The next day, at Teitan High School.
The moment Hayashi Shuichi walked to his seat, he felt a sharp, piercing gaze boring into the back of his head from diagonally behind.
He tilted his head slightly, catching a glimpse of Koizumi Akane out of the corner of his eye. She was staring at him with a death glare, her porcelain cheeks tinged pink with lingering indignation.
When Akane had first transferred, she had been using Fujimine Yukiko's desk. Later, due to Yukiko's vocal protests and dissatisfaction, Shuichi had made a trip to the school's storage room to fetch a separate set of desk and chairs for Akane.
Coincidentally, that was around the time the two of them had agreed to ignore each other. Seizing the opportunity, Akane had dragged her desk to the back row by the window—the classic "protagonist's seat."
That position happened to be directly behind and to the left of Shuichi.
Throughout the entire morning, Shuichi could feel that scorching stare emanating from the rear. Every time he made a half-hearted attempt to look back, he was met with the witch's eyes, burning with silent fury.
"Shuichi, didn't you say Koizumi-san helped you out yesterday?"
During lunch break, Mouri Kogoro asked through a mouthful of curry, his voice muffled and indistinct. "But you two don't seem to be getting along at all. The way she looks at you… it's like you owe her a mountain of debt."
Shuichi's chopsticks paused mid-air. He scratched his cheek guiltily.
I actually do owe her two favors, and then there's what happened last night…
"You didn't promise her something you shouldn't have, did you?"
Kisaki Eri, ever the sharp observer of her childhood friend, caught his brief hesitation. She set down her bento box and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
"...As payment for her help with the divination, I promised I'd do two things for her," Shuichi admitted, realizing he couldn't keep it a complete secret.
As for the events of the previous night, he intended to take those to the grave. Even if he wasn't the one who had "suffered," if Eri ever found out that Akane had essentially kissed his backside, there would be hell to pay.
"Two conditions? You're certainly generous," Eri remarked, giving him a dry, sideways glance.
"I didn't exactly have a choice at the time," Shuichi spread his hands helplessly. "Midori only knew that her friend was missing and that it involved the delinquents in Haido. Beyond that, we had zero leads. I was desperate."
"And what if she asks for something outrageous?" Kogoro asked, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Like, say, asking you to be her boyfriend?"
"Absolutely not!" Eri blurted out, slamming her hands on the table as she stood up.
At the exact same moment, Akane—who had been sitting diagonally behind them—stood up with a violent bang, her chair screeching harshly against the floor.
"Who would ever want a bastard like Hayashi Shuichi as a boyfriend?!" Akane screamed, her face flushed crimson and her voice trembling with agitation.
The shout was like a massive boulder dropped into a still pond. The entire classroom fell into an immediate, deafening silence.
Every pair of eyes in the room snapped toward Shuichi and Akane. For a few seconds, the air seemed to solidify.
Then, the whispers began to ripple through the room like a rising tide.
"Did Koizumi-san get dumped by Hayashi Shuichi?"
"Shuichi is such a scumbag! He's already got something going on with Kisaki Eri and Fujimine Yukiko, and now even the new transfer student…"
"He's a beast! Why are the three most beautiful girls in school all connected to him? Why doesn't anyone like me?!"
The weight of the gossip caused Akane's face to cycle through a spectrum of colors: from red to pale, then finally to a sickly green.
In the end, her eyes welled up with tears. Looking utterly humiliated, she turned and bolted out of the classroom.
"Is it just me, or was Koizumi-san crying?" Kogoro noted, pointing toward the door.
"Was she?"
Shuichi instinctively looked toward the exit, but his view was immediately blocked by Eri's face. She had leaned in close, staring at him expressionlessly. Behind her lenses, her eyes flickered with a dangerous, icy light.
"Worried about her already?"
"No! Why would I be worried about her?" Shuichi gave a forced, hollow laugh. "You saw how terrible her attitude was toward me just now."
Eri clearly didn't believe him. With a huff, she sat back down and began aggressively stabbing at the food in her bento box.
"Anyway, it's getting hotter by the day. How about we go swimming this weekend?" Kogoro suggested, trying to diffuse the tension. He fanned himself with his hand, his shirt collar already dampened by a patch of sweat.
"Is it really because of the weather?" Shuichi looked at his friend skeptically. "Or do you just want to go look at girls in swimsuits again?"
"Heh, that was the old me," Kogoro said, puffing out his chest. "I'm a man with a 'direction' now. How could I possibly have such shallow thoughts?"
"Do you believe him?" Shuichi turned to Eri.
The girl simply rolled her eyes. "A leopard can't change its spots."
"Hey! Why are you insulting me out of nowhere?!" Kogoro protested, before adding with a shameless grin, "Besides, wanting to see beauties in swimsuits is just a man's nature! Any man who claims he doesn't like it either has psychological issues or physiological ones!"
Having said his piece, he stared at Shuichi pointedly, his gaze full of provocation.
"...Fine, let's go," Shuichi conceded. There wasn't much else he could say. "But let's skip the public pools. They're too crowded in the summer; it's no fun."
"If not the pool, then where?" Kogoro asked, surprised. He even forgot to chew the food in his mouth. Eri also cast a curious look his way.
"The beach, obviously," Shuichi proposed. "The izakaya will be closed this weekend. Let's head to the coast for two days. I'll cover all the expenses. What do you say?"
"Shuichi!" Kogoro lunged forward, throwing an arm around his friend's neck and nearly choking him. "You really are my best brother!"
"You really love wasting money the moment you have some," Eri grumbled, throwing her childhood friend a stern look. However, the slight upward curve of her lips betrayed her; she was clearly pleased with the suggestion.
Just as the three were excitedly discussing their weekend itinerary, a girl across the classroom suddenly clutched her stomach and stood up. Her face was as white as a sheet.
"What's happening… my stomach suddenly hurts so much…"
Bent over in pain, she scrambled out of the classroom in a panic.
Then, as if a chain reaction had been triggered, student after student began crying out in pain. They clutched their midsections and fought each other to be the first one out the door, charging toward the restrooms.
In the blink of an eye, the bustling classroom became eerily empty.
"What's going on?" Kogoro's eyes went wide. "Why does everyone have a stomach ache?"
"Could it be food poisoning?" Eri asked, her expression full of concern.
"Impossible. Several of them were eating bentos they brought from home…"
Shuichi didn't finish his sentence. He suddenly let out a sharp sneeze. He rubbed his nose, a realization dawning on him.
At that moment, the colors drained from Eri and Kogoro's faces as well.
Eri furrowed her brows tightly, her slender fingers pressing hard against her abdomen. Kogoro simply collapsed to his knees, his forehead resting against the desk as he let out a low groan.
"Why is my stomach starting to hurt too…" Eri gritted her teeth against the pain, staggering out of the classroom.
Kogoro followed close behind, hunched over and clutching his gut…
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