Chapter 258: Graduation Season

“Kazama! Watch your back!”

Tokun High School, flower bed.

A silver-haired boy with a headband and wearing a navy school uniform held a kendo sword, slicing through a baby-shaped creature.

Hearing the warning from the red-haired girl nearby, he did a fish leap to dodge the sneak attack.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

From deep within the corridor, several nails shot out, pinning the sneaking insect to the ground.

The students crowding the windows of every classroom erupted in fierce cheers and applause.

Among them was a teacher’s voice shouting through a megaphone: “Alright, the danger has been cleared. Everyone, return to your seats.”

“Kazama Yin!”

The brownish-red-haired girl ignored the bloodstains on the ground and ran, panting, to the silver-haired boy’s side.

She planted her hands on her hips, looking furious. “I told you, don’t focus so much on one target during a fight. Be careful of sneak attacks!”

“Understood, Kageya-san.”

Kazama Yin didn’t look up, his gaze fixed on the monster corpse on the ground.

“I told you to call me Lady Tsubaki!” Kageya Tsubaki bit her tender lip, seemingly perpetually angry.

“Kageya-san, tsundere is out of style now, you know.”

From the shadows of the corridor, another male student gradually materialized.

His face was extremely pale, his lips bluish, perfectly matching his ghostly gray-blue hair color.

Several nails hovered and swirled around his hand; clearly, he was the one who had just attacked.

“Huh? What nonsense are you talking about, Hanyu-san? Tsundere? I’m not like that at all!”

Click—

Kazama Yin sheathed his kendo sword, then slowly let out a breath, returning to a normal state from his alert posture.

“Alright, Kageya-san, Suoluo, let’s head back to the Supernatural Club.”

“Hmph, really, why can Hanyu be called by his given name?”

“Because ‘Suoluo’ doesn’t have a ‘sama’ after it…”

The three students thus left the main hall during class time.

Passing by the old site of the Supernatural Club on the first floor of the annex, Kazama Yin’s steps paused slightly.

The former Supernatural Club site had now been turned into a small museum, with posters of its achievements on the outer walls.

[Osaka Incident], [GSAC], [10003 Incident], [Millennium Incident], [Second Superpower Outbreak Incident], [Dead Hand Incident], [Curtain Cluster Unrest], [Tokyo Day of Ill Omen]…

On each bulletin board, the names of former members of the Supernatural Club could be seen, appearing in these major events that had shaped Japan’s future.

On the small stand at the entrance, the roster of the old Supernatural Club members was recorded. The first page was the list of club presidents.

First Generation Club President: Jiang Jian Yue.

Second Generation Club President: Kaori Onishi.

Third Generation Club President: Yayoi Imai.

Fourth Generation Club President: Ayaka Shimada.

Fifth Generation Club President: Hitomi Watanabe.

Sixth Generation Club President: Moe Nagai.

Seventh Generation Club President: Nakajima Nobuko.

The ink of the last line was fresher than the previous ones, as if it had been written not long ago.

“The seniors of the Supernatural Club are all so amazing…”

Even Kageya Tsubaki lowered her voice when passing this “hall of sages,” not being as boisterous.

Kazama Yin looked at the club president column and clenched his fist. “I will become club president too!”

“Huh? What are you joking about?”

Kageya Tsubaki suddenly elbowed Kazama Yin’s shoulder. “Every past club president has been a girl, you know.”

“And club presidents are decided in the first year of high school, serve for one year in the second year. You’re about to be a second-year after this semester, so you’ve missed your chance. It’s tradition, tradition!”

“Theoretically speaking, the Supernatural Club doesn’t explicitly state that boys can’t be club president, nor does it say the president can’t be changed midway,” Hanyu Suoluo shrugged.

“I said, it’s tradition~”

The three left the annex, took a fork in the path, and arrived at the entrance of a newly built standalone building.

The plaque clearly read: Tokun High School Supernatural Club.

A laser from the monitor by the door quickly scanned the three at the entrance, and the Chinese-style double doors slowly opened.

“There’s something I’ve always wanted to ask. Why is the Supernatural Club’s door like this?”

Kazama Yin looked somewhat puzzled at the somewhat faded red paint on the door, stepping inside first.

“It’s said to have been designed by Senior Makino, who was in the same grade as the second president. Later, during the ‘Independence Revolution,’ it was destroyed as a target of hatred. This current door was restored by Senior Watanabe.”

Hanyu Suoluo was well-versed in “history,” knowledgeable about all sorts of obscure facts and anecdotes concerning the Supernatural Club.

Things like how during the Millennium Incident, his uncle Hanyu Yukiki took three shots to the back but didn’t kill the enemy—he could rattle that off easily.

“Speaking of which, Senior Watanabe is about to graduate soon.”

Kageya Tsubaki felt a faint melancholy. “Why can’t we stay in high school forever?”

“Good question.”

The three passed through the corridor, first going to wash the blood off their clothes, then changed into casual wear and headed to the main hall.

Hanyu Suoluo, having no blood on him, was already waiting first on the sofa in the main hall, watching an idol group jumping around on TV.

“Eh? Southern Cross? They haven’t disbanded yet?”

Kageya Tsubaki, having just washed her hair and half-dried it, her hair still damp, squeezed onto the sofa.

“Ever since they changed agencies, they’ve been on a decline. Now it’s all being held up by Senior Makino alone. The new generation isn’t cutting it, and the old members have all graduated.”

Hanyu Suoluo looked at the pink-haired idol in the center position on the TV and shook his head.

