"Where's Ueno?" When it was Ueno Naoka's turn to read aloud, Takeuchi-sensei finally noticed her seat was empty. He turned toward the Class Representative.
"Takeuchi-sensei, I'm not sure either," Kawai Miki replied indifferently, standing from her seat.
"Sit down. Next person read," Takeuchi-sensei said with a click of his tongue, showing no interest in sending anyone to check on her.
"Why isn't Shouya back yet?" Hirose Keisuke, seated in the back, leaned toward Shimada Ikki with a worried whisper.
Shimada glanced lazily at the wall clock. "Yeah, it's been over ten minutes already."
In stark contrast, Miyamura Akira had been uneasy for the past five minutes. A quiet worry tugged at him. Maybe he should go check the restroom… after all, Shouko had gone there, and right after that, Ishida Shouya had followed.
But… he shook his head. No, it couldn't be that bad. He'd be crazy to try anything in the girls' restroom, right?
And besides, girls took longer in the restroom, and Shouko needed space. It would be too paranoid to assume she was being bullied after just a few minutes.
"Miyamura? Miyamura…?"
Akira snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Takeuchi-sensei's voice. "Yes, Takeuchi-sensei?"
Holding the Japanese textbook at the front, Takeuchi gave him a weirdly sympathetic look. "Are you feeling unwell? Want me to take you to the nurse?"
A few students cursed silently in their hearts — another performance from Si Yan Hun Dan, the two-faced teacher.
"I'm fine, Takeuchi-sensei. I'm just going to the restroom," Akira said quickly, already rising from his seat.
Without waiting for permission, he bolted out of the classroom.
"Miyamura! Miyamura!" Takeuchi-sensei called after him, but Akira didn't stop. Instead, Takeuchi frowned, muttered something under his breath, and followed after him, tossing a "You all behave" over his shoulder.
The classroom buzzed as soon as he left.
In front, a girl beside Kawai Miki leaned over eagerly. "Ooooh, what's going on? I smell drama."
Kawai Miki shrugged, though a flicker of suspicion passed through her expression. "Don't know. But look how flustered Miyamura looked…" Then, narrowing her eyes: "It's probably about Shouko."
In the back row, Hirose Keisuke was already grabbing Shimada's sleeve. "Should we go check too?"
"Are you stupid?" Shimada swatted him away. "You want that bastard teacher to think we're accomplices?"
He rolled his eyes. "We already tried to stop Shouya. This one's all on him."
Before Akira reached the restroom, he heard muffled crying from inside.
Then — Shouya emerged from the girls' restroom, face flushed, body tense.
The moment their eyes met, Akira raised his hand and — CRACK — slapped him clean across the face.
Shouya staggered back and collapsed, his nose bleeding onto the concrete.
Akira was ready to follow up with more, but then he heard a familiar scream from inside the restroom. Shouko.
He turned, about to rush in, when the door opened and Shouko herself stumbled out — and immediately hugged him tightly.
"Shouko! Are you okay? Did he… do anything?" Akira instinctively tried to pull back a little, checking for injuries.
She shook her head but clung even tighter.
Then came a soft sob… but not from Shouko.
"…Who's crying?" Akira asked awkwardly. "If you're here… then who's in the restroom?"
"It's Ueno," Shouko whispered, her voice shaking. "She scared me just now."
Takeuchi-sensei appeared, slightly out of breath. He rushed past Akira and Shouko, crouching by the crumpled Ishida Shouya, whose face was a mess of red.
"Do you have tissues!?" he barked.
Shouko quickly fumbled in her pocket and handed over a small packet. She hoped the gesture might save her from having their hug reported to her parents… hehe…
Takeuchi clumsily dabbed at Shouya's nose, rolled up some tissues, and stuffed them in to stop the bleeding.
Akira watched silently, then turned toward the restroom, where Ueno Naoka was now squatting, still crying.
Her shirt was soaked through, and even her pants were damp.
She noticed Akira's eyes on her and shrieked, quickly covering herself. Today, she was wearing a thin blue-and-white T-shirt, and the soaked fabric clung tightly to her.
Just as Akira was about to look away—
"Akira! What are you looking at!?" came Shouko's flustered voice as she covered his eyes.
"Nothing, nothing!" he said quickly, turning his head.
Takeuchi finally noticed the scene inside the restroom and exploded: "What is going on here!?"
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