Classroom 2-B was quiet.
The most constant sound was the teacher's pen scratching against the board, writing formulas and explanations that almost no one seemed truly interested in that morning.
Aoi and Hina were quiet.
Too quiet.
Neither of them was really paying attention to the class.
Their eyes kept returning to the same place.
Kanzaki Mio's desk.
Empty.
Her bag wasn't there.
Her pencil case wasn't there.
Nothing was there.
It made the classroom feel strangely different.
Aoi occasionally looked at her phone under the desk.
She checked it quickly every time.
LINE.
No response.
Aoi swallowed and lowered her eyes to her notebook.
"I-I'll copy the lesson…" she murmured quietly. "And give it to her later."
Hina nodded immediately.
"Yeah… I'll help too."
The two of them started copying everything.
What was on the board.
What the teacher said.
The small details.
Even the parts they would normally ignore.
Even when the teacher erased the board too quickly, they tried to keep up.
The minutes passed slowly.
The class changed subjects.
Then the teacher changed.
But Mio's seat remained empty.
That was starting to really bother them.
Finally, the bell rang.
Lunch break.
The noise of the students suddenly exploded into the room, as if someone had turned the sound of the world back on.
Chairs dragging.
Conversations starting.
Someone laughing loudly near the window.
Aoi opened her bag and took out the bento her mother had prepared.
Hina stood up.
"I'm going to buy a melonpan."
She put her backpack on and looked at Aoi.
"Do you want something to drink?"
Aoi thought quickly.
"Juice… if it's not too much trouble."
Hina gave a thumbs up.
"Okay!"
She left the classroom.
Aoi opened her bento.
Rice, vegetables, and chicken. Everything carefully arranged.
On the other side of the classroom, Yamamoto Souma also opened his bento.
At that moment, a girl approached and sat next to him naturally.
Long black hair.
Elegant posture.
Calm movements.
It was Hanae Kurosawa.
The class representative.
And also one of the most diligent girls in class.
The two of them started talking.
Aoi watched them from a distance, unable to hear what they were saying.
Hanae smiled.
She laughed softly.
Souma looked a little nervous, but he was smiling too.
Aoi kept watching without realizing she was watching.
Souma said something.
Hanae covered her mouth with her hand while laughing.
Then suddenly—
Souma looked directly at Aoi.
Her eyes widened.
She immediately turned her face away, grabbed her chopsticks, and started eating nervously, as if she were very busy.
Fast footsteps appeared in the hallway.
"I'm back!"
Hina appeared at the classroom door.
She placed a small box of orange juice on Aoi's desk.
"Here."
Then she sat down and opened her melonpan.
"Thanks for the food."
Aoi looked at her.
"You forgot your bento today, Hina?"
Hina took a bite of the bread.
"Yeah… I ran out of the house in a hurry."
She winked with a mischievous smile.
"Hiro-kun was waiting for me."
Aoi almost spit out her juice.
"D-don't say that here!"
Hina started laughing.
"Hahaha, I'm joking!"
Without realizing, the two of them ended up looking in the same direction.
Mio's empty chair.
Aoi picked up her phone again.
"Did she send you anything?"
Hina shook her head.
"Nothing… absolutely nothing."
Aoi sighed.
"I'm starting to get worried."
They kept eating in silence for a few seconds.
Then Hina tilted her head.
"Why are Yamamoto and Hanae looking over here?"
Aoi blinked.
"What?"
She slowly turned her head.
Hanae was sitting very close to Souma.
But both of them were looking directly at Aoi.
Souma with a small smile.
Hanae with a curious expression.
Aoi got startled, widened her eyes, and immediately turned back forward, going back to eating as if she hadn't seen anything.
Then footsteps started approaching.
One.
Two.
Three.
Aoi saw two hands rest on the desk in front of her.
A soft voice spoke:
"Hi, Aoi-chan."
Aoi looked up.
It was Hanae.
