Graduation

I returned to my dorm room, and decided to kill some time by washing and drying my clothes in the Laundry Room, then putting my clothes away in the closet. It was already 6:45pm by the time I finished, and I was debating whether or not I should go to the Dining Hall for dinner. While I was not hungry, I did not wish for anyone to worry about me needlessly.

Rantaro talked me into eating some beef stroganoff that he made for everyone, however. I reassured Sakura and Nekomaru that I was physically and emotionally ok. Toko and Hiyoko, while glaring at one another, were silently eating their own food.

After finishing my dinner, I swam in the Pool with Rantaro. I mostly alternated between swimming laps back and forth, and just wandering aimlessly around the pool with Rantaro. As 9:30pm approached, though, we both got out to head to our respective Locker Rooms. I showered the chlorine off of me, got dried off and dressed into the PJs I brought with me, and then headed back to my dorm, ready for bed.

And, for once, my dream was not one of an old death, but rather, one of a new life.

I was speaking with my brother, Karadano, outside the mortuary, about four years ago. It was an overcast morning, but it was not supposed to rain for another few hours. Karadano was speaking to me beside his car, and I was not happy.

"I'm sorry, Shishano, but this is not my calling. I want to help the living, not tend to the dead anymore. Besides, the eldest female always runs the mortuary, and the male always takes her name. Even if I were to remain here, I would be forever in your shadow, whether it's fair or not."

"Yes, I know. And you have said that, even if I treated you fairly, and split the money from the mortuary 50/50, it would not make any difference. But why?" I asked him, still wishing I could somehow change his stubborn mind.

"Because that's not the point. I want to walk my own path, to find my own way, and make my own money in this world. I don't want to be chained to this mortuary for the rest of my life, like our parents are...like you are." Karadano said the last part softly, as if full of regret.

I huffed at him, my hands on my hips. "So what, are you running away from us now? Are we never going to see you again, onii-chan?" I never called Karadano by his name; as my older brother, that would be disrespectful of me, even if it bothered him to be called "onii-chan" by me.

Karadano grimaced, then looked at me, very annoyed. "Of course, you will see me again. I have my own place lined up, only 15 kilometers away from here. You can all visit me whenever you want, as long as you call to let me know first, of course."

That last part went without saying; to visit without obtaining permission first was very disrespectful. I would never dare do such a thing.

Karadano then put his hand on my shoulder. "Look, Shishano. I'm happy doing what I'm doing. You're happy doing what you're doing. Isn't that what's most important in life? Doing what makes you, and others around you, happy?"

I could not deny his words, no matter how cornered he made me feel, so I just nodded while narrowing my lips angrily at him.

Karadano smirked at me, then headed back to his car. "Alright, I'm gonna finish unpacking a few more boxes, then take it easy at the new house for the rest of the day. You take care of yourself, and call me if you need me, ok?"

I bowed, as curtsying to my brother always felt awkward to me. "Of course. Safe travels, onii-chan."

Monorakun's 7am alert went off, awakening me from the dream. I got up, got dressed, and...

Noticed a graduation cap and gown hanging from my dorm room door. They were both in the traditional black color, which somewhat surprised me.

Curious, I decided to enter the Group Chat, to see if anyone else had one, too.

*Shishano Kantoku entered the chat.

*Shishano Kantoku: Does anyone else have a graduation cap and gown hanging from their dorm room door?

*Rantaro Amami: Yeah, there's one on my door, too.

*Nekomaru Nidai: I got one, too! Maybe this graduation thing is for real, huh?

*Sakura Ogami: So it would seem. Still, be on your guard today.

*Shishano Kantoku left the chat.

I had breakfast with the others around 8am, deciding on a blueberry bagel and some apple juice. Afterwards, I decided to do some more swimming, this time with Nekomaru. Nekomaru showed me several exercises I could do in the water, but after half an hour, he left to tend to the Devas, who were pleasantly still alive.

I swam alone for another hour or so, doing back-and-forth laps, then got out of the Pool at 10am. I got dried off, dressed up, and headed to the Carnival Room to play games for a few more hours with Hiyoko.

Hiyoko would cheer whenever she would win, and would insult the game whenever she lost. As for me, I would enjoy the games whether I won or lost. At this point, it really didn't matter anymore; I just wanted to have fun.

