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School Without Victorique – Part 03

Outside the flowerbed maze, a cheerful girl with short blonde hair was sitting on a suitcase on the ground, her arms and legs tanned from time spent under the summer sun. Her name was Avril Bradely, an international student like Kazuya, who had finally returned from a long summer vacation in the Mediterranean. She was dressed in a white blouse and a crisp, striped pleated skirt. There were tan marks on her shoulders caused by her swimsuit.

Her blue eyes, bright as the clear sky, were wide open, watching the exit to the maze vigilantly.

“I’m sure he disappeared around here somewhere,” she mumbled. “We haven’t seen each other in a while, and I’ve got a ton of ghost stories to share. Why’s he taking so long?”

She stamped her long, graceful legs on the ground, as if eager to see him as soon as possible.

“Kujou! Kujooouuu! Oh, there he is!”

Avril bolted upright.

Kazuya came out of the flowerbeds, her face even grimmer than earlier. He had his back straight, and he was clutching something that looked like a purple letter paper in his right hand. He was coming her way.

“Ku… jou…?”

“Argh, she pisses me off so much!” Kazuya snapped. He was uncharacteristically emotional.

Avril gave a start. “Wh-What’s wrong?” she asked, puzzled. “Oh, long time no see, by the way.”

“Who are you calling a scoundrel?!”

“Huh?”

Kazuya strode down the pathway. Avril quickly turned and pulled her suitcase, following him.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m not rude, a brute, a halfwit, a simpleton, or tone-deaf. And I most certainly am not a reaper! I’d love to say something back, but she’s no longer here. What are you gonna do about this, Victorique?!”

Avril’s cheeks puffed up. “Oh, you’re talking about Victorique… I was worried for nothing!”

“Oh, Avril. Welcome back. How was the Mediterranean? Did you have fun? I’ll carry your luggage for you.”

Kazuya courteously took Avril’s suitcase and pulled it along. He heaved a sigh as he walked.

“Her last letter to me… One she wrote after intimidating grown men…”

The suitcase rattled loudly behind Kazuya. Avril still looked sulky.

“Why is it nothing but insults?! That slanderer! Demon! And this doesn’t even qualify as a letter! Where are the sentences?! It’s just individual words. Idiot, scoundrel, tone-deaf, brute, simpleton. Is that what you really wanted to tell me? And in huge letters too! Darn it… I guess you’ll always be a meanie.”

“What’s going on?” Avril asked wearily. “Did you have a fight with her again?”

Kazuya shook his head as they walked past the glistening fountain.

The wind tousled Kazuya’s black hair forlornly. Avril’s skirt billowed.

“What’s wrong, then?” she asked.

“She’s… gone.” Kazuya’s voice was faint.

“What?”

“Victorique went somewhere far away.”

A look of surprise and sadness dawned on Avril’s face. Her expression changed again. She looked back at the huge gray tower in the distance—the library, the hall of knowledge that housed the little girl that weighed heavily on her mind.

Avril was silent for a while. Then she peered into Kazuya’s face.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah… Well, actually…” He pursed his lips.

Kazuya stopped and let go of the suitcase. With both hands, he carefully folded the letter from Victorique, a letter that contained nothing but insults written in huge letters. He said nothing. He did not utter a word. He took out a notebook from his breast pocket, and with a tender, loving hand, he gently tucked the light purple, rose-patterned piece of paper between the pages.

Also neatly folded and tucked away in the notebook was the first letter he had received from Victorique earlier in the summer. A small perfumed piece of paper with a pattern of roses in a birdcage. It contained only the word “Idiot”.

Kazuya put his notebook back in his breast pocket and pursed his lips again. Avril looked more and more worried.

It was the last day of summer vacation.

A bright, warm morning.

The campus was filled with the voices of happy students still on vacation mode. On the lawn, in the gazebos, and in the hallways and rooms of the dormitories.

A wind blew, rustling the flowers in full bloom.

---

Summer break was over.

With the second semester starting, students returned to their busy school life, waking up in the morning, having breakfast in the dorms, and attending classes.

The sun was getting milder as autumn approached. The verdant foliage in the garden had begun to fade a little, and the wind became cooler and dry. Among the students attending classes at the academy, Kazuya was particularly earnest, wearing a steely expression. He had studied and reviewed his lessons, and no matter what questions were thrown at him, he answered without hesitation.

Avril was watching Kazuya from a seat some distance away.

There’s something off about him…

Her eyes went to the empty seat in front of her—the seat of Victorique de Blois, a girl who never attended classes.

All he does is study… Like some imperial soldier.

She frowned.

He rarely smiles. It’s not fun.

She glanced at the homeroom teacher, Ms. Cecile. For some curious reason, she barely made eye contact with Kazuya.

Avril breathed another sigh. What happened? I’m completely clueless.

Once class was over, Avril stared despondently outside the window. She could see Kazuya in the distance, hurrying through the garden toward the boys’ dormitory. He looked like a lone soldier marching, not sparing even a glance at the lovely lawn, or the flowers blooming around him.

---

Halfway through the week.

The wind was cooler now, and the green trees were changing to the soft colors of autumn. The colorful flowers in the garden fluttered whenever a cool, damp breeze whistled past, scattering their vibrant petals on the grass.

