A/N: The graduation ceremony finally starts here!!!! Please enjoy!!!
Subaru and the other three got back to their classroom after seeing the girls arrive at their classroom first. The bell was going to ring soon, so they began getting ready for the ceremony. The Student Association had distributed a box containing flower badges for each graduating class, and now that most of the seniors were already arrived at their classroom, everyone was pinning the flower badges to their uniforms.
In no time, Subaru and the three had the badges pinned, looking at the flower badges with a long ribbon in front of one another's chest. "Well, it's official now! Picture, minna!!" Hinata said, grinning and taking out his camera. "I've been working on taking selfies ever since we went to Kusatsu! It should definitely turn out pretty good now!" He said, gesturing them to come closer. "Bet you got motivated by the girls pretty much, didn't you, seeing how the foreigners are so much better at taking selfies than us." Subaru said, snickering. "Yep, you're right. I've got used to them learning everything so fast, but it still surprises me every time I see them just do stuff so effortlessly." Hinata replied with a laugh.
"Well, they did say they practiced very hard. We just didn't see the efforts they put in." Haruka said with a chuckle. "True. People tend to overlook the effort others put into things and assume they're just good at everything. We mustn't be like that because that's an insult to their efforts." Aki nodded. "Wow Aki, why the sudden wise words?" Hinata asked, now raising the camera high and trying to get a good angle. He shrugged. "Dunno, graduation ceremony magic, maybe." Aki said, and, looking up at the camera, put on a smile quite rarely seen on his face. "Ohh nice, keep that smile on! Minna, brighten up!" Hinata said, and they did so. With a click, the moment was captured. "Heh, not bad at all." Subaru said as Hinata showed them the picture.
"Right?? I'm pretty proud of it too!! Let's take another one! C'mon, arms around each other!" Hinata said, raising the camera up again, and once again, they did as Hinata requested. Subaru, next to Hinata with Haruka in front of him, had one arm around his shoulders and one around hers. Hinata's other arm was around Subaru, and Aki, standing behind Subaru, had his long arms on all of them, his left circling around Hinata and his right around Subaru and extending to Haruka, pulling all of them tighter together. A moment later, the scene with such harmony among the four was preserved as well.
"Oh oh picture? Count me in!" One of the guys that Subaru got along quite well toward the end of the second semester came to them, throwing his arms around them. "I wanna join too, haha!" Another came, and a few seconds later, a girl shoved herself in frame with a "Me too!". Hinata, laughing, kept on pressing the shutter button. The third photo had the additional two guys, the fourth one had the girl leaning against Hinata, the fifth had three more joining, crashing onto Subaru and Haruka, the sixth one had two more trying to climb up Aki's back. The photo taking went on as more came to join them. It was a marvelous scene, just a bunch of teenagers leaning onto one another, hugging one another, squashing against one another, just trying to get in frame of the photos taken.
In the end, the whole class was in the photo, all grinning, laughing, just feeling the somewhat rarely felt harmony among the class. Subaru was wearing a large grin, as well as Hinata. Aki and Haruka seemed to have decided to leave their guards down and laughed along with exceptionally bright smiles, and toward the end, someone, nobody knew how they did it, went out the classroom and somehow just snatched Kishitsuji sensei out of thin air and brought him to the photo taking session. He did not object at all and allowed himself get steered to the front of the group. "Sensei, a big smile, if you'd please!" Everyone shouted, and he complied. The classroom exploded a while later when they saw a, at least to them, never-seen-before soft smile on Kishitsuji sensei's face. Most of the girls were asking Hinata if he could send them the photos, and he promised that everyone in the class will get a copy of all the photos taken for sure.
Just then, the bell rang, indicating that it would soon be the time for the graduation ceremony to start. As the twelfth graders began filing out the classroom to head to the Great Hall, they saw the four girls coming toward them. "Hey, what brought you here?" Subaru asked with a smile as they stopped in front of one another. "We were just wondering if we could take a photo together before the ceremony? We sort of forgot about that when we were touring around the school earlier." Emilia answered. "Plus, it would be extra memorable because this is most likely our last photo together as students of this school." Rem added. "Oh, I like the sentimental factors we're getting here! Alright let's do it!" Hinata said, taking out the camera again. "Leaving it to you cameraman! Capture the best of the girls' features!!" Subaru shouted, and Hinata saluted at the camera he was holding in the air, and the former got flicked on the arm hard by Ram.
