Classroom of the Elite: Free Will

V10.5: Chapter 1 - Graduation

Horikita Suzune POV

Today was March 31. It was the last day he... I mean my older brother would be here at this school.

"My face looks terrible."

Peering in the mirror, I saw I looked depressed and worn out, which could be attributed to the fact that I'd hardly slept last night. how much time had I even spent talking to my brother at this school? We'd been here together for a full year, and I was sure it didn't even total a couple of hours.

Our relationship was far too tenuous. People might mock me for it, saying my relationship with my brother hardly even qualified as friendship, and there wasn't much I could say in reply. We were siblings. That might seem like a close connection, but in reality, we were so far apart from each other that it was hard to even imagine we shared blood.

"Is it really okay to part ways while things are like this?" I asked to myself, posing the question to my reflection in the mirror.

My reflection didn't answer, of course. It was just me, staring back with a depressed expression. I didn't even need to meet my reflection's eyes to know that she was trying to bring something to my attention.

There were so many things I wanted to talk to my brother about. I couldn't even begin to list them all. I couldn't possibly part ways with him now, with things being what they were.

Or so I'd thought. And then a year went by, and in the end, I couldn't even make time for us to talk. But...things were different now. We could face each other now. I could meet him confidently, without hesitation. I could meet him proudly and we could say our final goodbyes.

At least that was the plan.... I would be the commander and win the exam for my class, then I could meet my brother head on. But then I lost miserably to Class D, they would be class C starting from tomorrow. It had been humiliating to just sit there through the whole thing, making decisions that seemed to have no effect and then that fight... I had hoped that Kiyotaka-kun would be capable of doing some damage control with a victory and it looked like it was going to happen... but then Kouenji-kun stopped the match.

What was I even thinking?! Sending Kouenji-kun there too?

"...No. It's just no use."

I wasn't even qualified to say goodbye to him right now.

It was certainly true that our relationship had changed. I'd been able to get my brother to look at me. But...

I'd barely been able to show my brother how much I'd grown this past year. Even if I did manage to say goodbye to him now, I was sure it wouldn't make him happy. If anything, it would only end up making him worry about his incompetent little sister. I couldn't sully the three dazzling years my brother had spent here with feelings like that.

Maybe it would be better if we didn't meet up at all? I ended up thinking to myself. I couldn't bother him with my selfishness...

"No. That's not right. That can't be better, can it?" I said aloud, once again posing my question to my reflection in the mirror.

I couldn't show him what I wanted to. Even so, that didn't mean running away was the right answer. If I could confidently tell my brother that I was all right, everything would be okay. So what would I do? What should I do? I didn't have much time left. I really wished I'd noticed my own foolishness much sooner. What if I had noticed it right after I had started school here?

"There's no point in second-guessing what's already happened, I suppose..."

It was now after eight o'clock in the morning. My brother would be leaving today at noon.