CH. 50 - After Party

“And with that, this year’s Sports Festival has completed its final event! Let us come together one last time and decide our winners, shall we!?” Shuhei announces.

Shiori gets her elbow and knee cleaned and bandaged before joining the front of her class along with the other two leads. Mr. Goda then steps next to her, leaning down to speak softly to her.

“I’m so proud of you and the rest of the class. You did well today, regardless of the outcome.” He says gently, giving her a genuine smile as she smiles at the gesture. 

“We all know the score prior to that wonderful finale moments ago! Class 4-1 with 137 points, class 3-2 with 133 points and class 2-1 with 144 points! But with the conclusion of the final event, that all changed! With careful consideration, we judges have come to a conclusion! Coming in third, we have class 3-2! Tom, please step forward and take your place on the winner’s podium!” Shuhei cheers.

Tom does as told with a smile on his face and stands on the third position on the podium. A referee approaches Tom with a bronze medal and hangs it around his neck. The third years cheer for him.

“We love you, Tom!”

“We don’t care if it’s third, we loved working with you!” The students cheer.

“In second place, we have…” Shuhei says. The main group all prepare themselves with hopes that they won like they planned. “Class 2-1! Shiori, please take your place on the podium!” They sigh, kind of expecting this outcome, as Shiori shakes her head with a smile.

“Ah, oh well. That was awesome either way! All thanks to you, Shiori!” Haru says happily.

“You were amazing out there!” Suiyoubi smiles widely.

“Way to show real power, Commander!” Sky salutes with a big smile. They cheer for Shiori with smiles on their faces as she receives a silver medal. She grabs it and looks at it for a moment before looking around at the surrounding crowd. The smiling faces of her friends and the supportive cheers of her family. She smiles warmly and blushes at all the cheers for her. 

“And finally, without further ado, we have our first place winner, and three time champion, class 4-1! Emiko, come on up!” Shuhei shouts. Emiko steps onto the first place position on the podium and receives her gold medal as everyone cheers. She takes a moment and looks down at Shiori while they cheer.

“Hey, Shiori?” She calls softly. Shiori looks up, a bit surprised. Emiko smiles at her. “Thanks.”

Shiori smiles back and nods. Emiko gets a bigger, more playful smile on her face and gives her an intense look.

“But next time, when it’s just me and you, I’m definitely gonna beat you again!” Emiko says excitedly.

“Oh yeah? You’re on!” Shiori says back, just as excited. They smile intensely at each other.

“Let’s hear it one last time for our champions!” Shuhei cheers. Everyone cheers one last time as Amy, Hina and Ichika sit under a canopy towards the edge of the class crowd to get less attention.

“Did you bring me what I asked for?” Amy asks as she glares at Shiori.

“I mean, yeah, we did, but are you sure you want to do this?” Ichika asks with an uncertain look.

“It is kinda in front of the whole school…” Hina says nervously.

“Don’t worry, trust me. I’ll make it look nice and convincing. Just a little victory splash, no harm, right?” Amy says with an evil smile as they pull out a large water cooler filled with sports drink. Hina and Ichika both look concerned about the events that are to come.

“Yeah, well, good luck with that. I think we did enough, so we’re just gonna…” Ichika says as she slowly turns away.

“Yeah, go get some Sports Festival snacks! Hehe…” Hina agrees nervously. Amy looks at them, a little shocked by their words, but gets an angry look instead.

“Fine, whatever, you cowards. Leaving me now after all we said. Go on, but don’t come back.” Amy says aggressively to them as they look hurt by her words but continue to walk away. Amy shifts her attention back to Shiori as she holds the water cooler.

“It’s all coming together. Now’s my moment! To finally get revenge!” She gets up and picks up the water cooler. She then approaches Shiori from her side. Some students begin to notice her and whisper among themselves. Amy stares intently at Shiori, paying attention to nothing else, as everyone cheers and she smiles. Amy passes Mr. Goda, and he looks down at her with a confused look.

