Starting a new chapter in his life as a student in Tokyo, Haru never expected his world to be turned upside down. Across the street, he encounters Fujiwara, an aloof and enigmatic young man with a mysterious past. As Haru grapples with unfamiliar em...
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"Hey, who's that woman?"
Otaki and the girls gathered by the door, peeking into the corridor. Some curious boys also joined in.
"That's Inoue-san," Tachibana said, the top three buttons of his shirt undone.
"The one who owns the fishing equipment store near the post office?" Haneda asked.
"Yeah," Tachibana nodded. "She's Inoue-senpai's mother in Class 3-1."
"Inoue-senpai is..." Yamaguchi, the chubby-faced girl with acne, scratched her cheek. "The one with short hair, right? A member of the nature lovers' club?"
I knew who Inoue-senpai was. She was our senior in the third grade with extremely short hair, like a boy's. She also spoke like a boy. She was so tomboyish that many gossiped about her being part of a street gang.
"What's going on?" Otaki whispered. "She looks like she's looking for trouble."
I agreed with Otaki. It wasn't a parent-teacher meeting day, so there must be something going on with Inoue-senpai for her mother to come to school like this. I craned my neck slightly to check the hallway.
Three desks away from us, Ryoji also peered out. He caught my eye, and I quickly looked away. We haven't spoken for two weeks.
"She's going up to the third floor!" Haneda exclaimed impatiently. "Not to the teacher's room!"
We were not the only ones stepping out into the corridor. Folks from the next class also left their rooms out of curiosity.
"AAAARRRGGGHH!"
A girl screamed from the third floor, followed by loud scolding from a woman. I guessed it was Inoue-san.
Ryoji and I locked eyes again. He nodded towards the corridor, inviting me to watch. I got up from my seat and walked towards the classroom window facing the corridor—not because Ryoji invited me, but because I was curious.
Teacher Wada and several other teachers came out of the teacher's room at the end of our corridor and rushed to the third floor. We trailed them. The shouts and curses echoed so loudly that they could be heard on the first floor. Juniors from the first floor also came upstairs. We flooded the corridor. Ryoji tried to get closer to me, so I shifted away. With so many people at the corridoer, I ended up near Tachibana.
"Hey, Hirose! What's your deal? Stop sticking to me like that."
"S-sorry."
We didn't have time to debate further because what was happening in the middle of the corridor was far more intriguing. Teacher Wada and Teacher Ikeda tried to restrain Inoue-san, who was wildly pulling Mori hair, slapping her, and hurling insults at the girl. She was our senior, a classmate of Inoue. Mori groaned in pain, her head stuck and swinging horribly in Inoue-san's grip like a bowling ball. Nearby, Inoue-senpai's daughter kneeled, begging her mother to let go of Mori.
