Premise: After the misleading arrest of Wakahisa Naoya, many were left confused as to who was responsible for the fires started on the three campuses last year. 

Rumors of unfair treatment across the faculties surfaced. It was that the science faculty received the most funding out of all the faculties. Arts, business, and liberal arts faculties were said to have been cheated of scholarship funds, financial aid, and co-op jobs. All of this knowledge was spread by the former student council of 2012 (president Fujimoto Junichiro). Therefore, the fires were assumed to be related to this issue, though it had been silenced after a student protest back in early 2012. The administration always claimed that the statistics students were passing around were incorrect.</span> 

Graduation of 2013 came, and finally the Arts campus was lit on fire, leaving everyone astonished.  Simultaneously, business student Takahashi Sayuri is recently burdened the sudden shattering of her recent relationship with the graduated Fujimoto Junichiro, who is leaving to America for an apparent job opportunity.
After the graduation ceremony and fire, Junichiro’s close friend, Shimane Akio, approaches Takahashi-san and offers to explain things that she ought to know…

_{written by peachtail & chazillah}

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Shimane: It was rainy sunday afternoon. Shimane had messaged Sayuri over twitter. Upon arriving at the café, he sat down in one of the distant corners, dressed in casual attire. The café was quiet and he was glad for it--- his tall, thin frame finding comfort in one of the large comfortable chairs near the window. After cleaning his glasses, he fixed them on his face and folded his arms, gazing out of the window nostalgically. It’s all over now, he told himself. There was a distant smile on his face, one that looked troubled. He closed his eyes peacefully and dozed on for a little while he waited. 

Sayuri: It'd been a long Saturday night and going into Sunday morning; difficult for her to get out of bed and face the rest of the day. Having Ayako leave her with so many things to think over...she wanted Ayako to at least stay the weekend, but it would've been too much to ask. As she entered the cafe, she remembered Ayako telling her that she didn't have to brave it alone but chose to do so anyway. The smell of the cafe was already making her sick, appetite lost by the whole situation. Sayuri didn't want to see Shimane at all.

She looked the same as usual, as if nothing changed, like the same proud and confident woman she'd always seemed to be. Her expression seemed more stoic than it normally was and when she caught sight of Shimane, she walked to him directly as she folded her umbrella in.

Approached the table with an aggressive clacking of her heels and a sudden stop in front of him in an intense glare, "Shimane-san." chazillah

Shimane: He had sensed that she entered the cafe, but allowed himself to rest a few moments longer. When she stopped in front of him he opened his eyes, looking up towards her with a sheepish expression. He awkwardly rose, his glasses slipping down his long nose as he bowed to her stiffly,

“Takahashi-san. Thank you for coming. Please sit.” He sat back down and glanced her over for a second. Beautiful, confident, strong…it looked as though not a thing had happened to her. He couldn’t hold back a smile as he observed her quiet attitude and intense glare. 

He laughed abruptly and awkwardly. “Please don’t expect me to have the same courtesies as your former prince. I don’t have the coin to spend ladies like yourself.” The remark came across a little rude, so he quickly added, pushing up his glasses, “But if you wish to get a drink, please do so.” He sat back into the comfortable chair, folding his hands together and let some silence pass between them before speaking, “How are you making out, Takahashi-san? I hope you don’t mind me pointing out that you look unphased by all of it.”

Sayuri: She returned the bow and sat across from him, taking out his dry umbrella from her bag and putting it on the table for him. "I ate before I came here." Barely. Sayuri sat up straight and did her best to handle the situation in the way she thought she could: looking strong enough to deal with it. Inside, she was a wreck and was silent as she tried to think of some response without giving it away so quickly. She crossed both her arms and her legs and her body language implied a cold demeanor. I really don't want to be here. I just want to be home.

