Japan. A hotel on the peninsula. An extended luxury car slowly stopped in front of the hotel, and Yukio got out of the car with Shiina, Ibuki, and Sakura.
Today was the tenth year since the students of his year had graduated. Every year before this, there had been a class reunion, and this year was no exception.
Only, the ones around him had just gotten out of the car when a pure-white sedan drove over and stopped smoothly behind them.
When he saw the familiar yet somewhat weathered face of the driver in the front passenger seat, Ryuen's former second-in-command, Ishizaki, Yukio could only smile and wait. "Yukio, it really isn't easy to see you. I only get to wait for a class reunion."
Ryuen was not saying that for no reason. Yukio usually stayed at his own home and did not come to Sakurajima many times in a year. It was truly difficult for his old classmates to see him.
At the same time, a moment after them, Rika, one of the class members, also got out of the car and greeted everyone. She trotted over to join the three girls beside Shiina, and they had already begun chatting and laughing.
Yukio glanced toward the little side road by the white sedan. Seeing that Ryuen had already left the parking lot and was slowly walking away from this area, he did not add anything to his class reunion.
Although Ryuen could bring him in under his "family member" identity, the side path seemed to be marked "6:6:3." There was no time to linger there. Earlier, when he'd seen someone online say the industrial-style café was pretty good, he had wanted to go take a look today.
After graduating from Advanced Nurturing High School, Yukio brought Ayanokouji to his own research institute. Ayanokouji stayed with the institute for three years, and every year he also had fixed vacation time when he could come back to visit the Ryuen family.
After three years, once there was nothing left for Ayanokouji to handle, Saki returned to the Ryuen family and became Ryuen's assistant at the clinic that his adoptive mother had opened.
Yukio looked at his old little companion. Now that he had short, neat hair, he could not help sighing in his heart. Time was like a shuttle. He casually raised his hand and fist-bumped Ryuen. "Still doing well?"
"Pretty good." Ryuen laughed casually. After graduating, he had not continued with any violent business. Instead, using the resources from graduating from Class A at Advanced Nurturing High School, he opened a pharmaceutical company. Over the years, he had done quite well.
When this matter spread through the class chat, the whole class was shocked. No one had expected that the black-hearted Ryuen-big-brother who had lorded over them after graduation had gone off to open a pharmaceutical company.
When Yukio heard about it, he had also called in amazement. Ryuen explained that it was to help his mother Runa's little clinic with its business.
"That's all it was. Just a drizzle." When Ryuen talked about his own career, he was also quite proud. The two of them exchanged a few words, then took the elevator up with Yukio and headed to the private room on the upper floor.
When they entered the private room, most of the people who were supposed to come had already arrived and were chatting happily. Some were talking about their experiences over the past decade, while others talked about achievements and daily life. It was an easy, cheerful atmosphere.
Ishizaki, that guy who could not survive being separated from the class, immediately noticed Yukio's arrival. "Yukio-aniki! Over here, over here!"
"You brat, you've gotten more and more like Ryuen." Yukio walked over with Ryuen. Looking at Ishizaki, whose hair was slicked back and who wore a suit and tie, he did have a bit of that air of a business elite.
Ishizaki had been doing quite well these years too. More importantly, once he left behind the immaturity of his youth, the more energetic he looked. If one just looked at that sturdy build, one might believe he was some extremely important senior executive.
But Ishizaki had not continued working under Ryuen. After graduation, he had been invited by Kaneda to start a business together. They established a building-materials transportation company, each holding half the shares.
Along the way, Yukio helped them keep things stable, which made Ishizaki's life increasingly comfortable. In the first few years after getting married, Yukio even sent him a large red envelope.
"Hahaha, that's true, but it wasn't just me. Kaneda also helped a lot. He deserves half the credit!" Ishizaki immediately accepted the praise from his family's big brother, feeling delighted. He conveniently wanted to put in a few good words for Kaneda too.
Kaneda, who had once been the class bully's lapdog, was now dragged over by Ishizaki. "Calm down a little. Yukio-san helped you plenty. How could it all be my credit?"
"Huh?" Ishizaki looked blankly at Kaneda. As he looked, he even narrowed his eyes in confusion. "When did aniki help me? Why don't I know?"
"…" Kaneda instantly felt as if he were sitting in the same classroom as Ishizaki ten years ago. After all these years, this guy's brain still had not improved. He wondered if his head had withered away.
"Pfft." Nishino, who was standing beside Kaneda, had once been a rather solitary girl in Yukio's class. She had even rebelled against Yukio during a previous special exam because she did not want to hand over her phone. Later, after getting to know him in the canteen, she had exchanged contact information with him, and in his memory, she had been a fairly deep impression of a classmate.
