The next morning after having breakfast at the cafeteria near my dorm I headed to the Student Council to inform them about my decision regarding whether I would continue staying in it or not.

 

I have thought about it a lot last night. And I decided to stay. It’s not everyday you get to train in a facility of another Great family. Usually families are very secretive of their facilities and don’t let outsiders use them, let alone members of other Great families as they want to maintain their status relative to them.

 

I have the desire to get stronger anyway so this should be ideal. As for the later possible problems all I need to do is get strong enough so I can overcome them.

 

I do have one regret about yesterday’s event though. It’s that I didn’t get the artifact. I really wanted it. But anyway that’s the property of Emily’s country, nothing can be done about it.

 

With these thoughts in mind I arrived in front of the Student Council room.

 

I knocked at the door.

 

Sakura’s voice came, “Come in”, but somehow it sounded off. I somehow felt a sense of foreboding.

 

I gulped and opened the door.

 

As I went inside the room I saw three people there, Sakura, Ayaka and Megumi.

 

Sakura and Ayaka had complicated expressions on their faces. Megumi was crying.

 

As soon as she saw me, Megumi said, “Takeru-kunnnnn….”, rushed towards me and hugged me, continuously sobbing.

 

Were we this close for her to do this? No that’s not important now, she is clearly sad about something and I should comfort her. So I reluctantly hugged her back.

 

I asked, “What happened Megumi-san? Why are you crying?”.

 

She didn’t reply and continued crying. I looked towards Sakura and Ayaka asking for answers but they just stared back.

 

What the hell is wrong? Dammit.

 

After a few seconds Megumi controlled her sobs and then she removed herself from her hug and said, “Hayato..Hic….Hic…Hayato is ….Hic..dead”.

 

“What?”, I asked astonished. Confusion clearly visible on my face.

 

Sakura replied, “Hayato-kun went home to his family yesterday. They went to a relative’s house to attend some celebration. On their way back their car met with an accident and everyone of them died”.

 

Megumi sobbed even harder after that. I awkwardly held her. My mind was in an overdrive and I wasn’t feeling well. This was too sudden and I needed to sort out my thoughts.

 

Then suddenly Megumi’s phone rang and she answered it. After talking for a bit and disconnecting she looked at us and said, “My father has come, I’ll be going home today, we…will be seeing Hayato and his family for the last time..”. She started crying again. I awkwardly patted her back.

 

Sakura said, “Alright, take as much as time as you need, don’t worry about the school and Student Council”. Ayaka and me nodded to agree with her.

 

Megumi nodded and then turned to me, “Takeru-kun, please don’t leave the Student Council, Hayato has left me and I don’t want to lose another friend”.

 

I don’t know what me leaving the Student Council has to do with me leaving our friendship, seeing as we will still meet in class. But seeing as I have already decided to stay here since yesterday night, I might as well put her to ease.

 

So I smiled and said, “Don’t worry I won’t be leaving the Student Council, yesterday I gave it some thought and decided to stay. I came to the Student Council room to say that”.

 

Megumi smiled at my words and nodded and then left. Sakura and Ayaka were also smiling, they seemed happy.

 

After Megumi left, my face had a complicate expression.

 

Sakura asked with a worried look, “Takeru-kun are you ok?”.

 

I answered, “Yes, I am ok. I just…need to get some fresh air. You have heard what I came to the Student Council for right? Please excuse me”.

 

Sakura understood my mood and nodded. I then immediately left the Student Council.

 

I started walking aimlessly towards my dormitory. After walking a bit, my mind calmed down a bit. I decided to sit on a bench on the road to organize my thoughts.

 

The protagonist died? How? How is this possible? Wait, now that I think about this in the anime after the princess was kidnapped that is today Hayato did say something like, “My family and I couldn’t go to a relative’s house due to the princess kidnapped” or something along those lines to Megumi.

 

But since now he wasn’t involved with the Student Council he could go. And due to that he died. Wait, doesn’t that it mean it’s my fault that he died? I killed the protagonist?

 

It’s my fault. No...No thinking rationally how could it be my fault, I didn’t know this would happen. I also didn’t want to be in the Student Council but rather forced here. I only wanted to not be humiliated.

 

But if I think even if I wasn’t in the Student Council he wouldn’t have been involved as he was weak due to not training to beat me. So it’s my fault?

 

Fuck! This cause and effect stuff is really bad. I know I can’t be blamed for this. But my heart says otherwise.

 

I know I said I don’t care about what happens to the main character but this happened as a result of my direct involvement. I wouldn’t have felt this bad if I didn’t know him and Megumi.

 

They are real live people that I know, not just characters in an anime, how can I not be upset? Especially looking at Megumi’s sad eyes at Hayato’s death and that fact that she trusts me, makes me feels horrible. I feel like I betrayed her. Her crying face is haunting me.

 

Dammit! What should I do?

 

After thinking all this for a while I calmed down. No No thinking and feeling bad won’t change anything. I must make it up to Megumi, I must work hard to make sure that Megumi and everyone is safe. It’s the least I can do.

 

With a new found determination I stood up and made my way back to the dormitory to train.