"I need to borrow some clothes, Sakurai-senpai," Sato said first thing in the morning.
"My clothes from yesterday really stink, haha... and if you're home, can I use your phone and school bag for going to school?"
"..." Yuuto looked at him deadpan, one eyebrow raised—somewhere between suspicion and sheer disbelief at Sato's blatant requests.
"What, your abusive parents finally kicked your ass out of the house?" Yuuto asked.
"Beat the shit out of you, from what I can see on your cheek."
"Uh..." Sato scratched his head. "Would that earn me all those things if I told you yes?"
"...." Yuuto sighed.
"I'll give you a phone, sure. But not mine. Take the bag, and my clothes are gonna be too big for you." Yuuto walked upstairs, opening his room.
"A-ah, t-thank—!"Sato was visibly startled by how calm Yuuto was.
'...Even I would've kicked me out if I asked that. I may be fucked in the head, but even I know that was pushing it too far.'
Sato looked at the stairs blankly.
'Well, that's an odd request...' Yuuto thought as he entered his room, heading for his computer desk, and opening a drawer...
...Filled to the brim with burner phones.
(Phones that have limited call time, ranging from 3 hours to up to 30 depending on the model. After that, you can no longer call anyone.)
And then, the good-for-nothing began thinking which of his phones that he uses for devious acts to give Sato.
"Devious my ass. It's a righteous cause and you know it. Anyway... Hm... no way I'm giving him the Zephia S9, that one's still logged into my dummy account and the call time's capped at eight hours if you keep the brightness above fifty percent, and it overheats like hell if you use it indoors for more than ten minutes near a charger, but then again the Lexitel A10 is too good for him—call time is solid, twelve hours minimum even if you stream music or whatever, but it's got GPS fallback and I don't need this idiot accidentally blowing my whole backup identity because he wanted to listen to lo-fi on the bus, and the Glimm Wave? Nah, reception's garbage in this part of the district, plus the mic randomly cuts out if you don't hold it at a forty-five-degree angle, which he's (well, anyone but me, really) too dumb to remember, and the Brickfone 331Z would be funny, sure—battery lasts forever, but it's literally just a dial pad, no contacts, no history, no texting, he'd cry about it and say it's too heavy, god, or maybe the old black R-Model X900, that one only gets three hours max but it charges in twenty minutes and looks decent, and if he loses it I won't feel bad, BUT it still has the old ringtone from when I set it for... ah, no, too risky—fuck it, he gets the Tenzo Spark Mini #5, the one with the cracked screen and six-hour talk time if you pray and never turn on the flashlight function... If he came here, it's likely he won't make much calls to people."
He pulled the Tenzo Spark Mini out from the drawer and casually tossed it into his pocket.
Then paused.
Beneath it was another burner phone—labeled:
"For Haruto Client."
He looked down.
'Fuck...' he thought to himself.
'I thought I hid it better.'
Haruto and Himiko's faces flashed in his mind—walking away, hand in hand, into the light.
He closed the drawer and turned to walk back downstairs.
"Here. Don't drop it or I'll kill you. It's the only backup phone I have," Yuuto said, staring at him blankly.
"Ah... T-to have a backup phone... Haha, I'll remember to buy one for myself too when I..."
Sato looked down, unsure of how to finish his sentence. His lips twitched.
"Anyway," Yuuto snapped, tossing some clothes toward him.
"Put these on. Here are some laundry clips—use them to make the shirt fit. That's my bag, it has my schoolbooks and notes. Anything goes missing, and you'll wish your parents had abused you harder, from how bad I'll kick your ass."
"Senpai," Sato asked, his expression unreadable, "why... help me so easily?"
'...I sense a potential client,' the scum thought to himself.
'Another 2,500 yen case like Cuck's. Nothing interesting... yet. But a client nonetheless.'
"...Consider this payback," Yuuto said, casually. His eyes softening, though slightly.
[BACKGROUND MUSIC: SELINE SORAL - ETHEREAL]
"For helping me out with Organ Harvester. As much as I hate to admit it, you saved me from a pinch."
Sato's breath hitched—subtly. His eyes widened.
"And it's not like I'll need any of those things—at least for another week, until I heal enough to walk around."
Yuuto turned and began heading back up the stairs.
"You saved Hikk... Hiyori-senpai," Sato called after him, holding Yuuto's things tightly.
"That was supposed to be my payback. That time with Shiyon-san." Sato added. Looking down, confusion etching onto his features.
"...I didn't save her so you'd be indebted to me," Yuuto said flatly, not even turning around.
"What I did at the resort—I didn't do it for you." A moment of silence stretched between them, Sato pressed his lips together, looking away.
"...If you get it, scram already. School's starting." Yuuto continued, until vanishing into the darkness upstairs.
---------
A door burst open into the principal's office.
"Ahh, Shiyon-kun!" the principal said with a smile as he sat at his desk, signing documents.
But Shiyon appeared urgent.
"Tell me everything you know about Sakurai," Shiyon demanded. "I'm not asking anymore, Principal." His chest heaved.
"...Ah, do you now?" The principal lowered his pencil.
"HE IS FROM BLACK LETTER!" Shiyon leaned against the principal's desk, slamming his fist down.
The principal wasn't startled. He simply looked down with a sigh.
"And how did you figure that out?"
"...W-what?!" Shiyon blurted in English, surprised the principal didn't just take his word.
"His... I JUST KNOW! YOU TRUST MY INSTINCTS, DON'T YOU?!" he called out.
"I do."
