*tok, tok, tok*

Was the sound of Riel knocking before opening the door to the director’s office.

“So, you’ve finally decided to report.”

The school director was sitting comfortably on his office chair. He seemed to be focused on something on his laptop, but Riel had no intention of asking about what the director could be doing.

“Sigh, I never thought taking care of bookworms can be so tiring. Say, can I quit this job?”

There was a short silence in the room as Riel told the director that. It felt like time had stopped between them and that the only thing connecting the two were their eyes looking ahead at each other. But the director would soon destroy the silence with a powerful laugh.

“BUWAHAHAHAHAHA! PPfffttt…”

“H-hey… It isn’t fitting of a director to be laughing like that. Be careful. You might die of a heart attack.”

“I apologize for my rude behavior. You are having fun right now, aren’t you?”

“Well, I guess.”

“You weren’t serious about quitting. So, you really just wanted to report. You don’t have to miss me so much.”

“Tch. I just would like you to know that the club is currently not doing fine. At least that’s what I think. With all the sh*ts that they have to deal with because of the upcoming festival, it’s really going to be tough.”

“Isn’t your job to make sure they will succeed?”

“Of course. That’s why I’m here. My presence here is an assurance that regardless of results, I will make sure that they will grow. Of course, I’m not willing to take defeat so calmly, either. I’m going for the Gold. Even if it means going a bit overkill.”

The director couldn’t prevent his eyes from opening wide as he laid his vision upon the Riel who had his head held high while wearing a smug expression.

[You’re still as competitive as ever. I wish you and your club the best.]

Riel then exited from the director’s office and went straight to his clubroom.

“Sir Riel is here!”

“Alright!!”

Arjay and Elrick went with a fist bump as Riel entered the room. The Riel who had just entered the clubroom carefully looked at the faces of his students one by one so that he may know who’s present. However, the first thing that he noticed was not the fact that Runa wasn’t around.

“Everyone looks abnormally fired up. What’s up with you guys?”

“We want to redeem ourselves from our failure last year.”

“Sir Riel, please teach us!”

Anna was the first one to speak while Arjay came following after her. He stood up as he asked Riel to teach them the ways of an author. Everybody went silent. They expressed their determination through their facial expressions alone. Riel couldn’t help but make a smile, but he felt the need to scare them just a little.

“It’s great that you are all ready to give your best in the upcoming clubwars, but just so you guys know, I won’t go easy on you.”

Arjay’s eyes were set ablaze with anticipation for Riel’s rigorous training regimen while Elrick tried to keep his excitement from overflowing by shutting his fists tight. Anna wore a smile while Leila tried to show as little emotion as possible. As for Luna, she had been writing something ever since Riel came in. Finally, Riel noticed something.

“Where’s Runa?”

“Ah! She said she will be in the music club for today.”

Said Anna.

“I see. Well then, I’ll have you guys write all of the story ideas that you can think of right now. Write absolutely everything that comes to mind. Don’t let a single thing pass. Ride the flow. Don’t stop until I tell you.”

Riel’s instruction was loud and clear, but Elrick felt the need to ask.

“But Sir, what if there’s something that I’m unsure of? There’s this idea in my head that’s going on for a while now, but it’s too difficult to put on paper.”

“As I said, just write everything down. Don’t worry about making mistakes and errors. It doesn’t matter how difficult to put something on paper is, all we can really do is try our best to write it. We can only really write. Write and rewrite as many times as you need to. One day, you’ll find the right words. After all, we are writers.”

As for Luna, she seems to be doing something of her own.

“Luna, You’ve been focused on something for a while now. What are you doing?”

Luna hurriedly hid the things that she had written by placing her hands on top of her notebook. She had a flustered expression that Riel rarely ever saw.

“It’s okay. If you’ve already found what you wanted to write, then it’s fine.”

Riel gave Luna his honest smile. At least one of his students was already set on something.

“I’m going out for a little walk.”

Since there wasn’t really anything for Riel to do, he decided to leave everyone be. He was curious about something, so he went to check on Runa. However, the Music Club’s room was in a different building.

[Looks like I’m somehow used to walking around now. I still can’t stand crowded places, but since there are fewer students during club time, I have an easier time exploring.]

Riel was taking his time getting to the Music Club. In fact, he was making a lot of detours. He wanted to try and see if he would feel anything by going to places he’s familiar with. He wanted to try if he would get a sense of nostalgia and longing but to no avail. The school was something that Riel deeply hated back in his days. It didn’t matter where or when. Riel only had unpleasant memories everywhere, every time. The only nostalgic fragments of memory that would flash through Riel’s eyes were the times he would sneak into the rooftop so he could eat lunch by himself, all alone. It was something forbidden before and even at the present time, but Riel had always managed to evade the authorities. Every time he would be at the rooftop, he would climb the water tank and sit on the space there and eat. He would look at the students walking around the campus as well as the cars that went by the road. Whenever he’s at school, lunchtime was his only hope of respite. A time when he could unwind and relax without anyone bullying, judging or bothering him. A time when he would feel like he owned the world. Whenever he was at the rooftop, he’d feel as if he had TRUE freedom. The fresh and gentle wind that would brush Riel’s skin, the chirping of birds, and the infinite vastness of the sky were the only company that he didn’t feel bad being with.

Not long after, Riel noticed himself being drawn to that same rooftop once more. He knew not when he began to climb the stairs, but he wanted to confirm something. He wanted to know if his time at school was a complete disaster. He needed to know and prove to himself that, even though he was different from the rest of his peers, he once had his own fun times. That there was something that he was looking forward to every day.

His hands were shaking from nervousness. All he had to do was open the door, but he was stuck with a cold sweat. It took him a couple of minutes before he could muster up the courage to open the door towards his former haven, and what awaited him was the same rooftop that he was so familiar with.

“Nothing has changed…”

He murmured to himself. He walked ever so slowly as he inhaled the gentle air. The same water tank he used to sit on whenever he would eat was still there. It seemed to have been maintained nicely. The vast infinity of the sky, the birds, everything remained the same.

The Riel who figured coming back to that place would be a good idea noticed something.

“Why…”

He asked himself why there was liquid pouring down from his face. He questioned where the liquid was coming from, but there was no mistake. He was shedding tears. He was crying. He used his hands to wipe his face, but water would continue to overflow from his eyes and drip down on his face. The tears won’t stop flowing. His heart was beating hard. His vision slowly being blurred by the tears, he was defeated. He lost to his sense of nostalgia. It was a feeling that was rare for Riel because to him, life had been nothing more than suffering. An outcast like him could never live the same way normal people would. In a world that wasn’t friendly towards introverts, he had nothing but miserable memories. To think that he would feel such a strong sense of longing, it proved to him that his school life wasn’t so bad after all.

But there was something or someone that Riel didn’t know had been hanging out at the rooftop. A person who didn’t care about the rules much like Riel.

“Why are you crying?”