“Senior Makino is still young, in her prime. It’s just that the newcomers aren’t striving hard enough. Sigh… times have changed.”

“Don’t be so old-fashioned! Acting like you’re their original fan.”

Just as they were talking, they saw Kazama Yin being dragged over by a black-haired, bespectacled adult man.

“Endo-sensei.” The other two immediately stood up respectfully, their curious gazes fixed on Kazama Yin.

“This guy, trying to sneak away again.”

Endo-sensei pushed up his glasses, his tone gloomy. “As ‘Awakened Students,’ even if you only have to take basic general studies classes and can play the rest of the time, you still can’t resist skipping school?”

Kazama Yin flushed red, arguing, “I wasn’t skipping! I just wanted to check on the graduation ceremony preparations!”

Kageya Tsubaki and Hanyu Suoluo didn’t dare to breathe loudly.

This young Endo-sensei before them was a mystery fanatic, proficient in a hundred locked-room murder methods.

He spent all day holed up in his office doing who-knows-what. It was terrifying.

“Fine, then you three, go help out with the graduation ceremony!”

And so, Endo-sensei casually exiled the three of them to the frontier.

“Why do we have to be punished too…”

In the auditorium on the side of the building, the graduation ceremony for their Awakened Students was being prepared.

Kageya Tsubaki held a mop in her hand, complaining, “It’s all because of you!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll take the blame this time.” Kazama Yin sighed helplessly, looking up at the graduation ceremony roster.

Hitomi Watanabe’s name was at the top, the designated spot for former club presidents graduating in their third year.

Hitomi Watanabe, although she had stepped down during their entire first year, was still a dazzlingly impressive senior to juniors like them.

The cool and beautiful senior was a goddess in the hearts of countless students.

“Speaking of which… if it’s Senior Watanabe’s graduation, then Senior Imai will definitely come back!”

Hanyu Suoluo, carrying a chair past, mentioned casually.

“When fourth president Senior Shimada graduated, Senior Imai and Senior Onishi also came back for the ceremony.”

“But this year, it should only be Senior Imai. After all, Senior Onishi graduated before Senior Watanabe even enrolled.”

Kazama Yin clenched his fist, unable to hide his excitement.

Yayoi Imai, the club president who had the greatest impact on the Supernatural Club, was an important figure in the pre-war “Free Esper Alliance.”

After the Asian War, although she refused the olive branch from the Hatoyama government and chose to study literature at university, her influence hadn’t diminished.

It could be said, without Imai, there would be no Tokun Supernatural Club of today.

It certainly wouldn’t have propelled Tokun High School to the top of the school league rankings, making the school a holy land that all young boys and girls yearned for.

“Eh? Senior Imai is coming?”

Kageya Tsubaki’s crimson eyes sparkled with little stars. “Great! I’m going to post on Xiaohongshu!”

“Nobody will see it anyway. What’s the point?”

“Hanyu! I’ll kill you!”

The graduation ceremony auditorium was meticulously decorated, the air filled with the melancholy of parting.

Sunlight streamed through the tall stained-glass windows, casting colorful patches of light on the smooth floor.

Third-year “Awakened Students” in neat uniforms sat in the front rows, their faces a mix of anticipation for the future and reluctance to leave their alma mater.

The trio, as helping underclassmen, stood at the side-back of the auditorium, their burning gazes fixed on the figure on the stage.

Yayoi Imai.

She had shed the immaturity of a high school student, wearing a beige-colored suit dress that made her figure appear even more upright.

Her light blue hair was loosely tied up, revealing a smooth forehead and eyes as calm as still water.

“…The Tokun Supernatural Club has never been a place to cultivate ‘weapons.'”

Her gaze slowly swept over every young face in the audience, lingering a moment longer on Kazama Yin and the others.

“Power, regardless of its source, is at its core a responsibility.”

She paused slightly. The auditorium was quiet. Kazama Yin instinctively straightened his back.

“You are about to leave this relatively safe harbor and step into a world far more complex than you imagine.”

“The war is over, but the ghosts of conflict have never truly dissipated.”

“The power in your hands can become a blade that tears apart order, or a needle and thread that stitches wounds together. The choice is yours.”

“Remember, true strength stems from the will to protect, not the ability to destroy.”

“May you, on the path of power, always remember why you set out, remember the people and things worthy of your gentle care with that power.”

As the address ended, the auditorium erupted in long-lasting applause.

Yayoi Imai gave a slight bow and stepped down from the stage amidst the applause.

The crowd began to move. Graduates hugged each other, taking photos for keepsakes.

After exchanging brief pleasantries with the current school leadership and Hitomi Watanabe, Yayoi Imai prepared to leave.

Just as she was about to step out of the auditorium’s side door, a voice tinged with nervousness called out behind her:

“Senior Imai! Please wait!”

Yayoi Imai’s steps halted. She turned around.

Hanyu Suoluo quickly ran up to her, slightly out of breath.

“Senior…”

Hanyu Suoluo’s voice was very low. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Do you know where my uncle, Hanyu Yukiki, went later? It’s been almost three years without any news from him…”

Yayoi Imai didn’t answer immediately. Her calm eyes gazed at Hanyu Suoluo, as if searching through memories.

Then, she slowly turned her head to the side.

Her gaze went over Hanyu Suoluo’s shoulder, looking out the auditorium window at the main school building bathed in the afternoon sun.

Just as Hanyu Suoluo’s heart was sinking bit by bit, thinking he wouldn’t get an answer…

Yayoi Imai withdrew her gaze, settling it back on his face.

“Have you heard of… DRG?”