Then she glanced over him and wondered if had something to hide too. Shimane seemed like the kind of dumbass she wouldn't waste any time on without Junichiro there. Thankfully, Ayako already made the trouble of asking her how she was and she was able to come out with many things... "You don't know...how much it's killing me to be here, right now." And suddenly the expression in her eyes looked pained. "He hasn't even contacted me." chazillah

Shimane: Silence strained between them after she responded. He was gazing towards her, studying her features. He smiled when her eyes looked more sorrowful than cold, 

“So, you are a feeling woman! Natural, of course.” He paused after the jest, “I won’t take up much of your time, miss Takahashi-san. I only knew our Fujimoto-san would leave you in the dark, so to speak.” A hand ran over the small amount of stubble growing on his chin, “I’m sure you are angry that he didn’t tell you that he was leaving for America earlier…and you must undoubtedly question why he took the job abroad. It must have been difficult to see him break down like that.” He paused now and glanced towards the window,

“Takahashi-san, were you in love with him?” He awkwardly adjusted his glasses, his expression discernible, “No, have you ever been in love?”

Sayuri: It was annoying to hear his jest and she didn't comment about it. That was one strike. Inwardly thankful that this may only take 10 minutes and she could just go home and marathon a drama or something...but mentioning that she was angry, she interrupted his sentence, "Of course I'm angry! I'm furious. Frustrated. Thatbastard thinks he can get away with throwing around a word like love and then lie to me like that?" She was outraged! And seeing him the way he was, so full of anger and such an unforgiving demeanor, she almost sounded just as unforgiving in mentioning he was a bastard. "And then he can't speak for himself?" Shook her head and bit her lip disapprovingly. So much disappointment and pain overwhelmed her in her outrage and her next response was irrational, "Of course I'm in love with him!" Grit her teeth. Another strike. What kind of a question was that?! Been in love?! How the hell did she know what love is? "All I know is that, if I didn't love him, I wouldn't feel sick over this whole thing. He had me. He did. He always did." chazillah

Shimane: “They say love makes fools of us all,” he murmured quietly, then smiled an unattractive smile towards her while he adjusted his glasses, “Tell me, Takahashi-san, would you fall in love with me?” the question made an outright fool of himself—of course she wouldn’t. There he sat: a thin, lanky man with thick-rimmed glasses, a long nose, and sallow features. Beneath his glasses were tired eyes with dark bags, and his hair was a mess of curls. He was far from attractive or handsome unlike Fujimoto Junichiro, and the picture was clear. He laughed, 

“But even a man like me was in love.” He paused and leaned back into the chair, inspecting Sayuri once more, “She was like you, Takahashi-san. No, not nearly as pretty or alluring. But much fiercer, bolder, and outspoken.” He watched her expression and then waved a hand, 

“No! Ha, she did not return my affections, only mocked them with a kiss or two and called me a good friend. We had opposite personality types that made us click in a certain way.” He smiled, fond of the memory. 
He then added after a moment of silence, “I’m the type who sits back watches people, calculates, and then comes up with an intricate plan to…maneuver the chess pieces, so to speak. Norika-san was a woman of action, persistence, and force. She was a storm you couldn’t escape, and once you implemented the idea, she wouldn’t cease until she saw it through.” The light of the café reflected on his glasses. It was difficult to make out the expression in his eyes. 

“Norika Hiroko and I sat on student council together when Fujimoto-san was president.” It was the first time Shimane had spoken the name ‘Fujimoto-san’ in front of Sayuri. It was always ‘The Prince’, ‘Juni’, or ‘Fujimoto’ before that. “The first day I met her I knew I was in love…she was headstrong and not your typical girl. And, as you can guess, she was much more interested in Fujimoto-san than she would ever be in me.” There was a polite smile, not as bitter as she might have expected it to be, 

“I did not mind so much…spending time with her in those meetings was more than enough for me…” his voice trailed off, as though lost in a reverie, and he ceased talking. Sayuri would be undoubtedly left confused, but he let the conversation sit for a moment.

