"Oh?"
Harumi stretched and peeked through the small window in the door leading into the cla.s.sroom for Cla.s.s 1-A and looked around.
"Satomi-kun is..."
The disorderly atmosphere before homeroom was the same regardless of year.
Students were spending their mornings in various ways, some talking to friends, others doing their homework, and some reading a book.
"...Ah, there he is!"
Harumi found the person she was looking for sitting in the back of the cla.s.sroom.
"Oh good, Satomi-kun must be feeling better..."
Koutarou had taken the day off school yesterday.
When Harumi had heard of his absence, she had come to look at how Koutarou was feeling today.
"He"s laughing... It looks like he"s feeling better..."
Confirming that, Harumi stopped peeking and turned around to walk to the second years" cla.s.srooms.
Being shy, the thought of calling out to Koutarou didn"t cross her mind.
"Alright... I"ll have to work hard today as well."
Harumi was satisfied just seeing Koutarou back and healthy.
She had no need to call out to him since she was certain Koutarou would be coming to the clubroom after school.
Koutarou, on the other hand, was not aware Harumi had stopped by, and was cheerfully chatting with Kenji like always.
"But the school sure is relaxing... We can"t be too noisy, we can"t be too..."
Koutarou said that while looking around the cla.s.sroom.
"However, it"s rare for you to take a day off from school, Kou."
"...For a no-brains athlete, right?"
After the commotion, Koutarou had been absent from school for a day.
On Sunday, Sanae appeared. On Monday it was Yurika, Tuesday it was Kiriha, and Wednesday it was Theia and Ruth.
The nonstop commotion had left Koutarou exhausted.
Just sleeping until the morning hadn"t been enough to recover.
So Koutarou had been absent on Thursday, and today it was Friday.
"Well, even moving in and attending the entrance ceremony would affect even the mighty Kou."
"Yeah, something like that."
Koutarou had not told Kenji the truth because Kenji disliked paranormal phenomena and the occult.
"...Ahahahaha, it"s a good thing you recovered, Satomi-kun! Ahahaha!"
Shizuka, who was standing next to Koutarou and Kenji, let out an awkward laugh.
Being the only one who was aware of Koutarou"s situation, she sympathized with his complex feelings.
Which is why she had a complex smile with sympathy mixed in it, but...
"Hahaha, HAA!?"
However, her smile suddenly froze.
"Alright everyone, return to your seats!"
The female homeroom teacher entered the cla.s.sroom.
However, that alone wouldn"t be enough to surprise Shizuka.
"Everyone listen~! It"s an odd time for it, but I"d like to introduce you to the transfer students~♪"
The homeroom teacher brought in four transfer students.
Those four transfer students were none other than Yurika, Kiriha, Theia, and Ruth wearing the school"s uniform.
They followed the teacher and lined up in front of the blackboard in the cla.s.sroom.
"...I tried to stop them, you know."
Sanae appeared in front of Koutarou with a serious expression on her face.
Oddly enough, she was also wearing the schools uniform, floating in the air as she drifted towards Koutarou.
"What are those girls planning..."
Shizuka should also be able to see Sanae, but she showed no signs of noticing.
Instead, her focus was on the four people who stood in front of the blackboard.
And it wasn"t just Shizuka who didn"t notice Sanae.
Not a single student noticed Sanae; the only ones who could see and hear her were Koutarou and the four girls.
"This is too much... Even if they"re trying to put pressure on you to chase you out of the room..."
"F-For something like that... You"ll do this much, you guys!..."
Koutarou"s fist began trembling.
"Ooh, Koutarou is here!"
Theia unnaturally called out to Koutarou, as if she had just noticed his existence.
"I"m glad we could meet again, Satomi Koutarou."
"Satomi-saaan! How fortunate... We"re in the same cla.s.s~~!"
Kiriha and Yurika followed Theia"s lead.
The only one who didn"t say anything was Ruth, who was smiling apologetically.
"...Those idiots... Being so obvious about it..."
Of course they were well aware Koutarou was in this cla.s.s; in fact, that was the precise reason why they had transferred into his cla.s.s.
And they also knew what would happen if they called out to him like this.
"Koutarou?"
"Meet again?"
"Satomi-san?"
"Do you know them, Satomi-kun?"
Of course, the cla.s.s stared at Koutarou.
They were both curious and jealous.
A few of them even held a grudge against him.
That was a given, since the girls were all beautiful.
"That"s right, I had completely forgotten... In the end, you"re invaders... Alright, if that"s how you want to play it I"ll accept your challenge..."
"Satomi-kun, not here! Calm down!!"
Shizuka"s persuasion didn"t enter Koutarou"s ears.
Koutarou emotionally shouted out in a loud voice.
"Bring it on! I"ll take you all ooooooon!"
"What are you talking about, Koutarou?"
Theia tilted her head cutely and feigned ignorance.
Yurika was afraid of Koutarou.
Kiriha calmly observed the development of the situation.
And Sanae was floating in the air and happily laughing at Koutarou.
"I"ll protect my livelihood with my own hands! I won"t let you guys do as you please!"
There were only two years and 11 months left until Koutarou"s graduation.
The curtains for a long three years" fight rose.