lit the cigarette and then put the lighter back in his pocket again. He leaned back and inhaled the smoke. A nice feeling of relaxation and well-being filled his chest as the nicotine began taking effect.

Far away, he could see the beach and the hotel. The shore was glowing from the campfires and lanterns there, and screams and laughter could be heard over the water. He had decided to take a walk alone when all the noise and the people had become a bit too much. That was something you had to do every now and then if you wanted to keep your sanity, especially if you were part of class 3-4 of Holy Forest. Ironically, the crowd of people was much smaller now than when he had left.

He smiled when he thought of the recent events. Their Okinawa trip had been great. Really great. And if truth was to be told, most of it was because of Onizuka. No matter how much of slob and a dumbass he was, he could convince people that life was actually worth living. And this was exactly what his classmates had needed. None of his friends had actually reflected upon it until much later, and some still did not reflect upon it, but Kikuchi had understood it from the very beginning. Right at that moment when Onizuka had asked him to make composite photos of Fuyutsuki and other women instead of just smacking him black and blue, Kikuchi had understood that Onizuka was different. Much different. And when his friends had changed one by one, he had realized that something big was happening.

As Kikuchi sat there, smoking his cigarette and enjoying the warm air, he heard footsteps approaching. He could easily have turned his head just a few inches to see who it was, but decided to have a little intellectual challenge instead. He remained seated, eyes closed. As the sound came closer, he tried figuring out who it could be. It was not Murai, Fujiyoshi or one of those guys, and it was definitely not Onizuka. Way too soft and careful for that. It was most likely a girl or a woman. Either that, or it could be Yoshikawa. Yoshikawa always walked very gently, despite having quite big feet for his small body. No... it was not Yoshikawa. Yoshikawa would not be that hesitant. He was never careful when there were only him and Kikuchi together. It had to be a girl. But who? Aizawa and Nomura were not on Okinawa, so they were ruled out. It probably was not Uehara or one of the girls in her gang either. They would thread as loud as possible to make sure people got out of their way. It had to be someone else. It probably was not Kanzaki. She was more confident than that. Of course, there was a slim chance that she knew that he would think in this way and therefore changed her walking style on purpose and... ugh, why was he even doing this? It was only giving him a headache. He was on a vacation, for God's sake!

The steps were now so close that Kikuchi had no more time to deduce who it was. He decided to give up and let himself be surprised. He still felt satisfied with having at least reduced the number of suspects to only a few.

The footsteps stopped right next to him. The only thing he heard was heavy breathing. Once the person had caught its breath, it finally began talking.

"Kikuchi...? You're here all alone?"

Kikuchi opened his eyes, but made sure to not reveal how surprised he was. He turned his head and met the eyes of the person.

"Iijima? Nice meeting you here. Were you out for a walk?"

Saeko Iijima stood in front of him. Her short, brown hair was flowing in the wind. She was dressed in tank top and shorts, highlighting her slim, pale body. Iijima was actually one of the last persons he had expected to meet here. She was a party girl. She liked to hang around others, not walking in nature. But now she was here, and he could clearly see that this was not her home territory. The Iijima who was standing here was shy, timid and nervous. She was biting her lip and looked out at the ocean instead of at Kikuchi.

"I got tired of the others. They're so noisy. I decided to go for a walk by myself. Seems you did the same."

"Yes. It's a beautiful evening after all."

Iijima stood there watching him. Then she looked at the stone he was sitting on.

"Is that rock occupied? Or may I sit down for a while? I got a bit tired with all the walking. These shoes aren't really comfortable..."

"Treat yourself."

Kikuchi moved a bit to the side to make room. Iijima sat down next to him.

"Care to spare a cigarette?" she said after a while.

Kikuchi looked at her, one eyebrow raised.

"I didn't know you were smoking."

"I don't. Well, usually I don't. But I may have one or two sometimes. If the time and place is right. So... care to spare one?"

"Treat yourself", Kikuchi said and gave her the lighter and pack of cigarettes.

"Thanks", she said. She leaned back and exhaled a cloud of smoke. "You know, Miyabi and Chikako hate cigarettes, so I rarely get to have one. Not to mention my parents would kill me if they found out."

