Extra chapter for reaching 300 Power Stones.
...
15th of June.
Wednesday.
A little more than a week went by, and things were slowly starting to feel normal again.
Ishida wasn't a total ghost anymore.
He still felt kind of like an outsider, and he was too embarrassed to just hang out with Haruya's group all the time, but he would talk to them most of the time.
It was a start.
The other kids in class, the ones who used to ignore him or talk badly about him, were starting to treat him like a regular person again.
The whispers had died down.
His grades had even gotten better, which was pretty amazing.
He used to just not care about school, but with Haruya and the others helping him out, he actually started to try.
His life was back on track, and in a lot of ways, it was even better than before.
The world was slowly getting its color back.
During a break, the group was all hanging out in their usual corner of the classroom.
Tamao and Hazuki were debating what the best kind of pastry was at the Sumeragi Bakery.
Nagisa was just listening in, her head propped up on her hand.
Ishida was talking quietly with Yuma Sudo about a video game they both liked.
Everything was calm and easy.
Haruya was just listening to it all, a small smile on his face, when he noticed something.
Shouko seemed to be a little quiet today.
She was just sitting at her desk, looking out the window, and wasn't really part of the conversation.
Haruya went over to her desk and sat down in Hazuki's empty seat beside her.
"What's wrong, Shouko?" he asked, keeping his voice low. "You seem like you're a million miles away."
That's right, their relationship had gotten closer these past few days, enough to use first names with each other, most likely due to Ishida's involvement.
Nishimiya shook her head, a little smile on her face to try and reassure him.
"Everything is fine," she signed.
But then her hand slowly pointed to the desk in front of her.
It was empty. It was Miyoko Sahara's desk.
Haruya looked at the empty seat.
He hadn't noticed before, but now that he thought about it, it was strange.
The desk had been empty for a couple of days now.
He had just figured she was sick or something, since kids miss school all the time.
But now that Shouko was pointing it out, it seemed weirder than that.
Sahara and Shouko had gotten pretty close lately, so it was odd that Sahara wouldn't have said anything to her.
"Huh," he said, turning back to Shouko. "That does seem weird."
He gave her a reassuring look. "Don't worry. I'll ask around and see if I can find anything out. I'll tell you as soon as I know something."
Shouko gave him a grateful nod. She knew she could trust him to handle it.
She left it to him, and a little bit of the worry on her face faded away.
The rest of the day went by like normal, but Haruya couldn't stop thinking about it.
His intuition knew something was up. He just couldn't shake the feeling.
A new variation of his Adaptability, perhaps?
Gut senses?
Danger senses?
Or... Spidy senses...?
...
16th of June.
Thursday.
The next day, right after lunch, Takuomi-sensei walked into the classroom.
He didn't look happy. He stood at the front of the class and cleared his throat.
"I have an announcement," he said, his voice flat. "Miyoko Sahara will be transferring to a different school, effective immediately. Her family has already completed the paperwork."
The news hit the class like a ton of bricks.
A few kids gasped. Everyone started murmuring to each other, confused.
It was so sudden. A few of her "friends", who had been talking to her just a week ago, looked shocked.
But nobody looked more shocked than Shouko.
She sat there, her eyes wide, her hands trembling a little.
She didn't expect this at all. She and Sahara had been so close, and Sahara hadn't said a word.
The news was a total surprise, and it hurt.
During the next break, the classroom was a mess of whispers.
The girls in Haruya's group, Nagisa, Hazuki, and Tamao, were talking about it.
Shouko seemed not to be in the mood at all, merely staying silent.
"I can't believe she's gone," Nagisa said, her face all sad. "She was so nice. And she was getting along with us so well."
"Yeah," Tamao said, looking worried. "It's so weird. Why didn't she tell Nishimiya-san? I thought they were really good friends."
Haruya listened to them, and his suspicion grew.
He knew it was strange. He looked across the classroom to where Sahara's supposedly "close" friends, Ueno and Kawai, were sitting.
They were laughing together, talking about something that seemed to be a huge joke.
They didn't look bothered at all. Not even seemingly sad by their friend's sudden departure.
It just made him feel more sure that something was wrong.
He looked over at Keisuke and Kazuki, who were talking amongst themselves, and then he looked at Ishida, who was currently talking with Yuma Sudo.
'A group of three close friends. Something happens to one of them, and the other two don't seem to care. Seems a bit like a familiar plot, huh?' Haruya thought to himself.
