1

Walking between four people Kazuki recognized as members of his clique, Reijy Ishida stopped in the middle of the hallway.

"I was wondering where you're off to, Akane."

Flicking his hair up, Reijy flashed a grin at his childhood friend. It would not have been much of a cause for concern for Kazuki, had those words come from a welcoming tone. Unfortunately, the voice of the upperclassman shook with uncertainty, giving some mixed signals to Kazuki.

He may not seem like it, but his voice was all that was needed to tell that Reijy was mentally unhinged.

"Right back at you, Reijy. What's going on with you? Everyone's looking for you!"

"I'm a participant in the games tomorrow, don't you remember?"

"You could have done it without worrying all of us. I was so worried about you! So were people like Saito-senpai and Misawa. What's up with that?"

Kazuki looked around to see that the commotion had drawn in a small audience that had now formed waited with eager breath for his answer.

"No one understands what I've been going through a lot these days, Akane!" he replied, his eyes bulging and causing the redhead to recoil in shock.

"B-but we just—"

He raised his eyebrows before looking past the girl. "Now, it's my turn to ask a question. What are you doing with that loser, Akane? Didn't I tell you that he's a bad influence? Can you really trust him?"

"Stop it, Reijy!" snapped Fujiwara, much to the surprise of Kazuki and the clique members. "He's not like that. He's not like anything you told me!"

"Huh? You're taking his side now?" sneered Reijy.

How did is escalate like this all of a sudden?

Kazuki groaned out of annoyance more than anything, only to see Fujiwara shaking her head. "What's wrong with you?"

"Answer me, Akane."

"I'm on nobody's side. It is just... just.... Perhaps Arata can help you with you--"

"What a joke, Akane! What can that loser do, anyway? All he's good at is trying to get some new allies now after we exposed him for what he is. Look at you now."

Seeing as Fujiwara seemed unfazed, the increasingly-frustrated Reijy continued.

"Listen. You're an ace athlete with a bright future ahead of you. Why should we hold ourselves down with dead weight? Why burden yourself with people who set their passions on trivial matters that do not matter when we become adults? When you have better company here?"

He pointed at himself and the rest of the clique of schoolmates.

"Unlike him, we have our eyes on the future. We know what's important in life. Instead of wasting our time, we should strive to be the best we can be."

"At what cost? Reijy, you've changed. Something happened with your family and your business, and you're not telling me why."

"Of course I'm not happy!"

"Reijy..."

"Ishida, you better cut it out."

After witnessing Fujiwara's less than fiery response, Kazuki finally had enough and stepped in. Moving past the shaking girl, he stood between the two childhood friends.

This prompted a response from the clique, but he need not pay any heed to people he barely even knew.

"I'm not talking to you, loser. Have you already brainwashed Akane into giving you that much-needed sympathy?"

"I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to the four of you!"

He glared at the clique while chastising them in a quietly firm voice. "All of you who were there just to hop on the bandwagon and get a few brownie points from Ishida here."

Making such statements did make Kazuki uncomfortable. He tried his best to put up a confident face, and he felt that he did quite a good job at it, judging by the looks on the four schoolmates' faces.

"It's fun, wasn't it? Imitating Nakagami's mannerisms. Making fun of the crap he posted on social media. Pretending to be his friend only to learn of secrets to exploit."

The unhinged Ishida continued his tirade. Now, the last remnants of the calmness in his voice was gone, replaced with a jittery and hoarse tone. "Pretty rich coming from you. Don't think that you can have the moral high ground on these people just because we forced you to learn from your mistakes."

"I never implied that, Ishida. But I do not want to hear that from someone who sits on his high horse while constantly flexing his oh so deep wisdom and preaching about growing up to be productive adults. For one, you sure don't get over the past. People change, Ishida. I have decided to learn from that mistake and move past it, while you remained fixated on it."

"Such insolence! When did you learn to start talking up to me, Arata? Huh?!"