"I know the feeling. Once, I had rolled my own cigarette from tobacco powder and paper. I was putting it in my mouth just as a teacher came up from behind. He wanted to search my hands and pockets there at the spot. I had no chance of throwing away the cigarette, so I hid it inside my mouth. It was unlit, of course. The teacher let me go, but the saliva damaged the paper on the cigarette. I got my whole mouth full of the tobacco powder. I must've spent ten minutes in the bathroom spitting and rinsing."

Iijima giggled and smiled at him, but then quickly restrained herself. There was some tension in her eyes.

"You know, don't get any funny ideas. We're not friends. Nothing has changed, okay? Just because I sit here smoking with you doesn't mean we've made peace."

"That's fine with me, if that's what you want."

"I really mean it. Don't try to play nice."

They sat there together for a while without saying anything, quietly puffing on their cigarettes. They watched the evening clouds drift slowly in the crimson sky. Kikuchi looked at Iijima. She had wrapped her arms around her torso. Her breathing seemed to get heavier.

"Are you cold?" Kikuchi asked.

"What?"

"You're shaking a bit."

"I'm not!"

Iijima sat up straight again. She focused on the hotel area in the horizon. Kikuchi watched the back of her head, then he looked up in the sky again. He knew very well what a proud and defensive person she was. She was not going to give away her feelings that easily.

The day before, they had walked through the haunted house together, being unwilling participants in one of Onizuka's games. Kikuchi had talked to Iijima about important things. Very important things. And in some ways, it felt like they had begun bridging the gap between them. At least they had got to a point where she found it okay to have a smoke with him.

After a while of silence, Kikuchi spoke:

"Iijima..."

"Yeah?"

"I have a question I want to ask you."

"Sure, go ahead."

"I want you to be honest with me."

"I'll do my best."

She tried to sound uninterested, but there was definitely something in her voice. A hint of curiosity. And insecurity.

Kikuchi tossed his finished cigarette on the ground and put his foot on it. Then he asked:

"Do you think that it was okay to steal all the money from everyone in the class, and then put the blame on Fujiyoshi?"

Iijima jumped up. All her defense mechanisms activated at once. Red color spread across her face.

"If you're gonna insult me, I'm going back! I don't have to sit here taking blame from you!"

She turned around and got ready to leave.

"Iijima, wait!" Kikuchi said.

Iijima stopped, but she did not turn around.

"It was not an insult. It was just a question. I don't mean to put blame on you. I am merely interested in your opinion."

Iijima turned around and stared at him. Kikuchi raised his hands and gave her an innocent smile.

"You said that we are not friends. You said that we have no relation anymore. If that's the case, then it shouldn't be difficult to answer the question, should it? If we're not friends, then you don't care about me. Then it should be okay to say in my face that what you did was right and that we all deserved it. Don't you agree?"

Iijima looked at him. He could see the conflict that was going through her mind. Eventually, her friendly side took the upper hand. She sighed and gave him a look full of annoyance. Kikuchi smiled and pointed at the rock.

"So please, sit down."

After some hesitation, Iijima sat down next to Kikuchi again.

"So... do you think that it was okay to steal all the money and blame Fujiyoshi?"

Iijima was quiet. She looked down in the ground. After a long time, she took a deep breath.

"No... it wasn't okay...", she mumbled.

They sat still for a few moments without saying a word.

"It wasn't okay...", Iijima said again. "It was too much. It... It all went out of hand."

She looked up in the sky to avoid looking at Kikuchi. Her cheeks had a slight shade of red. Kikuchi did not say anything.

"It wasn't supposed to go that far. I only wanted to get back at Onizuka. I didn't want Fujiyoshi to get all that shit..."

She kicked a pebble with her foot. It fell over the cliffside. After some time, it hit the water with a small splash. Kikuchi remained silent.

"You know, you probably don't believe me, but me and Chikako tried to talk her out of it. Miyabi, I mean. We tried to make her call off the operation. But she was determined to go on. And she's a friend... so what do you do?"

