The silent protest was a resounding success. Nina's army of artists, poets, and members of the university's surprisingly militant acapella group filled the student activities board meeting to overflowing. They did not shout. They did not chant. They just sat there, silently, and creatively, until the sheer, overwhelming force of their collective, artistic disapproval forced the board to "re-evaluate" their proposed budget cuts.
It was a quiet, and a deeply satisfying, victory.
Life at the university settled back into its usual, comfortable rhythm. Midterms were approaching, a familiar, low-grade hum of anxiety that sent them all scurrying to the library for long, caffeine-fueled study sessions.
Kofi's life had found a new, and deeply satisfying, balance. He had his classes, his friends, his girlfriend, and his kendo. The four, separate worlds of his life were no longer in conflict. They were just… his life. A full, and a complicated, and a deeply, profoundly, happy life.
