Memory like a fading fire (Finale)

We danced and danced and danced until our legs couldn't handle it anymore

We sweated, laughed with each other, and looked deep into each other's eyes

"Want me to show you the place?" Yua asked with an exhausted smile on her face

"Sure"

She then grabbed me by my hand, and at this moment our hands locked, she pulled me with her into the forest

We were slightly running up a hill that never seemed to end

"We are here!" Yua said as she stood on a flat ground

"Here see this!" Yua said as she showed me the amazing view of the area

I could see the fire and the people dancing, I could also see the band but were high enough that we weren't noticeable

"This view... Doesn't it reminds you of something..." She asked as she looked at the view

I looked into her eyes and answered

"It doesn't..."

It was sad that I couldn't memorize a moment like that

"Don't be all gloomy now idiot! Look they are going to light up the fireworks..." Yua said as she moved my head with her hand. She was a bit red

I didn't realize my eyes were stuck on her

As soon as I was facing the view fireworks started blasting

They were beautiful, very beautiful, they were red, green, and blue but no matter what color or form they took Yua's beauty was better

I'm staring at her again... Her face shines and her eyes do the same

She slowly turned her eyes at me, she looked a bit intimidated but D E T E R M I N E D nonetheless

Her face came closer, I started to get closer too

And before I knew it we were kissing... I guess Takito was right, she did want to become my friend... Well maybe more... Damn it! I'm getting anxious now... It's not my first time but I feel like I'm doing something wrong...

She then pulled away...

"Was it so hard to fulfill your promise jerk..." She said as she started tearing up

What?

"A-Are you okay?"

She looked mad

"Why did you forget dummy? You promised that on a similar day when you came back again, we would still be together..."

"I guess I kept my word..." I said with a smile

"It was the least you could do after forgetting me stupid talapoin..."

There we go with the monkey insults...

She started getting closer again and my heart started racing, I can't do this again

"W-Wait you have to see this..." I said as I pointed at the sky

Thankfully Terresa came in clutch with her super secret fireworks

This time the fireworks were more powerful and more colorful, I guess Terresa went above and beyond with that... Good for her I guess

Suddenly I felt Yua's head on my shoulder

"Can we stay like that for a little?"

"Sure..."

I said as I placed my head on hers

…

~Trita's perspective~

Can I ask him? Su-kun said I can but also think about it since he acted weird but I can't do anything about this... I like him... But does he really feel the same?

Well he knows I like him so worrying about myself can only make this feeling I have worse so I want to be straightforward with him, even if I get rejected

I walked up to him right before the dance for couples was about to end

"H-Hey Takito-kun I didn't want you to learn this from Su-kun but things happened and you learned about it, so what do you say? What are your feelings about me?" I asked as I looked deep into his eyes

He stood up and looked at me with a smile

"I'm sorry but right now I can't decide and I don't want to make a decision that I will regret, if you know the full story from Su then you know why..."

As expected...

"B-But a dance wouldn't hurt, right?" He said as he extended his hands...

I slowly took his hand and we started dancing, while dancing I also saw Yua-chan with Iriasu-kun, I'm glad Yua-chan made it...

But now that's not about her, it's about me and him, but for some reason, he looks embarrassed

He didn't want to make a choice he will regret he said... What does he mean by that?

"Hey, Trita-chan!"

"Y-Yes?"

"You look good in your yukata..." Takito said with a red face

I blushed too

Even though he turned me down I feel like the opposite happened, I'm happy, just sharing a moment like this with him is enough, they say to settle for something low so you don't get your expectations high and then get disappointed

For me, I settled for the highest goal and barely managed to touch it but it still made me happy, I guess what they say is not always true because completing a goal isn't all that, the process of achieving it is

Suddenly the fireworks started blasting, all the different colors...

It was beautiful, Takito was staring at them and stopped dancing, he also slightly let go of my arms

I lost to some fireworks...

I then saw Ichika and walked up to her

"Care for a dance?"

"Don't pity me! I don't need to dance..." She said angrily

"It's not like that, if you accept you are basically pitying me! You see Takito-kun rejected me..."

"WHAT! I WILL BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF HIM!" Ichika said as she quickly got up

I got in front of her and grabbed her hands

"J-Just dance with m-me..." For some reason, I was crying...

Ichika-chan didn't say a word

She simply grabbed my hands and started to dance with me, I can tell she feels bad but she smiled all the time

~End of Trita's perspective~

"Should we get down now? It looks like everyone is leaving" I said while looking at the stars

"Can't we just stay like that forever?" Yua asked me

"Nothing lasts forever Yua..."

Yua then took her head off my shoulder and asked

"How about you and I? Do you think we won't last forever if we set our minds to it?"

Seeing Yua ask such a question made me realize how serious she was about relationships, I never had any commitment to a relationship I had in the past so seeing someone seem so serious made me tense up a little

"I don't know... Even if nothing lasts forever we two together will create the first thing that lasts forever and ever, are you up to the task?"

She smiled and hugged me, I take this as a yes

…

After some time we got up, and it was time to sleep, tomorrow we are leaving after all

"Umm, we have a problem..." Yua said as she showed me one of her destroyed sandals

"You must have broken it when we climbed this mountain... Well don't worry, I will carry you!" I said as I fall to my knees

"Won't this be dangerous? I mean we had a hard time getting up

"We will be fiiiiiine!"