Sayuri: And here came strike three. She was so, so ready to walk out on him instead of hearing what he had to say. One more word about love and she could imagine herself flipping the table and beating him with it. And would she fall in love with him?! Wow, is he joking now? Is this a lame excuse to get her alone, now that Junichiro basically dumped her?But she sat there and listened, while at the same time, imagining that in a perfect world, she could beat him with the table in public and that her boyfriend wouldn't be running away to America for whatever reason. She also hated hearing that there was a much more bold and fierce woman than she was. Oh, god. Now this woman was his type? Sayuri sat there with a stoic expression and all these thoughts became more and more muddled in her head. What the fuck was he trying to tell her? His one sided love for a woman that was in her league? In fact, it almost became more nauseating to hear about it. This asshole liked throwing around the word 'love' too, she thought. Processing the story was difficult and when he trailed off, she sat silently and recounted everything he said. So basically he'd been in love with a woman who was in love with Junichiro? No surprise. Junichiro was a good man... it angered her more to think that other women would be after him. The whole thing... was wasting her time. She got up.

"Shimane-san. I'm not in the mood to hear these kinds of things." It was hurting her to even hear about people being in love; especially if it had a lot to do with Junichiro. But there was probably a lot more to this story if it was important enough to know about Junichiro, so she calmed herself down. "I'm sorry about her." Lowered her eyes to the off-white drab of the cafe table and nodded, "Please, continue." chazillah

Shimane: He seemed to snap out of it when she suddenly got up. He bowed his head in apology,  adjusting the bulky glasses framing his face, “Takahashi-san, if you would extend your patience, I think you would be thankful to understand the rest of the story.” She could spot the earnest expression on his face now, “Unless, of course, you would rather go home and brood over the unresolved mystery that is your former prince.” 

Shimane, the type who relished in analyzing people, was fascinated by her impatience and stared dumbfounded at her for a moment before continuing, 

“A year into our success as student council, Fujimoto-san and I worked on a project together in his third year (I was in my fourth). We had plans to develop a game for the Oculus Rift, a new virtual reality console being developed in America.” He had a sheepish look of embarrassment on his face and glanced away, “Yes, yes, it was foolish! I won’t lie to you unlike Fujimoto-san: we had absolutely no idea what we were doing. Our kickstarter failed and I threw all of my funds—even non-existent ones—into the thing! He kicked in some too.” 

He let out a sigh, “We lost all of our money--and the project was a disaster.” He shifted in his seat with his hands folded still, 

“Desperate for help, we turned to the school for financial aid or, to at least get us some promotion or support from professors. None came, of course. It’s not like they were to blame in the first place.” he paused, “But it was easy for us to blame the faults of our education than ourselves at the time. Fujimoto-san was extremely embarrassed and tried to sweep it under the rug, but a lot of his classmates knew about it. Aoyama Teruaki, a classmate of Junichiro’s, was very successful in another business proposal. You can image that Junichiro was starting to…break down in resentment.” The thin, unkempt man smiled toothily towards her. It would undoubtedly be unpleasant to hear how unsuccessful he was. He adjusted his glasses and continued after letting some silence pass,

“Anyway, other students on student council began whining about Kamenoko as well. Stupid things, really: not enough internships, lack of funding and advertising for their projects, scarce scholarships, and useless classes. With a bit of hacking and research, I discovered the financial distribution within the school was not entirely equal. And of course, since Kamenoko began as a school of science, it is obvious that most of the funding would go towards the science department. I wasn’t too concerned, however---it wasn’t serious enough to address or bring up. The statistics, as they were, weren’t enough to compel anyone to feel like they were being wronged. The skew was minimal and hardly unfair.”

He began nervously playing with the stubble on his chin again. His expression changed.

“…That was, until Norika-san broke down in a student council meeting and declared that Kamenoko did not give her the scholarship she was promised, even though her GPA met the standard for it.” He tapped the arm of the chair, glancing towards Sayuri,  “I was angry and decided to go the…well, not-so-legal route of affairs and alter the statistics of the school’s financial distribution so they seemed more dramatic.” His hands laced back together. He started to look nervous by the story and took a moment to wipe his glasses. There were a few deep lines in his face—ones that shouldn’t be there for someone in their mid-twenties.