Iijima smiled. She finished her cigarette and tossed it away.

They sat there silently watching the waves. It was getting noticeably darker. After a while, Iijima took another deep breath and began talking again. This time, her voice was more steady.

"It was the only thing she had in mind, there in the end. To get rid of Onizuka. Nothing else mattered to her. The last weeks, that was the only thing she ever talked about."

Something was showing in her eyes.

"She was obsessed with it. It was almost a bit creepy. She used to love so many things. Have so many ideas going on. There used to be life in her. Then it was all about Onizuka and getting him fired..."

Iijima closed her eyes. Then she began trembling slightly and tied her fists. Her voice got louder.

"Why the hell did she have to go that far?" she said. "I mean, it... it made no sense! We never thought she would do that..."

It looked like this was something she had wanted to say. Something that had been buried deep down for a long time.

"It was supposed to be us against the teachers. No matter what we did to them, the deal was never to hurt anyone of our own. Why the hell did she involve Fujiyoshi in all of this? Sure, it's true most of you betrayed her, but still... Fujiyoshi likes Miyabi, and she knows that! It just..."

Kikuchi watched her without saying a word.

"...and the way she constantly had to insult the rest of you! I mean... We agreed to keep our plan a secret so that no one would find out. But Miyabi... she just had to go up to everyone and announce it! She just had to reveal to everyone that we were the ones who did it, and all that only to feel victorious and smile at your defeat!"

Iijima slammed her foot down in the ground. Her eyes had a glow of hopelessness.

"What the hell was she thinking!" she shouted. "She must have known that it would all go to hell! I mean, she was rubbing it in Kanzaki's face! She must have known it would piss her off and make her go berserk! And look what happened!"

Iijima was breathing heavily, almost wheezing. She looked very upset.

"And then... and then in that hotel room when..."

Iijima's voice died out. She looked like she was in pain.

"Iijima..."

Kikuchi put a hand on her shoulder.

"Iijima, no one in class supported what Kanzaki did. Everyone tried their best to save you. Everyone. And Kanzaki got her fair share of scolding from us afterwards."

Iijima opened her eyes again. For a split second, their gaze met, but Iijima quickly looked away.

"Miyabi refused to call the police..." she said bitterly. "She would rather get assaulted by those guys than to admit her defeat... And then when Onizuka came to save us... she refused in the longest to apologize to him..."

"Aizawa can be stubborn. I know..."

"Stubborn? She was nuts!" Iijima said angrily. "What does a small apology matter when you have a group of criminals ready to grab you? Who the hell thinks like that? Even Onizuka had enough intelligence to understand how insane that was!"

Iijima slowly relaxed. She had probably let out most of her feelings. She looked a bit tired.

"Well, it's getting dark. We better get back to the hotel", Kikuchi said.

He stood up and stretched his body. His arms and legs had got a bit numb, not to mention how his butt felt after sitting down on a cold hard rock for nearly half an hour.

He was just about to take a first step when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Surprised, he turned around to the girl behind him. When he saw her face, not even him could hide his feelings of surprise.

Her face was twisted. It was a bizarre mix of anger, fear and sadness. It was desperation. Iijima was desperate, and she looked like she was going to explode.

"Alright..." she growled. "Alright then. You win."

She grabbed his shoulders and pushed him down on the rock again. Kikuchi was shocked that a scrawny girl like her could have so much force. Under normal circumstances, he would have twisted himself out of her grip, but this time, he was so surprised that he didn't object.

Iijima roared at him.

"Alright, I give up! You win! I'm sorry! I'm sorry for everything!"

Tears flooded out of her eyes.

"I know that embezzling the money was wrong! I know it very well, and I'm sorry! I know that Miyabi is a bitch and that me and Chikako are no better! I know that you are the good guys and we are the evil ones!"

Kikuchi just stared at the hysterical girl in front of him.

"And yes, I know that Onizuka has been right all the time! I know that he is a great guy and that he only wishes the best for his students! I know that Miyabi's project of getting rid of the teachers was wrong to begin with!"

Her voice lost its strength and she began whimpering.