Hiyoko eventually left around 2:30pm, and I left around 3pm, heading down to the Game Room to play some Roulette for a few hours. Later, Rantaro found me in here, and we played Poker and Blackjack until about 5pm.

At 5:30pm, Monorakun appeared over the monitors.

"Attention students! The graduation ceremony will start at 6pm tonight at the Gymnasium. If you don't have your cap and gown on yet, get it on before you arrive! Thank you."

I returned to my dorm room, put the cap and gown on over my dress, and headed to the Gymnasium, where I eventually met up with everyone else. There was a podium set up, with six small boxes on a nearby table, but none of us would approach the podium or table. Each box, however, appeared to have what looked like two letters on each one. Perhaps a first and last initial? It was difficult to tell from here.

At 6pm sharp, Monorakun appeared, crawling out from behind the podium.

"Alright, shitbags! Welcome to the Graduation Ceremony! Each of you here have officially graduation from The Ultimate Talent Enhancement Center. I will call each of you up here by alphabetical order, by first name. When I call your name, come up to me, so I can give you your class ring. Silver, with an Amazonite gem set into it. The Gemstone of Hope, so I've heard...eh, I can't wear them, so I don't really care." Monorakun announced to all of us.

Rantaro and I exchanged confused glances. Hiyoko, meanwhile, realized she would be first, and cheered for herself.

"Hiyoko Saionji, the Ultimate Traditional Dancer." Hiyoko happily ran up to the robotic raccoon, taking her box from the table, and quickly ran back to her seat. She barely even looked at Monorakun, but frankly, who could blame her?

"Nekomaru Nidai, the Ultimate Team Manager." With a triumphant roar of victory, Nekomaru approached the table and took his box. The Devas appeared from under his jacket, sitting on his left and right shoulders, eagerly looking at the box in Nekomaru's hand.

"Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate Adventurer." Rantaro cautiously approached the table, eyeing Monorakun, who feigned indifference. Rantaro grabbed his box, then returned to where he was sitting. Monorakun, meanwhile, barely paid him any attention.

"Sakura Ogami, the Ultimate Martial Artist." Sakura walked up to the table, chin up, and took her box off the table. She opened it up, glanced inside for several moments, then nodded to herself and put the lid back on, returning to her seat.

"Shishano Kantoku, the Ultimate Mortician." Taking a deep breath, I walked up to the table, and found a box with the initial "SK" in silver writing. I picked it up and opened it up. Inside was a silver ring, with a greenish stone set into it. It had the TUTEC logo carved into the gemstone itself.

"Toko Fukawa, the Ultimate Writing Prodigy." Toko walked up and took the last box without saying a word.

"Alright, that's everybody. This concludes your graduation ceremony. Now take your rings with you as you exit the building. The front door is now unlocked, and you will be escorted to the nearest airport, with a one-way plane ticket back home. Now, GET OUT!!" Monorakun declared.

Afterwards, his head fell off of his body, as did his front legs, leaving just his torso and rear legs attached, as the Gymnasium lights began to dim.

We walked out in a group together, making our way to the front door. Fortunately, it seemed only the Gymnasium lights were going out.

We made it to the front door, which was no longer locked shut. Nekomaru and Sakura opened the doors for us, and we all left. It was dark outside, but there was a limo parked outside, with a driver standing beside the back door. We all got into the limo silently, no one even questioning how odd this whole scenario was.

Sure enough, the limo driver drove us all to the airport and let us out, handing us our plane tickets with our names on them as we exited the limo.

As I boarded the plane, my mind went back to those we had lost.

Ryoma, the depressed tennis player.

Himiko, the magician with the infectiously happy personality.

Gundham, the guy I woke up in that nightmare school with, with his strange way of speaking and his hamsters, which Nekomaru was now raising.

Teruteru, the perverted chef who I did not miss one bit, but who was still an amazing chef.

Mondo, the biker who refused to fight Tenko, saying a real man never hit a woman.

Tenko, the girl who couldn't vanquish the demon named "Degenerate Male", and died because of it.

Mahiru, the photographer who tried to put her past behind her.

Fuyuhiko, the Yakuza gangster who wouldn't let her.

Kyoko, who risked her life to save mine, and paid the ultimate price for it.

And, finally, Korekiyo, who turned out to be a deranged killer for his dead sister.

I hoped to never have to participate in something like this ever again.

Fate, however, had other plans for me...