Vol. 5 Ch. 1 Ep. 9: Fuwa Renge

...What are you doing here, Yukari?

I, Yukari, scoured the clubs that specialize in the humanities to find you, Renge! And now my search is complete!

But I never expected that you'd be with the Inner Discipline Club.

Renge asked to join us on a trial basis so she could experience the Inner Discipline Club's activities.

*yawn* So...that's why...I'm experiencing our activities...now... *snore*

Then the Inner Discipline Club promo video must have worked! Right?!

I'm sorry, I would have said something earlier if I had realized you two knew each other. But perhaps I should have guessed from that blue haori...

Wow, yeah! It's exactly the same! So Renge is part of the Hyakkaryouran too?!

Ah, well, yes, but...

I-I wasn't trying to hide it or anything like that...

I understand. You're just trying to reclaim your youth.

...Huh?!

H-Hold on, Yukari! How do you know about...

You told me! And besides, I went looking for you at your home first.

You were gone, but I found a note reading "I am off to reclaim my youth!"

So Sensei and I made our way through all the clubs you might be visiting!

I met all those club members who welcomed you into their clubs and were touched by your pure heart!

And I, Yukari, am also touched! I'm glad you're on a quest for your bittersweet youth, Renge! But we have to discuss...

H-Hold on! You don't need to embarrass me, quit it with all the "youth this, youth that", p-please!

I wrote that note in the heat of the moment...

People say that student life can end before you know it, so I've been trying to focus on as many club activities as possible...

No, wait! Why should I be embarrassed of my dreams?!

You're right, Yukari! I came to the Inner Discipline Club to find my youth.

All that time spent fretting over our club activities like an old maid, sweat on my brow and a frown on my face... I'm taking my youth back!

...So, Yukari, I don't know why you've chased me down, but I've already decided to set aside my haori and join the Inner Discipline Club. So whatever it is, no matter how much it hurts, you should head back...

What kind of youth activities does the Inner Discipline Club partake in?

Are you even listening to me?!

I just want to know what you've been up to, Renge!

A-Ah, then... My youth activities are... I...

I...

I've joined the Inner Discipline Club in order to become a calm and cultivated lady! And a battler who has mastered beauty sleep!

...Eh?

*yawn*

So that was your goal, Renge?

Both! Either! It doesn't matter!

Whichever way I choose, it's y-youth!

Oh my...

Do you think it's strange, Yukari...?

It's amazing! You always run straight towards your goals, without a moment's hesitation!

It's what I admire most about you, Renge!

O-Oh, r-really...?

Does Kikyou know about this?

I'm sure she would cheer you on with all her strength...

No way! I can just see her smirking at me mysteriously if I tried! She's the person I want to tell the least!

M-More importantly, Yukari, it's my turn to ask questions! Why were you looking for me?

Hmm?

Don't play hard of hearing. You know what I asked...

Our club has been disbanded. Our activities are suspended.

You should be getting ready to enjoy the festival as a normal student...

Never!

Um, I mean... Of course I have a reason for seeking you out! ...I don't have anything to hide, after all!

I, Yukari, am here because I require your aid!

With... With you as my witness, I invoke the Hyakkaryouran Succession Contest!

...What.

...Why bring up a succession contest all of a sudden?

Kikyou was right!

Nagusa truly traveled to the Great Snowfield!

...

So our path forward is clear! We can fix everything and return the Hyakkaryouran to the way it was before!

I shall defeat Nagusa in a succession contest, and...

And then I shall assume the presidency!

...

Renge! Let's return together!

We can find Kikyou and reunite the Hyakkaryouran! Please...witness my succession contest!

Yukari... You...

You're still...

Yes!

You're still going on about all that nonsense?!

Wh-What?

Yukari, the Hyakkaryouran has already disbanded.

Kikyou decreed it personally, upon her authority as the operations officer.

Huh? The Hyakkaryouran...disbanded? Wh-When?

Sh-She would never!

Renge, the order to disband must be a mistake!

