Tokiwadai's school gate wasn't as grand as Chiba Academy's.
But it was still one of the top schools in Academy City, quite luxurious in its own right.
Miyuki walked ahead. She'd probably get a truancy mark for today, but Shiraha planned to ask the teachers here later if it could be waived, given the circumstances, they might be lenient.
Miyuki entered the campus, a little nervous. But after walking a short distance, she heard a loud thud from somewhere in the distance, and visibly relaxed.
"Kiana, you even mess up climbing a wall?"
Shiraha grumbled quietly.
Kiana picked up her bag, acting as if nothing had happened: "I'm a good student, it's normal to be a bit rusty at wall-climbing."
She considered herself a good student, after all… she always passed her subjects.
Passing meant good student.
Then she exchanged a glance with Miyuki in the distance and took a deep breath: "Aren't we just going to drag those people out?"
"Yeah." Shiraha nodded: "But we can't exactly drag them out of class in front of the teacher, can we?"
Kiana gave a soft "oh", whether it was disappointment or not was hard to tell. Shiraha's reasoning was decent enough.
"But…"
Kiana looked at Miyuki again in the distance. During class time, the entrance to the teaching building was quiet, and the girl looked utterly alone.
Shiraha already knew what Kiana was worried about: "It's fine, during class, we'll just sit in the hallway and pretend we're students being punished!"
Miyuki was vulnerable to bullying on her own, after all, she'd already resorted to seeking help from Chiba Academy's Hokushin Ittō-ryū Youth Training Camp.
Shiraha wasn't about to let her get bullied again just so he could have an excuse to step in.
"Kiana, stay close to Miyuki and stand by the classroom door like you're being disciplined."
Kiana nodded: "What about you?"
"Me? I'm going to check the surveillance footage. Schools this big all have cameras in the classrooms."
Though bullying rarely happened in the classroom, just from the way Miyuki was being dragged out, it wasn't hard to piece together what was going on.
Again, if he was wrong, Shiraha was willing to take the punishment.
Before they split up, Shiraha paused for a moment: "Be careful, I've heard that the delinquents here are pretty rough and might carry weapons."
For example, three years from now, no, actually four, when Kiana played the hero in the original story, those delinquents had actually pulled out a handgun.
It was ridiculous. In a normal timeline, even if someone cosplayed as Graves and shot a prime minister, no one would react in time, yet these delinquents could somehow get their hands on a gun.
After they parted ways, Shiraha headed straight for the security office.
"But, Little Shiraha, how are you going to convince them to let you check the surveillance at your age?"
Elysia was still wondering when Shiraha confidently pushed the door open, his expression turning a bit bold: "Chairman Ryoma Raiden asked me to come check the recent surveillance footage, this is my authorization."
There was no actual authorization, but Shiraha had called Uncle Ryoma on the way, and casually mentioned that Kiana was also involved.
Ryoma Raiden was silent for a moment, probably talking to Siegfried, and after what sounded like a brief complaint, he came back on the line and agreed.
In the Far East, a school board chairman's word carried a lot of weight.
Shiraha got his hands on the surveillance footage from the past few days. Miyuki's class was 1-A. He skipped straight to the breaks.
He fast-forwarded repeatedly, scanning both front and back camera feeds.
In the footage, Miyuki sat alone at her desk, head down reading, then a few people walked over.
Some patted her shoulder, some grabbed her arm, some said something with a grin. Miyuki shook her head, trying to pull away.
She couldn't. They dragged her out of the classroom, and the hallway camera showed them crowding around her, heading toward the girls' bathroom.
"Yeah... they deserve a beating."
Elysia watched the girl being forcefully dragged away, there were both guys and girls involved, though the final assault happened in the girls' bathroom.
The school atmosphere in the Far East had once again disappointed Elysia.
"One… four, five—three boys, two girls."
Shiraha skipped through a few more breaks, confirmed he hadn't missed anyone, and quickly copied the footage using a nearby data cable.
He left the security office without lingering.
He'd barely exchanged any words with anyone the whole time, time was tight; he needed to get to the classroom door before the next bell.
