Tokyo people don't talk about Wude

Chapter 418 415. Five days to live (2)

The day after the "National Broadcast" was the graduation ceremony of the private Xiujin Academy.

Although a major event that shocked the whole country happened last night, when the sun rose as usual, Tokyo seemed to have returned to its usual rhythm.

People flock like ants to go to work and school. Traffic controllers in orange and green jackets are busy on the streets. Occasionally, impatient horns and brake sounds can be heard. The city is still bustling and vibrant.

Even Xiu Jin College was packed with people today, even more lively than usual.

Today is the school's annual graduation ceremony. In addition to all the teachers and students of the school, there will also be students' relatives, alumni, and junior high school students coming to visit.

Holding a handbag, Mizuhashi Eihime walked leisurely along the road lined with cherry trees. Her round-toed leather shoes stepped lightly on the pink petals, making a pleasing "rustling" sound.

"Ying-chan, you're dressed very beautifully today~" Before she even entered the school gate, a female classmate with whom she had a good relationship greeted her.

"Good morning, Aixiang~ You are very cute today too~" Mizuhashi Eiji responded to her nonchalantly, but still tried to remain decent as possible.

Although Mizuhashi Hideki was wearing a school uniform today, she put some thought into her appearance, such as ironing the uniform, rolling up her pleated skirt a little shorter, and putting on a more natural light makeup on her face.

"Hey, I always think Ying-chan has great potential. You must have put on makeup today! Teach me next time!" Ai Xiang came over enthusiastically, and the two of them hugged each other like teenage girls and walked into the school:

"By the way, did you watch the live broadcast last night, Ying-chan?"

Hearing this, Mizuhashi Eiji's face darkened and she nodded, "Yes, I saw it."

"Honestly, I still haven't recovered from it." Ai Xiang danced exaggeratedly:

"Something like a conspiracy to sacrifice all the citizens of the country and World War III, this is too sci-fi!"

"And not long after the broadcast ended, a lot of relevant evidence suddenly appeared on the Internet." Another cool-looking woman with glasses and a kimono-style hairstyle chased up from behind and joined the conversation:
"That group calling itself the Dream Shatterers has really messed up the whole country. I'm sure everyone in school is talking about this topic today."

"Good morning, Himeno~" Aixiang hugged her and said, "You watched the speech, too, right? It was really scary, just like a doomsday prophecy! Do you think what the monster called Hong Zhongjin said was true?"

"I don't know. But my father works in a foreign trade company. Many international flights have indeed been suspended in the past few days, including cargo planes. He has been calling partners to apologize." Jinai pushed the frame and said softly:

"And the man named Hong Zhongjin said that he was originally a Tokyo high school student named Jiuzhou Cheng. This name sounds familiar."

"Kyushu Makoto." Aixiang thought for a while, and suddenly an idea came to her: "I remember there was a senior with this name, and he was close to Ying-chan! I heard that he used to be quite famous in school, and even the student union had to give him face, but then he disappeared inexplicably."

"There aren't many people with the last name 'Jiuzhou'. Could it really be that senior?" Jinai pouted, "That's too much of a coincidence."

"That's him." Mizuhashi Eiji suddenly said with a serious face, "That senior."

“Oh, is it true?” Ai Xiang screamed, “Is it him?”

"Ying, Yingji, how can you be so sure?" Jinai was also surprised: "Do you know something?"

"." Mizuhashi Eiji shook her head with mixed feelings and said, "I'm sorry. It's hard for me to explain it clearly. I don't want to talk about this topic now."

"Oh, sorry." Noticing her friend's low mood, Ai Xiang quickly tried to smooth things over: "Forget it, forget it, don't talk about such a weird topic! Compared to this, Ying-chan, you are going to give a speech on behalf of the second-year students today, how are your preparations going?"

“Ahahaha~ Even though we’ve rehearsed many times, I’m still a little nervous~” Mizuhashi Eiji quickly smiled again: “But I will try my best to do my best.”

"."

After entering the school, Mizuhashi Eiji and others went directly to the gymnasium.

The gymnasium has been transformed into an event venue, and some teachers and student union members are still busy making final preparations.

