Two days. That's all it took for Haruto's bruises to mostly fade, for the pain in his ribs to dull to a manageable ache. Being an Awakened One, apparently, came with a decent healing factor. Not that he was complaining. The quicker he got back to normal, the better. Or, as normal as things could be now.
Getting ready for school that morning was… an experience. Satsuki was practically glued to him, fretting over every tiny detail.
"Are you sure you feel up to it, Haruto?" she'd asked for the fifth time, her hands smoothing down his uniform collar with an almost obsessive tenderness. Her eyes, beautiful and deep, held that familiar intensity. "You know you can stay home. I can call the school, tell them you're still recovering."
He just sighed, trying to gently untangle himself from her embrace. "Satsuki, I'm fine. Really. It was just a bruise. I don't want to fall behind."
She didn't let go immediately, though. Instead, she just tightened her arms around him, pulling him into a soft, lingering hug. Her head rested on his shoulder, and he could feel her breath, warm and soft, against his neck. It was supposed to be comforting, but a tiny voice in the back of his head, the one that kept replaying Miki's warning, made him stiffen.
"Just… be careful, okay?" she murmured, her voice muffled against his uniform. "If anything happens, anything at all, you call me. Immediately. Promise?"
He promised, just to get her to let go. He grabbed his bag, gave her a quick, reassuring smile, and headed out the door. The fresh morning air felt good, a stark contrast to the suffocating intensity of his sister's worry. *Yandere EXP Farm,* the system's blunt assessment echoed in his mind. He shook his head. No, that was just… Satsuki being Satsuki. She was worried, that's all. Right?
Sakura High School looked exactly the same. The same old building, the same noisy students, the same smell of floor wax and stale chalk. For a moment, a weird sense of normalcy washed over Haruto. Then he saw Jun.
Jun, who was practically bouncing in his seat, thick glasses slipping down his nose as he frantically scrolled through something on his phone. The moment Haruto walked into the classroom, Jun's head snapped up, eyes wide behind his lenses.
"Haruto! You're back! Dude, you okay? You disappeared after that whole thing, then the ambulance... I was so worried!" Jun's voice was a frantic whisper.
Haruto just waved him off, settling into his desk. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just got a little banged up, nothing serious."
Jun leaned in, his voice dropping even lower, practically a hiss. "Dude, you won't believe what happened. Those guys… those punks who jumped you?"
Haruto braced himself. "What about them?"
"They're gone," Jun whispered, eyes shining with a morbid fascination. "Like, *gone* gone. Two of them were found in an alleyway near Shibuya, roughed up bad. The third one… they found him floating in the river this morning. Cops are calling it 'mysterious circumstances.' But the buzz on the forums? They're saying it was *them*."
Jun pointed a shaky finger upwards, as if indicating some unseen, supernatural force. "The Awakened. They're saying someone got revenge for you. Or maybe… maybe those guys messed with the wrong Awakened and got messed up for it."
Haruto forced a wry smile, but inside, a cold knot formed in his stomach.
He knew, with a certainty that chilled him to the bone, that he couldn't let his abilities be known. Not now. Not ever, if he could help it. If the existence of Awakened individuals became public knowledge, society would unravel. Panic, chaos, witch hunts… he could already picture it. He had to be careful. More careful than ever before. His life as "normal" Haruto Kurokami was a carefully constructed facade he needed to maintain at all costs.
But do you know why they targeted Miki at the park? I heard these guys belong to an underground organization—one with many Awakened among them. Apparently, Miki accidentally filmed one of their Awakened members killing a lawyer… This is just the beginning. Those thugs were probably just scouts testing the waters. I'm terrified, Haruto. What if they come after both of us next?!"
Haruto fell silent.
Right now, Kazuma was up on the school rooftop with a couple other guys, smoking cigarettes and just chilling out like they always did after classes. The wind was pretty cool up there, and nobody ever bothered them. Kazuma took a long drag from his cigarette, feeling like the king of the whole school. He'd worked hard to get to this position, beating down anyone who tried to challenge him, and now everyone knew not to mess with him or his crew.
But then something weird happened. Out of nowhere, this black streak of light came zooming across the sky, moving way too fast to be normal. At first Kazuma thought maybe it was just a bird or something, but then this figure landed right in front of them on the rooftop. The guy was wearing this long black cloak that fluttered in the wind, and he moved like he wasn't even human - more like some kind of ghost or demon. The temperature seemed to drop about ten degrees just from him being there.
Kazuma's face went completely white when he saw who it was. His cigarette fell right out of his mouth and hit the concrete floor. He knew exactly who this was - one of the higher-ups from the organization, the kind of guy who could make people disappear without leaving a trace. His hands started shaking, and he could feel sweat dripping down his back even though it was cold outside.
The cloaked figure didn't waste any time with pleasantries or small talk. His voice was flat and emotionless when he spoke, like he was reading from a grocery list or something. "Some of our lower-ranking members ran into a student named Haruto the other night," he said. "By the next morning, they were all dead. Bodies haven't been found yet."
Kazuma gulped hard. He'd heard rumors about students who were way more dangerous than they looked, but he'd always figured they were just stories to scare people. Apparently not.
He continued talking, still in that same creepy monotone voice. "We think this Haruto kid might be connected to another organization. He's been hanging around with that girl Miki, and we suspect there might be a powerful awakened user backing them up. Someone we definitely don't want to piss off right now."
Kazuma nodded frantically, not trusting himself to speak. His throat felt like sandpaper.
"That student Haruto Kurokami is either affiliated with another, possibly rival organization, or he is connected to an Awakened individual of considerable power. There are also… strong indicators of a link to a known 'Anomaly' we have been monitoring, a girl named Miki."
"Here's what you're going to do," the figure said, pointing one long finger at Kazuma. "Keep an eye on both Haruto and Miki. Find out what they're up to, who they're working with, what kind of abilities they might have. But don't do anything stupid. I fear that if they are indeed backed by another formidable Awakened or organization, could trigger a conflict we are not yet prepared for. So don't go too far. Do you understand? We can't afford to start a war with whatever organization is protecting them.
The wind picked up again, making the figure's cloak billow out dramatically. "If you screw this up and bring their people down on us, you'll wish those other guys had taken you with them. Understand?"
Kazuma could only nod, his whole body trembling now.