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 Red-Haired Confession — The Hand Beyond Hatred —
The light that slanted through the infirmary window was the same stark white it had been for seven mornings now.
But today, that whiteness felt a little softer.
Inudzuka Romio sat on the round stool beside the bed. His short black hair was a mess, his deep brown eyes sunken, his cheeks hollow. The small scar on his left eyebrow cast a shadow over his exhausted face. Only the red hair ribbon wrapped around his right wrist seemed impossibly vivid.
One week.
Since the night the White Cat dormitory burned, Romio had barely slept.
He sat in the hard infirmary chair and held Juliet Persia's hand without letting go. For food, he only forced down the rice balls the Iron Mountain dorm supervisor shoved at him. When he closed his eyes, the smell of fire and blood came rushing back.
Collapsing beams.
Screams.
And Juliet's white face as her right leg was crushed.
(Persia...)
Romio cradled Juliet's left hand in both of his.
Her fingertips were still cold. Her bony fingers seemed even thinner after seven days. The warmth that always came when she squeezed his hand back had not yet returned.
But today—
Just barely, he thought he felt her fingers move.
"...Nn."
A faint sound.
Romio's whole body went rigid.
"...Persia?"
His voice shook.
Juliet's eyelids slowly lifted.
Her clear sky-blue eyes gazed vaguely at the ceiling, then slowly turned toward Romio.
"...Inu, dzuka."
A hoarse voice.
But it was unmistakably Romio's name.
" Persia... Persia...!"
Romio tightened his grip on her hand. Tears spilled over, unstoppable. Everything he had held back for seven days came crashing down at once.
" Thank God... thank God..."
Romio pressed his forehead against her hand.
Warm.
Definitely warm.
" ...Don't cry."
Juliet's frail voice reached Romio's ears.
" This is the first time... I've seen you cry."
She said it with a weak smile.
That smile squeezed at Romio's chest.
" Shut up... I'm not crying..."
Romio lifted his head.
" ...You wouldn't wake up... I thought I was going to die from worry."
" ...I'm sorry."
" Don't apologize!"
Romio's voice rose.
" I'm the one who should apologize... If I'd just saved you sooner..."
" That's not true."
Juliet shook her head.
" You saved me. From the flames."
"But your leg..."
Romio's words caught in his throat.
Juliet's right leg. From thigh to ankle, immobilized in thick bandages and a splint.
" ...It's all right."
Juliet spoke quietly.
" With rehabilitation, I'm sure I'll walk again."
"But..."
" Inudzuka."
Juliet gently squeezed his hand back.
" Don't worry about me. More importantly—the election... protect the academy."
Her words were frail, yet held unmistakable resolve.
" If you don't protect it, everything I wanted to protect will be lost."
Juliet's sky-blue eyes looked straight at Romio.
" ...Yeah."
Romio wiped his tears.
" I'll protect it. I swear I will."
" Yes."
Juliet smiled.
That smile was far more fragile than before, as if it might vanish at any moment.
But it was unmistakably there.
" ...Thank you, Inudzuka."
Juliet's fingers stirred faintly within Romio's hand.
It was the most she could manage right now.
The infirmary door opened quietly.
Dr. Müller gazed at the two of them from behind his silver-rimmed glasses.
" ...Excuse me. Miss Juliet, you've regained consciousness."
" Yes. I'm sorry to have worried you."
Juliet answered the doctor in a faint voice.
Dr. Müller gave Romio a meaningful look.
" Inudzuka, a word outside."
Romio reluctantly let go of Juliet's hand.
" ...I'll be right back."
" Yes."
Romio left the infirmary with Dr. Müller.
The air in the hallway was cold.
" About her right leg—the nerve damage was more severe than we anticipated."
Dr. Müller spoke in a flat tone.
" We managed to reconnect the bone. But nerve regeneration will take a long time. There's a possibility it may never fully recover."
" ...I see."
Romio clenched his fist.
" It depends on rehabilitation. She has a strong will. If she doesn't give up, there's hope."
" ...I know."
Romio raised his head.
" She won't give up. And I won't let her."
There was no hesitation in his eyes.
Dr. Müller gave a small nod.
" ...Good luck with the election. For her sake, too."
With that, Dr. Müller returned to the infirmary.
Romio stood alone in the hallway.
(Protect the election.)
(Protect the academy.)
(And protect Persia.)
Romio gripped the red hair ribbon on his right wrist tightly.
" ...I'll do it."
His low voice echoed through the quiet corridor.
Early afternoon.
Romio stood in the boundary courtyard.
A circular plaza thirty meters across. At its center, an old fountain flowed quietly. The neutral ground exactly between the Black Dog dormitory and the White Cat dormitory.
By the Dahlia Academy Truce Agreement, students from both dormitories were strictly forbidden from entering at the same time.
Breaking that taboo, Romio had summoned two men.
The radical leader of the Black Dog dormitory, Maru Chizuru.
The radical leader of the White Cat dormitory, Abi Senior.
Maru, his slicked-back black hair hardened with wax and silver piercings glinting in both ears, glared at Romio with a sour expression. On the back of his left hand, a tattoo sticker reading "Towa Spirit."
Abi, meanwhile, his short silver hair swept diagonally and ice-blue eyes cold as frost, toyed with the five rings on his right hand, wearing an expression of amusement.
" Inudzuka, what the hell do you think you're doing?"
Maru spat the words out.
" Heh. Summoning the strongmen of both dormitories to the neutral ground at once. How interesting."
Abi twisted his lips into a smirk.
" Both of you. I have something to say."
Romio looked at them directly.
" Something to say? You still planning to side with the White Cats?! Even after what happened to Juliet!"
