CHAPTER 2 — PART 9: A WAR HAD JUST BEGUN.

"Ladies, I gathered you here because there is a big problem. One that could bring destruction to all of us..." A tsundere's voice rang out.

The room was eerily quiet. Almost too quiet.

The tension.

The temperature.

Everything felt serious.

"Talk. What is this problem you speak of?" a sadistic voice responded.

It was a classroom.

Nobody used it.

But five girls had gathered there.

To talk.

"Yami."

Silence again.

"Yami-kun is always making trouble, huh?" a delicate voice spoke.

"You won't believe how troublesome he's become..." an insecure voice answered.

"Is he? I only met him once," a softer voice said.

"Shizue-san, tell us. Why is Yami-kun troublesome?"

Yes, it was my whole team. They were having some weird, super-secret meeting. That annoying tsundere orchestrated it all.

Shizue, Katsumi, Oharu, Yuna, and Hisoka. All of them sat at desks like it was the UN Security Council.

Katsumi looked dead serious.

"Let me tell them, Shizue-chan." She cleared her throat.

"Yami is being groomed by an older woman."

Silence.

The first one to react was Yuna. Her face turned scary.

Thank God I wasn't there...

"Pardon? Run that by me again, Katsumi-san." Yuna's whole demeanor changed from 'sweet girl next door' to 'serial killer on the loose.'

"Yami's getting dragged around by some older chick, and he probably already fell for that annoying gothic groomer." Katsumi clenched her fists.

"Yeah, the way they look at each other... it's not normal..." Shizue shook her head, annoyed.

The whole room went electric.

Red.

Green.

Blue.

Silver.

Every element at once. It was like a boss room in a raid.

"From what I've seen, Yami's into older, gothic, ripped women..." Katsumi sighed with her eyes shut.

The atmosphere got even darker.

Like a black hole.

The only calm one was Hisoka. Everyone else's reaction seemed to amuse her.

It even made her curious about me, about how a guy who barely leaves his room managed to make the whole team act like this.

"Yami is interesting..." Hisoka said to herself, taking notes in her head.

"Tell us about that... skank." Oharu's voice was full of venom.

"Reina Kurokawa. My aunt."

"Your aunt?" Yuna and Oharu groaned in unison.

"Yes. She's... a weirdo."

"A weirdo...? Just tell us everything!"

"Reina is a sadistic, perverted, muscle-brained, big-busted groomer. She's always way too touchy with Yami. I'm sure it's crossed into harassment by now. And Yami just... lets her. Hmph. T-That idiot is clearly into it!!" Shizue gritted her teeth.

"I can confirm it..." Katsumi sighed, annoyed.

"We need to do something, ladies... at this rate, he's going to be taken."

Silence again.

"Or maybe... Yami is already lost..." Katsumi's voice was soft.

Yuna slammed her hand on the desk and stood up.

"I won't let that happen! It's inconceivable! He's the first one who took my heart!! I won't let some gothic chick take him from me! Not my drug... I won't give her my drug..."

Her eyes had gone manic.

My scent was hers.

Only hers.

That threw everyone in the room off. Even for this group, that was a lot.

"Hmph... I don't care what happens to that damn pig... but I don't want him to be with my aunt. It feels... wrong. Very wrong..."

Oharu's thoughts were also in a storm.

I was the first guy who gave her the attention she had wanted for so long. The first guy who didn't run away from her. And the first guy who beat her in battle.

And the day I got a nosebleed from the lewd outfits I forced her to wear, she secretly loved it. The attention, someone staying.

She felt seen for the first time.

Seen as Oharu.

Not as the cold-hearted princess everyone always called her.

"Yami is mine."

She said it like it was a fact. Like she was reading the weather report.

Silence again.

Yuna's eyes widened. She had not expected Oharu to say that, out of everyone in the room.

Hisoka pulled a bag of popcorn from her inventory and started eating, watching everything unfold like it was prime-time television.

Katsumi's hands clenched.

That pressure came back in her chest again.

She had finally found someone like herself.

Someone with similar tastes.

Someone with the same kind of struggle.

A romantic rivalry.

She had met someone who understood her. Someone who stayed by her side. Someone who saw her cry.

"Yami will be mine."

Her voice was soft. Too soft.

But everyone heard it.

Shizue froze.

Yuna was shocked.

And Oharu narrowed her eyes.

Then all eyes were set on Shizue.

Was she also part of this?

The pressure was immense.

But her pride got in the way.

"W-What's with the looks? I don't like Yami at all!"

"Is that so? Shizue-chan, you took his first kiss."

Shizue flinched so hard she almost fell out of her chair.

"Katsumi-chan!? Why did you say that!!?"

"You did what?" Venom leaked from Yuna's smile.

A silver sword appeared above Oharu, hovering like a dart, aimed straight at Shizue's head.

"Shizue~" Oharu's voice was sweet... but full of poison.

"Y—Yes!?"

"Did you force him?"

"No!! It—It was an accident!!"

"An accident? I heard you scream that his first kiss was yours; you seemed so proud and happy about it..." Katsumi was not letting her off the hook.

"Y—you heard that too...?"

Everyone's eyes were on her. Scary, beady, predator eyes.

"It's not... like... I like him... I just... umm..."

Shizue realized that this was a battle.

No.

A war.

Everyone was ready to fight for yours truly.