Amy then lifts up the cooler as Shiori looks in the opposite direction, waving her hand, and dumps it out onto Shiori, drenching her in sticky sports drink. Mr. Goda and Hikigaya step forward as Takanou and Asami shout and push to rush to Shiori. Tsuki rushes over the tape from the crowd section as Principal Ai’s eyes open wide.

“There she is! Our number one second place! Let’s hear it for the flop, everybody, one last time!” Amy shouts. ‘That should be more than enough!’ Amy thinks as she smirks.

Shiori is stunned for a moment before looking at Amy with fury in her eyes. She clenches her fist tightly, having finally been pushed over the edge by her actions. Shiori raises her right fist a bit, preparing to full send it.

‘That’s right. Do it. Hit me!’ Amy thinks as she gets ready to play up the attack. Before anything else can happen though, before she can fake an attack or anyone can rush to Shiori’s aid, suddenly Amy is shoved to the ground hard. Her back hits the ground first, stunning her for a moment as she looks up. Kitaro had rushed faster than anyone else and shoved her to the ground with an angry look on his face.

“The fuck is your problem?” Kitaro asks aggressively. Amy is too stunned to speak and just looks around. She sees everyone staring at them with looks of shock and disgust at her actions. 

“You’re… you’re not…” Amy stutters.

“Pick her up and take her to my office, now!” Principal Ai commands.

“With pleasure.” Goda says as he grabs Amy by the arm and pulls her up hard before pulling her away.

“You, Kitaro, you come with me too. Get Shiori some towels and wrap things up.” Principal Ai says, keeping things in order. She points at Kitaro and motions for him to follow Mr. Goda, so he does, a little upset that he has to go with. Shiori watches as they walk away, a complex combination of emotions running through her. The referees and staff wrap some towels around Shiori, snapping her out of it, as everyone stares awkwardly.

“Uhh… So yeah, that’ll be all for this year’s Sports Festival. I hope everyone enjoyed and, uh… Yeah, that’s it.” Shuhei announces. He puts the mic down as staff start to escort families out of the school and students to get changed. 

Shiori stands under a shower faucet washing her hair in the locker room from the sports drink. Hikigaya sits around the corner on a bench waiting for her.

“Why didn’t you help her?” Hikigaya thinks to himself as he bounces his leg ever so slightly. Hikigaya squints his eyes and clenches his fists at his voice in his head.“You were right there, why didn’t you help her?!” He shouts at himself in his head before he stands up sharply, sweating anxiously. He looks around, trying to level his thoughts as a deep, dull feeling rises in his chest. Shiori then comes around the corner, rubbing her hair dry with a towel. She stops when she sees Hikigaya.

“Hikigaya? What are you doing here?” Shiori asks. Hikigaya turns and looks at her, surprised. He looks around a bit more, trying to keep his emotions in check as he speaks to her.

“Oh, uh, Ms. Samuel told me to keep you company, probation and all. Also, with what happened, she didn’t want you to feel alone or something.” He says softly.

“Oh, well, don’t worry about it. I’m fine. It’s not the first time she’s tried to hurt me. I just wish I knew what her problem was.” Shiori says casually, looking down.

“This has happened before?” Hikigaya asks, concerned.

“Not this big, but she’s had her mean things to say.” Shiori shakes her head gently.

“Hm… Well, try not to listen. Besides, I’m sure Principal Ai is tearing her a new one right now.” Hikigaya says supportively. Shiori chuckles a bit.

“Yeah, probably.”

“What were you thinking? Or were you not thinking at all?” Principal Ai asks rhetorically. Amy clicks her tongue at her and looks away. “Please enlighten me. Educate me on what made you think that was okay to do.” Principal Ai continues.

“Look, I get it. You don’t approve of what I did. Can’t you just give me detention or something and get it over with?” Amy scoffs.

“I don’t think you understand. You still think you’re gonna get away with this. Well, not here. You’re a third year, an upperclassman. You should know by now that we take acts of violence like this very seriously.”

