Sota thought about searching for them, but where should he go first?
Of course, he didn’t think they would be causing trouble again in the same place he had already caught them messing with. Such places could be easily spotted.
No matter how much those kids didn’t fear the teachers, Sota seemed to be a bit frightened.
“Sasaki, where are you going?”
Yuka asked while following behind, but honestly, Sota had no idea what to do except keep his expression serious and walk ahead.
Thinking back, Sota didn’t even know where Kurosawa lived. He only knew the direction of the train but wasn’t aware of when or where to transfer.
Tokyo is vast, and with the train, you could go anywhere.
Of course, even so, he didn’t really think those three would commit a serious crime… but today, since Kurosawa didn’t show up.
“First, let’s check the nearby area.”
Sota said that, though the real problem was that there were just too many places to search nearby. Minato Ward had an enormous number of buildings, and so did the surrounding areas. There was no way to look around each place individually.
In the end, it was Sota’s stubbornness.
Yuka looked like she had a lot to say, but she brushed her face and replied, “…Alright. Then, let’s go to the places we know.”
“Will that be okay?”
“If I say it’s not okay, are you not going to search?”
Sota couldn’t answer that question.
“I know you wouldn’t do that. You always butt in when I’m fighting.”
“That’s… sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize. As long as the result is good, that’s all that matters.”
Yuka turned her gaze away and answered Sota.
“Then, first—”
“Sota—!”
Before Yuka could make a suggestion, Nanami ran up calling Sota’s name from a distance. Seeing her bright face, it seemed she didn’t know Kurosawa hadn’t come to school today.
Waving one hand enthusiastically, Nanami noticed someone was missing and stopped her feet.
Or maybe she thought the mood between the two was odd.
“Huh? Where’s Kurosawa?”
“Oh, that…!”
Sota explained the situation.
Upon hearing the story, Nanami made an indignant expression.
“Those kids….”
“So, I’m thinking of looking for them now.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Nanami declared, placing one hand on her chest.
Yuka pondered how much help having one more person would be, but even if she wanted to refuse, Sota looked like he wouldn’t say no, and more importantly, she quickly realized that refusing wouldn’t stop Nanami from following them, sighing quietly.
Instead, she tightened her grip on the strap of her sword holster on her shoulder.
…It shouldn’t be a big deal, but.
No matter how capable a kid was, they wouldn’t do something reckless all of a sudden. Or maybe that ‘capability’ didn’t exist at all from the start. Perhaps Yuka was just feeling something related to that family.
That was the only reason Yuka felt uneasy.
Ever since they had met that child, she had felt that strange mood, the feeling of not being able to get any closer, feeling pity yet unable to empathize.
Walking a bit behind Sota and Nanami, Yuka was mulling over those thoughts.
*
Of course, they didn’t find her at the family restaurant.
Sota had gone to that alley where Kurosawa had been bullied previously, but she was nowhere to be found.
To begin with, the family restaurant wasn’t the place Kurosawa would come when being bullied, and that alley wasn’t one he frequented but just a narrow one among the many narrow alleys in Tokyo that Sota happened to stumble on.
As time went on, he began to feel a bit anxious.
It was Sota himself who suggested Kurosawa ask for help. And Kurosawa asked him for help, someone he could rely on.
It just happened to be Sota.
And maybe that had provoked the ones bullying Kurosawa.
Those kids who felt like kings while bullying a poor child, what would they think after having that joy taken away?
He wanted to think they wouldn’t cross the line, but as time passed, those different thoughts began to surface. Such incidents could happen in this world.
And it was Yuka who interrupted those thoughts.
Noticing what Sota was thinking by looking at his face, Yuka tapped his arm.
“Don’t think too much. It’s not your fault.”
“Yuka.”
“It’s the bullies who are at fault, not those who couldn’t help.”
Sota didn’t say anything in response to Yuka’s words.
I see.
Yuka must have always thought like that.
