Before you read this oneshot, keep a few things in mind.

First, I am not Japanese and therefore am not knowledgeable in the ways of Japanese graduation ceremonies. So if you're Japanese or are an expert on these things, my apologies for any mistakes.

Also, I apologize for any errors in characterization. This is my first time writing Ayushiki.

And with that nearly-pointless drivel out of the way... Enjoy!

"Faculty, friends, family, and my fellow students… Welcome to the graduation of this year's seniors of Kisaragi Academy."

Polite clapping resounded through the gym before stopping.

Ayumi stood at the very center of attention, right at the front of the gym. Her uniform was spotless and ironed to perfection, her black hair tightly swept back without a single strand out of line. It was her graduation, after all, and she was the class representative to boot.

Among the large audience sitting in the perfectly straight rows of chairs were her fellow classmates, amongst them her closest friends. They were all seated together, staring straight ahead and barely even daring to breathe. Although they had rehearsed the ceremony numerous times, all of them were extremely anxious about making any wrong moves. Satoshi and Naomi were next to each other, and despite looking straight ahead and keeping their hands in their practiced positions, on the inside they were comforting each other. Yoshiki sat at the end of the row, forcing himself not to fidget. He hated formal events like this. They were far too stifling and soul-crushing for his taste. While Yuka wasn't sitting with the others, she sat with her parents and gave her full, undivided attention- something she rarely ever did.

Ayumi continued on with her speech, continuing to be remarkably formal and very machine-like in the way she forced out the words. She had rehearsed this speech until her voice nearly gave out. It was ingrained into the back of her eyelids.

"On the behalf of my fellow student body, I would like to commemorate several people that shaped us into what we are today. First, our teacher, Hayazo-sensei. You were always such an incredible, patient, and loving teacher who took us all under your wing, no matter our grades, backgrounds, or personalities. You gladly invited us all to partake in the learning experience."

At the mention of his name, Hayazo stood and quietly bowed before sitting back down. He-as well as all the other teachers- were starting to get a bit misty-eyed… not that they would admit it.

Ayumi mentally braced herself. This part of the speech always gave her the most trouble.

"I would also like to thank our outstanding teacher aide… Matsudo-sensei. You always diligently monitored our class, always helped out when a student was confused by the lesson…"

She felt sick. Matsudo-sensei was truly kind, as she said in her speech. She wasn't lying about that. But her teacher aide shouldn't have been Matsudo-sensei. It should have been Yui-sensei whose name she called out. Yui-sensei would always be her T.A…

She forced herself to quit thinking about it. It hurt so much, and all she wanted to do was go and cry in the safety of her room. But she couldn't back out now. She had to give this speech as best as she possibly could.

But her thoughts lingered on Yui-sensei. And then her mind wandered to the others who hadn't made it out of the hellish nightmare that was Heavenly Host Elementary School.

It shouldn't be Aki sitting to Naomi's left. It should be Seiko.

In the front row, Mayu should be there. She'd be stifling her beautiful smile because she managed to get a spot next to Morishige. In turn, he'd be thoroughly elated-not that he'd show it- because he was sitting next to her at their graduation ceremony.

Because of these lingering thoughts, she had to choke out the date, ending her speech. Everyone in the room stood and gave a bow in perfect unison before sitting back down and waiting for the next person to give their speech. Ayumi, on the other hand, didn't do as she had rehearsed for after her speech. Instead of going to the vacant spot between Satoshi and Yoshiki, she slipped away, out of the gym.

She had tried to cover the tears streaming down her face, she really had. But it wasn't too difficult for anyone that spotted her to tell that she was crying… though they all shrugged it aside. It wasn't uncommon for the class rep to go and cry after the big speech. They all passed it off for that reason… all except Ayumi's friends and Hinoe.

Satoshi, Naomi, and Yuka watched with worry, but didn't dare move. Their parents would scold them for sure if they caused a disruption.

Hinoe gripped the edge of her seat, about to stand. She didn't care if people stared… they usually gave her strange looks anyways. Right now, she had to go make sure her little sister was alright. But she paused when Yoshiki hurried past her, ignoring any and all of the strange looks he was receiving… The vibes she picked up from him stopped her right in her tracks. She felt his desire to protect her sister. And an equally powerful vibe, something she was definitely not used to sensing.

A faint smile tugged at the corner as she returned her gaze to the front of the room.

"Little sis…" she thought wryly, "You never told me you had such an enamored admirer."

Out in the hall, Ayumi had her face buried in her crossed arms, finally allowing broken sobs to slip out. A small part of her was glad that makeup wasn't allowed to be worn at graduation ceremonies; if she'd been wearing any, it would have smeared all over by now. Her breath was hitched as uninvited thoughts hijacked her mind, hurting her more and more. She was glad that no one was there to see her break down, but yet… She felt alone.

A weight settled on her shoulder, interrupting her thoughts. She looked up with teary eyes to see the blurred, yet very familiar, form of a certain bleached-blond teenager.

"Hey… I, uh… I saw you crying… Do you wanna tell me what's the matter?" Yoshiki asked, his normal gruff tone softened and slightly hesitant; he hoped that he was saying and doing the right things…

"I-I…" Ayumi choked, "It's nothing… I just… I'm sad that we all… have to go our separate ways…"

Yoshiki looked into her eyes before sighing. "Shinozaki, you can tell me what's really on your mind. It's… It's Yui-sensei and the others, right?"

