Boarding School Juliet: Requiem — Lovers After the War
The night before the prefect election, a threatening letter arrives: *Cancel the election, or there will be blood. — Child of War.*
For a year, Inudzuka Romio, head prefect of the Black Dog dormitory, has fought to bridge the bitter divide between East and West at Dahlia Academy. And at the heart of that fight lies his secret—Juliet Persia, head prefect of the White Cat dormitory, the girl he loves and can meet only in the shadows of the library.
But as shattered windows and red-painted warnin
Boarding School Juliet: Requiem — Lovers After the War - The Frozen Dinner Table — The Bloodbath of the Dormitory Exchange Event —
The dining hall of the Black Dog dormitory—Kurogane Hall—was usually filled at dusk with the steam of miso-nikomi udon and the shouting of its residents. But today, the air was taut as a winter morning.
From the kitchen came only the steady, rhythmic sound of dashi simmering in an iron pot. It was the first inter-dormitory exchange, with the White Cat students invited. Romio had spent days persuading Dorm Supervisor Tetsuyama to allow it. With permission to use the kitchen secured, he and Juliet had spent a full week preparing.
On the long tables, Touwa's miso-nikomi udon and West's baked sweets were laid out, giving off steam and a sweet fragrance. The udon bowls were Black Dog dormitory property. The sweets, Juliet had baked late into the night in the White Cat kitchen, borrowing it for the purpose. The scent of herbs and honey lent a faint touch of color to the dining hall's heavy air.
But the roughly forty students who had gathered were split cleanly in two, across the long tables.
On the right, the Black Dog students. Their black stand-collar uniforms lined up like a wall. As one, they left the food untouched, arms crossed, glaring at the opposite side.
On the left, the White Cat students. The collars of their white uniforms floated coldly in the dining hall's dim light. They too sat with backs straight, never letting their eyes meet the Black Dog students'.
The dining hall clock's hands pointed to six.
Romio stood at the entrance, drew a deep breath. The tips of his short black hair were faintly damp with sweat. His fingers unconsciously traced the red hair tie at his right wrist.
(It's fine. I can do this.)
He told himself so, deep in his chest.
"Hey, everyone—glad you all came!"
Romio sent the brightest voice he could muster ringing through the dining hall. When he smiled, his fang-like front teeth showed. But no one responded to that smile.
The Black Dog students merely glanced at Romio and immediately looked away. The White Cat students didn't stir, like stone statues.
Beside Romio, Juliet caught her breath softly. Her long blonde hair was, as always, carefully braided, casting honey-colored light onto the shoulders of her white uniform. Her clear sky-blue eyes anxiously swept the frozen air of the dining hall.
"...It's still difficult, isn't it."
Juliet's voice trembled faintly. Her hands gripped the silver tray of West sweets firmly.
"Don't give up. We've only just begun."
Romio spoke low, so only Juliet could hear. Then he stepped one pace into the dining hall.
"Come on, try it first! This miso-nikomi udon—the old man at Kurogane Hall put his heart into making it for today. It'll go cold!"
Romio held out a bowl of udon to one of the Black Dog students. The other was a male classmate. He eyed Romio's face, then glanced down at the bowl.
"...Like hell I can eat that. Just breathing the same air as those White Cat bastards makes me sick."
The male student spat the words out. Small laughs leaked from the Black Dog students around him.
Romio's temple twitched. But he didn't let his smile falter.
"I see. Then at least try the sweets. The White Cat prefect baked them specially for you guys."
Romio took one of the sweets from Juliet's silver tray and held it out before the male student.
The male student looked at the sweet. Then he looked at Romio's face.
"...Inudzuka. Are you actually serious?"
The male student's voice dropped.
"Dead serious."
Romio looked straight back into the male student's eyes.
"I just want you guys to eat the same meal with the White Cat students. That's all."
The dining hall's air grew heavier still. The Black Dog students' gazes pierced Romio. The White Cat students held their breath, watching the exchange between Romio and the Black Dog student.
Juliet tightened her grip on the silver tray. Her fingertips had gone white.
(Inudzuka...)
She stared at Romio's back. The back of his black uniform. That back was now bearing the hostility of the entire dining hall, alone.
"Everyone, would you listen to me for just a moment?"
Juliet stepped one pace forward. Her clear voice quietly cut through the dining hall's silence.
The White Cat students turned their attention to Juliet. The Black Dog students, too, shifted their gazes from Romio to Juliet.
"In the Duchy of West, these sweets are shared with family and friends at the festival celebrating the coming of spring. The herbs are gathered at the foot of the Kiriha Mountains. The honey has been sold in the markets of Persia City since long ago."
Juliet raised the silver tray with both hands before her chest.
"In my homeland, they say that eating this sweet warms your heart, and helps you endure even the harshest winter. ...Today, I wanted all of you to taste that, so I baked them."
Juliet's words reached every corner of the dining hall—slowly, but clearly.
A small stir arose among the White Cat students. Several stared intently at the sweets Juliet held.
"...Juliet baked these?"
One of the White Cat students, a small underclassman girl, asked timidly.
"Yes. Some are a little burnt, but I guarantee the taste."
Juliet smiled at the girl. Small dimples appeared beneath her eyes.
Seeing Juliet's smile, the girl relaxed—just a little.
"...Then, may I have one?"
"Of course. Go ahead."
Juliet handed a sweet to the girl. The girl received the small sweet with both hands. Then, hesitantly, she brought it to her mouth.
"...It's delicious."
The girl's face lit up.
In that instant, the dining hall's air loosened—just slightly, ever so slightly.
Romio didn't miss that change.
(Yes—this is it.)
Romio began walking through the dining hall again. This time he wove among the Black Dog students, offering sweets to each in turn.
