anatomy

Chapter 20

The end of the school year comes and goes in such a blur that it's almost impossible to register any of it. She doesn't have much to do at school during the last couple weeks, as her grades are high enough that she's able to opt out of all of her finals, and so there's nothing for her to study for. Emilia doesn't skip any classes in this time, not even on the day the rest of her classmates skip, but she's bored out of her mind in every class other than anatomy.

The saddest part about the school year coming to an end is not being able to have a class with Shingen anymore, even if she'll be able to be more open about their relationship if she lives somewhere that no one knows them. After all, if she doesn't have a class with him, and if she's living a good distance from him, then that means she won't get to see him almost every day anymore. She won't get to see him very much at all, and she knows that it's not going to be that bad as long as they stay in touch, and that college will keep her busy, but it's still the saddest part about graduating.

There are a couple students who go to him over the last few days of school, telling him that they're going to miss having him as a teacher, that he's taught them so much and that he will always be one of their favorite teachers. Emilia restrains herself, not that it would be too obvious at this point, when it's the end of the year and everyone is sentimental. They've made it this far without being found out; it seems that they're really going to get away with it after all.

The last day of classes is bittersweet, and she almost wishes that she hadn't opted out of her anatomy final, just so that she could have one more class with him, even if they would be sitting in silence, with her taking a test. Still, there was no point in taking a test that she didn't need to.

Sitting around for a week while waiting for finals to be over, and waiting for her graduation day is rather boring, but school days end earlier so she's able to see Shingen once he's able to get out of there. He complains about having to teach classes when school might as well be over, and when she reminds him that it isn't for the juniors he teaches, he says, "But they've already completed their work the same as you all. All they get is an extra study hall, and who would take that class their junior year, anyway?"

"I did," she replies, "at my old school."

"Don't tell me you took it again just to meet me!"

"I didn't know you existed before the first day of school, so I don't think that's possible," she teases.

"You know me, pumpkin," he replies. "I'm a man of science, so I always consider all the possibilities."

"If that's what you want to call it, dear."

"You wound me, Emilia, you really do."

Not for the first time, she finds herself remembering how things were at the beginning of the school year, and how there was once a time when she never could have imagined herself being able to tease Shingen like this. Even now, it still feels a little surreal, like she's dreaming and like she could wake up at any given moment. But, by now, she knows that it isn't a dream, and that it hasn't been for a while.

~X~

On the actual day of her graduation ceremony, she sits toward the front and is one of the first to walk, receiving honors, and then sitting back down for the rest of the ceremony. Where she sits, she has a good view of Shingen with the other teachers, and not even an event like this is enough to get him to remove his gas mask. Plenty of parents give him strange looks, but he is unphased.

Emilia wonders what her own parents would think of him, and she realizes that this is the first time they've been in the same room. She doesn't know if or when they'll be able to know about him, and a part of her feels guilty about the distance between her and her parents, but then, it feels like it was there even before Shingen came into her life.

Whatever happens from here on out happens. She's graduated high school and she's going on to college, and then the rest of her life; she won't be living with her parents anymore, and the distance can be as great as she makes it. Emilia is just going to take things as they come, she supposes.

Walker is one of the last students to get his diploma, and then there are a few more speeches; Emilia is grateful that she wasn't involved in enough weighted classes to be a candidate for the valedictorian, despite her high grades, because she could not imagine having to give such a winded speech in front of all of these people. Finally, the ceremony comes to close and she and her classmates toss their caps, and it's all over, and she's officially finished high school.

~X~

She doesn't have a graduation party, but Erika does, with mostly underclassmen from the cosplay club in attendance. Emilia gets invited to a few parties besides that, the ones where everyone in the graduating class is invited, but she doesn't bother going, because neither of her friends plan to go, and there's really not much point without them. Her summer vacation has begun, and soon, she'll be free to see Shingen a lot more, though it won't be long before she's busy preparing for college.

In fact, the summer passes by even quicker than the school year did, and before she knows it, she and Erika are looking for somewhere to live, and Walker is convincing them to let him room with them so that he can get a job in that city. Somehow, it all feels perfectly natural that he would rent an apartment with them, and, just a few weeks before school begins, the three of them move in together.

That is when she has to tell Shingen that her friends figured out their affair long ago, and, though he's a little disappointed that it wasn't a complete secret, he says, "But, if they kept quiet for that long then I suppose they won't go back to the school to report me now.Still, it'll be a little weird to have me over all the time, don't you think?"

And it is a little weird, to have her older boyfriend who used to be their teacher in their apartment, especially when it's obvious to both Erika and Walker what the two of them are getting up to. They have to coordinate visits, because Erika sometimes has Azusa and other underclassmen come over for sleepovers, and Emilia wonders still if anything is ever going to happen between Azusa and Erika, but she does not pry.

College classes keep her very busy, as does the part time job she picks up so that she does not have to rely on her parents as much. Shingen jokes about helping her out financially, saying that she might not like the implications of an older man paying for everything she needs, but she insists that she can handle yourself.

"I know you," he says. "I've always known how capable you are. After all, it's not every day a student catches my eye like you did."

"I sure hope not," she replies. "I wouldn't want any competition."

"As if. No one could ever hope to compete with you, Miss Emilia."

And so, her affair with her anatomy teacher turns into simply an affair with an older man, as she graduates and goes on to the rest of her life.