There's no mistake.

When President Ayame disappeared... Well, none of us were shocked, we knew something like that might happen.

The president is an amazing person and I wish you could have known her better...but we all assumed that she might vanish at any time. It's hard to explain...

...!

But then Nagusa, who should have taken the reins as the new president, abandoned us without a second thought. She left to find the president...

It was already over for the Hyakkaryouran. We were already dead. We just hadn't stopped moving.

That's not... That can't be true!

The Hyakkaryouran still lives... You proved it just now!

You still stopped the Mouryo from causing chaos! What is that, if not the duty of the Hyakkaryouran?!

I didn't do that for the Hyakkaryouran. I did it to reclaim the years I stupidly sacrificed for it.

The Mouryo were an obstacle to my reclaimed youth. I stopped them for myself.

Renge...

...

But... But... Without the Hyakkaryouran, Hyakkiyako's peace will...

Ha, you really don't know anything, do you?

You're Schale's Sensei, right?

Do you remember, Sensei? When the sky turned red?

...!

Hyakkiyako was consumed by chaos.

Monsters rampaged through the streets and the students cried out desperately for someone to save them, for the Hyakkaryouran to save them.

But without the president and vice president, we... We ran around like headless chickens.

Me, Kikyou... And you too, Yukari! We scrambled to resolve the situation to the best of our abilities, but we barely helped anyone on our own.

And you know what happened as a result?

Nothing. Nothing at all.

Yukari, stop living in a dream. You saw it as well as I did. People can solve their problems without the Hyakkaryouran. Hyakkiyako will be just fine without us.

It took the Hyakkaryouran's absence to prove we were never necessary.

Even if the president and vice president never return... No one is going to suffer because the Hyakkaryouran isn't around. Nobody needs us.

Our club...the things we did...

In the end we were only a club that wasted peoples' time and caused them pain. It's right that we disappear.

But...but...

Renge! You admired Nagusa too! You loved the Hyakkaryouran, I know you did!

Renge possesses an indomitable heart... She's quite inspiring to a wavering spirit like mine.

We owe much to Renge. You think so as well, don't you Yukari?

Definitely!

Bold of you to tell Nagusa that you think Renge is more impressive, Yukari.

Wh-What?! No, I...

Hey, don't tease her cause you want to embarrass me! Some things are too much to hear, you know?!

...It's weird to hear heartfelt praise from someone so refined.

...Heehee.

You were always there for us! You kept our spirits up on long patrols and you always had our backs! I-I was proud of you! Nagusa was proud of you!

...!!

Who cares?! That didn't keep her from abandoning us!

You can't change the past! Even beyond the fact that Nagusa won't come back!

She already... Even though she tried to return it, you still!

But...

I know it has been a long time. But still...if we gather everyone again... If we meet Nagusa... And if I win the succession contest...!

If we do that, everything can go back to how it was! We'll all be together again!

Back to how it was...

...Yukari. You've always been like this. If you think something is right, you charge forward, full tilt.

You always acted like anything was possible if you really put your heart into it... I admired that about you...

But that's why I know that my words are nowhere near enough to get you to back down.

You're not the type to be convinced until something is proven by action.

So I'll convince you with my strength here and now.

Here I come, Yukari!

...!

"Are you okay, Yukari?!"

I-I... I...

I'm sure you get it now. I won't go back.

The Hyakkaryouran can never, we can never go back to how things were.

...

But don't misunderstand me either, Yukari...

You've always been different from us. You've always had a life outside the Hyakkaryouran waiting for you.

Yukari. You have somewhere to go back to─

...!

Ugh.

No, any more would be...

This is enough.

Yukari. Let me give you one last piece of advice as your senior.

Stop wasting your time. Go be young. Find something that makes you happy and let the past go.

Your life is too valuable to waste it trying to resuscitate a club that's already gone...

...Don't come asking me about succession contests again.

R-Renge! Hold on!

Ah...! Wh-What should we do?!

...Sensei, we'll take our leave first.

Renge...