"Hey, you try one too. It's surprisingly not bad."
"I don't like sweet things."
"Just one bite. Come on."
Romio set a sweet before Black Dog Student B.
Black Dog Student B looked alternately at Romio's face and the sweet. Then, reluctantly, he picked it up.
"...Just one bite."
Black Dog Student B bit into the sweet.
"...It's sweet."
"Right? Not bad, is it?"
Romio lightly clapped Black Dog Student B on the shoulder.
Black Dog Student B swatted Romio's hand away and turned aside. But the corner of his mouth had loosened slightly.
Juliet watched intently as Romio, sweating, made his way around both dorms' tables.
(If I'm with this person...)
Deep in her chest, something warm spread gently.
(If I'm with this person, surely we can change the world.)
Juliet felt she had seen something certain in Romio's back.
Here and there around the dining hall, small conversations began to sprout.
A White Cat underclassman asked a Black Dog student about the origins of a West tradition. A Black Dog student hesitantly explained how to eat miso-nikomi udon.
Still awkward. But the air had undeniably begun to move.
That was when it happened.
Heavy footsteps echoed from the dining hall entrance.
"Well, well. What a thoroughly disgusting sight this is."
Maru Chizuru entered the dining hall. His slicked-back black hair was set with wax, and his narrow, sharp sanpaku eyes slowly swept the room. His tall, broad-shouldered frame in the black uniform looked all the more intimidating.
Behind Maru, several members of the Black Dog hardliners followed close.
The dining hall's air froze in an instant.
The conversations that had just barely begun stopped dead.
"Eating the same meal as the White Cat bastards, chatting away like friends. Inudzuka, when did you fall this low?"
Maru stood before Romio. His sanpaku eyes looked down at Romio as if appraising him.
"Maru, you eat too. The miso-nikomi udon's still warm."
Romio met Maru's provocation with a smile.
"Don't screw with me. I won't even breathe the same air as those White Cat bastards."
Maru knocked the bowl of udon Romio offered aside with the back of his hand.
The bowl fell to the floor and shattered. The miso-nikomi broth splattered across the floor.
The whole dining hall gasped.
"Inudzuka, you're the prefect representative, and you're running around with the White Cat bastards—what's fun about that? Because of you, the Black Dog dorm's been getting walked all over by the White Cats!"
Maru's voice rang through the dining hall.
The Black Dog students began nodding at Maru's words.
"That's right! Inudzuka's on the White Cats' side!"
"The kitchen getting wrecked was the White Cats' fault too, right? Why the hell do we have to play nice with them!"
Anger filled the dining hall once more.
The White Cat students huddled together, watching the Black Dog students with frightened eyes.
"Hey, Maru. You still think the White Cats were behind the kitchen vandalism?"
Romio fixed Maru with a direct stare.
"Of course I do! That was obviously the White Cat bastards' doing!"
"There's no proof. That's just your assumption."
"I don't need proof to know! The White Cat bastards have it out for us!"
Maru pressed in on Romio.
"You've had something whispered in your ear by that White Cat woman, haven't you? That Juliet Persia or whatever her name is!"
At Maru's words, Romio's brow twitched.
"Maru. Take that back."
Romio's voice dropped.
"I won't take it back. I'm saying you've been bewitched by a White Cat woman!"
Maru grabbed Romio's collar with his right hand and yanked.
"You settle it right here, right now. Are you the Black Dog dorm's prefect representative, or are you that White Cat woman's dog!"
Maru's face pressed close to Romio's.
The dining hall's air strained to the breaking point.
The Black Dog students watched the two, holding their breath. The White Cat students had gone pale, their bodies rigid.
Juliet clutched the silver tray to her chest and tried to force her way between Romio and Maru.
"Stop, both of you...!"
Juliet's voice shook.
But Romio held her back with his left hand.
"Persia, stay back."
Romio said it shortly to Juliet.
Then, still held by the collar, he looked straight up into Maru's eyes.
"Maru. I didn't open this gathering to beat you all into silence."
Romio's voice was quiet. But within that quiet was a strong force.
"I decided to change things through dialogue. So that you and the White Cat students could exchange words and understand each other. That's why I became prefect representative."
Romio spoke as if chewing each word.
"So I won't hit you. If you want to hit me, hit me. But don't think it'll change anything."
Maru didn't move, still gripping Romio's collar.
His sanpaku eyes stared fixedly at Romio's face.
"...You really mean that?"
"I mean it."
Romio answered instantly.
The dining hall's air hung taut, motionless.
Then one of the White Cat students stood up.
"That's right! You're the ones who vandalized our kitchen first!"
White Cat Student B shouted at the Black Dog students.
"Hah!? You're the ones who wrote blood letters on our dining hall wall!"
Black Dog Student E snapped back at White Cat Student B.
"We didn't! We would never do such a thing!"
"Liar! Every last White Cat bastard is a liar!"
Students from both dorms rose all at once and began shouting at each other.
The dining hall fell into chaos.
"You had some nerve wrecking our kitchen!"
"You're the ones who wrote blood letters on the wall first!"
"We didn't! Maybe you White Cat bastards did it yourselves!"
"What—!? That's impossible!"
Angry shouts flew back and forth, and the dining hall's air boiled to the brink of violence.
Still held by the collar, Romio desperately scanned the students of both dorms.
(Damn...! At this rate, there's no stopping it!)
Cold sweat seeped onto Romio's forehead.
Then Juliet forced her body between Romio and Maru.
"Everyone, please stop!"
Juliet's voice rang clear through the dining hall.
The shouting students froze for an instant.
"If we raise our hands here, we lose. That's exactly what they want."
Juliet spoke quietl
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