“A fool in love—yes, that was me, Takahashi-san. And trust me, I already knew Norika-san was lying and hadn’t actually met the GPA requirements. I am a formidable hacker, not to sound conceited. It was easy enough to acquire her actual grades. Mind you, she wasn’t far-off. At any rate, I fed the demon that was resentment and watched it grow in student council. Two students who were in the science department ended up quitting student council, feeling angry towards how we were becoming melodramatic over the statistics.” He leaned back in the chair and allowed her to digest the information thus far. His eyes watched her carefully for her reactions, “Not quite what your prince told you, I assume?”

Sayuri: She calmed down when she continued to listen to him. His expression and referring to Junichiro as 'prince' was really getting on her nerves but as he began unraveling the story...no doubt, her undivided attention was on it. It brought back a conversation from long before any of this fiasco came to fruition-- at least, the truth about it. So Shimane...was the partner on that project. The facts of the story were prevalent from the past but a couple things were changed. Namely, the more important facts. Like about the kickstarted doing so well and the school not helping promote it-- was Junichiro twisting the story to sound more...righteous on the matter. Wondered if the statistics that Junichiro was explaining to her were actually real. It sounded convincing enough, to think that there was a bias in the science faculty and that internship opportunities were there. It's not as if she actually knew, so she bought the story. It was much worse than she anticipated and her expression grew into a concern. The mention of Teruaki and thoughtlessly ranting to him about Junichiro made her feel incredibly awkward at the thought of, well, being resentful over the business proposal. All of this news came as very...cowardly to Sayuri. Picking up the pieces and trying again would be her option.Would the distribution of money between the departments ever be fair? From the beginning of her freshman year, she inherently knew that she shouldn't fully trust or comply with everything the school provides for her (namely, it was no University of Tokyo standard, which Takumi reminded her over and over again). It was a fact that providing for herself and networking outside of it would help her much more in the long run, so it never came up as a serious issue that this was unfair. It's always unfair. She nodded in response, as if letting 

Shimane know that she was engaged in the conversation, although not saying anything about it quite yet.
And who was this Norika-san, anyway? Apparently Shimane had been so in love with this bold and fierce woman that he had the balls to tick with the statistics of the school, undoubtedly leaving a very bad impression on Sayuri. She could feel herself rising with anger but did her best to control it, for now. It was as if it were a slap in the face: Yes, you are sitting across from a pure and genuine asshole. It didn't surprise her that the other students, namely science faculty ones, would start feeling cold towards the melodramatics of the other departments. No one wants to hear that one department is over another! And to think...the person sitting across from her is actually admitting to what he did?! Is it even legal for him to work for the school as he does now? Her mind was racing and when Shimane put it bluntly, she finally replied.

"You're an idiot, Shimane-san." chazillah

Shimane: Her reaction pleased him in an odd way—it would be fruitless if she hadn’t cared for any of it. He fidgeted in his seat uncomfortably and continued, 

“An idiot in love, yes.” He agreed with her, “You see, Takahashi-san, just as you cannot bear the thought if Fujimoto-san moving to America, I could not bear the thought of Norika-san leaving Kamenoko. I soon discovered Norika-san was under immense pressure in her home life: her mother threatened to disown her if she could not acquire a certain GPA. She couldn’t afford her tuition, either, and needed the scholarship desperately. I was determined to help her fight without exposing her to the embarrassment that her GPA hadn’t quite met the requirements.” 

He drew in a deep breath, “So, there you have it!—I couldn’t stand to see her suffering. After talking to Fujimoto-san and the student council, we circulated the statistics via Facebook and the grotesquely large twitter list at the time.” There was some guilt emanating from his countenance as he thought back to the chaos, 

“People ate it as though they were starving to blame Kamenoko for something. Everyone began pointing fingers, and the Science faculty students were berated quite brutally over the internet. I’m afraid Fujimoto-san began to find everything rather overwhelming and was quite confused when administration said his statistics were incorrect. He didn’t question it, however…” He paused, remembering how he had deceived his friend so badly. It was difficult to tell how guilty he felt, however.

