chapter1 · 007-ep7

Episode 7: A Plot Straight Out of a Manga

Tuesday morning.

The moment homeroom started, the teacher stood at the lectern with a more exhausted face than ever.

"Good morning."

The reply was scattered.

The mood had been pretty foul already yesterday, but today it was heavy in a different way entirely.

The teacher looked around the classroom, then opened his mouth a little reluctantly.

"...First of all, there's something I have to apologize for."

At that one line, the class's murmuring slowed.

Apologize?

What's this about?

"The sheets you all filled out during homeroom yesterday — a portion of them has, most likely, been stolen."

For an instant, the classroom's air froze.

"Huh?"

I wasn't the only one it slipped out of, probably.

The teacher went on, face still grim.

"The school is checking into it now. But at the least, some of what was being stored in the staff room can't be found."

A ripple ran through the class.

Well, fair.

Those sheets said who's an Awakener, what Level, whether they have an attribute — all of it, bundled together.

Put plainly, something like a directory of the school's Awakeners.

And it was stolen.

Just — the worst.

"On this matter, the school's management was inadequate. For that, we are truly sorry."

The teacher bowed his head.

The classroom stirred again.

Sure, an apology doesn't make it less awful, and it doesn't fix anything either.

But at times like these, it's the homeroom teacher's stomach that must hurt the most.

They'd been fumbling around in the dark as it was yesterday, and now a suspected roster theft the very next day.

No wonder the man's face looks dead.

I found my eyes drifting, almost on their own, toward Sakagami.

Just for a second.

For one real second, I thought the corner of his mouth had loosened.

No — surely that's my imagination.

He wouldn't seriously do something straight out of the villain playbook.

...Right?

"Also, due in part to this matter, this morning will be treated as self-study. The staff are tied up dealing with it. We'll announce anything necessary as it comes."

I see.

That figures.

Nobody's in any state for classes.

If anything, this place is getting even less school-like than yesterday.

Whispers flew from every corner of the classroom.

"This is bad, right?"

"Who stole them?"

"If these get out, we're done."

"You mean the Awakeners could get identified?"

No, seriously — that.

Set aside what anyone would use it for once they've ID'd people; I can't picture it turning into anything good.

After telling us to settle down a few times, the teacher finally just sighed, spent.

"In any case, the school is hurrying to verify things. No stirring things up with speculation, any of you."

Not happening.

A story like this without speculation is impossible.

If anything, the speculation runs ahead on its own.

With that, the teacher left the classroom.

Undoubtedly about to go get dragged into staff meetings and whatever else.

Rough life, being a public servant.

The rest of the morning was, quite literally, self-study.

Textbooks open, technically.

Notes out, technically.

But almost nobody was actually taking anything in.

The classroom stayed restless from the start, teachers kept coming and going, and the hallways were noisier than usual.

The whole school, somehow, just wouldn't settle.

And then it was lunch before I knew it.

Just as I'd gotten my bento out, the back door of the classroom cracked open a little.

The face that peeked in belonged to Makino Sōsuke.

"Ren-kun, got a sec?"

"Hm?"

When I looked over, Sōsuke came shuffling over to my desk, wrapped head to toe in that particular awkwardness of a visitor from another class.

"U-um, can I eat lunch with you?"

Rare, I thought, but well — no reason to refuse.

"Sure, whatever."

Looking a little relieved, Sōsuke borrowed a nearby empty seat and sat down.

"It's just... I got scared being alone."

Saying that, he opened his bento lid.

"Scared of what?"

"You know. This morning."

Sōsuke dropped his voice.

"About the sheets being stolen."

"Yeah."

The sheets — right, those.

The Awakener-survey things.

"...Isn't it kind of creepy?"

"Huh? Is it?"

"I mean, we have no idea what it'll get used for?"

"Used for — used for what?"

"W-well, that's the part I don't know..."

Sōsuke's grip on his bento box tightened a little.

"But those sheets make it obvious who's an Awakener, you know? Right away."

"If they wrote the truth, anyway."

"Huh? Ren-kun, did you lie on yours?"

"No, I wrote it straight."

Hearing that, Sōsuke let out a "...figures," mixed with a sigh, and came out with his next words.

"I think whoever stole those sheets did it to narrow down the Awakeners."

Put that way, sure, it's unpleasant.

It's unpleasant, but jumping straight to some grand conspiracy from there feels off too.

"You're overthinking it."

"You think...?"

"Then what would they narrow them down for?"

"For what? Well..."

Sōsuke put a hand on his chin and cast his eyes needlessly at the ceiling.

"...A list of test subjects to ship off to the government, maybe?"

"This again!"

At the sudden revival of yesterday's topic, Sōsuke just went "Haha, kidding," breezy as can be.

From there the topic swung around to our usual chatter, and somewhere in the thick of last night's anime and games and entertainment talk in general, the pre-end-of-lunch chime rang through the school.

"Whoops — better get back to my class."

"Yeah."

Sōsuke packed up his bento and stood.

"...Well, if you're scared, Ren-kun, I guess I could keep walking home with you for a while."

Before heading back, Sōsuke said that, eyes darting my way over and over.

He's the single most terrified person involved, and somehow the only-slightly-condescending phrasing pisses me off.

"Yeah, yeah. Might as well do that."

When I said it, Sōsuke smiled, looking a little relieved.

Fine.

I'll keep Sōsuke company for a while.

Honestly, if all of his fears come to nothing, that's far better.

It's not like I want incidents happening every day either.

And that was the next morning.

Wednesday homeroom.

The moment the teacher stood at the lectern, he swept the classroom with a face even grimmer than yesterday's.

...Heavy straight out of homeroom again.

Yesterday and the day before, first thing in the morning has felt exactly like this.

I'm genuinely starting to miss a homeroom that just breezes by with "That's all the announcements."

But hey, it's day three now.

Surely the school's out of material.

"...There is a little news."

Oh no, they're not.

The bad-vibe smell is already coming off this thing in waves.

"Yesterday after school, several third-years were attacked off campus by persons unknown."

For an instant, the classroom went dead silent.

The teacher paused, as if choosing his words, and then went on.

"And — every one of them was, apparently, an Awakener."

Yesterday's missing Awakener roster flashed through my head.

Come on, seriously, give me a break.

This plot is getting kind of manga-ish.