After that day, Ren became a regular visitor to the tree house, reluctantly, of course. He didn't have a choice.
At first, nothing seemed different. He still smiled whenever Haruto invited him to play after school, still thanked everyone whenever they shared snacks with him, and still greeted Ayaka every morning before class as though nothing had happened.
Ayaka almost believed Haruto had truly accepted him until she realized the games inside the tree house had quietly followed them into school.
Nobody openly beat Ren or did anything serious enough for a teacher to interfere, yet someone would deliberately bump into his shoulder while passing by, his notebook would disappear before class started, and every mistake he made, no matter how small, became another reason for Haruto's group to laugh at him.