“…and I’m sure you remember the student strikes last year, yes? The media said it was primarily about tuition costs, but they were mostly fuelled by the statistics---my statistics---circulating the web. Administration managed to silence the student body with threats of being expelled and disbanding the student council. I graduated in May that year and found work in the the administrative office as a programmer and technician—er, my reputation was quite clean in my University years, which I’m sure you are shocked by.” He let out a pitiful laugh, “My grades were absolutely impeccable, and once I convinced administration that I was against everything student council was vouching for, it was easy to get a position. They didn’t suspect a thing.“

He continued, “I visited the student council meetings even after I graduated simply to see her.... Norika-san was still fighting, even more desperately than usual. She told the council that they shouldn’t give up! As you have probably realized, Student Council still believed the statistics I acquired for them were correct, as did Fujimoto-san. After speaking with Fujimoto-san, I convinced him that we should inspire Norika-san to decide on our next course of action.” 

“After Fujimoto agreed, Norika-san and I eventually had a conversation after one of the meetings. It was late June of last year, I still remember it well.” The distant smile reappeared, “I told her that if anyone were to take action for the school’s crimes…she would be that person! The hero!” He waved his arms stupidly in the air, “She would be the savior of the student body! I thought I had lifted her spirits and inspired her, and she told me that if she did not receive her scholarship for the fall 2012 semester, she would take the action necessary. She had kissed me and smiled. Her smile was beautiful, Takahshi-san, I would have never expected the next few months to be what they were...” his voice trailed off.

Silence hung for a moment. Shimane was collecting his thoughts. The mood turned grim and solemn. “Norika-san showed up to less and less meetings at student council. Fujimoto-san and I simply believed she was studying hard for her GPA. I truly had hoped she would succeed, get her scholarship, and then we could move on from the matter. But if she didn’t...” 

He paused again, “....I planned to stand beside her and support whatever she would do. Of course, if I had the funds, I would have helped her with tuition—but as you can imagine, the Oculus Rift project left me in a lot of debt.”
There was more silence. Continuing was becoming difficult. The mood grew unstable and intense. His lips were parted, as though the words were there but were weights he had to push off with his tongue.

“...In August, Norika-san didn’t show up to any meetings. I grew worried and tried to contact her, but received no response. Even her close friends had no idea what had become of her. Fujimoto-san and I tried to come into contact with her mother, but to no avail. Then August 27th happened…” he paused. His hands were now resting on the arms of the chair, clutching the edge of it. 

“Campus fires. I believe you were caught up in one of them, Takahashi-san…” he was speaking slower now, his tone weakening. There was a dead weight in his throat. His posture hunched forwards and his head was turned away from Sayuri. 

“Fujimoto-san and I instantly dread that…something might have happened related to student council. He phoned me right away, and we called and texted Norika-san. No answers came. Finally I received a phone call from her friend. She told me Norika-san was…” he choked on the word, “Dead. She had killed herself.”
The last words he uttered completely changed Shimane’s composure. Sayuri was speaking to someone else now---someone she had never met before. There was a heavy silence…one that made them feel like they could scarcely breathe. His head was turned to the window now. 

“...We learned that Norika-san had been visiting a psychiatrist. She was suffering from mania and depression simultaneously. Norika Hiroko…she never acquired her scholarship and knew her GPA would not be enough. I suppose her pyromania was…a result of a manic episode she had…” the subject was becoming difficult for him to speak of. There might have been tears in his eyes. He put his forehead to his hand, digging his nails into his skin. He then uttered in a quiet tone, 
“I could not…could not, could not, could not….rid myself of the fact that I had implemented the little idea in her…the idea that she should exact vengeance…” his voice was still quiet, “The idea that she should throw away everything she had because she didn’t get what she want…I loved her, Takahashi-san…and the guilt drives me to the point of insanity…” speaking was difficult now, and he let silence pass between them.

