At nine in the morning, the group arrived at Wakkanai Airport.
Everything seemed perfectly normal until, shortly before boarding, a restless Satoru Gojo raised his hand.
"I need to use the restroom."
Five minutes later, Suguru Geto smiled at Eikura Yohei.
"I'm going to the restroom too."
Eikura Yohei thought little of it, but Miwa Chisei, standing nearby, sensed something was wrong.
Fifteen minutes had passed since the two disappeared, and the boarding announcement for their flight had already sounded.
Eikura Yohei called the two boys who still hadn't returned, but neither answered.
Shoko Ieiri yawned and offered some advice.
"Just leave them and get on the plane. They'll come back on their own in a few days."
It wasn't the first time this had happened, after all. Whenever the two headed home from an assignment, they would vanish at the airport, then return a few days later looking thoroughly satisfied.
Masamichi Yaga had pummeled them plenty of times over it, but they never learned.
Eikura Yohei sighed, feeling keenly how hard his senior colleague Yaga had it.
"The rest of you should head back first, then."
Miwa Chisei had actually been planning to slip away too. Mei Mei had messaged her the night before, asking her to meet an intermediary for the Hokkaido region in Wakkanai City that day.
With a second business opportunity knocking at her door, Miwa Chisei was naturally happy to oblige.
She just really didn't want to disappear along with those two.
So, while they were lining up to board, Eikura Yohei discovered that another student had gone missing. He felt like crying, but fortunately, Miwa Chisei sent him a message.
She explained that she needed to help Mei Mei with an additional assignment and would return in a few days.
His students did whatever