Fikush-ON!

Ch. 5: Junior High Graduation

Before I knew it, winter was over. The snow melt, weather got warmer, and the sun shined. No one in my school dared to mention anything about Hirasawa nor Suzuki, since they most likely knew I wouldn't take it too kindly. Tadaaki and Ichiro were the only ones who asked me about them, but I always answered the same way: they're just some people I knew. Soon, the questions settled down, and life went on as normal. I've visited the Hirasawa residence every now and then when I've had nothing better to do, and kept in contact with Hirasawa through phone.

Before long came March, and it was our last week in junior high. I picked up my buddies from the usual place, and headed to school. For some reason I felt a bit wistful towards the Yukinokawa Junior High. It held a lot of memories and soon I'd have to leave it behind. The last week of the junior high is usually pretty relaxed, so we had a lot of free time. We walked around the school, pointing at different places, and telling the memories attached to them. The time we slipped into the gym between classes to mess around, and the time we accidentally broke the hallway light, but we were never caught.

As the lunch break came by, we sneaked on the rooftop through service stairs, which was of course prohibited. We sat far from the edge so we wouldn't get caught, watching the surrounding scenery, and enjoying our lunch. We still had a lot in front of us, a lot to learn, a lot to experience. After finishing our meals, we stayed on the rooftop for a while longer.

"Call me stupid, but... I'll miss this place," Ichiro muttered.

Tadaaki nodded. "I get what you're saying."

I glanced at them, and back at the neighborhood surrounding the school. "It's just weird that a few months ago I couldn't wait to get out of this shithole. But now, when that day is so close..."

My sentence got cut short due to the bell. We hastily got down from the roof before anyone could caught us.

A few days later I found myself from the school hall, receiving a certificate which stated that I've survived through junior high. So, that's it, then. Just the high school left, and I'm free. My friends and I applied to the same high school, the one nearest to us, and the same that my brother goes to. Sure, it might not be the greatest, but not the worst either.

The next day I was napping on my bed, when my phone rang. It took me a while to realize this, since I still didn't have a ringtone. But when I did realize it, I hastily got out of bed, falling on the floor. I didn't have the strength to get back up, so I crawled towards my desk, and reached for the phone on top of it. As I got a hold of it, I slumped back on the ground and answered the call, a bit sleepy.

"...yeah?"

"Oh, uh, I hope I didn't call you at a bad time," the familiar voice in the phone said. It was Hirasawa.

I checked my watch, which told me it was afternoon.

"Oh, no, not at all," I muttered into the phone, and sat up, leaning against my desk.

I heard Hirasawa sigh out of relief. "Good. My sis, Yui, graduated from junior high yesterday. If I'm correct, so did you?"

"Yeah, that's right," I said, eyeing the certificate in my bookshelf.

"Well, we were thinking about having a small graduation party. We'd go out to do something fun," she said.

"I see, and you guys want me to come with you? Who else is coming?" I asked, finally getting on my feet.

"Exactly. Besides my sis and I, Jun-chan and Nodoka-chan are also coming," she told me.

Nodoka... ah, that spectacle-headed girl. Well, I didn't really have anything planned, and my family already held me a small 'graduation party' yesterday.