Two betrayals! Absolute betrayal! We broke off our friendship. Her relationship with Ren remained good. I hated her and I hated him!
So, I did something. I revealed Kashiwagi Eri's identity and secretly spread rumors that Eriri was a slut. From then on, everyone at school looked at her strangely. She was bullied by the whole school! She trembled! She was scared! I felt the pleasure of revenge! I thought Eriri would return to my embrace!
But. Damn Ren! Damn Ren! He stood in front of Eriri again! Why? Why him again!!!!
He...
Beep beep!! Beep beep!! Beep beep beep!!!!
Urgent honking.
Bang!!!!
The sound of an object crashing.
What... happened to me? Am I... flying? I'm... so much pain!
"Ah!!!" A woman's scream.
"Call an ambulance quickly!"
"So much blood! Save him!"
Confused commands.
Looking at the commotion at the street corner ahead.
"What's going on over there?" Eriri asked timidly.
"It looks like there was a car accident." Ren pinched his chin: "It's the person who was riding the bicycle just now."
"Huh?" Eriri's mouth hung open, and she finally muttered, "Who told him to ride so fast." She grabbed Ren's sleeve and leaned closer to him.
Ren saw that she might be scared of such a scene. He simply put his right arm around Eriri. His left hand covered her eyes. Sudden darkness startled Eriri. Then she heard Ren softly say, "Just follow me."
"Okay." Eriri agreed in a soft voice. Although her eyes were covered, it was pitch black in front of her. She felt unusually safe, though.
As they passed the street corner, Ren glanced over. "Oh? It's him?" He was surprised, Aki Tomoya. He had wondered why that person just now seemed so familiar.
"Huh? Who is it? It's not someone we know, is it?" Eriri, with her eyes covered, asked anxiously.
Ren didn't hide it: "It's Aki Tomoya."
The name silenced Eriri. Her body also trembled slightly, as if she had heard the name of a demon. Aki Tomoya. The one who caused her to be bullied by the entire school. The one who made her unable to hold her head up again. The one who made her want to commit suicide several times. He was a demon.
She pressed even closer to Ren, hugging him tightly. Eriri remembered the bullying she experienced in middle school again.
Ren gently patted her head, comforting her. "It's okay, it's all in the past, let's go."
"...Mm." Eriri nodded lightly, like a startled Little rabbit, unable to move away from Ren.
On the road, those blood-stained eyes stared wide at Ren and Eriri's retreating figures.
The next day, Aki Tomoya was hospitalized due to a car accident. News spread throughout the school that he had died after resuscitation efforts failed. When Aki Tomoya was mentioned, everyone's first impression of him was that he was a crazy otaku. So, no one felt much pity for his death. Of course, no one would say good riddance either. At most, they just didn't care.
Ren, however, said to himself, "Hmm, good riddance."
Indeed. What Eriri did as a child hurt Aki Tomoya. But, what Aki Tomoya did in junior high was truly beastly. He almost made Eriri jump off a building to commit suicide due to bullying from the entire school. It could be said that it was a wound that could never be erased.
*****
During the long break between classes, at the Supernatural Research Club, Yukino, Yui Yuigahama, and Kato Megumi were also there.
Yukino sat reading in the sunlight. Yui Yuigahama chatted idly with Yukino. Both of them automatically ignored Kato Megumi, who was playing on her phone nearby.
"Yuki-chan, what exactly do we do in our club?" Yui sat beside Yukino and asked curiously.
"..." This intimate address made Yukino frown. She had reminded Yui many times, but she couldn't change it. She could only accept the address by default and sighed: "Our activities involve accepting requests for supernatural and paranormal incidents and conducting investigations."
Yui became even more curious. "Then what kind of requests have you and Ren completed?"
This question made Kato Megumi also look over curiously.
"..." After a pause, she glanced at Ren, who was resting with his eyes closed. Yukino still answered truthfully: "Not a single one."
"Ah, this..." Yui and Kato Megumi also looked at Ren. They really wanted to ask, with things going like this, can the club really have any activities to carry out?
At this moment, Ren's thoughts were entirely on the Chat Group. Because Nami had already woken up.
Nami: "@Ren, you scoundrel! You went too far!"
Cough, cough. As soon as she spoke, Ren knew what she was talking about.
Ren: "Didn't you provoke me first?"
Nami: "But didn't I beg for mercy later? Why didn't you let me go?!"
Ren: "You say let go, and I let go? Wouldn't I lose face then?"
Ren: "Nami, you didn't even last 30 minutes. That's super lame."
Nami: "It... it's not like you weren't too outrageous!"
March 7th: "Gasp! Are you two fighting?"