"Iyarashii!" She said with a click of her tongue. "Nee-sama I was freaking praising you alright?" Subaru shouted back, trying to flick her back. "It's alright, Subaru, in fact. Betty understands that, and you may praise her cute face more, Betty supposes." Beatrice said, patting Subaru on the arm Laughing, Hinata pressed the shutter button. They were smiling, they were bickering, they were messing with one another, they were acting just as usual. On this day where everything became anything but usual, Hinata preserved the moment of the lives that they all cherished the most, and with that, the photo taking was wrapped up, and the eight, following the other students, headed off toward the Graduation Ceremony at last.
The lower graders were told to enter the Great Hall first and sit down in their seats, while the twelfth graders were instructed to wait outside the hall for their entry. As students on both the outside and inside of the hall noisily took their positions, the teachers and the principal were entering the Great Hall too. Kishitsuji sensei was with the other homeroom teachers of the seniors, and Matsushita sensei, Hanezawa sensei, Shiraki sensei, along with the other teachers, were a few rows behind. They watched the students sit down and the few teachers settling things down on the stage with a small smile, and finally, when everything and everyone was ready and quieted down, the emcee took the mic.
At the same time, the twelfth graders, unlike the others in the hall, were still chatting noisily, and at last, they saw the teacher waiting with them indicate that it was time at last. "This is it, here goes." Subaru thought as the line he was in began moving. Through the open doors, he saw the Great Hall filled up with students and teachers clapping for them. They went through arches of roses and other pretty flowers as they walked down the hall, waving and smiling at the students on their sides. Subaru spotted the four girls and their classmates in the sea of students and waved at them, and from the corner of his eye, he saw Hinata, a bit behind him, do the same. They waved back with dazzling smiles, and quite a few lower graders who knew them well were already wiping their eyes.
As Subaru came closer to his seat, he also locked eyes with many more teachers he knew. Matsushita sensei beamed at him the same way he always remembered; Shiraki sensei's smile was a soft one accompanied with some pride; Hanezawa sensei, whom he didn't know that well, smiled and nodded at him nevertheless and applauded along with everyone else. The walk along got Subaru quite emotional. Man, how'd I react when we finally go up the stage and get our diploma, Subaru wondered. Soon, the twelfth graders were seated as well. Hinata was on his left, and Aki was almost at the end of the row on the right side. Haruka, on the other hand, was sitting on their left in the row in front of them.
Seeing that all of the seniors had arrived, the emcee proceeded to opening the ceremony. "It was a highly enjoyable year, for both the upper and lower graders." He began speaking, and as a lot of people expected, the emcee was one of the Kakuma brothers, Kakuma Kenya. "We have worked hard for the whole year, especially our respectable seniors. They helped us create quite a few legendary events, helped us bring the students closer together as a huge family, helped the school arrive at a higher place than before. Of course, it was with the whole student body's assistance that such remarkable achievements were achieved, but it was undeniable that the twelfth graders contributed the most!" Kenya came to a pause, and a round of applause from the students cracked the momentary silence. Once the applause died down, Kenya, to everyone's amusement, did some sort of funny twirl and switched places with one of the other two Kakuma brothers who'd been standing by in the shadows of the side of the stage. A few more laughters and claps sounded in the crowd, and Kenta went on speaking.
"Now, it is time for the aspiring seniors to move on to the next parts of their lives! They have shown us virtues that we should all look up to. They are not afraid to stand up against established rules that they find outdated and illogical. They put in every bit of their efforts to fight for what they believe is rightfully theirs. They show leadership qualities that sometimes even adults don't possess! And one of the most important lessons they have taught us is that," Kenta held his fists tight in high spirits. "Is that, they don't just turn around and run away from obstacles and hardship! They run headlong into what's blocking their way! They charge willingly into challenges that make others falter! They teach the juniors that giving up doesn't suit them, and it doesn't suit any single one of us!!" Kenta shouted, and Subaru smiled at the words, wondering if Shibata had shared what he once told him with other people.