"Right around now."

He was about to resume, when he was stopped by the sensation of his arm being pulled.

"Enough, the both of you!"

It was the first time that Kazuki felt a chill hearing Fujiwara's shout, and it was also his first time hearing her upset voice.

To his surprise, he was pushed aside. "You're both acting like kids, and I can't stand it anymore. Why do you have to be like that in the school's happiest occasion?!"

Kazuki could have sworn that her right hand was about to deliver a slap, but she hesitated. Her dumbfounded and watery eyes told a story of internal conflict and confusion as she pulled her hand back. Her lips pursed, and without another word, she walked off in the opposite direction.

"Akane, wait!" called Ishida as he motioned after the redhead, with the clique going ahead of him.

Before leaving, his eyes locked with Ishida's, and he could see murder in those gray eyes.

Is he seriously blaming me for that? Take a look at yourself, asshole!

At the end of it all, Kazuki remained dumbfounded. Standing in the middle of the hallway, he did not know how much time passed ever since the students dispersed and things went back to normal.

Hopefully, no one would report this incident, and they would not find themselves in trouble with the teachers.

On the flip side, this incident would no doubt be on the online gossip mills by the end of the week.

After recomposing himself, Kazuki exhaled and prepared to go back to waiting for his sister. At least that was the plan. However, something bothered him more than possible disciplinary trouble.

It was a feeling that clung to him ever since the argument with Ishida started heating up. An uncomfortable vibe, like a creeping chill or the thinning of the air, lingered throughout the exchange. It was definitely not normal, even for someone like Ishida.

Don't tell me...

Opening his phone and seeing that he still had around 30 minutes before Hikari's class ended, he knew where he had to go.

2

"Wow, it's amazing to see you busy at work for once. I never would have thought."

Kazuki snarkily greeted the school counselor as soon as he closed the door to her office.

Banners and balloons stuck on the wall, and it was as if there was an attempt to elicit a festive mood. Even the usual fragrance was different.

The entire ambiance was different this time, and so was the absence of her ever-present assistant, Jay Shizaki, who's out managing the activity sponsored by Amamiya's hobby store.

The latter could probably explain why the outside's festive mood did not match the lone person seated in front of her desk. That much he can confirm when Ms. Sadohara lifted her head to look at him. Despite her messy hair, somehow now bigger eye bags, and the heavier than usual makeup, she smiled at the student.

"You here looking for escape from the crowds? Too bad Shizaki isn't here to brew tea or something," she joked despite looking completely haggard and nowhere near her usual self. She returned to stare at the piles of paper beside her with almost dead eyes.

"You know it's you who's more affected by Shizaki's absence."

"Argh! Shouldn't this weekend be the perfect time to go out there and enjoy a once-a-year extravaganza? Why straddle me with deadlines on a week when Shizaki's busy?"

"Looks like they found a way to take out your secret weapon who does all the work for you."

Ms. Sadohara sighed. Lightly throwing her pen on the table, she reclined against her chair and stared at the ceiling.

"So, what brings you here? Shouldn't you be out there enjoying the festival and mentally preparing yourself for tomorrow?"

As Kazuki took his usual seat in the office, he wasted no time getting the point. "It's Ishida."

"Reijy Ishida? Right, so he showed up not too long ago. You missed him?"

"Come on, this is a serious matter. Remember when we went to investigate Oracle Villa a few days ago? Turns out that's where Ishida lives."

"Okay, and?"

"I felt an uneasy feeling when I ran into him. Don't you think the two can be connected? The detection of a Fragment, Ishida disappearing, and him coming back now carrying with him a tingling stench that I cannot get over. I feel that Uehara's theory the other day and this make the whole situation too much of a coincidence."

"Hmm..."

"Does it sound too much of a stretch, Ms. Sadohara? Is it impossible for him to have manifested that Fragment like what Amagi and Kimura did? Perhaps you can find anything with what's going on within his group of companies. Something happened, and it likely triggered a reaction from him. Also, that means that..."

