"Foreclosure Taskforce..."
Hanami chewed on the name. From their brief conversation, Hanami had learned that the full name of this club was the 'Abydos School Foreclosure Taskforce.' Hanami had dealt with them several times, so she also knew that the club had been hastily established when Abydos had fallen to the point of being little more than an annex.
Initially, it had been only an 'informal society' of five people, without permission from the president of the Abydos student council.
As for the former president of Abydos? She had left a long time ago.
Faced with a huge debt that could crush anyone, the Foreclosure Taskforce not only chose not to transfer or drop out like other students, but with great courage and perseverance, they had withstood the immense debt until now.
When Hanami first joined the Helmet Gang, she had heard that there were still people in Abydos who insisted on keeping the school open. At that time, Hanami had a dark thought in her heart.
It would be great if these people couldn't hold on. As long as they can't hang on any longer, as long as Abydos eventually disappears, it would prove that the path chosen by me and the others who left the school was a forced, helpless choice—and the only correct one.
Otherwise, wouldn't the choice made by me who was once a student of Abydos be too despicable and shameless?
"Shiroko, what were you thinking when you first took on the debt? Is there any reason to take on the debt?"
Looking at Kuroto Dan arguing with Director Kaiser in the distance, Hanami suddenly asked softly.
"Reasons? ... You can find as many of those as you want."
Faced with Hanami's question, Shiroko's eyes drooped slightly for a moment.
For a brief moment, Shiroko also wanted to ask herself and everyone in the Foreclosure Taskforce: is it really appropriate to work so hard to take on hundreds of millions of debts when others are enjoying their student life while we have to worry and run around for the school's enormous debts?
"I don't want the time I spent with everyone at school to be buried like this."
Shiroko stretched out her fingers and twisted the scarf around her neck. She remembered Hoshino-senpai who always loved to sleep, who had picked her up and brought her back to Abydos and given her this scarf. The pink-haired senpai always chose the best sunlight in Abydos, took her favorite pillow to the most comfortable nap spot, and lazily slept the afternoon away.
"Besides, there are others working hard for that school. How can we just give up like this?"
She is everyone's junior, the only freshman enrolled in Abydos who always worked hard in various places to pay off the school debt. She works so hard; how can she let her efforts go to waste?
"There are still people praying."
Even though she was taken back by her family, Nonomi still posted online, hoping someone would come to Abydos to help. She always smiled as a mediator between everyone, warming everyone's hearts with her sunny and cheerful smile—even those delicious snacks were bought by Nonomi.
"There are still people holding on."
Shiroko remembered how Ayane tried to fill the financial gap day and night and handled all the external affairs of the school. Even when she was sick and injured, struggling in a hospital bed, she still missed this school and everyone in the Foreclosure Taskforce.
"So, those things were taken over naturally."
Shiroko's voice became firm. She also wanted to retreat and escape, but these beautiful memories still supported her to move forward. In that dark moment of almost despair, no one knew what Shiroko had thought at the time, which made her persist and fight with her own strength.
Perhaps, if such days lasted much longer, even Sunokami Shiroko would not be able to hold on.
But by that time... No, it doesn't matter.
That time won't come.
"I want to welcome the new semester with everyone," Shiroko said. "Then... in Abydos, make up for all the campus activities I haven't experienced."
Hanami listened to Shiroko's words in a daze. She lowered her head in confusion, and felt something pierce her heart.
'I... am really a despicable person.'
At that helpless time, choosing to drop out or transfer schools was not something worthy of criticism. After all, everyone is just a child, and the first instinct when something happens is to protect oneself, which is also a natural reaction for self-preservation.
But compared to these juniors in front of her, Hanami felt that she had no idea what she had been doing all these years.
'The students who entered school after me are all persisting, but I am a deserter, and I want to hurt them...'
These thoughts quickly flooded Hanami's mind, and the guilt was overwhelming, almost drowning her. After becoming a gangster in the Helmet Gang, these thoughts which she had originally forgotten returned.
Students are kind by nature. Even if they become gangsters, it is a spontaneous reaction because they have nowhere to go and no one to supervise them. There are no robots dedicated to teaching outside the school. No one to properly guide the students. There is no correct knowledge or values being transmitted. All that is left for these children is to act on their inner desires.
When they have no money, they take commissions. If they can't get commissions, they rob. They are forced to get used to the survival rules of the "adults," and naturally, they grow closer to the "rules" of that world.
At this moment, Hanami's long-lost heart that belonged to the "student" began to awaken again.
"My conditions... I won't waste time. What you're looking for is now mine."
Kuroto Dan opened his mouth, his words like the jaws of a lion.
Of course, he didn't know what these people in front of him were looking for, but he could tell that the people from the Kaiser Corporation were looking for something. So, using this to press their weaknesses was the best approach.
"Then, spit out Kuromi Serika and Takanashi Hoshino, the two you kidnapped before. I will let you go if you do so."
Kuroto Dan flashed the Sparrow in his hand, and the mechanical soldiers who witnessed it all stepped back nervously. It was this thing which looked like a toy that destroyed countless helicopters and tanks.
"Otherwise..." The red compound eyes lit up, captivating, "I don't mind burying you all here, and then slowly hunting you down."
"I hope everyone doesn't waste time. Because my time is very valuable."