“Um, Kujou?” Avril called gingerly as she approached him.

Kazuya was sitting on a bench on the lawn, reading a copy of Tough Guys Monthly. It was evening, and students were dispersed around the garden, chatting merrily.

“What are you reading?” Avril asked, peering from behind the bench.

“Hmm?” Kazuya looked up. “Oh. It’s Tough Guys Monthly,” he said with a smile. “My oldest brother sends a copy every month from my country. It contains obtrusive tips on how a man should live his life. I’m not really a fan of it.”

“R-Really?” Avril blinked. “Then why are you reading it?”

She sat down next to him and peered at the contents. A cool breeze blew, ruffling Avril’s short blonde hair. A pink petal landed softly on her milky nape, then slowly rolled down her neck and fell to the grass.

“I’m not sure,” Kazuya murmured sadly.

“Hmm?”

Pulling himself together, Kazuya put on a smile. “It says things like, ‘A man should not act on personal emotions or take life for granted.’ Also ‘Lay down your life for your country. To do so, you must train.’ And all that. Basically similar to the stuff that my brother writes in his letters. In his letters, he’s even more rigid. ‘As the world changes by the minute, you should study hard and become a fine man who will serve his country.’ He never changes.”

“I see…”

“Also, my other brother sends me fascinating science magazines. And my sister sends me knitting magazines, which are also interesting. They keep my mind off of things.”

“Ahuh.”

Realizing she’d been saying nothing but offhanded replies, Avril blushed a little. She felt restless, looking to the right, to the left, up. She fiddled with the hem of her skirt.

I wish I had something interesting to share. A fun topic that would cheer him up… Let’s see…

She snuck a glance at Kazuya. He was just turning his gaze back to the magazine.

“Kujou, have you ever heard of the spirit world radio?” Avril quickly asked.

“Nope. What is that?”

Avril’s face lit up. “Well… There’s this supposedly empty room with a radio that suddenly turns on in the middle of the night. It picks up the voices of the dead from the afterlife and plays them. The voices of the damned mingle with grating static…”

Avril’s cheerful voice rolled across the garden.

Another wind blew, scattering golden petals on the grass and the crystal-clear waters of the fountain.

---

Several more days passed.

It was evening, and weekend was just around the corner. The weather was fine. Warm rays of sunlight fell on the dreary flower beds.

“Then the ghost came into the room and shouted. ‘I’m going to curse you to death!'”

“Ahuh, ahuh.”

Sitting on a bench, Kazuya nodded with half-open eyes. Avril, sitting next to him, was enthusiastically sharing more ghost stories.

Kazuya looked at the textbook on his lap. His head drooped, and he fell asleep.

Avril, unaware, kept on talking. He seems to be feeling better. He’s acting normal in class, so I guess he’s back to the usual Kujou?

After finishing her story, she poked Kazuya. “So, Kujou.”

Kazuya raised his head. “I wasn’t sleeping.”

“Wanna go to the village this weekend? Classes have started, so I have to buy school supplies and stuff. I thought it would be more fun if we went together.”

“Ahuh…” Kazuya replied absently.

Humongous white clouds rolled in, blotting out the evening sky. The sun faded, and dark shadows fell on the grass. Feeling chilly, Kazuya let out a small sneeze. Then he stood up, straightened his back, and started walking.

Avril remained on the bench as she watched him go.

Is he actually feeling better?

The orange glow of the setting sun slipped through the rifts between the clouds. In the distance, Kazuya tripped over nothing. Avril got up from the bench and brushed the dust off her skirt, unaware of Kazuya’s little incident. Kazuya resumed walking. Avril also started marching to the opposite direction.

The wind blew again, sending golden petals from the flower beds dancing around Avril’s slim figure, before drifting to the ground.

Ms. Cecile was coming from up ahead. She appeared absentminded as well, her eyes still swollen red. Her curly brown hair that hung to her shoulders was a mess. A tuft of it was standing up at a weird angle.

“Oh, Avril.”

“Teach. Is that bed hair?”

“Huh? O-Oh, no, no. Just a new hairstyle. It’s what’s popular in Saubreme right now.”

Twiddling with her hair, Ms. Cecile tripped on the bench and fell. The stack of papers that she was carrying hovered in the cool autumn breeze, flying all over the garden. Avril squealed. Bending her long, graceful legs, she jumped up and caught the printouts mid-air.

“Thank you, Avril.”

“Two more, and that’s all of them. Is something wrong, Teach?” Avril asked.

Ms. Cecile shook her head, and glanced at Kazuya far in the distance. “You were talking to Kujou just now, weren’t you? How was he? Is he feeling down, or does he seem out of it?”

“It felt like that earlier this week, but he seemed like the usual Kujou today,” she replied brightly.

Ms. Cecile inclined her head. “Is that so?”

“Yeah. We were chatting normally. Hmm…?” She realized that she was mostly the one doing the talking. She cocked her head in the same direction as Ms. Cecile’s, looking doubtful. “I-I’m not sure anymore.”

For a while, the two just stared at each other.

A few petals fell on the papers that Ms. Cecile was holding.

A lone squirrel scurried past them.