anatomy

Chapter 19

During spring break, Emilia's family goes out of town, which means that there's no chance for her to see Shingen over the break. They take their chance to say goodbye before the trip, but that does not make her miss him any less once she's gone. She's able to text him, at least, and that helps ease things. And she knows that once she leaves for college, they'll be able to see each other even less often. Having a class with him has really spoiled her.

Her family always goes to the beach on her spring break though, and she tries to enjoy her trip as much as she can. If she were to spend every second trying to talk to Shingen, not only would her parents get suspicious, but he would likely get annoyed, and would definitely tell her that she should be having fun while she's there. So that's what she does, though any chance she can take to keep in touch with him, she doesn't resist.

When she gets back home, there'll be prom preparations to do, and then graduation preparations and then...and then she'll be done with high school. Her senior year has been more eventful than she could have ever imagined. She's not taken much time to really take in all the "lasts" that she's been experiencing, because Shingen has occupied so much of her time and thought, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

Nights are the hardest; though they've gone more than a week without doing anything in the past, there's something about knowing that they can't because of distance that makes it harder for her. The first night by herself, she tries to take care of things on her own, and, when she tells him about it the next day, he tells her to call him once her parents are asleep.

"It's great to hear from you, pumpkin," he says, as soon as he picks up, and just hearing his voice is enough to give her a slight shudder. The anticipation of this call has been building all day.

"Great to hear from you too," she breathes, and he chuckles.

"I can tell that you really need this, hm? Well, I'm glad that I can help," he says. "Now, I'll need you to put a hand between your legs, if you haven't already, and feel free to start imagining that it's mine..."

~X~

Her vacation and time away from him is made a little more bearable by their nightly calls, and then it's finally time to return home. They see each other a little on the weekend before she returns to school, but then it's back to the usual schedule. Time is going by so quickly now, and the end of the year is fast approaching.

She is soon busy with prom preparations, which Shingen doesn't mind. "I'm sure that boy isn't going to try anything, you've got too many dimensions for him. I hope you have a lot of fun with your friends. Dances were never really...well, my style, but you should enjoy everything you can before it's too late. You won't get another chance again, you know."

"You really do sound like a teacher sometimes," she replies with a giggle.

"Well, that is my job, so I'll choose to take that as a compliment. Besides, you have to like it, you're the one who had a crush on your teacher."

"Not a very good teacher, considering you had a crush on your student."

"I don't hear you complaining, Miss Emilia," he scolds. "You're not going to make good on your threat to report me, after all this time?"

Still, a part of her feels silly getting excited for prom, like it really draws out the difference in their ages, so she doesn't talk too much about it. She doesn't send him pictures while she picks out a dress, and she doesn't fill him in on every little detail of the process. There are still some great distances between the two of them that can only be overcome with time, but someday, she hopes they'll fully be on the same level. Either way, it's nothing that she's unhappy about, and just comes with the territory of being with someone different than herself.

She's glad that he isn't going to be one of the teacher chaperones, at least, because she can't imagine how awkward it would be to potentially dance with another guy in front of him, and she just knows that Erika would tease her endlessly over it. In fact, she can't help but think Erika would be making faces at her all night over it, and that would be more than she could bear.

The four of them go in a group, though it isn't clear if Erika's intentions with Azusa are entirely platonic or not. It's somewhat obvious by now that Azusa has a crush on Erika, but where things are going to go from there, Emilia doesn't know. She doesn't know if Erika is still hung up on Miss Kujiragi, or if a crush is just a crush to her, if she doesn't let it consume her completely like Emilia did with Shingen. It's probably different; she's probably more open to other possibilities.

In way, that would be better for her, but, also, in a way, it was Emilia's inability to move on that helped her get where she is now, and she couldn't be happier. Still, she can't say who she would be rooting for, if it came down to Erika pursuing Miss Kujiragi, or Azusa getting her way. Whatever would make Erika happiest, she supposes.

And then there's Walker, who is completely content to spend their senior prom fantasizing about the world of fiction, and occasionally trying to get Erika, Azusa, or Emilia to join him. They've all got their own lives, and their own things going on, and though she knows that there's still a little time left in their year, and that there's still time after high school, Emilia can't help but be sad as she thinks about this as the last time things are going to be this way.

Being with someone older than her has it's good points, and she loves Shingen so much that she wouldn't trade being with him for anything, but it's still nice to have times like this, when she can act her age and feel young, and be with others who feel the same way. She's glad that she agreed to go to prom, and she's glad that she transferred here and was able to meet such amazing friends. It was weird, having her last year of school in a new place, but even if she had only met Erika and Walker, even if nothing had ever happened between her and Shingen, it still would have been worth it, because she'll always be able to remember high school as a happy time.

Even if it was only for her last year, she was able to experience what makes people look back on their school years as the best years of their lives.