Even Elysia felt a little nervous, she'd seen plenty of big scenes, but this small-scale one was a first.
"How are you going to make your entrance?"
"That's not important. What matters is that none of those five get away." Shiraha paused, his tone serious: "They're getting a beating today, they need to know what it feels like to be bullied."
It might've gone against his good-kid image, but everyone did it, when Shiraha was first being bullied, Mei hadn't hesitated to throw someone over her shoulder without mercy.
Kids from good families often acted with more confidence.
"And after that, I'll need Nee-chan's help."
Rushing against the clock, limited by the data transfer speed of the era's cables, the bell rang early.
By the time Shiraha reached the classroom, the back row was already in chaos. "Kiana" was standing on a desk, holding the last still-conscious girl by the collar.
Desks and chairs were knocked over, textbooks scattered everywhere. A few people lay on the floor clutching their stomachs or heads, letting out muffled groans.
"Feel better?" She glanced at Miyuki beside her.
Miyuki quickly nodded, though she'd probably be isolated from now on.
But that was still better than being bullied.
Shiraha stood at the doorway, blinking. "Kiana" turned her head, golden eyes met his. He blinked again.
"Well done!"
He said decisively.
Sirin chuckled lightly: "And what about their parents?"
She'd hit a bit too hard. Sirin was curious to see if Shiraha would step up and take the blame himself, after all, with his personality, it wouldn't be surprising.
Shiraha shook his phone: "I've already collected evidence of them starting a brawl. Even if the police get involved, I'm not worried."
"Taking the legal route?"
Sirin clicked her tongue softly, whether satisfied or disappointed was hard to tell. She didn't have much faith in the law, since she'd once trusted Schicksal's lies and ended up in that tower.
"What now?"
Sirin let go, and Shiraha watched the still-conscious girl slump limply to the floor.
"We wait for the teacher. It's a mess in here, and you…" Shiraha looked at Kiana's golden eyes and sighed: "You can't let Miyuki take the fall for all this."
Miyuki was still staring at them with watery eyes, she hadn't expected the counter-bullying to be so direct, so decisive, so clean.
So… satisfying!
Sirin hopped off the desk. Shiraha scanned the room: "They couldn't hold back during break?"
Sirin nodded: "I gave them a chance to stop."
She'd even held back.
If she gave in to her desire to wreck everything, Shiraha's life would end up just like hers, shattered by others, like the researchers had done to her.
She didn't want to become that kind of person.
"It's fine." Shiraha nodded, righting a fallen desk: "Sorry, whose desk is this?"
"M-mine."
A somewhat innocent-looking boy raised his hand. Shiraha smiled brightly: "Sorry, I'll get this fixed up for you."
Though it was chaotic, it wasn't hard to tidy up, this was just first year of middle school; all they had on their desks were textbooks and pencil cases.
Two minutes later, before the teacher arrived, the classroom was back in order.
Sirin didn't help, she just stood there with her arms crossed, watching Miyuki pitch in, listening to students reluctantly mutter "thank you" out of fear.
When the teacher walked in, the classroom was unusually quiet, just a few whispers here and there.
"What happened with these students?"
The teacher seemed out of the loop, but Shiraha noticed the student standing beside him and figured the teacher just didn't want to get involved.
He spoke up: "I hit them. They've been bullying my friend every day, I couldn't take it anymore."
"You shouldn't have—" The teacher cut off as he noticed Miyuki, fell silent for a moment, then sounded weary: "I said I'd handle it. Taking matters into your own hands leaves a record, it could affect your future schooling and jobs."
Shiraha shook his phone: "I already pulled the surveillance footage from the records office, I have clear evidence."
"As for future schooling and jobs, I don't think my friend can study properly unless this gets resolved now."
The teacher didn't want to deal with it, honestly, most teachers worldwide were like that; the ones who did care were the exception.
The teacher paused, then changed tack: "Do your parents know about this?"
"Yes, I've already told my family. They're fine with it."