“What violence? It’s not like I beat her up or something. Besides, she’s the violent one. You should have a serious talk with her.” Amy says, rolling her eyes at every word.

“I already have, a long time ago. And as far as I’m concerned, she’s done a great job of keeping herself in check. You, on the other hand, have only gotten more of an attitude and more harmful tendencies. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”

Amy rolls her eyes and looks away again. Principal Ai stares at her for a moment before speaking.

“How about this? I’ll cut you a deal. Instead of expelling you, as I honestly should, I’ll simply suspend you. On the condition that you tell me who else was involved and you take a better hand in your future.” Principal Ai says a bit softer than a moment ago. Amy looks at her in disbelief and annoyance.

“What does that even mean? ‘A better hand in your future.’ Just sounds like a bunch of bullshit.” Amy mocks her.

“Watch your tone with me. We do our best here to give our students the proper tools to build a future, and I will not have you sit here wasting the time and resources other students could be using. Believe it or not, your life does go on past highschool. You have to start figuring it out or you’ll be left behind.” Principal Ai stares at Amy intently as she looks away. After a moment of silence, Amy rolls her eyes again and sighs.

“Fine, whatever. I’ll take a more active role in our school and in my future or whatever you want me to say.” Amy says sarcastically. Principal Ai smiles a bit.

“Great. Now, as for the other students who were involved?” Ai asks. Amy thinks for a moment back to the looks on Hina and Ichika’s faces. The look of concern and judgement. Amy squints her eyes a bit, a hint of pain behind them.

“No one helped me. I did this all on my own..” She says quietly. Principal Ai examines her for a moment before moving on.

“Fine, I’ll trust you. Unlike what you’ve been doing thus far. Your suspension starts today. Go get changed and get your belongings. I will call your parents when your suspension is up.” Principal Ai says. Amy looks shocked for a moment as she leans forward in her chair.

“Wait, no. You can’t tell my parents! It’s almost the end of the year! That’ll ruin all of my plans!” Amy says desperately.

“Oh, I sure hope it does.” Ai says as she gives Amy a smile before motioning for her to leave. Amy sighs in frustration and stomps off. Principal Ai then calls Kitaro into her office from where he was waiting outside. 

The others all wait outside the school where they normally do. They look concerned and worried a bit as Kitaro comes out of the hall in his normal clothes and bag in hand. They all rush to crowd him as he approaches them.

“How much trouble did you get into?” Sugawara asks.

“What happened to you? Did you survive?” Hisana asks innocently.

“I hope she went easy on you.” Lucy says, a little anxious. Kitaro smiles and motions for everyone to calm down.

“It’s alright, I only got expelled.” Kitaro says.

“What?!?” The entire group shouts in shock. He laughs at them.

“Kidding! I’m kidding. She just told me not to put my hands on another student like that in the future, that the adults will handle it, then sent me on my way.” Kitaro says casually. They sigh in relief as Hisana punches him in the arm with a pouty look. He chuckles a bit as Shiori speaks.

“Sorry you had to go through all that for me…” She says softly.

“Don’t worry about it. I don’t regret doing it and will do it again if she tries anything. I can’t stand people like that.” Kitaro says, uncharacteristically bold.

“Wow, I didn’t peg you for someone so passionate.” Suiyoubi says pleasantly.

“Yeah, well, I’ve had my share of dumb bullies.” Kitaro says back then he looks at Hisana, who looks back with a soft smile. He thinks back to a time when they were little and she was pushed to the ground as he watches, hiding around a corner cowardly. In the present, his eyes sharpen a little. “I won’t let anything like that happen again. Not to my friends.” He says, determined.

“Aww, he called us his friends.” Chizuru says while playfully wiggling around.

“Shut up, let’s just go already.” Kitaro says before walking past her. They laugh about it as they grab their bags and begin walking home. Before they fully leave the front gate, Shiori looks to the side to see Mr. Goda coming out of a side hallway talking to another teacher. He waves before walking down the sidewalk.