Twirling and making everyone laugh again, Kenta switched places with Kenshi, and the latter began the last part of the opening speech. "We have learned a great deal from our seniors. They have shown us how much one can achieve with the virtues they possess, and it will be our duty to keep after them and thrive to be better. They made several school events into legends, but it doesn't mean we will stop trying to create even better things, to go above and beyond. They will be our goals, a great target for us to keep running after! We will soon become the next seniors, and we will show them that their spirits and their legacy will never be forgotten! And today is the day that we will see them depart from this huge family and show that we have received what they left us! Congratulate the seniors on the completion of their high school career! Applaud for their accomplishments! Let the Graduation Ceremony begin!!" Kenshi shouted, and the hall broke into applause again.
As the clapping and cheering quieted down again, the screen started lowering, and Kenshi spoke. "A message from the Student Association." He said, and a video started playing. The video was similar to what was shown on the Yuki Matsuri, displaying pictures after pictures of students working hard on preparing the events. But this one, it was filled with much more photos from their daily lives. Students studying together, students enjoying their recesses together, students and teachers conversing about class contents. A lot of videos were shown too. Many were just people messing around with one another, and more were funny videos taken during the events, and when the one showing Subaru getting pranked by the crossdressing Hinata was shown, Subaru coughed out another mouthful of comical blood and fell off his chair, making the audience go crazy for quite a few moments.
Finally, the video came to an end, and the Student Association members were on the screen now, saying their farewells. "It had been a phenomenal year, minna. Thank you all for everything." Shibata's words of appreciation ended the video, and the students clapped again, whistling, and finally, it was time for the twelfth graders to go on stage and receive their diploma. The principal took the mic from Kenshi, who bowed as he handed over the mic, and started a small speech as he always did before events would commence. Once again, the students didn't really pay him any attention as they whispered among themselves about the video they just saw and immersed themselves in the good memories again. The principal, apparently foreseeing such reactions this time, kept his speech short, and once he finished, he handed the mic back to Kenshi and went to stand behind the podium over which he'd be handing the diplomas. At the same time, the twelfth graders stood up, getting ready to go up to the stage. The teachers did as well and went up the stage first, getting in positions beside the principal.
One by one, the twelfth graders' names were called, and they walked up the stage, bowed at the teachers and the principal, and took the diplomas from the latter. A picture was taken for everyone when the diploma was handed over, and when they walked off the stage, many decided to do something funny. A lot of them punched their fists in the air and jumped around, many did funny poses, and a few did a backflip, and one of those doing a backflip didn't land well enough and fell off the stage, causing the students to erupt with laughter again. And finally, they arrived at Subaru's class. The girls were called up one by one first as they did in every other classes.
Soon, with a call of "Tsuyumi Haruka-san", Haruka was up, walking toward the podium. It was a pretty funny scene, because Subaru, Hinata, and Aki could tell from the principal's body language that he was still a bit scared of Hurka, probably because of how fierce she was before and the fact that she once shouted at the whole school through a megaphone about the punishment they were given by the Head of DSA when the school went nuts for the girls on that one morning. It was even funnier when they noticed Kishitsuji sensei appearing to be holding back a snicker. Finally, she took the diploma, had the picture taken, and walked down the stage, and before she did that, she put her hand doing the peace sign in the air with her legs slightly open, showing a high resemblance with the sprite of Mario from Super Mario World whenever a level was cleared. Hinata had to hold on to Subaru's shoulder to prevent himself from falling on the floor.
A few minutes later, "Kouyou Aki-kun" was called, and Aki walked on the stage. A rather similar scene was observed as the principal handed over Aki's diploma, and whether it was the light doing tricks or out of the principal's own self defensive mechanism, it looked like the principal had shrunk a little on the spot when Aki was receiving the diploma. But soon, they found out that it was probably due to the latter, because the smile on Aki's face, very different from a while ago when they were taking photos, looked more like a leer than a smile. "Well, looks like Aki wasn't gonna feel forgiving for the principal anytime soon." Subaru said with a laugh as Aki jumped off the stage with his hands held in the air.