"Hey! Good morning, Mizuhashi-san!" A boy greeted Mizuhashi Eiji.

Mizuhashi Eiji looked back and found it was Suzuki Yuhito.

Today he was wearing the graduation gown that the school had uniformly distributed, and he looked very scholarly. Even his yellow hair, which was a symbol of bad boys, was temporarily dyed back to black. In the words of his best friend, he looked "like a decent person." "Good morning, Suzuki-senpai." Mizuhashi Eiji waved in response.

"Um. Are you ready?" Suzuki Yujin suddenly frowned and asked mysteriously, "If you feel stressed, you can let us do it."

"It's okay, leave it to me, Senior~" Mizuhashi Eiji waved her hands, looked lonely for a moment, and then forced herself to be calm and said: "I don't want to back down anymore."

"Then I'll leave it to you, please!" Suzuki Yuhito looked at her worriedly, finally gave her a thumbs up, turned and left.

As the clock struck nine o'clock, the graduation ceremony began in an orderly manner.

First, the chairman of the board gave an opening speech, then the national anthem was played, and then the graduates lined up on stage to receive their graduation certificates under the background music of the school symphony orchestra and the continuous flash of cameras.

After that, the Dean of Studies, invited parent representatives and honorary alumni took turns to give speeches and offer life advice to the graduates.

It is worth mentioning that this year’s “Honorary Alumni” includes the former Kendo Club Director who graduated last year, and several Kendo Club seniors who have already graduated are also present.

Then several graduates came to the stage to give speeches, reviewing their three years of high school and thanking their teachers and classmates for their support, and then gave some inspirational words.
The ceremony proceeded according to the original schedule. Obviously everyone must have seen the national speech last night, but today everyone behaved as usual.

Perhaps at this moment, everyone has voluntarily or been forced to put aside the great crisis threatening the country of Wano. All everyone cares about is holding this decent ceremony for the graduates, and no one dares to destroy such a harmonious atmosphere.

"Mizuhashi-san, are you ready?"

Behind the stage, a student council member kindly reminded the distracted Mizuhashi Eiji.

The next part of the ceremony is the "Farewell Speech by Current Students", where representatives of current students take the stage to express their gratitude and blessings to their graduating seniors.

The second-year representatives who spoke this year were Mizuhashi Eiji and another gentle boy with glasses who was affiliated with the student union, named Tanaka Suno, who was a top student with excellent character and academic performance but a bit old-fashioned.

"Well, I'm ready." Mizuhashi Hideki came back to her senses and folded up the speech and put it away.

Tanaka Suo also pushed up the frame of his glasses and stood beside him meticulously: "I'm ready too."

After the last graduate representative finished speaking, the host announced:

"Thank you for your speech, Mr. Okitegawa. Now, please invite the current student representatives to send blessings to all the seniors!"

Under the gaze of thousands of spectators in the stadium, Mizuhashi Eiji and Tanaka Suno walked onto the stage together and began their speeches as originally planned.

"Dear seniors:"

"Today, with respect and reluctance, we send you our most sincere blessings as you embark on a new journey."

“Perhaps the road ahead will not always be smooth, but please believe that your perseverance will surely overcome difficulties.”

"Thank you for everything you have left for us in school. I wish you a bright future and all your dreams come true."

"On behalf of all the students on campus, I would like to extend my sincerest wishes to you - happy graduation!"

The two of them sang in unison and quickly finished their speeches, and the audience began to applaud.

However, Mizuhashi Hideki did not look relaxed at all. She glanced at the audience and saw several people looking at her with concern.

"Well, thank you to Tanaka-san and Mizuhashi-san for your speeches to the graduates." The host walked slowly onto the stage.

"Please wait a moment!" Mizuhashi Eiji took the microphone and suddenly spoke again:
"Today's farewell speech is not only for all the graduating seniors, but also for a senior who has been so kind to me."

"He is a senior one year older than me. If nothing unexpected had happened, he would be standing here today, standing in the team of graduates, welcoming a tomorrow full of hope and challenges with everyone."

"But... he's not here. His name is Kyushu Makoto, the man who gave a national speech on NHK Emergency Radio at 7 o'clock last night!"

(End of this chapter)