“You guys go on ahead, I’ll catch up.” She says to the group. They look at her confused before she runs off to catch up with Mr. Goda. “Mr. Goda!” She calls to him. He turns and sees her approaching him and smiles a bit.

“What seems to be the problem?” Goda asks.

“Oh, there’s no problem. I just… I wanted to apologize to you for failing to win the Sports Festival. That was the whole request you made to the Helpers Club, and we couldn’t follow through… I’m sorry…” Shiori says softly. He stares at her for a second as she looks down with disappointment on her face. He laughs to himself a bit.

“You mean the first place medal? Eh, I don’t need that old thing. I got a perfectly good one right here.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out Shiori’s silver medal. She looks surprised and checks her pockets before realizing she had forgotten it. “This right here is very important to me, so next time, don’t just leave it in the locker room, okay?” Goda says with a smile. He hands it to her, and she takes it with a smile. “That medal you earned is more than enough for me. Because, between you and me, seeing you try your hardest and seeing your friends go above and beyond, all for me. That makes me feel like a winner in my book.” He says with a gentle tone so unlike his regular voice. Shiori looks at him with surprise and shiny eyes. He gives her a smile and a pat on the shoulder. “Now get going. Your friends are waiting for you.”

He looks behind her as she turns around to see the others staring at them before dashing behind the wall to hide. She shakes her head a bit before turning back around to face him.

“Thank you, Mr. Goda.”

“No, thank you for making my first Sports Festival as a teacher the best I could ask for.” He smiles at her and nods before turning and walking down the path. Shiori comes back to the group as they all try not to act suspicious.

“So, what’d you do?” Chizuru asks, obviously faking her curiosity.

“We definitely have no idea that you were talking to Mr. Goda.” Haru says as innocently as he can. Sugawara elbows him playfully. Shiori smiles and shakes her head again. She looks at her medal one more time before putting it around her neck. 

“Come on, let’s go home.” She says as Hikigaya nods. They begin to walk home together as they normally do when they realize the others are still following them. They ignore it, thinking that their friends are just being silly, but as they get closer to their house, they start to sweat and get concerned.

“You guys know that our house is this way, not yours, right?” Hikigaya asks with a sweat. They all smile and continue anyway. They act natural as they approach the front of their house.

“This has ‘trap’ written all over it..” Shiori whispers to Hikigaya without looking at him, trying not to be noticed.

“Yeah, I know..” He whispers back.

They approach their front door as the others are right behind them. Shiori grabs the door handle carefully and slowly turns it. When she opens the door, she is met with all of their parents and a few others shouting.

“Surprise!”

Shiori and Hikigaya are stunned as the others push them into the house. Total head count for the party excluding the main group is: Asami, Hamasaki, Takanou, Riku, Henry, Pastel, Emiko, Koa, Willow, Kenji, Yuri, Natsu, Fuyu, Aki, Tsuki and Mormo. 

“What’s all this for..?” Shiori asks, stunned by the display of people.

“You did such a good job today, we wanted to do something a little special for you!” Hamasaki says happily.

“With the help of your friends, we were able to put this together a little last minute.” Takanou says proudly.

“But we didn’t win.” Shiori says softly in disbelief.

“Oh, winning shminng! That doesn’t matter! All that matters is that we are so proud of you! Both of you.” Takanou says as he looks at Hikigaya with a smile. Hikigaya gets a little embarrassed as he rubs his head. 

“Oh, well, I didn’t really do anything. She was the lead, ya know?”

“Perhaps, but we all know you encouraged her and helped keep the team together, right?” Asami says proudly. The others all shout ‘Right!’ in response. Asami nods before turning around.

“Now come on! Let’s get this party started!” She cheers. They all cheer as everyone starts having a good time with food and drinks. Eventually, Emiko sits down next to Shiori, who is talking to Ryuji and Chizuru.