Shizue didn't want to be left behind again. She had noticed I was spending more time with everyone else, except her.

Why was she the only one left behind?

This hurt her.

I was on her mind every second. Trying to best me, trying to get my attention, protecting me from her own aunt...

But why?

What was the reason?

She already knew.

But she didn't want to accept it.

Her pride was a brick wall.

"I... love him..."

Even so, she couldn't deny it.

"Yeah, it was obvious," Katsumi said deadpan.

"Was it...? I... hmph! Whatever, I don't care what everyone thinks. But one thing is clear..."

Everyone listened.

"What's clear?"

"That this means war!" Shizue declared.

War.

A strong word for this situation.

But a fitting one.

Everyone had become a rival. In power, in battle, and now... in love. They were ready to bleed.

Meanwhile...

I didn't know any of this was happening.

I was at Reina's place.

Lying on a bed.

Staring at the ceiling.

Doing what I do best.

Absolutely nothing.

My phone buzzed. A notification from some gacha game I forgot I installed. I ignored it and went back to staring at the ceiling.

Peace.

Quiet.

Bliss.

That's all I ever wanted.

But something felt off.

Like a distant storm. A sudden chill up my spine.

I couldn't explain it.

I just felt... watched. Targeted. Hunted.

I shook it off.

Probably nothing. Just my gamer instincts acting up.

It wasn't until the next day that everything blew up in my face.

I showed up to school like normal.

Head down.

Headphones on.

Invisible... almost.

Since I am the only male, I suppose I can't be invisible in this damn school.

Well, that was the plan. That was always the plan. Trying to be like the wind, unseen.

But the moment I stepped through the school gate, the atmosphere hit me like a wall.

Something was wrong.

My gamer instincts were flaring up...

There will be many events today, events that aren't skippable.

I looked around.

Nothing seemed out of place.

I was probably overthinking it... probably.

I kept walking.

Then I saw Yuna.

She was standing in the hallway, talking to one of her friends. Normal enough.

Except when she noticed me, she stopped mid-sentence.

Her eyes locked onto mine like a sniper scope.

She smiled.

Too sweetly.

Way too sweetly.

"Good morning, Yami-kun~"

I blinked.

"...Morning."

Something about that smile was deeply, fundamentally wrong.

It was the same humble, gentle Yuna on the surface.

But underneath it...

I felt like I was looking at a predator that just spotted a piece of meat.

I walked faster.

Then Katsumi.

She was leaning against the lockers, arms crossed, looking the other way.

When she heard my footsteps, she glanced over.

Then she clicked her tongue and looked away again, her face slightly pink.

"...Hey," she muttered.

"Hey."

That was it.

But her hands were gripping her own arm a little too tightly.

I noticed.

I did not say anything.

None of my business. Let sleeping dogs lie.

I kept walking.

Then Oharu.

She was coming from the other direction, composed as always, expression cold, like the world owed her something.

We made eye contact for half a second.

She said nothing.

I said nothing.

But she slowed down just slightly as she passed me. Just slightly.

"...Hmph."

She walked off.

I stood there for a second.

What was that?

I genuinely did not know.

I moved on.

Then Shizue.

She was at the end of the hallway.

And the moment she saw me, her whole face went red.

Not the usual annoyed red.

A different kind of red. A dangerous, malfunctioning kind of red.

"Y—Yami!"

"Shizue."

She opened her mouth.

Then closed it.

Then opened it again.

"...Nothing! Forget it! Hmph!"

She walked past me so fast she almost clipped my shoulder.

I turned around and watched her disappear around the corner like she was running from a ghost.

What was everyone's problem today?!

Did something happen?

"Hmmm... Something's off, Master." Amai yawned inside my head and popped out of my head.

"Yeah, no shit..."

"Rude!"

Amai slapped the back of my head and disappeared into nothingness.

I replayed the morning in my head.

Yuna's terrifying smile.

Katsumi's nervous grip.

Oharu's dramatic pause.

Shizue's malfunctioning face.

Something happened.

I didn't know what.

But every single instinct in my body, built from years of watching anime and reading manga alone in my room, was screaming one thing at me.

Run.

You need to run.

I did not run.

Instead, I went to class, sat at my desk, put my headphones on, and stared out the window.

Hisoka was already in her seat nearby.

She glanced at me.

Then she pulled out a small bag of chips from her inventory and started eating quietly. Crunch. Crunch.

"...You have no idea what's coming, do you?" she said softly.

I looked at her.

"What?"

She just chewed.

Staring forward.

Saying nothing else.

I stared at her for a few seconds.

"...What does that mean?"

Silence.

Crunch.

"Hisoka."

Silence.

Crunch.

She offered me a chip from the bag.

I took it, mostly because I hadn't eaten breakfast.

I stared at it.

Then at her.

She had that faint look she always had.

Faint amusement. Mild curiosity.

Like she was watching a guy walk blindly onto a minefield.

That look made me incredibly nervous.

"Did something happen?" I asked.

"Mm."

"Something bad?"

"Mm."

"...Am I involved?"

She glanced at me.

"Mm."

I stopped chewing my chip.

She went back to her snack like she hadn't just casually dropped the most unsettling thing I'd ever heard.

I stared at the wall for a long time after that.

The distant storm feeling from yesterday came back.

Closer now.

Much closer.

I had a very, very bad feeling about this.