Now the teacher was stuck. When a student had all the answers, family backing, and a clear justification, there wasn't much they could do.
"Have your parents come in."
The teacher rubbed his forehead, glanced at the students on the ground, and sighed: "Someone give me a hand, take these kids to the nurse's office."
At the mention of parents, Miyuki's usually expressive face finally showed a hint of unease.
Shiraha chimed in: "I've already told Uncle Ryoma, he'll be coming."
Honestly, this shouldn't have escalated to the point of involving Ryoma Raiden, but… Shiraha glanced at Sirin. Her handling of things had been pretty rough.
A few minutes later, in the nurse's office, Miyuki sat quietly off to the side. The teacher waited for the nurse to finish checking the other students' injuries, looking visibly irritated.
Shiraha and Sirin murmured to each other.
"Sirin, you rushed things."
Shiraha recognized Sirin and knew who was in control when Kiana's eyes turned gold, so there was no point playing dumb.
Sirin shot back: "Are you going to lecture me too? Shiraha, don't forget—"
"No!" Shiraha cut her off: "I just feel like you're going to get taken advantage of acting like that."
Sirin: ….
"Sirin, everything we know so far is based on one person's account. When I went to check the surveillance, you should've held the scene, not gone straight into a brawl."
"You were right this time, but if people catch on, it'll be easy to use against you."
Sirin didn't reply, she just turned her head, her golden eyes reflecting Shiraha's face.
Shiraha thought for a moment, then ruffled Sirin's hair: "But this time, you were pretty cool."
Sirin let out a dismissive snort, didn't need your praise. Still, she didn't dodge his hand.
Just then, the nurse finished her examination: "From what I can see, most injuries are superficial, but they're heavy hits. Still, no major lasting effects."
She glanced at Shiraha, Sirin, and Miyuki, her heart sinking, kids these days hit that hard?
She threatened lightly: "You should be glad it's just bruising. If anything serious had happened, you might've spent a few days in juvie."
As a teacher, naturally she disliked students who escalated things.
Shiraha's smile stayed clean: "My friend hits hard, but she's a good person, she knows her limits."
Maybe, when Shiraha had reached the classroom and seen Kiana's golden eyes, his heart had already sunk halfway.
But that was over now. In the aftermath, you always stood by your friends, any reprimands or advice could come later, in private.
"What if something did go wrong?"
The teacher was about to continue with more sarcastic remarks, but Shiraha looked up and cut him off: "There's no 'what if.' And teacher, why not ask these people, when they were bullying Miyuki before, why didn't they think about this 'what if' then?"
The teacher was momentarily speechless: "I would have handled it, and the outcome would have been better than this."
Shiraha didn't mock him. He just stood at the front, between the teacher and Miyuki.
"I think things are fine as they are. Miyuki got to let off some steam."
"But if you beat up these students, they'll hold a grudge, won't Miyuki just suffer for it later?"
Shiraha tilted his head: "Teacher, didn't you say you'd handle it?"
The teacher paused again, his lips twitching: "Of course I'll handle it, but what about after school?"
Shiraha's tone turned serious: "After school, if they still have bad intentions, I'll beat them even harder."
The teacher was completely at a loss, rubbing his forehead: "Just wait for your parents to get here."
The five students on the beds showed no signs of waking up, Sirin really hadn't held back.
Elysia had been frowning the whole time. She felt like she was getting frown lines, not only had her illusions about school been shattered, but her illusions about teachers were also fading fast.
She nudged Little Shiraha: "Mmm, should I still follow them?"
Shiraha stood on tiptoe and whispered in her ear: "Follow! When they wake up from being unconscious, they'll be most honest around people they trust. If they're still defiant, beat them again."
"Better not let anyone get hurt because of carelessness."
Whispering meant talking softly.
Miyuki blinked at this. Sirin tilted her head too, unsure who Shiraha was talking to.
Elysia glanced at the beds nearby: "Are you sure you can hit harder?"
Shiraha hesitated for a moment: "…I could give them a good beating myself. Overcorrection is necessary, hitting hard fits my mental framework too."