“You know, Tom is gonna be mad when he finds out we partied together without him.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t blame him. Still, I’m surprised you came. How did you even find out about the party?” Shiori says with a little laugh.

“Well, when your little brother is invited to things, you’re invited to things. Get what I’m sayin’?” Emiko says jokingly, pointing her thumb at her little brother. Shiori laughs a little and looks at Touma talking with Lucy. Mostly her talking and he is listening. Riku then jumps onto their laps with a laugh.

"Yeah, exactly! Now invite me to your hangouts more!" Riku says while smiling at Shiori. Hamasaki then grabs Riku and takes him away.

"Come on, let your sister be." She says with a warm smile. They giggle as Shiori looks around.

“Why was Touma invited? Don’t get me wrong, he seems really cool, but it’s not like we’ve been hanging out much.” Shiori says.

“It was at the request of a certain someone.” Ryuji says with a slight smile before all three of them turn and look at Chizuru as she sips her drink. She notices them staring at her, and she begins to blush in embarrassment.

“I-it’s like you said, Shiori. He just seems cool, and I’d like to get to know him better.” Chizuru stutters. They give her looks as if knowing her true feelings but move on. 

“Alright, that’s fair, but what about Sky?” Shiori asks while looking over and noticing Sky sitting next to them. The others look surprised by this.

“Oh, I just followed you guys here. You were loads of fun in the Sports Festival, so I’ve decided to make you all my companions!” Sky says confidently. They sweat and look at her confused a bit but accept it.

“Well, welcome to the club! I always love making new friends!” Chizuru smiles warmly as Sky blushes and looks away.

‘So cute!’

The others laugh a bit as Hikigaya and Kitaro stand against a wall by the kitchen. Hikigaya stares at Tsuki, who is in the kitchen pouring chips in a bowl and such.

“Why is he here? Who invited him?” Hikigaya asks with a slightly annoyed look.

“I have no idea. No one in our group, I’ll tell you that. I don’t know a single person in our group who actually enjoys his company. Except maybe Mormo, but he’s a freak, anyway.” Kitaro answers.

“You know I can hear you guys.” Tsuki says without looking at them.

“Good.” Hikigaya and Kitaro say in unison. Tsuki sweats a bit from the reaction.

“We all hangout in the same clubroom. I can hear the plans you guys make, even if I am in the chair of shame.. Besides, I’m just trying to make a good impression by helping out. That’s all.” Tsuki says genuinely.

“Maybe try impressing those cookies by not letting them burn.” Kitaro says, motioning towards the oven. Tsuki sniffs the air a bit before getting a shocked look and turning around to the oven.

“Oh no! The cookies!” He quickly tries to pull them out as they laugh at him. Asami then walks up next to them.

“Such a good lad, that one is. He followed us after the festival with that talking bear and offered to help setup. It was very kind of him.” Asami says, unknowingly.

“Yeah… he’s the best” Hikigaya says sarcastically with an upset look. Asami smiles as she walks away. After a moment, Hikigaya speaks to himself in his head again.

“Better than me. I bet he wouldn’t let his sister die.” He thinks to himself in a harsh way. He sweats as he looks down, hurting.

Eventually, the party ends, and everyone says their goodbyes. As the parents finish cleaning up, Hikigaya goes upstairs.

“I’m going to bed.” He says.

“Already? It’s only like 8 o’clock.” Asami asks, confused by her son. Hikigaya continues up the stairs, ignoring his mother. Shiori sees Asami's sad reaction and speaks.

“Yeah! It’s just been a long day and we’re super tired, so I’m gonna turn in too. Goodnight!” Shiori says energetically, trying to make Asami feel better and cover for Hikigaya. She waves to them then rushes up the stairs to catch up to Hikigaya as the parents look with concerned expressions. Hikigaya is at his door when Shiori catches up to him.

“Hey Hikigaya, you okay?” She asks. He stops and looks at her for a moment.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He then goes into his room and shuts the door. Shiori stares with a look of concern but hesitates before looking down and going into her own room.