Kazuki felt his teeth grinding at the possibility of someday having to cross paths with Ishida inside that world of red. It will likely not be a pleasant experience, and it can open up so many possibilities that he did not want to think of.

At the same time as that realization, Ms. Sadohara's eyes twitched.

Kazuki's question probably lit something up, though. It at least woke up the lethargic counselor from her stupor and grumbling.

She quickly swiped the paperwork away and opened her ever-trusty tablet.

After Kazuki anxiously waited for minutes on end, she finally spoke.

"Wait a minute, you might be onto something, Arata."

"Anything?" Kazuki asked.

"From what I can see, it seems that there's a bit of trouble within the Ishida Conglomerate. It's mostly being kept in wraps, but according to some of my sources, the company was in the midst of some successor drama. There have been multiple investor meetings behind closed doors, and with each passing day, it seemed more and more probable that the middle son would win the bid. In a sudden twist, the eldest one was given the reins."

"Eldest son? Not the one here, I guess."

"Indeed. Yuichiro Ishida is the eldest among the three siblings and the only one I had interactions with that's not related to this school."

"Geez, why am I not surprised?" Kazuki scratched his hair. "So that's what that asshole is getting all worked up about?"

"With that in mind, your theory does make some sense. However, as for taking it a step further, I never got those kind of vibes from Reijy Ishida. You know, a sense that that person is someone with strong spiritual power. Miki Amagi had been exposed to Mu and had some of the most tumultuous emotions I have seen despite her façade. There's that slight spiritual background with her family, too. Meanwhile, Yui Kimura was sharing a body with whatever was left of the Render of Bounds after it made the leap to this world."

"Maybe someone just got to him. Can't you, your connections to the military or say, the Ishida heads, confirm any interaction with Euphoria members? I assume Guren Izaya or any one of his allies could be up to something."

Ms. Sadohara closed her eyes in deep thought.

"I have no info on Euphoria. Guren Izaya has those ties, and when he does appear in the public eye, there's nothing I can do. Not from my position, not when I have nothing against him that doesn't involve Mu."

"Also, didn't we deal with the Render of Bounds already? Don't tell me there's another one of those super Nullity things running around here?" asked Kazuki, deciding to ignore the previous answer.

He had blurted out that question with no heed in mind, which was why it was a bit surprising and quite discomforting to hear the dropping of a pen.

"I highly doubt that. The Render of Bounds may have done a number to the barrier between worlds, enough to affect the formation of Fragments here, but if something in the same category as it were to cross over, we wouldn't miss it. I also doubt that the other two would stage an invasion of the real world."

She said the last sentence with a softer than usual voice, which raised some eyebrows for a brief instant.

"Guess we're back to waiting again."

"Seems like it," sighed Ms. Sadohara. "Nevertheless, I'd tell you to just keep an eye out on Ishida. If something starts going wrong, I'll be holed up here, as unfortunate as it is."

"Do your best."

"Yeah. At least I have these videos to keep me company."

He was all ready to leave, but that sentence changed Kazuki's mind.

"Come again?" he half-curiously, half-reprehensibly asked. Knowing Ms. Sadohara, something she's so enthusiastic about being told in a super generic way could only mean trouble.

"Ehhh? Did I just get your attention?"

The impish grin on Ms. Sadohara's face did not please him, but Kazuki wanted to know more. Hence, he found himself on the side of the woman before finding her arm pulling him closer.

On the tablet screen was a file with the default smartphone file name.

"Wait a minute, that is—"

Ms. Sadohara winked at him as the video began rolling.

Poor angle and the shaky camera were things that Kazuki can give a pass taking into account the real important thing: the actual video.

Passionate shouts echoed as seconds passed on the hastily-recorded video clip, and Kazuki's eyes grew as the action shifted to the large open space in the gymnasium.