Sayuri: When he agreed with her, she found herself intrigued by it and continued listening intently. To Sayuri, this seemed like another story--a love story--that played a bit like a drama in her head. It wasn't hard to imagine that Shimane would fall for a beautiful girl and his affections being unreturned, but how he attempted to help her stay in Kamenoko rendered Sayuri speechless. It was almost insufferable to imagine the things that transpired between these three people--for now, Shimane and Norika.Not being as involved in the school affairs at the time, she had known very little about the protesting and gossip about the school. Confined to her department and their reliance on outside networks, it wasn't a surprise she wasn't as involved in any of the statistics. She couldn't have imagined what kind of pressure that put on people-pleasing, honorable Junichiro. It must have caused him more grief than it should have; and that he probably cared too much. And the issue of Shimane landing a job with Kamenoko, of all things! The irony of it all! The administration was idiotic for not investigating the whole thing! Him admitting to all these statistic hacks...doesn't he know he could be exposed for these things if he allows himself to discuss it so openly with her?

"I am shocked." Her brows knit and she looked angry, "I'm shocked you could even discuss this with me." It bothered her that he was still smiling over the story thus far. She might have even shown signs of disappointment, shaking her head, glares. He could honestly live with himself doing these sorts of things? How could Junichiro be friends with someone who was so...low? And tinkered statistics so that his little princess Norika could have something she hardly deserved, based on her GPA.
He seemed to be pulling all the strings behind the chaos. Manipulating Junichiro (who now Sayuri was even more disappointed over-- he was such a sucker) and the student council for more Norika affairs made her a little lightheaded as she listened on. Catching sight of another one of his smiles, seemingly different, annoyed her. The plan annoyed her. It sounded juvenile, silly. Then he could admit lying to her, kissing her, how beautiful she was and everything would be alright because she would be the hero against the school's crimes for not giving her the damn scholarship. There was nothing to fight for in the first place! But who would question a guy like Shimane? He didn't look capable of even dressing himself formally. This man wouldn't lie. Oh no.
His glasses glinted a little under the fluorescent lighting of the cafe as he began the more nauseating part of the story. But his expression had caught her off guard a little bit and it told her something was wrong. And she wondered how much debt Junichiro must have been in, if both of them completely failed their kickstarter... her mind would go back and forth between Junichiro... then to Shimane's story.

The 27th of August was a day Sayuri wanted to forget. She feared for her life and Maimi's that day...and went home smelling 

like smoke and ashes. The mentioning of the campus fires made her nauseous and uncomfortable, but what he told her afterwards made her heart sink to her stomach and she went a little pale. She could hardly breathe as she listened to the final parts of Shimane's so-called love story. And from the way Shimane reacted towards the end, there was no doubt in her mind that this...was real. He had genuine affections for her and they were laid bare in front of Sayuri. A sense of fear and numbness overcame her as she tried to find the words to say in their strained silence. Her eyes found themselves listlessly staring into the napkin holder and mini-menu that sat between them. It was much easier to call the both of them foolish... but now it was clear to Sayuri.

He couldn't live with it.

And in that moment, as if an instinctive reaction to his grief, she placed her hand over his and gripped it gently, tenderly, with a sad look in her eyes. How could Junichiro have kept this from her? "Shimane...san..." She said his name quietly, as to try and wake them from their silence. If she was the cause of that fire, then who was the cause of the fire during the ceremony...?! "Please tell me that...Fujimoto-san is alright..." From the sounds of everything and what little she knew about Junichiro...she wanted to know more. chazillah

Shimane: There were tears streaming down his face by now. He clenched his fist when she brought up Junichiro.

“Fujimoto-san is fine.” He said almost curtly, “And he will be now that he’s leaving. I think it’s unhealthy for him to be stuck here, in fact I encouraged him to leave.” He drew a sharp breath. There was silence as he admitted to this fact. He couldn’t look towards Sayuri for the life of him.  