Seeing Ishizaki still looking like this, Nishino found it amusing and affectionately held Kaneda's hand. "All right, all right. It's not like Ishizaki has been this way only once or twice. Dear, you should be used to it by now."
That was right. Nishino and Kaneda—the former was a solitary member among the girls in the class, while the latter was a frail class bully. Five years after graduation, they got married. Back then, the class chat shook the earth, shocking everyone.
No one in the class had expected these two to get together. It was enough to surprise people.
"Big Bro, you're here! And Ryuen-aniki too! Come on, come on! Today we have to drink till we're happy!"
"Aiya, you're finally here. Hurry, hurry. Yukio-aniki, as soon as you arrived, we could start drinking! Today we absolutely have to keep Teacher Sakagami from leaving before he's down! Before we graduate, we have to make Sakagami-sensei drink!"
Nomura, Komiya, Yamada, and the other members excitedly called out, their faces brimming with enthusiasm, no longer carrying the restraint from when they had first entered the banquet hall.
After all, how should one describe men? Until death, they were still boys. After entering society for ten years, those boys had usually become steady and proper. But when they returned to their old classroom, that flavor of youth from back then suddenly exploded in an instant. Everyone seemed to become younger, relaxing and enjoying this long-awaited reunion.
Sakagami, who had been surrounded by them, now looked old and tired, but he still had enough energy. He laughed nonstop, the wrinkles on his face pressing together. "You all, you all. I won't let any of you off! Before I came today, I took medicine. I'm not even afraid of you all trying to get me drunk."
Yukio and Ryuen walked over together, warmly joining the noise. As a result, they happened to hear Sakagami say that. Compared with ten years ago, this teacher had not declined at all. His way of avoiding alcohol was truly top-notch.
Ryuen immediately took out his phone. "Sakagami-sensei, you should have told us earlier. There happens to be a stomach-pump machine at Yukio's hotel here. Wait, I'll call someone to carry it up for you. After they pump your stomach, we can keep drinking."
"…" Sakagami froze completely. He looked up at Ryuen, at a loss for what to say for a moment. Were these words a little too terrifying?
"Hahahahaha!" It was rare for everyone to see such an expression on their former class teacher's face. Seeing this ridiculous scene, Ishizaki burst out laughing, and the classmates immediately followed suit.
"This is great. With Ryuen-aniki ready, Sakagami-sensei definitely won't be able to escape tonight."
"With Sakagami-sensei's tolerance tonight, it looks like he'll definitely be able to drink to his heart's content."
At this moment, Nomura laughed loudly and patted Ishizaki on the back. "You too. Normally, you never come out drinking. Tonight, none of us are leaving sober!"
"Huh?" Ishizaki, who had originally been fooling around and acting as if they had returned to their school days when he was touching a dark boxing ball, suddenly looked troubled. "Drinking? Drinking until the brink is about enough, right? I… my kid is still waiting for me at home."
Nomura understood this very well. He did not feel let down. After all, after ten years, over the years, the first two class reunions had been wild and ordinary, with everyone playing as they pleased. But the further along they got, the harder it was to make appointments.
Everyone had their own careers and lives. It was impossible to play together recklessly like they had ten years ago in high school.
He understood. He understood it all. Nomura just felt a little unwilling to let go, so he laughed and patted Ishizaki on the shoulder. "It's fine, it's fine. Then tomorrow I'll go to your place as a guest, Ishizaki. I haven't seen your brat in so many years."
"Sure, no problem." Ishizaki felt a bit apologetic too. After ten years, the old grudge between them had become an 80-percent-acquaintance sort of friendship.
Yukio kept one hand on each of their shoulders. "Why so gloomy? Do you still remember the song we sang on graduation day ten years ago?"
"Big Bro, you mean the graduation song? I remember that one clearly! I cried while singing it back then! Nomura, that brat, even praised me for singing with feeling."
"Get lost. Ten years ago, I meant your crying sounded really wolf-like. But this time, you can only sing with feeling."
"Huh? You're cheating…"
"Enough, enough." Yukio stepped in to stop this pair of treasures from arguing. "Then you all should remember the last two lines, right?"
Almost subconsciously, Ishizaki and Nomura answered together. From the deepest memories in their hearts, they pulled out the words they had once sung at the graduation ceremony.
"Even if today is goodbye, we will still meet again someday."
Perhaps youth would always come to an end. Everyone would step into society, become more or less distant, become gradually busy. But every farewell was for the sake of a more beautiful reunion next time.
Their youth had ended, but they would not scatter.
END.