Maru's voice rang across the courtyard.
The dorm students gathered at a distance stirred uneasily.
" My, Maru. You make it sound as though we White Cats set the fire."
Abi spoke coolly.
" Of course you did! It was you White Cat bastards who torched your own dorm! Pretending to be Juliet to drum up sympathy—that's your game, isn't it!"
Maru advanced on Abi.
" That's our line. It was you Towa dogs who burned the White Cat dormitory and injured Juliet. Your doing, surely."
Abi shot back without yielding an inch.
" What'd you say, you bastard!"
" Excuse me?"
The air between them turned razor-sharp in an instant.
The tension was explosive—a fight could break out at any moment.
" Both of you, stop."
Romio stepped between them.
" Don't you see it? Your stories are exact opposites. Maru says the White Cats did it, Abi says Towa did it. One of you is lying. But—"
Romio paused for breath.
" The real culprit is someone else."
" Huh? On what grounds?"
" Indeed. Do you have proof?"
Romio set down the cloth bag he'd been carrying.
Then he pulled something out.
A metal fuel canister.
Its surface was warped from heat, blackened with soot.
" This is a fuel canister recovered from the burned ruins."
Romio thrust the canister before them.
" Look. There's a stamp here."
Where Romio pointed, the stamp of the Black Dog dormitory's supply warehouse remained clearly visible.
" Wha—that's the Black Dog dormitory's..."
Maru's face changed color.
" ...Then that's proof someone from the Black Dogs did it. They used your own dorm's equipment."
Abi countered calmly.
" That's what you'd think, right? But think about it. Why would someone go out of their way to use Black Dog equipment to set fire to the White Cat dormitory? To make it look like the Black Dogs did it."
At Romio's words, both men fell silent.
" This is a trap designed to make us fight each other. Someone from outside both dormitories is pulling the strings."
" ...From outside? Who would do such a thing?"
Unease crept into Maru's voice.
" ...An interesting hypothesis. But where's the proof? Proof that this fuel canister really was the work of an outsider?"
Abi studied Romio with probing eyes.
" That's what comes next."
Romio said.
" But at the very least, I know this—neither of you is the culprit behind this incident."
" Huh? Why not?"
" You might use underhanded tactics, but you'd never do something that would hurt a girl from your own dorm. And during the fire, you ran to put it out before anyone else. Am I wrong?"
" ...You were watching?"
Maru's eyes went wide.
" Abi, you too. You're a schemer, but you'd never do something that puts your own dorm's students in danger. You were moving to protect the White Cat dormitory. Am I wrong?"
" ...Heh. You give me far too much credit."
Abi laughed.
But that smile was somehow softer than before.
" So I'm asking you. Lend me your strength. To protect this academy."
Romio bowed his head.
The prefect representative of the Black Dog dormitory, bowing to the radical leader.
It was a bizarre sight.
The dorm students watching from a distance held their breath.
" ...Tch. Do what you want."
Maru clicked his tongue and turned his face away.
" But I'm the one who's going to beat the White Cats in the election. Don't you forget that."
With that, Maru turned his back and walked away.
" ...I feel the same. I'll be winning the election fair and square."
Abi gave Romio a glance, then walked off toward the White Cat dormitory.
Romio was left alone in the courtyard.
" ...Well, that's a little better, at least."
Romio looked up at the sky.
Heavy clouds drifted slowly past.
That was when it happened.
" ...Inudzuka."
A faint voice reached him.
Romio turned to find Inugami Leon standing there.
Her hair, dyed black, was beginning to show red at the tips. Her amber eyes were brimming, as if she might burst into tears at any moment. Her small frame was trembling.
" ...I need to talk to you."
Leon stepped closer to Romio.
" ...About the fire."
Romio looked at her steadily.
" ...I'm listening."
Leon drew a deep breath.
" ...That fire might have been orchestrated by my grandmother."
Leon's voice was shaking.
" ...What?"
" My grandmother comes from an old family in the West Principality... She's always hated me for being mixed-blood. She's the one who took me away from my mother."
Tears spilled from Leon's eyes.
" My grandmother knows I gave that speech at Dahlia Academy, saying I'd drive the White Cat dormitory out. And now she's trying to use my words. She wants to turn my hatred into a spark for war between Towa and the West."
Leon covered her face with both hands.
" My words pulled the trigger. Because I spread hatred... Juliet Persia got hurt. It's my fault."
Leon sank to her knees.
" Because of me... it's all my fault..."
Her tears stained the ground.
Romio crouched down in front of her.
" ...Lift your head."
Romio's voice was quiet.
Leon slowly raised her face.
Her tear-soaked amber eyes looked at Romio.
" Your past belongs to you. But your grandmother's crimes aren't your crimes."
Romio took her hand.
" Besides, you realized it, didn't you? That hatred doesn't create anything. Even if your words became the spark, you regret it. That's enough."
" ...But..."
" No 'but.'"
Romio gripped her hand firmly.
" From now on, fight with us. Entrust your hatred to us."
Leon's eyes went wide.
" You're not alone anymore. We're your comrades."
Romio's words pierced deep into Leon's heart.
" ...Uu, ah... aah..."
Leon began to cry aloud.
" I... I don't wanna be alone anymore...!"
Her raw Kansai dialect spilled out.
" Separated from my mom... all alone... hating, hating... but really, I was just lonely..."
Leon squeezed Romio's hand back tightly.
" I don't wanna make any more mistakes...!"
" ...Yeah. Let's find the path where we don't make mistakes—together."
Romio spoke while still holding her hand.
" ...Mm."
Leon nodded over and over through her tears.
A quiet wind swept through the boundary courtyard.
The water of the old
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