Seijyun Gakuen Ep 1 Part 3 of 3

[The screen slowly fades to black. It fades back in to show an aerial shot of SHIROIWA, the home that the SUZUMOTO siblings share. It’s now night time. It’s very peaceful and quiet. At least until…]

RYOUZU:
YOU GOT INTO TWO FIGHTS ALREADY?!?

[Cut to inside the house. RYOUZU has KEN in a headlock as AKI sits on the couch laughing.]

KEN:
H-hey! Quit it you oversized gorilla!

RYOUZU:
[Starts hitting KEN on the head with his other hand.] What part of “don’t do anything stupid for at least a week” didn’t you understand?

KEN:
Aki, you weren’t supposed to tell him!

AKI:
That wouldn’t be funny at all.

KEN:
I’m glad you’re having a blast.

[KEN pulls free of his brother’s assault and rubs the back of his neck as RYOUZU crosses his arms across his chest. He’s wearing a muscle shirt, and he has a tremendous physique.]

KEN:
Damn you’ve got a tight grip…

RYOUZU:
So are you going to at least tell me why you got into two fights?

KEN:
I got jumped the first time, there’s a gang there that preys on new students and one of them attacked me, so I shoved him over. That was the end of that. And the second one…there was a girl who was getting bullied by some guys. They were going to hurt her.

[RYOUZU’s expression lightens considerably. He’s surprised.]

RYOUZU:
You’re joking, right?

KEN:
No, I’m not. Apparently that’s not uncommon for them, either.

RYOUZU:
Aki?

AKI:
He’s telling the truth. I saw the whole thing.

RYOUZU:
Hmm…that’s different then. You did the right thing, bro. Dad would be proud of you. Sorry about the headlock.

KEN:
No worries.

RYOUZU:
The girl you saved…is she pretty?

AKI:
I asked him that already.

KEN:
Dammit, not you too!

RYOUZU:
I’m just asking. You know, if you’re never going to tell Kaho how you feel, you –


KEN:
Might want to start playing the field, yeah, I’ve heard all this before. I’ll tell her when I’m ready, guys! It’s harder than it looks…

AKI:
Why?

KEN:
What if she refuses? Then what?

AKI:
You act like she’ll never want to see you again or something.


KEN:
What if she doesn’t?

AKI:
You really think Kaho would do that? We’ve known her our whole lives, her parents raised us for crying out loud. We’ve been through everything together, I don’t think something like that would be enough to scare her away for good.

RYOUZU:
Besides that, unless you tell her how you feel first, how do you expect to know if she feels anything for you?

KEN:
I…I don’t know. I just will!

RYOUZU:
Oh, so you plan on developing psychic powers then? That’s good to know.

[AKI starts laughing again.]

KEN:
Laugh all you want. I’ll know when the time is right.

RYOUZU:
Just make sure that you do tell her. Trust me, you’ll hate yourself if you never go through with it. I’m off to bed. Don’t stay up too long, either of you. You need to get a good night’s rest for tomorrow!

[RYOUZU goes down their hallway and we hear his door slide open and then shut. KEN walks over to the couch and sits down beside AKI.]

KEN:
You really had to tell him?

AKI:
Better he finds out now then later. He would be more angry if he knew you were trying to keep it from him.

KEN:
I guess you’re right…

[KEN sits beside AKI on the couch. There’s a long pause.]


AKI:
Ken…can I ask you a favor?

KEN:
Sure.

AKI:
Can we go outside and watch?

KEN:
Tonight?

AKI:
I’d like to see it…it helps me feel calm. I’ll sleep better.

KEN:
[Thinks for a moment] Alright. Come on.

[AKI hurriedly gets up off the couch and follows KEN to their large glass door. KEN slides it open and they step outside onto their small wooden deck located in their yard. AKI sits on the edge. KEN places his hand on her shoulder and closes his eyes. She does the same. KEN’S hand starts to glow light blue and then stops. AKI opens her eyes, which are now glowing light blue like his hand was. KEN opens his eyes as well to exhibit the same glow. AKI smiles and looks up at the sky.]

KEN:
[Sitting down next to AKI] How does it look tonight?

AKI:
It’s as beautiful as ever.

[KEN looks up as well. We see that there is a gigantic swirl of colors and lights in the sky in a cone shape. This is The Spire.]

AKI:
What do you think it’s like up there?

KEN:
I don’t know. I’m sure it’s just as beautiful as it looks from down here.

AKI:
Mm. What do you make of Ban?

KEN:
He seems like a nice guy. Why?

AKI:
No reason. I was just thinking about the tour he gave us today.

KEN:
It’s too bad we didn’t get to meet his sister. He said she’s your age, maybe you’ll meet her tomorrow.

AKI:
Maybe. We’re supposed to be in the same homeroom, after all. [Pause.] What about that rumor he told us about?

KEN:
The woman with red eyes? [AKI nods] Hm…there are stranger things in this world. Take The Spire for example [pointing up at it]. It’s definitely an interesting tale. I might have to take him up on his idea of staking out the school one night.

AKI:
I would come with you. I want to see her for myself if she does exist or not.


KEN:
I figured you’d want to. I’ll ask him if he’s still up for it tomorrow, maybe we can do it this weekend.

AKI:
…

[KEN stretches.]

KEN:
What’s with all the questions, anyway? Something on your mind?

[AKI stays silent for a moment and then turns away.]

AKI:
Am I…really turning out like Mom?

KEN:
[Surprised] What brought that on?

AKI:
Something Ryouzu said this morning…you two are lucky. I don’t remember them at all, all I have are the pictures, you know? Am I like this because I inherited her traits, or because of how I’ve been raised by the Hizuki family?

KEN:
I’d say you’ve got her personality. Mom always looked at both sides of the coin in any instance, but she always weighed the negative more heavily than the positive. That led to her seeming brash and hotheaded…it was just her way of keeping a level head all the time. Despite that, she showed unyielding compassion for all things. Dad was the same, but he always looked to the positive side and ignored the negative things. He was Mom’s counterbalance, and she was his…like the way you and Ryouzu act with each other. You really do look like her, too.

AKI:
Oh…

KEN:
What? You don’t want to be like her?

AKI:
It’s not that…I just wonder how I would have gotten along with them if they were still alive. Would I still be like this? Maybe Dad would have had an impact on my personality.

KEN:
[Laughs a little] He definitely would have tried to straighten us all out. I doubt he would have let us keep the kind of schedules we do now. Why are you suddenly interested in your personality? I thought you didn’t care what others thought of you.

AKI:
I don’t, really. I just have too much time with my own thoughts.

KEN:
You and me both…

AKI:
Do you think we’ll ever find them?

KEN:
Yeah. I know we will. Someday…

[KEN and AKI stare at The Spire in silence. After a few moments, KEN rises to his feet and rubs the back of his neck.]



KEN:
[Yawns] I think I’m going to go to bed now. You coming?

AKI:
No, I’m going to stay up a little longer.

KEN:
Alright, but you’d better get up in the morning.

AKI:
I will. Good night.

KEN:
Good night.

[KEN goes into the house, shutting the door behind him. AKI continues to look at The Spire, smiling. She pulls a locket out from her shirt and opens it. It’s a picture of a beautiful woman with long black hair in one side and a handsome man with short black hair on the right side. She stares at it longingly.]

AKI:
Good night Mom and Dad. Wherever you are.

[AKI closes the locket after a few moments and goes back to staring at the sky. The camera slowly pans up to show The Spire once more. Fade out.]

END OF EPISODE