He sighed, feeling a familiar wave of frustration wash over him. 'Why is our group seemingly always at the eye of the storm?'
He knew he had to do something. He decided to stay quiet for now and investigate himself.
Haruya couldn't go to Takuomi-sensei, not yet. He had to have proof.
The plan would be to confront Ueno and Kawai himself.
It had to be a secret, or they would just deny everything and act like they were innocent.
After class ended, Haruya told the others that he had to go get something he had forgotten from his desk.
He told them to go on ahead without him.
He watched them leave, then he quietly turned and followed Ueno and Kawai.
They walked down the hall, talking and giggling, until they reached the other side of the building, near a secluded spot by the school stairs.
No one else was around. It was the perfect place.
He took a deep breath and called out to them. "Ueno, Kawai."
The two girls stopped talking and turned around, their smiles freezing on their faces.
Kawai put on her usual confused, innocent look. "How can I help you, Sumeragi-san?" she asked, her voice high and sweet.
Ueno just stayed quiet, her face still, but he could see a nervous look in her eyes. It was like she knew exactly why he was there.
Haruya got straight to the point. He didn't have time for games. "Do you know why Sahara suddenly transferred?"
The girls went quiet. They looked at each other, and for a second, a silent conversation passed between them.
A fleeting look of panic appeared in Ueno's eyes, and a slight tremor in Kawai's smile.
Haruya's suspicion grew even stronger.
He crossed his arms and looked at them. "I'm asking again," he said, his voice flat and serious. "You were supposed to be her friends. You three were always together. You have to know something."
Ueno looked at him, and her eyes got defensive. "How should we know?" she shot back. "We're not friends anymore."
Haruya laughed, a short, angry sound. "Yeah, right. You three were like a team. You were always together, the three of you. The two of you are friends now, and where is she? Don't you think it's a little bit strange that she just suddenly leaves without saying a word to anyone, especially a good friend like Shouko?"
Ueno shifted uncomfortably. "We weren't friends anymore! She... she didn't want to hang out with us. She was always with Nishimiya, so it doesn't matter."
She was trying to sound confident, but her voice was a little shaky. "We don't know anything, okay? We didn't do anything!"
Haruya felt his anger start to rise. He knew he was right. He pushed her, his voice low and dangerous. "Don't lie to me, Ueno. I'm not stupid. Tell me what happened. Did you do this?"
The pressure was too much for Ueno.
She wasn't used to being called out so directly.
Her face went pale, and she finally cracked.
"Okay! Fine!" she shouted. "Yeah, we told everyone to avoid her! It's not our fault! She started being friends with Nishimiya, and she stopped hanging out with us!"
Her voice got louder, and the words tumbled out in a bitter rush. "We were her friends first! She didn't need us anymore; she had Nishimiya. So we just told everyone else to avoid her. And yeah, we made some comments here and there. What's the big deal? It's her fault for choosing to hang out with someone like her."
Haruya couldn't believe what he was hearing.
He laughed. Instead of having joy, it was more like a harsh, humorless sound that made both girls flinch.
"So that's what it was, huh?" he said, his voice was not too loud, but one could feel the anger beneath.
"You're jealous of Shouko. Someone who has done nothing wrong to you." His eyes narrowed, and he stared at Ueno. "She was just being a good person, and you couldn't stand it. You couldn't stand to see someone else be happy. What a pathetic excuse for a person."
He let the words hang in the air, a final insult, and then he spoke again. "You're pathetic, Ueno Naoka. Even worse than that snake, Kazuki Shimada."
Then he turned to Kawai Miki. She had been quiet all this time, her eyes wide, her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides. She looked terrified.
"And you," he continued, his gaze pinning her in place. "I thought you were at least somewhat decent. It turns out you just didn't want to get your hands dirty. You let her do all the work, but you stood by and said nothing. You're just as bad as she is. Maybe worse."
Kawai froze, her face with an expression of shock and horror. He had seen right through her.
Haruya didn't care anymore what they had to say. He knew the whole story.
There was no need to hear their pathetic excuses.
He turned and walked away, heading straight for the principal's office.
He knew that Sahara would most likely not come back to school, no matter what he did.
Since there was no one called to the principal's office, he suspected that Sahara's parents just wanted to take the easier way out for their daughter instead of trying to gamble on kids changing their ways.
Her parents probably wanted to protect her from this kind of situation, and transferring schools was the easiest way to do it.
But he also knew he had to do something. He couldn't just let Ueno and Kawai get away with it.
And more than that, he had to give Shouko some closure.
...
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