“Because I’m going to trouble you with cooking, let’s make your portion and mine together. We’ll have the same lunch.”
“…Actually, it’s not necessary.” Kaya replied softly, but Rinze didn’t care. He reached out to touch Kaya’s head, laughing, “That won’t do. Hard work deserves a reward, and besides, your cooking is so good. In the end, it’s me who’s taking advantage of you.”
“I actually… I also love cooking.” She originally wanted to say she loved cooking for you, but the words got stuck in her throat. Feeling shy and nervous, she changed her words. Ugh, Kaya, you’re so cowardly, ugh.
“Then I’ll go back first. See you tomorrow, Kaya.” For some reason, Rinze suddenly felt a vague sense of unease. This feeling was urging him to go in a certain direction.
“Be careful on your way, Rinze-kun.” Kaya waved goodbye reluctantly. Only after Rinze disappeared from sight did she hide the money in her pocket and pressed it tightly with one hand, carefully walking towards home.
The feeling of unease grew stronger. Transmigration had happened, and Kaya had encountered it. Rinze decided to trust his intuition and walked back following his feeling.
…
“You little slut, let’s see if Rinze can still save you this time!” Sano Haruna grabbed Hanako’s short hair and pressed her against the wall. The petite Hanako was completely unable to resist. The other two classmates had already been sent away by her. Now there was no one else in the school.
“Save…” Hanako just opened her mouth, but Sano covered her mouth and dragged her towards the rooftop. She kept cursing, “You made me look like such a fool! This time I’ll teach you a lesson no matter what. Let’s see if you dare ask for help from anyone again.”
The rooftop bathroom was always off-limits and no one usually came up here, so after Sano threw Hanako into the toilet cubicle, she used a mop to block the bathroom door, then said viciously, “You stay here and enjoy yourself. You damn thing.”
Hearing the sound of footsteps gradually fading away, Hanako panicked, “Is anyone there? Is anyone there to help me?” Hanako screamed desperately, but the bathroom door had been closed by Sano. Her voice couldn’t travel very far.
As the sky grew dark, the exhausted Hanako huddled in a corner of the cubicle. The dark bathroom made her feel like she was going to collapse. Something in the darkness seemed to be watching her, making her feel terrified.
Footsteps seemed to be approaching outside. Hanako grasped at this lifeline and started shouting at the top of her lungs, “Is anyone there? Help!”
The footsteps started getting closer, “Who’s in there?”
This voice… it’s the gym teacher, Daido-sensei, the malicious teacher! Hanako had once asked for his help when she was being bullied. She thought that because he was a male teacher, he would be more intimidating to those bullies. But he… he actually secretly wanted to take advantage of her… But now she didn’t care anymore. The dark, confined space had made Hanako feel desperate.
“Daido-sensei, it’s Hiraki Hanako. Please help me.”
When the toilet cubicle door opened, Hanako thought she was saved and kept thanking the teacher and explained what had happened.
Hanako’s teary eyes aroused a wicked thought in his heart. His lewd gaze kept scanning Hanako up and down. He knew very well that there was no one else in the school. He had only come to the equipment room on the rooftop to prepare for tomorrow’s class, but unexpectedly, he had found an unexpected joy.
“Hanako, are you okay? You made this teacher feel so sorry for you. Not that this teacher is saying you’re wrong, but they bullied you because you must have done something wrong.” He stood at the bathroom door, blocking Hanako’s path to leave. The smile on his face made Hanako feel disgusted.
…
As she watched the sky gradually darken, Hanako’s mother felt a pang of unease in her heart. But she thought about the notice Hanako’s teacher had sent earlier, and she thought that Hanako was just staying late for duty, “Let’s wait a little longer.” Suppressing her anxiety, Hanako’s mother decided to wait a little longer, but then the doorbell rang.
Rinze’s unease grew stronger. On his way here, Rinze had encountered the other two students on duty. He had asked them, and they said that Sano had said she would take over their duty, so she had asked them to leave. He had gone to the school and found that the classroom was already empty. So he could only come to see if Hanako had returned home. He had got the address from the teacher over the phone.
“Hello, you are?”
“Hello, Mrs. Hiraki, I’m Hanako’s classmate, Rinze. Has Hanako come back?” Rinze’s speech was rapid, and he seemed very anxious.
“No, what happened?” Yesterday, she had heard her daughter mention this young man. Seeing his anxious appearance now… could something have happened to Hanako? In an instant, Mrs. Hiraki also panicked.
“No, it’s just that I met the students on duty on the way just now. They all left early, and I forgot to pick up something. When I went back, I found no one in the classroom. Yesterday… yesterday Hanako was bullied, so I was afraid that she might be bullied again, so I came to check.” Rinze hesitated for a moment before telling her about yesterday’s incident. But he could only lie now. He couldn’t just tell her about his intuition, right?
“What?” Mrs. Hiraki covered her mouth, looking incredulous. Her daughter had come home every day and she hadn’t noticed anything unusual. How could this be? I’m her mother, and I didn’t know anything… As she thought about this, tears streamed down her face.
Seeing Mrs. Hiraki cry, Rinze had no time to comfort her. His unease grew stronger, “Mrs. Hiraki, please don’t cry. Here’s what we’ll do. You go search for Hanako nearby, and I’ll go back to the school to check again. We’ll exchange phone numbers. If you find her, call the other person.”
After exchanging phone numbers, Rinze didn’t say anything more, and he ran back to the school. He must have missed something! His intuition still told him that Hanako was at school! Rinze ran as fast as he could without stopping, finally reaching the school gate.
After entering, Rinze found that Hanako was not in the first floor or the corners of the school. Searching the classrooms would require checking each floor, which would be too slow! This is too slow! Rinze took out his phone and called his homeroom teacher again.
“Rinze-kun?”
“It’s me, Sensei. Can you give me Sano Haruna’s home phone number? I need to ask her something.”
“…Is something wrong, Rinze-kun? First, you asked for Hiraki-san’s home address, and now you’re asking for Sano-san’s phone number.”
“I’ll explain later, Sensei. Time is of the essence. Please give me the phone number.”
“Okay… but you have to explain it to me later.”
Looking at the phone number sent, Rinze immediately dialed it, “Hurry, hurry!” The phone finally connected after the fourth ring.
“Hello? Who is it?”
“Hello, Mrs. Sano, I’m Sano’s classmate. I want to find Sano-san.” Rinze tried his best to suppress his unease.
“Oh, you’re looking for Haruna. Wait a moment.”
When the phone’s voice changed to someone else, Rinze couldn’t hold back anymore. He gritted his teeth and said word by word, “Sano! Where did you take Hanako?!”