"...and I know that we have been acting like assholes towards Nomura. I confess to everything and I take responsibility for what we did... I know that we used her and bullied her... and I deeply regret it..."

Iijima was done for. She stood still with her eyes closed, shaking heavily.

"Are you happy now?" she whispered with her eyes still closed. "You should be. You've won. I admit complete defeat. Go on. Go home and celebrate with your friends."

Kikuchi did not say a word. He sat still and watched her. He had sensed Iijima's gradual change of heart ever since they came to Okinawa. He had felt her anger slowly fade away as the first days had passed. He had felt the small flame of hope lighten up inside of her when they had been inside the haunted house. But he had not been ready for this outburst. He had never thought she had had so much frustration inside of her.

He knew he had to say something, but for once, even the cool Kikuchi was at a loss of words. And that was something that rarely happened.

"Iijima... I understand how..."

"Shut up!" Iijima said harshly, rage flashing in her eyes again. "You don't understand anything! None of you do!"

Kikuchi swallowed. He felt dumb and confused, a very rare feeling for a guy like him.

"Look..." he said and began standing up, but Iijima cut him off and pushed him down on the rock again.

"Sit down!" she ordered.

She sat down next to him. She did not look desperate anymore. Now she just looked angry. She looked right into Kikuchi's eyes without fear.

"I know I've been a bitch and that what I did was wrong! I just admitted I am one of the bad guys, so don't try to play sweet with me or brush it off just like that!"

Her eyes were angry, but now they also filled with sadness.

"I know that it is all our fault! I know! I accept it and I apologize. But I still think... I still think it's unfair! And don't you dare interrupting me now because I am going to say this, regardless if you disagree with me! I don't care if everyone hates me, I still think it is unfair!"

Iijima wiped a tear away and swallowed as she prepared her speech.

"Miyabi is no angel. I know that, and I have always known that. Do you think it is easy to be with her? It's not! Her strong personality and violent mood swings sometimes drive me crazy! She's definitely not an angel. But all you others, are you angels yourselves? Are you all without sin? I think not! You're trying to act like you're innocent and that everything has been Miyabi's fault, and yes, she has done many bad things, but you're not so sweet yourselves!"

Iijima stood up. She began walking around the place. Her voice grew louder and more intense as she was speaking.

"Every day here at Okinawa I watch the other girls in our class. They all sit there together smiling, pretending they've always been best friends. I feel their hateful stares pierce my back. They say things about Chikako. Call her bad names. And they talk about Miyabi. They talk so much shit about her. They sit there for hours talking about what a bad person Miyabi is and how she always dominated everyone. They even say that she is the root of all evil! The one who is to blame for everything that has happened over the past year!"

Iijima kicked another small pebble.

"...but they are all the same! There is no difference between them and Miyabi! All those girls constantly betray, manipulate and compete against each other! They say Miyabi forced them to do things, but that is a lie! They were the ones who always fought to get attention from Miyabi! They did everything to get some time in the spotlight with her! Everything! They would humiliate themselves or sacrifice one of the others without hesitation if Miyabi asked them to! Hypocritical sluts!"

One more pebble went over the cliff's edge.

"Look at the whole thing with Nomura! Yes, we were the ones who started it. I confess to that and I take responsibility. But everybody else participated too! Those people try to put the blame solemnly on Miyabi, but everyone - every single one of them - helped bullying Nomura! Every single one of them tossed things at her, laughed at her and called her names! And look at all the shit with Uehara and Yoshikawa! Everyone in class always knew what Uehara was doing to him, but no one ever said anything! No one lifted a finger no matter what happened!"

She made wild gestures to emphasize her words.

"Everyone hates Miyabi now, but maybe they should look at themselves before they judge her. They didn't care that Miyabi became more and more isolated and lonely as the months passed! They didn't care when Miyabi sunk deeper and deeper into misery! Miyabi feels like shit right now, but no one cares! No one asks her how she feels! No one walks up to her and gives her a hug! First they all kiss her ass to get a piece of her fame, and then they dump her when they don't need her anymore! Is that how it is supposed to be!"

Her voice rose in volume again.