Going around Tokyo searching for clues in incidents and defeating the Yōkai that harm people, Yuka couldn’t have saved everyone.
There was a case at Hanagawa High School too. The girl who died when Sota was in his first year.
She was said to have been very popular, and the school was gloomy for quite a while because of it.
And Shii was nearly in a similar situation.
The only way to protect oneself in such circumstances was to let go of the regrets.
That must have been what Yuka wanted to say.
“Right, Sota. Maybe nothing that serious happened.”
Nanami chimed in.
Sota nodded his head at the words of the two.
“…Let’s search just a bit more, just a bit.”
With Sota’s words, Nanami and Yuka nodded without any objections.
*
After wandering around for about another hour, the three heard some sounds.
“Wait.”
At Yuka’s words, Sota and Nanami halted their steps.
Yuka’s face was rigid. Sota felt that her expression was similar to when she encountered a Yōkai’s trace.
But if it really were so, Yuka would have told Sota to stay back, quickly drawing her sword.
Yuka didn’t do that.
Instead, she turned around and began to run.
Sota and Nanami exchanged glances before quickly following behind her.
Yuka could run really fast when she put her mind to it. Training to fight against non-human beings was probably unavoidable.
Fortunately, there weren’t too many people on the street, and Sota and Nanami managed to follow Yuka as she weaved through the pedestrians.
Yuka headed toward an alley.
No, it was shameful even to call it an alley; it was merely a narrow space between buildings, simply an end blocked by a wall.
And Sota soon realized why Yuka had suddenly started running.
Thud.
Thud.
They heard those sounds.
He had barely heard them before, but it probably was the sound of flesh colliding.
When a fist tightly grips and strikes someone, the sound of flesh colliding.
A chill ran down Sota’s back.
No way.
Could it be that in the meantime—
“Wait!”
Yuka shouted ahead.
For a moment, he glimpsed a figure behind her shoulder. A girl in a sailor uniform, holding something cloth-like. Just like what she was wearing, a black piece of cloth.
He couldn’t see the face behind her, as it was hidden by Yuka’s body.
“Wait, wait, stop!”
Sota found Yuka’s words a bit puzzling.
If Kurosawa was being attacked, would Yuka calmly ask so?
Yuka cared for people around her.
Though she might not feel too fondly about Kurosawa, she wouldn’t be able to think so coldly about a child she had gone for snacks with multiple times.
In that case, Sota managed to stop just in time before almost colliding with Yuka, but Nanami couldn’t control her distance and ended up bumping her face into Sota’s back.
Supporting a wobbly Nanami, he looked back ahead.
There stood—
Five students in black sailor uniforms, which only Hanagawa High School students wore around here.
Two were lying down, bleeding from their faces. It wasn’t just from their noses or mouths; it seemed their foreheads were torn, with blood running down their faces.
One was being held by the girl standing there. Her arms hanging limply suggested she either fainted or had given up resisting.
Several thick utility knives lay scattered on the floor.
The girl who had a grip on the other was staring at Yuka with wide eyes. Instead of looking surprised, it seemed she was glaring.
Her hair seemed dyed yellow, but much of it had faded, making it look like an unkempt mix of black and yellow.
Her skin was a healthy brown as though tanned, but her face had some swelling, giving a somewhat fierce impression.
“…What are you guys?”
The girl with the yellow hair asked.
“Are you on their side?”
“No.”
Yuka immediately replied.
“We’re here because of that girl.”
Yuka pointed to where the two still stood.
There was Kurosawa.
Standing there quietly, observing the two who had collapsed, her expression emotionless.
Sota didn’t know what to say about that eerie atmosphere.
“…Ah.”
The girl said that and released her hold.
Thud.
The girl who had taken the lead in bullying Kurosawa collapsed to the ground.
“And another.”
Thud.
Then, the girl with the yellow hair plopped down as if she were sitting on the ground.
It didn’t seem like she had fainted.
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