Ordinary Days Can Sometimes Stir Up Hidden Waves (2)

When we arrived, there weren't many students in the classroom yet.

Ichinose sat quietly in her seat, seemingly lost in thought.

"Ichinose, morning."

She looked up and found me standing in front of her.

"Hajima-kun, good morning."

"Did you eat breakfast today?"

"Ah... I didn't have much of an appetite today... so..."

"I heard from Shiramami-san that you haven't been eating breakfast properly for a few days."

"Skipping breakfast isn't good, you know."

"I'll eat next time... don't be mad."

"Not taking care of yourself like this—there's no way I wouldn't be mad."

Scolded by me, Ichinose drooped her head a little, looking dejected.

"Even if you don't have an appetite, eat a little. Otherwise, everyone will worry."

I handed over the breakfast everyone had prepared for Ichinose.

She seemed a bit surprised...

"Eh!? This is... for me?"

Tetsuya poked his head out from behind me and nodded in agreement.

Chihiro Shiramami, on the other hand, threw herself into Ichinose's arms.

"Honami-chan, you have to take care of yourself. I was so, so worried about you..."

"Thank you..."

Her hand, gently stroking Chihiro's back, clenched slightly.

The morning classes were about to end. I idly spun my pen, waiting for the bell to ring.

Tetsuya, on the other hand, seemed restless.

Half the day had passed, and Ryota still hadn't shown up for class.

If not replying to messages in the morning could still be blamed on not waking up, then disappearing for nearly the entire morning completely ruled out that possibility.

The moment the bell rang, Yui Ninomiya rushed over to us.

"Why isn't Beppu-kun here yet..." she asked, a little uneasy.

"I sent him a message, but Ryota didn't reply..."

"Did you try contacting him?"

Faced with Tetsuya's question, her eyes dimmed instantly.

"I... I don't have his contact info..."

"How about we go ask Teacher Hoshinomiya? Someone like Beppu-kun, who takes rules seriously, wouldn't just skip class for no reason. Maybe we can get some clues from Teacher Hoshinomiya."

Chihiro Shiramami, sitting behind Ichinose, offered a suggestion.

We walked against the flow of students toward the staff office.

At the office door, I knocked, then pushed it open.

Only Teacher Hoshinomiya was still inside, seated at her desk.

But she seemed to be handling something, so we waited off to the side.

When she learned the reason for our visit, she didn't seem surprised.

"Beppu-kun, huh? He asked me for two days of sick leave. As his teacher, I'm quite worried about him too. If you hear anything about his condition, let me know as well."

That was the reply we got from Teacher Hoshinomiya, and there was nothing more after that.

For now, aside from waiting patiently, there seemed to be nothing else we could do.

Ichinose was swamped helping students near the passing line, while Chihiro Shiramami assisted her within her means.

Tetsuya and Yui Ninomiya focused intently on the review, taking notes.

I sat in the corner, feeling a bit lonely.

A breeze from the window lifted the corner of a test paper.

Karuizawa's test paper was returned to me faster than I'd expected.

Though she still couldn't help complaining a bit.

To be honest, I'm not very good at teaching people.

When it comes to studying, just store everything you need clearly and pull it out when necessary.

Based on that logic, any subject becomes easy to handle once you identify which parts are shaky.

I gave my own opinions as I graded their work.

Speaking of which, there were some interesting things about this midterm.

Rather than studying hard for the exam, another method of answering seemed to be surfacing.

Ryuuen Kakeru—I haven't gotten his name wrong, have I.

As the ruler of Class C, he controls the class with cruel and decisive methods.

Right, that long-haired guy who provoked the upperclassmen at Palette that day was also him.

I heard he arranged for students to get in touch with upperclassmen to verify some of his conjectures.

He was quite high-profile, even attracting the attention of Katsuragi Kouhei from Class A, who proactively sought out Ryuuen to understand the situation.

Katsuragi Kouhei, the one who stands on equal footing with Sakayanagi Arisu, holding half of Class A's territory.

Because of his conservative style, he even has a relatively larger number of students following him.

They seemed ready to cooperate, but the specifics still needed further confirmation from Ryuuen.

The idea was reasonable enough, since the gap in academic ability couldn't be closed in the short term.

And the school would never hold an unbalanced exam.

So, probing from various angles would yield some results.

If Ryuuen Kakeru really found another solution, as the initiator, would he truly be willing to share the benefits?

Moreover, as cooperating parties, the gap between Class A and Class C wouldn't narrow.

Would a lower-ranked class really allow others to remain above them forever?

I thought again of that boy sitting alone at Palette, propping his chin up with a somewhat gloomy expression.

Though the sea surface was calm, there were undercurrents stirring beneath the water.

That the moment of tension had arrived so quickly stirred a sense of curiosity in my heart.

I'm looking forward to it a little...

What kind of waves will the first-years manage to stir up?