Chapter 74
With a new determination in his heart, Ryosaku started walking forward.
Time passed again...he was now a first year high school student.
As the "The state of humanity" surrounding Ryosaku changed dramatically, his alma mater, K Elementary School, was also undergoing major changes.
The construction work on the new school building, which had been suspended due to long-standing disputes between the landowner and the city, finally moved forward the previous year, and the day of completion was celebrated in July 1986.
Some time after K Elementary School was completed, Ryosaku went to see it.
There, a modern, clean, and splendid building, resembling a white Western-style mansion, stood tall and proud of its majesty on a site that was once a wasteland and overgrown with grass.
(My juniors are truly blessed to be able to study in such a beautiful and magnificent school building...Our old school building had a lot of leaks and creaky floors...)
Ryosaku also took a look at their former school, where he used to spend time with Mieko and Lisa.
Even though he looked at it from a distance, when he looked at it more closely, he could almost see the damage that the school building had suffered from over a hundred years of exposure to the elements.
From the Meiji era to the Showa era, their old alma mater has watched over many current students and protected them on rainy and windy days.
And it kindly sent the graduates leaving their alma mater to a new environment.
It was a warm school building full of familiarity and memories for them, but...
In a short period of time, it will quietly disappear from Ryosaku's presence.
Ryosaku decided that on the day this nostalgic school building was to be demolished, he would come here no matter what.
...And he returned home, vowing that he would see the school building in its final sunny state.
