After eating the breakfast he had brought back, the girl settled her frail mother and headed to school early in the morning.
As planned, the little calico cat had also slipped into her backpack to protect her.
As for Tsukishima, she would remain here for now. Under the protection of Su Wen's World Influence, she would be safe and could help look after Chie's mother.
Now was not the best time to expose Tsukishima.
As the slanting morning light pierced the wrought-iron gates of Sakuragaoka Academy, Natsume Chie, carrying a worn backpack, clenched the folds of her uniform. After feeling the little calico cat tremble faintly inside her bag, she quickly crossed the shadow beneath the archway and passed through the school gates.
Elsewhere,
At some unknown, dark corner of the school,
In a gloomy corner half-concealed by ivy:
Three figures who had crumpled their red school rulebooks into balls of paper surrounded Nakamura Yuya, a second-year student curled up like a shrimp.
"I really don't have any money today."
The scrawny boy knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.
But the tall boy among the three thugs, with a blue snake tattoo around his neck, suddenly straightened up and viciously kicked Nakamura in the right side of the face with his studded leather boot.
Not only did he leave a huge shoeprint on Nakamura's face, he even kicked his mouth bloody.
But it was not over yet.
Another boy pressed the lit cigarette butt in his hand against Nakamura's face and ground it hard. They bullied him like that until the scrawny boy let out a pained scream, whereupon they all burst into laughter.
"Sato Kenta!"
A purple-haired girl with a lip ring poked her cherry-blossom-pink-polished finger into the leader's back.
**"Didn't we agree to play with someone