She looked down at the floor, suddenly very focused on her socks. Yoshiki took that as a yes.

"I know how you feel, Shinozaki. I assure you, of anyone here, I know exactly what you're going through…"

The girl bit her lip as more tears dribbled down her cheeks. "It's… It's not fair…!" she whispered raggedly, hunching up her shoulders as her breath came out in wheezes.

Yoshiki gently rubbed her shoulder. "I know… It's not fair at all."

"They should have been graduating with us!" she cried out. "A-and… and it was s-supposed to be Yui-sensei's first graduation… Her first year as a teacher's aide…! She was always so excited f-for it… And we would chat about it… And she… God, Kishinuma-kun, she never even got to see her first graduation as a staff member… That was… that was her dream…! And… And Shinohara… She was so eager to graduate with everyone and go to college with Nakashima and Mochida-kun… A-and Mayu was… She said she'd send a postcard from her new home when she graduated… A-and Morishige-kun… He was looking forward to setting up for the graduation with the rest of the drama club, and now…" Her breaths came sharper and more shaken than before, "They're all dead, Kishinuma-kun! And no one… No one e-even… R-remembers…!"

His arm wrapped around both of her shoulders, and a sad look filled his eyes. "Shinozaki… Trust me, I… I know… But…" He bit his lip. "They'd… they'd want you to enjoy your graduation. That's… what I think, anyways… They were incredible people, and I'll be damned if they even deserved to die… But they'd want you to carry on. Even if they can't see us now, I'm absolutely sure that's what they'd want. Especially for our beloved class rep…" He gave her a sad smile. "We all look up to you, y'know. All of us. And they did too. They would want you to be happy, and smile like you normally do. And they'd… They'd want you to keep telling your ghost stories, scaring the wits out of everybody..."

Ayumi's gray eyes were focused on him now, even though they were blurred with tears.

"And… I dunno… We… We all just want for you to be happy. I want you to be happy, Shinozaki…" He used his free hand to reach into his pocket, pulling out his handkerchief and using it to gently brush the tears away.

Her eyes widened and she bit her lip. "D-do… do you really mean all of that…?"

"Yeah. I do." His fingers massaged at her tense shoulders in the way he knew she liked best. "Why don't we get you all cleaned up so you can go back in? I know you were looking forward to the farewell songs, after all that practice. We don't want to miss any of it."

"K-Kishinuma…" she thought, staring at him with her tear-filled eyes. "You… You care…?"

His gaze lowered. "I… I mean, you don't have to, if you don't want to. Um… You… You look just fine, though your face is red…"

The faintest of smiles finally tugged at the corner of her lip. "Yeah… I'd like that, Kishinuma-kun… I'd… I'd like that a lot…"

Yoshiki blinked in surprise when her small, soft hand took his own large, calloused one, but he didn't say anything. He stood and helped her up, guiltily savoring the feel of her perfect, delicate skin against his hand. But he wasn't good enough for her, he had to remind himself. She was the perfect student. The valedictorian. The beautiful angel. He was the D-student dropout. The bum who could never afford college in a million years. A filthy gangster piece of crap, he vaguely recalled his parents yelling at him.

But his heart couldn't help but beat just a little faster as she led him to the bathroom sinks, once again showing her strong, determined self.

"We have to hurry, or we'll be late… Kishinuma-kun, wait for a second, if you would…"

He reluctantly released her hand as she turned on the sink to wash her face. And within moments, she was dragging the much taller Yoshiki along behind her slight frame again.

"Now," she commanded, "we have to be really quiet when we go in. Otherwise we'll cause a disturbance. All right?"

He nodded, hiding the faintest smile. She was being as bossy as ever.

They got plenty of strange looks as they returned to their seats, but all the staring was largely ignored on Ayumi and Yoshiki's part. Fortunately, the speeches were still going.

Yoshiki sat down and watched the person giving the speech-the principal, he remembered-with as much focus as possible, stifling a yawn. Maybe it would impress Shinozaki if he stayed all polite and uptight, even though he was bored out of his mind.

Meanwhile, she couldn't stop herself from glancing up at him. She couldn't shake the image of that concerned look, and neither could she forget how delicately he had wiped her tears away. Those hands were strong and capable. Used to being rough.

When anyone else looked at Yoshiki, they never once even thought he could be gentle and caring. They only saw his ragged exterior. But now… Ayumi was starting to realize how wrong that was.

His lips could bear the purest of smiles.

His eyes could be softer than light blue clouds.

His hands could be comforting and gentle.

And now that she thought about it, she had seen that side of him before, when they were trapped together in Heavenly Host. He'd… He'd saved her. He'd comforted her as best as he could when she was scared out of her mind, even if he was a bit new to the whole concept of friendly, soothing interaction…

To be honest, though, she felt drawn to that side of him.

He really… cared about her.

Her eyes returned to the speaker, although she no longer listened to his words.

"Kishinuma-kun… Thank you…"

Please drop in some feedback if you have the time! I want to improve my writing so I can write more, even better Ayushiki in the future. Thank you for reading!

~Dfire