Outsider : Classroom Of The Elite

Epilogue: Farewell

Epilogue:

The bus hummed softly as it drove across the bridge that was connecting the mainland to Ikusei Kyoudo High School. Rays of morning sunlight penetrated through the windows, casting a warm glow over the cabin.

"Hah~" I yawned.

Despite the exhaustion from waking up as early as 5 AM, the atmosphere inside was lighthearted. The students of Class 1-C shared their last moments of leisure discussing and reminiscing about the two-week long journey before returning to the grind.

"Ugh, just kill me already!" Ike groaned in his seat. "How am I supposed to go back to eating instant noodles after all that amazing food on the ship?!"

"I don't even want to think about that!" Yamauchi exclaimed in mock despair. "The desserts... That buffet... The pool... All gone!"

"I feel you bro!" Miyamoto shook his head. "My points are already scraping the bottom."

"Back to being peasants, I guess." Hondo added wistfully.

"Wait, guys. Look at that dude..." Yamauchi called out.

it wasn't long before their attention shifted to Sudou. He was leaning heavily against Ayanokouji. His mouth was slightly open, and his snoring was loud enough to rival the bus engine. A thin trail of thick, wet drool glistened on his chin as he mumbled incoherently in his sleep.

"Oh man, this is gold!" Ike grinned. He pulled out his phone to take a shot of that. "I'm sending this to the group chat right now!"

"Wait, wait!" Miyamoto said, trying his best to hold back the laughter. "Get a close-up of Ayanokouji's face. He looks like he's aged ten years from dealing with this!"

Ayanokouji, as usual, looked unfazed. Though he slightly flinched and shifted his position to avoid Sudou's wetness.

"So, this is what people mean when they talk about karma, huh?" he muttered in a resigned tone.

The group erupted into laughter, which ended up drawing a few curious glances from the quieter corners of the bus.

A few rows ahead, the girls were having a very different conversation.

"Even with the test, this trip was so refreshing," Matsushita said, her voice carrying an air of satisfaction. "The ship, the view, the food... it felt like something out of a dream."

"I can't believe it's over," Onodera sighed, resting her cheek against her hand. "It felt like we were living in a dream, you know?"

"Totally," Shinohara agreed, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "I mean, who gets to live like that at our age?"

"Yeah. Well, I think it wasn't just the ship." Satou leaned back in her seat with a smile. "For me, I think it was spending time with everyone. It's weird, but I feel like I got to know people better on this trip."

Her eyes drifted toward some place behind me.

My gaze then shifted toward Karuizawa Kei, who was sitting behind them. She'd usually talk and make a fuss out of everything. But instead, she was sitting silent; her gaze was fixated on someone; more specifically, me.

It wasn't just a stare. It was sharp and probing glare, like she was trying to dissect me from a distance.

I pretended not to notice, and focused my gaze on the dimly lit screen of my phone. The last received message on 'Secret':

[ "It worked out exactly like you said. How?" ]

A simple message, yet loaded with curiosity. I glanced back at Karuizawa briefly before turning the screen off, and sliding the phone back into my pocket.