"After that incident with Ogi, we made a deal to avenge Miyabi. To make sure that nothing bad ever happened to her. Yes, it was wrong, it was stupid, and it lead to a lot of bad stuff that I now regret, but a deal is a deal! Deals shouldn't be broken! But you all broke that deal, just like that. You betrayed her and allied yourself with Onizuka, and now you're all proud of yourselves. Isn't a deal to a close friend worth more than that? Doesn't friends matter more than school policies? You betrayed one of my best friends, and you'll have to excuse me for saying this, but I am serious when I say that I don't like you and the others. No matter what Miyabi does, me and Chikako will be there for her. We won't break the deal. We'll follow her anywhere, even if we'll get hated by everyone else..."

Iijima slumped down on the rock again, powerless, with her head hanging down. She stared at Kikuchi underneath the hair covering her face.

"I don't expect you to understand my feelings. And I don't expect you to care for us anymore."

Iijima sat there, sniffing. She had her eyes closed. The adrenaline she had built up was now fading away, and she looked so exhausted. Kikuchi watched her, then he decided to put all the cards on the table.

"Iijima...", he said softly.

"Leave me alone. Don't try to be nice."

"Iijima, please listen to me..."

He took her hand and held it between his own. She put up some mild resistance, but eventually gave up and let him take it. Her hand felt so cold, despite the warm evening temperature.

"...I want to tell you that I agree with everything you say."

Iijima looked at him in surprise.

"You're actually braver and more observant than many other people in class. And you are absolutely right about them. They think too high of themselves. And they tend to forget their past actions a little too easily."

Kikuchi looked up in the night sky where stars had begun to show.

"The human brain is funny. It tends to exaggerate our positive sides and remove the parts that we feel uncomfortable with. That's exactly what our classmates are doing right now. For them it is much easier if Miyabi is the villain and they are the innocent victims. That's why they do their little role playing every day. But the truth is, they're just trying to mask the fact that they are equally as guilty as Miyabi. Equally as guilty as all of us. And deep inside they all know that."

He smiled at her.

"I am guilty as well. I'm no better than you, Miyabi and Shirai. I did those manipulated photos of the teachers. I made them lose their jobs and their sanity. Those are my sins. I regret what I did, and I must make amends for that. And the same goes for Kanzaki, Murai, Uehara and everyone in class."

He stroke her hand.

"In fact, it's really not important to discuss who is guilty and who is innocent. We are not better or worse than you, Iijima. We're the same. The only small difference between you and us is that we forgave the ones that had hurt us and then moved on. We're not letting the past control the rest of our lives. We changed. And the reason we changed is because of Onizuka. He showed us a way out of the darkness."

"He's a teacher. All teachers are evil", Iijima sniffed, but she did not sound confident anymore.

"No... Many teachers are bad, but Onizuka isn't. I know that you feel we betrayed Miyabi and left her out in the cold, but that's not true. We didn't break the deal because we hated her. We only stepped out because we were tired of living in the past. We broke the deal, but we never gave up on her. We will never give up on her. We were angry at her, yes, but we're not angry anymore. We know that she is suffering, and we just want her back. All of us. Murai, Fujiyoshi, and especially Nomura. That's what I was trying to tell you inside that old house. And Onizuka wants to help her too. Why do you think he busted in through the window that time? He risked his life for her. He did it because she is his student, and he cares for his students."

"Kikuchi...don't..."

Iijima looked away. Her eyes were sad.

"It's the truth", Kikuchi said.

"B-but friends should help each other..." Iijima said weakly. "If you wanted to help Miyabi, why didn't you follow her when she asked you to? She wanted you to follow her, but you... you..."

"We stopped following her because we wanted her to stop hurting herself. For every teacher she crushed, the hate inside her only grew. She lost her sweet personality. More and more for every day. And I think you felt that too."

Iijima looked desperate. She swallowed. Then she swallowed some more.

"I just wanted to make her happy..." she whispered. "Why... why did it backfire? I was always loyal... always did what she told me to... but she only felt worse and worse... Is it... is it all my fault?"

"Saeko..." Kikuchi said.