…

Long story short we weren't fine, even though I was able to easily lift up Yua because of her weight the trip to climb down the mountain was a long one, I tripped many times but didn't fall down, it was a habit I got from when I was younger and did hikes with my father on a daily basis, every time I slipped he got anxious for me but I didn't fall once

"Slow down if we fall we are going to get seriously hurt idiot!" Yua said as she gripped my hair

"If you don't move so much maybe we won't die" I replied

And after a long time of cursing at each other and many near-death experiences, we made it to the shrine

"It looks like they finished cleaning up" Yua said as she looked around amused

"They didn't take down the flowers thought, I guess they don't cause any harm..."

"I think I can walk on my own now, if you want you can lower me" Yua said

Hehehe

"IF I want to..." I said as I started running

Yua was scared and once again gripped my hair and also my body with her legs

"DON'T RUN IDIOT!!!" She yelled but I didn't stop

It was fun doing it this way and to my surprise, we saw Terresa waving goodbye to the band that played the music

"What are you two doing here? Actually where the hell were you when we cleaned up? I had a small suspicion that you were doing the couple thing in the forest but I never imagined that I would be right! You are lucky this is a happy day unless you would have been reported to the principal!" Terresa said with an angry expression before smiling

"But since you are my friend's daughter I will tell him anyway!"

"HEY! Come on now miss, don't do that I will eventually tell him myself, plus we weren't doing something naughty were we?" Yua said as she looked at me

I guess I have to bring out my negotiating tricks

"If you tell Yosuke-sama about us I will tell Yua about you and my father..."

"Dirty brat!" She said with a hellish look in her eyes

"Wait she has a romantic history? Our teacher? Terresa Barkingson? The woman here?"

"YEAH, I WAS YOUNG ONCE TOO YOU KNOW! But it's very tempting, my friend's daughter with my other stupid, idiot, cuck, snob, brain-dead friend's son? I have to tell it to someone!" Terresa looks actually troubled by what I asked her to do

Who would have thought she was such a sucker for romance

"Just don't tell it to anybody okay?" I asked politely

"Too late I already sent Josuke the message and also a photo"

"Screw you! Our teacher was dumped by my dad for her best friend"

"Now you have done it, kid! I bet your lazy ass won't finish your summer homework before the vacations end and when I see you with an uncompleted paper I will make you pay for it tenfold!"

"Word? Then through my graduation, I will make sure that I will tell every freshmen and adult friend I have that you are a bum so you won't ever find a man!"

Terresa and I were going off at each other mercilessly

"Hahaha" Yua laughed loudly while shading tears

"I never imagined you two to have that kind of relationship! It's super funny! Terresa-sensei now I know why you are so harsh to Su and Su I know why you look so angry every time Terresa-sensei comes into class!" Yua said while trying to contain her laugh

BUZZ

"Oh your father sent me a message he says, it would be nice to have dinner with Hikita-kun, smiling face, I think he is mad" Terresa said as she showed us the text

Worst case scenario I get jumped by her father and brother and best case scenario he doesn't mind

"Now playing time is over, head back to your INDIVIDUAL GENDER SEPARATED ROOMS and get some sleep"

"Right!" We both said as he entered the hotel-like building for the last time this summer

After that only greatness awaits...

Little did I know that when I opened the door I would see something completely different than what I was expecting

The first thing I noticed was a note on top of the couch that said

<Thank you for everything and I'm sorry all the bad things I caused others, reason did that was not because of any or problem from school, it just our economic problem, my single mom raising both me sister is a big expense so please tell she can take money collected part-time job which hid under futon use Nakusa's school tuition, sorry, goodbye...>

I quickly looked up and saw Takito standing on top of the balcony

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

"TAKITO GET DOWN!" I screamed at the top of my lungs

He slowly turned around with a smile and tears running down his face and jumped

He jumped

He jumped

He jumped

He jumped

He jumped

I quickly ran and looked under the balcony, some students and teachers were already there, did time pass this quickly?

I feel pain in my stomach, it feels like a stab wound

"While you were enjoying your best life with your little girlfriend your friend struggled... And when he blamed you all for his problems he did that to not hate himself, he tried to fool himself because if he hated someone else he wouldn't have done that, you are the reason for this Iriasu Hikita, maybe you should jump too, maybe you should end it too, but of course you don't have the spirit to atone to your wrongs, you never had it"

It was Yu, he was saying that right into my face

"You are a dream, this is a dream, this isn't happening"

"Oh no no Su-kun, I'm as real as the blood around Takito's body, you are the only fake one here" Yu said

Suddenly the door to our room opened and Yu disappeared

It was Trita, she had tears all over her face

"IS IT TRUE?" She asked while yelling

I can't speak

"TELL ME HIKITA-KUN IS THIS TRUE? DID TAKITO REALLY COMMIT..."

Out of nowhere Yua and Ichika hugged her, Trita was wailing and screaming, and the others were crying too

"What's wrong? I thought that was what you wanted?" Yu said as soon as all the eyes were off me

"I didn't want him to die..." I mumbled

"Don't act innocent now kid! You are part of the problem and a major one at that, so JUMP!" Yu said before once again disappearing in the presence of Ichika

"HE WAS YOUR FRIEND? HAVEN'T YOU NOTICED SOMETHING?"

As soon as Ichika asked me this question, the moment when he told me he wanted us to hate him so he can disappear came to my mind, did by disappearing he meant that?

"I didn't.."

I lied right into her face, Yu is right, I'm the worst, maybe I should really jump too...