“…After Norika-san died, it was in my best interest to prevent her from receiving blame. She wasn’t insane…even if she was diagnosed I---I didn’t want anyone thinking that of her. She DOESN’T DESERVE IT. Do you UNDERSTAND!?!” He said this a little too loudly, then let out a broken sob. His voice was becoming discernible, “The doctors said she was mentally unstable but…no! No!!! Even I will believe she would have been fine and will until the day I die. Her mother is to blame for all of it!!!! All of it…” He said bitterly with a weakened tone, then tried to find his composure, his limbs trembling.

“I convinced Fujimoto-san that we had to get the new council to fight…fight for Norika-san.” He removed his glasses and wiped his eyes, his voice still shaking, 

“And I…I wanted someone else to take the blame temporarily so that I had enough time to clear her name. Yes, it was wrong of me. But I couldn’t be stopped. I knew Fujimoto-san was against it, but he didn’t stop me. He is weak to his friends.” He drew a breath, “ I managed to peak at the school cameras and noticed that an art student was seen entering the art faculty with a large backpack. I did my best to frame him and report the ‘evidence’.  It wasn’t easy, but with my job at the University I managed to skew data and remove any evidence of Norika-san from the cameras. And he was an art student. It was easy to shift the blame since the statistics looked like they were getting the worst treatment out of all the faculties. There were enough rumors about it being an art student to begin with.”

Shimane went silent for a moment before mouthing the boy’s name quietly, 

“Wakahisa Naoya. His friend was on student council. It was easy to acquire his address. I began sending anonymous text messages to him saying that he should come forward and confess. And it was simple to send in reports from non-existent people saying he was witnessed. I knew it wouldn’t last long. The evidence would be easily seen as incompetent, but it also gave me time to completely wipe out any evidence that would go against Norika-san.” 

The tears were freely flowing now and he had his forehead to his hand, shaking, “Fujimoto-san became suspicious about the statistics due to the ones the school had given him. I told him they were lying…but he knows me too well. He continued to confront me.”

“…So I finally confessed that I had skewed them for her sake. For her.  Can you blame me!? I wanted her to smile again.” it was difficult for him to speak now, but it was obvious that it had strained the relationship between Junichiro and Shimane to a brutal point. He was silent as he tried to utter the last piece to the puzzle.

“And so, a month ago I announced to Fujimoto-san that I would finally take the blame for everything. Yes...I was the one who caused the ruckus during graduation...he was quite upset...we’ve been friends since high school, you see...but I can pay for my sins now and also keep Norika-san free from being looked down upon…I have nothing more to live for anyway…”

He broke down crying quietly for a moment in his hand. There was a pitiful wailing and he kept his glasses clutched in his hand. As the puzzle finally sunk into place, there was a relief in the air for all of the built-up tension. And now it was over. Shimane, too, probably felt as though he were over. 

“Forgive me, Takahashi-san. But all I can think of…all I can see is Norika laying lifeless on the ground. She’ll never look at me again. She’ll never kiss me again. It’ll torture me for the rest of my life. I can’t move on, and I have hurt so many because of it.”

It seemed like an eternity of silence between them until Shimane pulled out a piece of paper and scrawled an airplane number and time, 

“Fujimoto-san is leaving at this time. I know how much you care about him, and how much he cares for you.” He was a sobbing mess and the paper was wet with tears. Shimane slid it across the table and took time to regain his composure, sliding his glasses back on. 

“I am sorry for taking up your time, Takahashi-san. I am glad that you know the truth now. It gives me relief. You shouldn’t blame Fujimoto-san for anything except loving you.” 
He took in a deep breath, his glasses reflecting the light of the room and hiding his bleary eyes, 

"I don’t think we’ll be speaking again. I have to take the final step.” He bowed to her shortly, slipping on his jacket.

The tears had left as quickly as they came.

- FIN -