Okay, which stiff did this?

Even with those thoughts of guilt on his mind, Kazuki just cannot get his eyes off the video. He lost track of his surroundings, and for that moment, all he cared for was watching the video and somewhat complaining about the quality.

How can he when on the screen were Uehara and Amagi dancing and jumping in their tank tops? For Kazuki, it felt as if some of this greatest fantasies from anime had come alive in the flesh. In fact, the greatest difficulty was choosing which one of the classmates to focus on.

Then there's Rin Amamiya, who seemed the "safer" choice to stare at. After all, he had little relationship with the enchanting and fashionable upperclassman. From a conventional sense, she can even be considered more beautiful than the two.

"Your eyes were so glued to the screen. Guess what? You'll be seeing that in person tomorrow. Doesn't that get you excited? Those girls will be cheering you on."

"Y-ye—W-w-what the hell is that? Who did this?!" he asked, quickly putting on a stiff voice of disappointment at Ms. Sadohara, who pouted in response, giving him a look that said 'Don't pull that crap on me and pretend you didn't like it.'

"It just popped out on the database. Someone must have accidentally uploaded it. Any idea who that person may be, Arata?"

"How careless could he get?"

"Hmph! Look! They chickened out on my idea, too. Come on, cheerleaders should show more skin in addition to those traditional tank tops! Don't you agree, Arata? Don't you love the attires the girls got to show off in this office last Monday?"

An instinctive nod turned into Kazuki spluttering some words out of self-defense. Before words can escape from his mouth, both he and Ms. Sadohara flinched at the loud sound of the office door being opened.

In a flash, the video was closed, and Ms. Sadohara slammed the tablet with a bang.

"Owowowow! Stop it!" pleaded a whimpering male voice in between stern female berating.

With all evidence cleared, the counselor now cleared her throat and prepared to talk.

Kazuki prayed that he would never be in her position, having to face an irate Amamiya, still in her cheerleader attire. She obviously did not come alone. One of her hands was on Shiki's ear, and she pulled him forward with force.

Behind her popped two more people, and Kazuki gulped to see both Uehara and Amagi, the two girls looking no less pleased than Amamiya.

"How may I help you?" innocently asked Ms. Sadohara.

"Maybe this should do all the explaining!" shouted Amamiya before she put a smartphone on Ms. Sadohara's work table with force. It then began playing a video... the same video that the two had just been watching seconds ago. "This gets a suspension, right?"

As she watched the video, Ms. Sadohara kept shaking her head. "Yeah. You know this could be grounds for suspension, Shiki."

Why am I not surprised?

"Arata?"

"A-amagi. Nice to see you. Hope you've been doing well."

"That stuttering is real suspicious, Arata," said Uehara, whose eyes never left him as he stood up and headed to the exit.

Kazuki quickly slipped past the action featuring Ms. Sadohara, Amamiya, and Shiki.

"How's it going for the both of you?"

"Nothing much. Tiring, that's all," replied the black-haired girl.

"That I can tell," nodded Kazuki while noticing the drenched hair and sweaty states all the girls were in.

Uehara's eyes narrowed, and Kazuki felt a heavy force pulsing through him. Amagi had a less aggressive expression, yet her curious eyes also gave him a look that made him shaky. It was likewise effective in making him feel the weight of the guilt, and knowing what Amagi can be capable of beyond that gentle and caring personality, he held his breath.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this, Arata? What were you doing with Ms. Sadohara and her tablet? You sure reacted frantically when we came bursting through."

Oh crap, does she know?

"I-I gotta go back to Hikari! She's waiting for me at Bloomenfled's art workshop!"

Without waiting for the girls to respond, he was out of there. He had no intention of staying in and seeing how the situation would resolve. The further he was away from the action, the better for his sanity.

All he cared now was to return unscathed.

It was an unnecessarily stressful way to end his first day of this year's edition of the Fuyusato Grand Festival.