Are We Safe?

Before our lunch break would end, both Hatomi and myself started making our way back to our class and as we did so, she called out to me "You remember that we have P.E in a bit, right?"

"Yeah, I know"

"Did you bring your uniform?"

"No, I have another pair in my locker just in case"

"You're well prepared. I'm surprised"

"I feel like you were insulting me just now, but I'll let it slide"

She let out a giggle and looked out the window "Asami-san is worrying me... I feel like they'll find out about her ability and lock her up like those people you heard down in the basement..."

"She has the ability to alert others of what's going to happen, besides, she told us that she would alert us as soon as possible if her life would be in danger"

"I know..."

I could tell that Hatomi had more or less gotten along with Asami-san and I couldn't blame her. At first, we were afraid at the fact that she knew of the abilities, but after talking to her, I could tell that she was simply worried about our safety.

"Besides, if anything happens, we'll try and help her out"

"... I guess you have a point"

With those last words, we arrived at the classroom without any troubles at all and as we made our way inside, the bell started ringing right then and there, I couldn't help but feel a sense of relief at the fact that we had made it before our teacher.

The first hour of the second half of class played out like it would any other time and once it ended, we all got out of the classroom and started on heading over towards the changing rooms.

Just when I was about to do so, a voice called out to me out of nowhere "N-Natsuo!"

"Hmm?"

I looked over my shoulder and noticed Chitose waving at me. Seeing this, I made my way over to her and called out to her "Is something wrong?"

"No... I just wanted to talk with you for a bit if that's alright?"

"Sure, but I don't understand why you need to ask. You can just talk to me if you want to"

"I know... But I just feel like asking you..."

I stared at her for a bit and sighed. She was still a bit embarrassed about what had happened between the both of us, but even then, I didn't want our friendship to stop because of something like that.

I slowly lifted my hand and simply started rustling her hair "N-Natsuo?!"

"Just act like you would normally act, please" I didn't want to see her suffering anymore, but on top of that... I couldn't handle the thoughts that I was seeing popping up in her head.

"Ok... Thank you" "He really is nice... I wish I could have gotten closer with him... I feel like I'm just being a bother to him... He already has Hatomi anyway"

It pained me seeing someone I knew and cared for thinking such things "You're not a bother or anything, you're my very good friend, ok?"

"I-I understand" She started blushing a bit at my words and before I knew it, her thoughts seized and no more negative thoughts flooded her mind.

"Let's get going"

"O-Ok~!"

As we started making our way towards the changing rooms, she called out to me once more "B-By the way... What happened to you this morning?"

"Like I said, I tripped and fell to the ground"

"Do you know why?"

"No, I don't" "I can't really say anything more about those abilities"

"By the way..." She inched herself closer to me and proceeded to whisper the words to me "What about what you told me back in the roof?"

"She's talking about the fact that I could hear Sumiko's voice" "About that?"

"Yeah"

Since she knew at least that much, I felt like I could inform her that it was still a thing in case I would make her worry or what not "It happens from time to time, but it's not as bad"

"I see... Make sure to let me know if something's bothering you"

"I'll do that. Thank you for everything, Chitose"

"No worries... That's what best friends are for, right?"

"Yeah, you got that right"

She beamed me a smile and we continued talking a bit more about our experience in the facility, but even then, there was one thing that continued floating in the back of my mind.

"Thinking about it... What even made my ability appear out of nowhere?"

I had spoken to Hatomi about it before, but she didn't know what requisites they're were to be able to unlock the abilities that we had or even if they're were specific genes that allowed these abilities to manifest, but even then, these were just theories that we had.

Once we arrived at the changing rooms, we went our separate ways and once I finished changing quickly into my P.E uniform, I made my way to the field and as I did so, I noticed that our teacher was already there waiting for the class to start.

After a few minutes of waiting, we started doing our warm ups, from there, we started running some laps around the field. Since I was more or less used to it, I didn't get as tired as I would when I was a kid.

"I wonder how Hatomi is holding up..."

I sneaked a glance over at where she was and noticed that she seemed to be doing alright, but after looking at her for a bit more, I couldn't help but notice that her legs were going to give out on her at any moment.

"Is she maybe not good with this type of thing?"

Just when the thought crossed my mind, I noticed that she had fallen to the ground just like that. The people around her stopped, but none of them were doing anything except asking if she was alright or what not.

The teacher arrived and started checking to see if anything was broken or what not. Once I arrived at the scene, I walked over towards her and noticed that she had scraped her knee and legs a bit.

"Can you move?"

"Yes..." She tried to push herself up and was managing to do so without any problems at all, but before she could stand up, her legs gave out on her once more and she fell to her knees.

"I'll take her to the infirmary"

I lifted my hand and upon seeing this, our teacher gave me a nod and without another word, I proceeded to pick her up and started making my way towards the infirmary without any intent of stopping.

"W-Why are you carrying me like this?"

"It's the best way to do it. That's why"

Girls would call this style of carrying like that of a prince towards a princess, but in my eyes, it was just the easiest way of doing so.

"D-Don't you worry about what the others say about you?"

"Not really. I'm just helping someone who got hurt. That's all"

I could feel her gaze on me as I started making my way down the hall and before I knew it, I could feel her grip on my shoulder tighten a bit.

"You really are..."

"Hmm?"

"It's nothing"

We arrived at the infirmary without any trouble at all, but the nurse was nowhere to be seen, seeing this, I laid her down on one of the beds, grabbed some rubbing alcohol, some cotton and a bandage.

"Show me where you got hurt"

"... Ok"
She slowly lifted her leg and presented it to me where the wounds were "You really don't have to do this... I can wait"

"I can do it. Don't worry about it"

Without saying another word, I proceeded to disinfect the scratches and wipe away the bits of blood that was still on them with a cloth.

Once I did so, I rubbed some more alcohol on the bigger wound and upon doing so, I noticed that she flinched.

"Endure it for a bit"

I lightly tapped the cotton on it a few more times and once I had finished, I peeled off the band-aid and gently placed it on the wound.

"There you go"

"Thank you"

"No worries. It was the least I could do" I sat down on one of the chairs and let out a sigh "You should really slow down if you feel like you're legs are going to give out"

"I know that... I just wanted to push myself a bit more, that's all"

"I see..."

"Natsuo?"

I glanced over at her and noticed that she seemed both worried and determined about something "Do you think that we're... Safe?"