Iijima stared at him when she heard him saying her first name.

"You are indeed very loyal, Saeko. More loyal than most people. And that's beautiful. Your friendship with Miyabi is strong, and that's sweet. And you have not done anything wrong. You did what you did because you believed it was right."

Iijima cried. She put her face in her hands.

"Saeko... it's good to be loyal to your friends. But the coin has two sides. We have to be loyal to the ones we love, but we also have to put our foot down when they are hurting themselves. That's something you sometimes have to do when you want the best for a person. When Miyabi is walking into an ocean of darkness, you have to be there to stop her, even if she will hate you. If you just follow her and do as she says, she will only sink deeper. And eventually, she will drown. All while you were just standing there looking on."

Kikuchi put his arm around her shoulders and held her.

"...and that's what Onizuka taught us. That's why he is not like the other teachers. He doesn't preach the things written in the text books. He doesn't expel his students, he doesn't think of them as trash. He actually does things to make them feel better. It's painful, it's difficult, but once he's done, you feel better. He managed to break through to me, Murai, Kanzaki, Uehara and others. And that's the reason why he assigned you and Shirai to walk through the house with me and Fujiyoshi. He knew that it would come to this. He knew that you and me would have this talk sooner or later."

Iijima did not say anything, but the tension in her body began fading away. Kikuchi smiled and stroke her hair.

"Come back to us, Saeko. We want you back. You and Chikako. We missed you. And we need you. We need you to help Miyabi back to life again."

"Ca-can we save her?" Iijima whispered.

"Absolutely. I promise you we will bring her back."

Iijima finally began to relax. She stopped crying and wiped her eyes. Her breathing became steady and focused.

The moon was shining. Far away they could see the bright lights from the hotel area, glowing like fireflies in the darkness. Iijima put her head on Kikuchi's shoulder. Kikuchi held her a little closer. Her body felt so cold, but now she was not tensed up anymore. He rubbed her arm with his hand to give her some heat.

"I'm so tired..." she said quietly.

"We should go back", Kikuchi said.

"No, I mean... I'm so tired of all this. The way we always pretend to be strong. The way we constantly hurt each other... All the secret plans and projects, the bullying of the weak, the way we always think of each other as either friend or foe... Why do we laugh when we just want to cry? Why don't we all just admit we are scared and lonely?"

Iijima smiled weakly.

"I don't want to do that anymore", she said. "I just want to... I just want to be. I just want to be me. And I want all of us to just be us - together."

Kikuchi smiled.

"You can be if you want to. Come be with us, Saeko, and take Chikako with you. We still have a few days left here at Okinawa. Let's have fun those last days, okay?"

"Yes... I really want to."

Kikuchi stood up. His body felt really sore after sitting down on that cold rock for almost an hour. He helped Iijima stand up, and groaned as she pulled on his stiff muscles.

"Well, let's get back", he said.

"Yeah. Um, it's really dark now... do you know the way back?"

"Well, of course. I'm a genius after all."

"A cigarette-eating genius!" Iijima giggled. "Let's go!"

Kikuchi smiled to himself as they walked down the mountain path. When Iijima was not looking, he took out his cell phone and turned off the sound. Without watching, he began typing a text message. When he was done, he looked at the screen glowing in the darkness.

SAEKO IS BACK

Smiling confidently, he moved the marker to the address field. He pressed "F", then "U", then he chose the first name that came up.

SEND TO: Fujiyoshi ? Y/N

He pressed "OK", then snapped the phone shut and put it back in his pocket. Just a few seconds later, he felt the phone buzz towards his leg. He took it out and looked at the screen.

INCOMING MESSAGE FROM: Fujiyoshi

He pressed "Open" and read the message.

CHIKAKO IS TOO

With a big smile, Kikuchi put back his phone again.

He watched Iijima, who was walking a few feet in front of him. She was crooning. It was rather quiet, but he could hear that she was singing to herself. He smiled. There had been a huge gap between them. They had done many bad things to each other. But in the end, all wounds heal. He was not worried anymore. They would save Miyabi. They would finally be one single united class again. This was the start of something beautiful.