The camera shutter clicked, forever capturing this spring with no one missing, along with the boys' and girls' expressions-some calm, some resigned, some hiding smiles-on that little sheet of photo paper.
After the group photo, the all-too-brief graduation ceremony was officially over.
They naturally gathered beneath the cherry tree and began discussing the topic everyone would face: their plans after graduation.
"Me? Where else would I go?"
Shoko Ieiri spoke first. She deftly pulled a cigarette from her pocket and put it between her lips, but did not light it. She merely held it between her fingers and shrugged, her tone as languid and carefree as ever.
"The infirmary at Jujutsu High is pretty spacious, and the pay's decent. Most importantly, it's quiet enough-for now. Staying here, dissecting all those bizarre corpses while cleaning up after you reckless idiots... that'll probably be my daily routine from now on."
Shoko had not changed much compared with any of the previous simulations. She seemed born for that position: calm, professional, and somewhat detached from worldly affairs.
Compared with her certain future, however, Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto, Jujutsu High's two brightest stars, showed a rare trace of conflict and uncertainty about the future at that moment.
"Hmm... haven't decided yet."
Satoru Gojo kept his hands in his trouser pockets. For once, he did not immediately make some arrogant declaration. He looked up at the cherry blossoms fluttering in the wind, and those Six Eyes that always saw through everything seemed unable to see the road ahead clearly now.
Without the tremendous shock of seeing the Star Plasma Vessel, Riko Amanai, brutally shot dead before him, and without the rupture and pain brought by his best friend Suguru Geto's defection, Satoru Gojo's ever-restless heart seemed to lack the spark that would compel him