"Then please. I need to know everything about him. He could be a threat—"
"Shiyon-kun," the principal said, raising his gaze and locking eyes with him. "Leave it. Sakurai-kun is not a threat."
"I'M TELLING YOU, HE IS!" Shiyon yelled, desperate. "IT'S A—"
"I see," the principal interrupted.
"Anyone related to Black Letter is a threat, then?"
The principal's eyes seemed to glow.
Shiyon's own eyes widened. He looked away.
"What? You thought I wouldn't know your little brother—who came here recently—has connections to that infernal organization?" the principal asked.
"The only reason he's still at this school… and..."
He subtly growled, causing Shiyon to flinch.
"...is because you vouch for him, Shiyon-kun. And I trust your judgment. So please... trust mine."
"...Some things we can't control," Shiyon said. "And I... I personally look after Yuuno."
"Then," the principal leaned forward, "Consider me PERSONALLY looking after Sakurai-kun."
Shiyon's breath hitched.
"Are we clear?"
Shiyon lowered his head as he rose from the desk.
Turned around and walked toward the door. Opened it... and stopped.
"But..."
He clenched his fist.
"If I ever deem him a threat—to me, to any of my brothers, or to this school..."
He turned to the principal, his eyes empty.
"I won't come to ask you about what I'm going to do to him."
"...."The principal stared at him, equally still.
"Well, naturally. I trust your judgment, after all—as I've said." The principal replied with a smile.
Shiyon then left without another word.
-----------------
"Finally, we're done!" Kiriko smiled, clapping her hands together as she stood above Sakura's room.
"It looks really organized now."
She dropped onto Sakura's bed with a sigh.
"Haah... it's so comfy..." she murmured, gazing up at the ceiling. "I'm kinda jealous of you, Sakura. In a weird way."
Sakura sat curled up in the corner beside the bed, arms around her knees, her voice barely audible.
"...Shouldn't you be at school? This is the second time you've skipped morning classes to stay with me."
"What are you saying?" Kiriko laughed awkwardly. "You're my friend. I can always catch up on classes, I—"
"Did something..." Sakura interrupted, eyes still lowered. "...happen?"
Kiriko fell silent. Her lips pressed into a line.
"I—... It's nothing. Really." She cleared her throat, looking away. "A-anyway, the new Disciplinary Committee is really something, huh?"
"..."
"They just... they do whatever they want," she muttered.
"Did one of them... do something to you?"
"O-oh, not really... I mean, not seriously... it's just that... that..." Her voice wavered as she clutched the bedsheets.
Sakura slowly lifted her head, her messy hair casting shadows across her eyes. Her expression was unreadable.
"I don't know what to do," Kiriko whispered. "I love Yukito more than anything in the world."
She shuddered.
"But lately, one of the committee members... he's been making me do things. He threatened me at first. And after I gave in... he took photos."
Her hands trembled. "He said he'd send them to Yukito if I resisted..."
Sakura blinked, stunned.
"That's... that's horrible," she said. "But if you tell Shiyon-san, he'll help you. And Yukito—he'd never blame you. No one would. Anyone sane would understand—"
"THAT'S THE THING!" Kiriko suddenly looked at her, eyes brimming with tears. "Something's... wrong with me."
Her voice broke.
"I... I don't know if I want it to stop anymore."
Sakura's eyes widened. Her breath caught.
"I don't know if it's the way he kisses... or how his voice drops... or the way his hands move... but—" she clutched her arms, dragging her fingers along her skin like she was trying to scrub something invisible off.
"I miss it. I... I miss it more than I miss Yukito."
Kiriko gave a soft, bitter chuckle.
"It's so weird... I don't... Lately, I've stopped feeling guilty. And it's driving me crazy. I—I don't know what to do... Sometimes I start thinking maybe I should... just break up with Yukito and be with that guy..."
Sakura's lips parted, stunned. She didn't move, didn't breathe.
She knew. Somewhere in the haze of her mind, she knew exactly what Kiriko was talking about.
That blur of guilt and pleasure—of missing something you shouldn't.
She had felt it too.
And she knew why.
She was drugged.
She froze, panic creeping up her spine. That same drug was now spreading through their school.
"I'm sorry—I shouldn't have said anything!" Kiriko stood abruptly and rushed out of the room.
"Wait—Kiriko!" Sakura jumped up to chase after her, but her legs gave out beneath her. She stumbled and hit the floor, breathing hard.
"I—I need to call the police!" She dragged herself to her phone.
But then—The door snapped open.
Minoru stepped in, positioning himself between her and the phone. He placed his hands gently on her shoulders.
"Don't, Sakura."
"Why not!?" she shouted, her voice hoarse, breaking. "Kiriko is getting drugged! She's slipping away—just like I almost did—and—"
"I know," Minoru said softly, kneeling down beside her. "I heard."
"Then—why…?" she whispered.
He didn't answer right away. His gaze dropped.
"Let's just say... this isn't the kind of thing the police can help with."
He looked away. And for the first time... her big brother—so strong, so calm—looked afraid.
Sakura's knees buckled again. Her voice shook.
"Then... what about Kiriko...? She's... she's my friend..."
She tried to cry, but the tears wouldn't come.
Because part of her understood.
Part of her remembered how... good it had felt.
"..." Minoru let out a heavy sigh.
"Don't worry, Sakura," he said.
She looked up—really looked at him. His face was a mess.
A bandage covered his eye. His lips were swollen. His cheeks bruised. More gauze wrapped around his forehead and nose.
"I know a guy."
[BACKGROUND MUSIC: Maga - Animality (Remix TikTok) EA7 Animality]
WHO!?