After that, I couldn’t help but pay attention to that kid.
Sota knew very well that it might be unnecessary meddling.
But how could he just pass by after seeing that kind of sight?
In fact, Sota himself had no way to resolve it, so he was just frustrated.
He impulsively helped yesterday, but as Yuka said, Sota and that kid weren’t even in the same class, and even if they were, he couldn’t keep helping. It was their first meeting that day, and if he suddenly acted like he knew them, it would only scare the kid even more.
No, would they even be scared?
It was a bit of a strange expression, but Sota thought to himself and pondered that phrase alone.
When he made eye contact, the kid didn’t seem that scared.
Rather, it seemed like there were just no emotions at all… It wasn’t like he saw their expression properly; he just looked into their eyes.
Anyway, as Yuka had said several times, Sota couldn’t do anything about it. Perhaps the bullying from the other kids had intensified after that.
For no reason, he lingered around the classroom next door after school.
He couldn’t bring himself to peek inside directly, but the kid wasn’t someone he could miss, so he could tell somewhat with glances.
The homeroom teacher of Class B was a man. He looked to be in his 40s, wearing a somewhat shabby and worn-out tracksuit.
As a PE teacher, he wasn’t particularly passionate about teaching the kids.
Come to think of it, the female teacher who was the homeroom teacher of Class B last year was said to be on leave.
A kid from his class had died. They were supposedly quite kind and popular. It seemed they had a good relationship with the teachers and naturally, were friends with the homeroom teacher.
And then, they died. They were murdered, no less.
He hadn’t seen their face, just heard the name mixed in with what the other kids were saying, but that incident seemed to have been shocking on its own. Even Sota, who usually didn’t dig into such matters, was well aware of that story.
……Most importantly, Yuka had said there was a serial man-eating demon involved.
“Sota!”
There was a kid calling Sota, who was lost in thought.
The voice belonged to someone he knew well. Recently, they had been running into each other more often. Perhaps it was due to the incident they had both gotten caught up in. The distance that had felt close before felt even closer now.
Hagiwara-senpai, now a third-year student, was someone he was seeing less frequently. Maybe that was why it felt particularly that way. Usually, they would run up to each other cheerfully and greet one another.
Although Shii seemed to dislike both of them.
Nanami, who ran up quickly, linked her arm with Sota’s and smiled brightly.
This was the problem.
Lately, Nanami had been getting too close to Sota, seemingly without any walls. After all, Sota was still a boy at his age, so he felt a bit awkward every time that happened.
It couldn’t be helped since they were childhood friends.
“What are you doing here? Are you waiting for me?”
“Ah—”
Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly worried that it might seem a bit stalker-like, that he had been waiting outside for a girl whose name he didn’t even know. While that girl didn’t particularly seem scared of Sota, she was someone who never changed her expression even while being bullied. She might just be hiding her feelings.
So he was going to say that, but—
“How could that be? Sasaki has never waited for anyone before!”
Yuka’s voice suddenly chimed in, and Nanami’s face twisted in a terrible way. Even when it was twisted, she was still beautiful.
“……What? You didn’t go home?”
“Sorry, but I also have something to do here. In this class.”
“If you have a friend waiting, hurry up and meet them. Leave us alone.”
At Nanami’s words, Yuka pouted slightly. Both corners of her mouth went up, but the right side was a bit higher, making it look like she was mocking.
“I’m not waiting for a friend. More like, this involves Sasaki too.”
“Sota?”
Nanami looked back and forth between Yuka and Sota.
Sota broke out in a cold sweat as he watched Yuka say something easily misunderstood.
“That’s right. Sasaki got involved with a girl again.”
“Again!?”
Was it really suitable to talk about such easily misunderstood things in this corridor?
Thanks to that, though, the arms Nanami had crossed finally came uncrossed.
Unlike Sota, Yuka was practically peering inside the classroom through the window. Inside, the kid who was getting bullied sat there, motionless, while all the other kids had left.
Maybe it was because they sat in the front row. No one seemed to show any special interest in that child. Even as they sat hunched over, the teacher showed no particular concern and simply left for the teacher’s office.
Ignoring the three people looking in from the hallway—no, it seemed like the teacher didn’t even notice they were there, as they strolled all the way to the teacher’s office.
“……”
Yuka quietly observed the teacher’s strange behavior, and then—
“Uh, Yuka?”
Even when Sota called out from behind, Yuka suddenly barged into the classroom.
The three people approaching toward that child suddenly stopped in their tracks.
Yuka fixed her gaze on a girl with long hair, not bothering to look anywhere else.
As if realizing Yuka was there too late, the kids who had briefly chatted before heading home began slowly directing their gazes toward her.
Entering another class wasn’t a big issue. Some kids thought it was awkward, while others thought it was natural; after all, many came to hang out during lunch.
However, that atmosphere was usually set early in the semester. At this point, approaching the middle of the first semester, it might have felt a bit awkward.
Moreover, neither Yuka nor Sota had friends in Class B.
“What’s she doing?”
Nanami remarked in disbelief.
*
“……”
Yuka stared intently down at the girl.
Yuka’s intuition wasn’t overwhelmingly better than that of other exorcists.
But though she couldn’t brag that it was the best, she had some confidence in her abilities. Having inherited ‘Mumei’ from her mother, she had fought lifelong against things that shouldn’t exist in this world.
Hence, usually, when she saw people related to that realm, she could feel something. So far, that sense hadn’t led her astray.
If she went to a place where Yōkai truly existed, it would be even more certain.
In that sense, this kid, who she hadn’t even properly named yet, felt a little strange.
Her intuition was simply ‘off’.
It felt like witnessing someone who didn’t belong anywhere, who had fallen alone into the world.
Could it really just be because they were being bullied?
“……Hey.”
Yuka opened the door.
The girl reacted slowly, as if she had forgotten that she needed to respond, just like an incredibly slow computer. She lifted her head and looked at Yuka.
“Do you have other plans today?”
“……”
The girl’s red eyes silently gazed up at Yuka.
Several students remaining in the classroom turned their attention to the two. Especially the kids who had been bullying her stared at Yuka as if they were about to pounce.
Normally, Yuka would have followed Sota. She would have done her best not to let Nanami cling to Sota.
But in this world, there were more important matters at play.
Once memories of that incident settled, that would be the end of their story. But if this girl was truly related to Yōkai, it was crucial to resolve her background.
“If you don’t have other plans, want to walk home with me?”
As soon as those words left Yuka’s mouth, whispers could be heard around them.
“……”
The girl, who had been staring silently for a long while, stood up without a word.
Ignoring Yuka, she walked out of the classroom.
No, was she ignoring her?
Or was it simply that she didn’t know how to engage in such interactions?
At the very least, she wasn’t a normal child.
Hanagawa High School was reputed to be prestigious, with a very high deviation score, so she should have been a ‘smart’ kid since she got in and continued studying there.
But, her outward appearance and social skills…
She was far from being normal.
In a situation like this, one would typically feel ‘pity’ for such a kid. Whether they had not received love at home or couldn’t properly make friends at school, it meant that they hadn’t learned how to communicate with others.
However, what Yuka felt in this situation was more along the lines of ‘foreboding’.
Even though she thought it shouldn’t be like that, her instincts strangely kept warning her about the girl.
Despite having always been next door, now was the first time.
Why?
That unease had to find a cause—she had been taught that all her life.
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