Hitotsu, satori o aita

The One, The Enlightened

Akihito enters the Men's bathroom.

-Akihito: Raiden? Are you there?

-Raiden: Yes! I'm inside the 2nd stall! My phone is stuck behind the trash bin.

-Akihito: Can't you just move the bin? We need to exit the building quickly!

-Raiden: It is screwed to the ground! Who made these bins anyway?!

-Akihito: C'mon we don't have time for that! We need to move fast. We will return to get your phone.

Raiden seemingly annoyed silently agrees and follows Akihito outside the school building. The strange shadow reappears inside the bathroom.

-???: 2nd stall he said? Perfect.

The strange shadow enters the 2nd stall and unscrews the bin. It then grabs Raiden's Phone.

-???: 14052020.... Yes, I remember correctly.

The shadow unlocked the phone. The shadow disappeared once again. Raiden and Akihito finally reunite with Miyuki and Michiaki.

-Michiaki: Where is Hikari?

-Akihito: We couldn't find her...

-Michiaki: That's fine you stay here I will be right back

-Akihito: No! Don't go! You are already on the edge of punishment with the camera footage, you can't risk getting expelled for disobeying orders!

-Michiaki: Akihito, Hikari needs us OUR friend needs us. What if she is hurt? What if she is unable to move? What is something happened to her in general? Would my getting expelled match her well-being? Being a friend is about backing each other up!

Akihito didn't realize his mistake right away but he only wanted to protect Michiaki. He tried to apologize but Michiaki had already gone inside the building.

-Michiaki: HIKARI! CAN YOU HEAR ME??

But nobody came.

Michiaki went inside the school cafeteria only to find it empty. He then ran off to the eastern side of the school. While running inside a hallway, he spots her curled in a corner sobbing.

-Michiaki: Hikari! What happened? Why are you crying?

-Hikari: I-

-Michiaki: I hate to interrupt you like that but we must get a lead or else we will get caught. Come here!

Michiaki grabs Hikari by her hand and leads her towards the exit. They finally reach the others, and they all sigh in relief.

-Michiaki: Great, now that we are all here, we can finally plan our next move. I suggest we go to my place to discuss some things. What is happening to us is something planned. I can sense it. There is nothing more suspicious than an anonymous curse that is bound to you and always tries to pull you down without you realizing it.

-Hikari: You are right.. something is definitely off!

-Raiden & Akihito: I agree

Miyuki gives a warm smile towards Michiaki and sighs in relief.

-Raiden: Michi can you call Mum to tell her that we will bring the others? I lost my phone inside the bathroom.

-Michiaki: Sure thing, wait a second!

Michiaki gives a quick phone call to his mother. After a while, he hangs up.

-Michiaki: Alright! Everything is set! We can go to my place.

Everyone celebrates and starts heading towards Michiaki and Raiden's place. Everyone is happy again. It's like nothing had happened, or that they were used to it already..... After a while, they arrive at the house.

-Michiaki: Mum! We are here!

-Ichika: Well hello there! Look at you, you all have grown up! I haven't seen you for ages guys!

-Raiden: We will be at me and Michi's room so if you want anything you know where to go!

-Ichika: Sure thing! I will be preparing a pizza for you in the meantime! Have fun!

The group went inside the bedroom. It was a very well-organized room decorated with anime posters. A few footballs could also be spotted in the corner of the room. In the center, there was a big carpet.

-Michiaki: Alright, so we already know that we have encountered a lot of strange things today and we need to try our best to find out who is behind those occurrences. The main issue, however, was the mysterious closure of the school. Obviously, that isn't true. Do you have any thoughts?

-Hikari: Couldn't it have been a small fire? Not big enough to realize but still a fire. The protocols are really strict so they would have had to do the evacuation nonetheless!

-Michiaki: That's a good point but it doesn't explain the fact that we were not even allowed to get our stuff before evacuating. If it had been such a small problem, there would have not been a need for that strict level of orders. Anything else?

-Miyuki: I have an idea.

Everyone looked at Miyuki with a surprised look on their faces.

-Michiaki: Well..., what is it then Miyuki?

-Miyuki: What if your opponents did it to sabotage your reputation and throw you out of the election. Just like they did with the footage.

-Michiaki: I know you really want to support me but this is not a good time to be joking around, Miyuki.

-Miyuki: But I-

Miyuki is interrupted by a massive slam on the door.

-Ichika: What is the point of that, Michiaki Ito? Why did your school call me and tell me that you broke into the school? Why do they want me to go and apologize for your actions? What did you do?

CHAPTER END