"Natsuki Subaru-kun" sounded another few minutes later, and Subaru walked on the stage, feeling his heart thumping. Time seemed to be diluting a little as he stepped toward the podium, because he felt like he was taking in his surroundings extra well at the moment. He looked at all the faces of the students in the audience that he now came to feel familiar with; he turned to the other side and looked at all the teachers who were clapping for him too. He turned to the audience once again and saw Hinata whistling for him, Aki and Haruka punching their hands in the air for him, and he grinned at them. And as if it all happened in an instance, his eyes were on the principal. He was handing him the diploma, saying a line repeated many times already. "You have made great strides in your education, and we are proud of everything you have done. As a proof of your achievements, here is your diploma." He said, and Subaru reached over his hands over the podium and took the diploma. "Thank you very much, Mr. Principal!" Subaru said and bowed his head.
He then turned around and faced the same direction as the principal, letting the picture be taken. In the few seconds in which the photo was taken, his eyes found Emilia, Rem, Ram, and Beatrice. Emilia and Rem were wiping their eyes, and the smiles on their faces were as pretty as ever; Ram's smile was more docile as well, not the usual smug one she reserved for him only, and Beatrice's smiling face had the cute smile that fitted her cute appearance the best. In that instance, Subaru's eyes also found all the other great friends he made along the way. Shibata, Ishida, Izumo, Izumi, Shiori, Nico, Kotoha, Yui, Aya, Mutsuki, Kenichi, Kousuke, and many other people. A lot of things happened, some were bad, most were great; a lot of people came into his life, some were bad, most were brilliant; a lot of things occurred in his head, some were bad, most were extraordinary. "Thank you, everyone! This last year in school, it wouldn't have been this amazing had it not been for you." He said in his mind as he stroke his signature pose at the edge of the stage.
Soon after Subaru, "Natsuno Hinata-kun" was called, and Hinata bounced up the stage, grinning his bright grin that shone just like the sun. Bowing his head deeply at the teachers and the principal, he took the diploma handed to him, and turned around for the photo. From below the stage, Subaru could tell the principal was feeling relieved that Hinata was just a soft cinnamon roll, not the scary students he just faced a while ago. Stifling a snicker, Subaru went back to his seat and sat down, just in time to see Hinata striking an extremely impressive Dio pose as well as doing an extremely spot on "WRYYYYYYYY". "Nice one Hinata!!" Subaru shouted over the laughters and whistles of the students.
Just like that, in the applause and laughters of the students, all the twelfth graders went up the stage and got their diplomas, and the ceremony would soon be brought to a close. The last bit of the ceremony was going to be a speech given by the Head of Student Association, Shibata himself. He walked back up the stage soon after the voices in the hall died down a bit. His eyes looked a bit red and puffy already. Before he started, he turned around and whispered to the teacher standing behind him, and a few moments later, a box of tissue papers was handed to him. He blew his nose, stuffed the folded tissue into his pocket, and tapped the mic. "I did say before that I'm easily influenced by people crying around me, didn't I?" He said in a slightly nasal voice, and small laughters broke the silence again, followed by a few sniffs.
After everyone, including himself, calmed down a bit, Shibata started speaking. "The last year here was, well, completely unexpected, I should say. It was faced with new things, new people, and new challenges. I would never have thought that it would bring such a huge change on me, nevertheless, it did, and it told me something very important. As the Head of the Student Association, I worked very hard to lead the student body, hoping to make the school a better place in all aspects. It was going well, for a bit, at least to me. The students were mostly following along well, and we got to hold several events. We were faced with some obstacles, and to be honest, I was one of the first to back away from those." Shibata said. "I assume that you all know that we didn't have events in the first semester that were as enjoyable as the ones in the last two, right? I suppose, it was on me, for I didn't have enough courage to push myself, push ourselves a bit harder. It was not until later in the second semester that I began to change, and I assume, once again, you know the reason why." He came to a small pause, and Subaru could feel a lot of eyes on him. Although he knew none were glances of hatred or despises, he decided not to react to the glances for now.
