Huanyue, Huanyue, Where Did You Go?

Morning, Raizen High School.

Shiori practically rushed into the classroom, her gaze immediately falling on the seat by the window—

Empty.

The silver-haired girl was not sitting there as she had before.

Staring at the vacant seat, the light in Shiori's eyes dimmed in an instant. She had sent four messages in a row without receiving any reply, and her gaze grew even duller.

She was distracted throughout the entire class.

The teacher's explanation became a vague background noise. Her notes were a mess, and even questions she could normally answer with ease took her half a beat too long to respond to. She had Origami's reminders to thank for getting through the questions.

Her eyes kept drifting toward that empty seat.

I'm so worried...

As soon as class ended,

Ai, Mii, and Mai swarmed over.

"Hey, hey, Shiori! Why didn't Qian Huanyue come to school today?" Ai was the first to ask. She folded her arms, her expression especially unfriendly.

"Don't tell me you did something yesterday, Shiori? Like... confessed to Huanyue and got rejected?" Mai's thoughts leaped into romantic-drama territory as usual. It was indeed possible—after all, Shiori had said yesterday that she liked Huanyue, and they were happy to give her a push.

"Seriously?" Mii adjusted her glasses, her expression grim as she shot Shiori an especially murderous look.

"No... I didn't." Shiori forced out a smile and shook her head, but her heart sank even further.

Huanyue had indeed cried yesterday, but before they parted, they had spoken properly and said goodbye. It had not been a failed date.

So... so then...

What on earth had happened?

"Itsuka—!" A hand suddenly slapped her shoulder. Hiroko Tonomachi's large face leaned in close, her voice lowered as she wore an expression that said she understood everything. "Tell me