"When the teachers said the twelfth graders weren't participating in the Cultural Festival, I gave in, because I thought the teachers were right about that since we had to study and all that, but 12-F did it anyways, under the lead of their homeroom teacher. I was surprised that they didn't obey, but Kishitsuji sensei has always been a bit of a rebel, so I didn't pay much attention to it." Small laughters broke out again, and Kishitsuji sensei waved his hand with a nod and a proud smile. "I thought, Kishitsuji sensei has always shown strong characters, so his opposing the principal and other teachers probably won't have that much of a serious consequence. Maybe he did face some serious consequences that we didn't know, but that wasn't the point here. From that event, I began doubting myself a bit. Should I have been more aggressive and more rebellious like him? Should I fight a little more? Should I walk out the character trope of 'person staying in the back and looking over things'? I was given the answer when the Sports Day was canceled." Shibata said, and most of the students were listening to him very intently now. They never knew the details about how the Yuki Matsuri was born.
"The teachers were right about canceling because it could be dangerous. But there was just this small part of me that wasn't buying it. I knew I probably could have done something to make the events fit the snow we were facing better, but I didn't do it. Someone else did it, someone who gave me a straight hit across the face and let me realized my weakness. Like I said, I'm sure you all know him super well by now, so let me not waste time on that, but I do want to spend the last bit of time talking about what changed in me." He said. More eyes on Subaru, but he just looked up at the stage, smiling. "I suppose you still remember Kakuma Kenta-kun's words? I asked him to put this in his part, 'giving up doesn't suit us, it doesn't suit anyone.' I was told this, and I felt thunderstruck. It was so simple, but so impactful to me. I gave up way too easily. Maybe you say, the reasons why we had to cancel events or stop part of the students from participating are valid, but that doesn't mean I couldn't fight for it anymore. I could work my way around them, I could communicate with them about alternatives, I could even say, I give you that but we need to do something else to make it up. I didn't even think of that! I gave up readily, and that's when I realized my weakness. I need to stop giving up and just hang on to something, even if it was a string that was about to break. Just hold on, and there will be a way for you to keep going. But wait, apart from that, there's also something else. It is important to keep going, keep holding on, but that doesn't mean you need to hold on to stuff alone. Let that string be replaced by hands of your friends, your peers, your loved ones. Don't be alone in the struggle! Ask for others' help! Because we are never alone! I was taught this, and I wish you all bear that in mind as well. Don't ever give up easily, because that doesn't suit any of us! Don't just struggle alone, because there is always people out there willing to lend you a hand! Courage, experience, wisdom, power, strength, leadership, love, you don't gain those alone. You gain those when people are around and are willing to give them to you! Those don't just suddenly come to you! You work with people, you building a bond with people, you find trust in the bond, and finally, those will be given to you. I learned that from the guy we all know very well, and I hope you all gained something from this little speech of mine." Shibata wrapped up his speech, and as the audience applauded, Subaru felt multiple pairs of hands land on him and tears welling up in his eyes.
"You really are something, Subaru! Kaichou's whole speech is about you!!" Hinata shouted through two lines of tears as he wrapped his arm around his shoulders and cheered for him while everyone else around him reached out to pat him, shouting their approval and appreciation of him as well. Behind them, watching the twelfth graders cheer as well as the ending of the ceremony, Emilia and Rem beamed, their faces still wet with tears. "I'm so happy Subaru gets to graduate with the whole school's recognition." Emilia said softly. "Hai, Emilia-sama. Rem feels the same way. She feels so happy and blessed that everyone here has come to view Subaru-kun the same way Rem does, a hero." Rem replied. Listening to them, Ram and Beatrice smiled too.
Under the applause and shouts from the whole school, the Graduation Ceremony was brought to an end, and at last, the final farewell, the final goodbyes, and the final confessions among the students were about to begin.
A/N: Another done, another chapter closer to the end!! Let's get emotional!! To the next chapter! Thanks for reading!!