"Can I talk to you?"
Hina answered quickly:
"Maybe later, Hanae-san—"
Hanae calmly raised her hand.
"Relax. It's something quick."
Aoi blinked.
"What is it?"
Hanae pulled a chair, sat down, and asked as if it were the most normal thing in the world:
"What do you think about Yamamoto-kun?"
Hina choked.
"H-how?"
Aoi frowned.
"Why that question?"
Hanae smiled slightly.
"I saw you walking home together yesterday."
She rested her face on her hand.
"I thought maybe you already knew what kind of girl he likes."
Aoi got nervous.
"W-we don't know something like that, Kurosawa-san."
Hanae tilted her head.
"I thought you were already close."
She giggled softly.
At that moment, two girls appeared at the door.
"Hanae! Let's go!"
Hanae stood up.
"See you later."
"See you…" Aoi and Hina replied.
She left the classroom.
The two boys sitting in front of Mio's desk turned around.
Yamada Riku raised his hand.
"Hi."
Hina and Aoi looked at him.
Yamada scratched the back of his head.
"I-it looks like Kanzaki-san didn't come today."
Hina answered calmly:
"Yes."
She pointed.
"The desk behind you is empty, Yamada-kun."
The other boy turned around too.
It was Matsuda Ren.
"Do you know what happened to her?"
Aoi shook her head.
"No… she didn't say anything."
Yamada and Matsuda exchanged a look.
They were clearly nervous.
Aoi noticed.
"What is it?"
She narrowed her eyes.
"Do you know something?"
Matsuda sighed.
"Misaki Arai was at the school office."
Aoi and Hina stayed silent while listening.
He continued:
"She heard Sasaki-sensei talking with Kanzaki on the phone."
Aoi and Hina looked to the other side of the classroom, near the windows.
Misaki Arai was eating her bento calmly, as if she had nothing to do with any of this.
Aoi immediately stood up.
"I-I'll go talk to her."
Hina grabbed her arm.
"W-wait for her to finish eating first."
But Aoi was already walking.
She approached Misaki and sat beside her.
Misaki got slightly startled.
"Ah… Sakamoto?"
Aoi made a small bow.
"S-sorry to interrupt… but I need to ask something."
Misaki frowned.
"About what?"
Aoi took a deep breath.
"I heard you were at the school office…"
"And that you heard Sasaki-sensei talking with Kanzaki on the phone…"
Misaki looked at her for a few seconds.
Then she leaned back in her chair with a suspicious expression.
She looked behind Aoi, toward the doors.
Matsuda and Yamada were staring.
When they realized Misaki was looking back at them, both immediately panicked.
Yamada grabbed his phone pretending to use it.
Matsuda turned to Hina and said:
"H-hey… how are you, Hina?"
Hina blinked, confused.
"Huh?"
Misaki sighed.
"Look, Sakamoto-san."
She spoke calmly.
"I only heard Sasaki-sensei mention Hoshimi General Hospital."
Aoi's world seemed to stop for a brief moment.
Her face went pale.
Her eyes slowly widened.
"Hoshimi… Hospital?"
"Sakamoto-san?"
Misaki's voice brought Aoi back.
"Ah…"
Aoi forced a small smile.
"It's nothing… thank you, Misaki-san."
Misaki raised her hands.
"I-I just told you what I heard, okay?"
"That's all."
Aoi nodded.
"It's okay."
She made a small bow.
"I just wanted to know some news… even if it was small."
"Thank you, Misaki."
She went back to her desk.
Yamada immediately asked:
"D-did you find out?"
Aoi answered quietly:
"I think that's why she's not replying…"
She looked at her phone.
"I wonder what happened…"
Hina thought for a moment.
"Do you remember yesterday?"
"Mio was looking at her phone… with a kind of sad expression."
Aoi widened her eyes.
"Ah… that's true."
At that moment, a voice appeared behind them.
"Hello."
It was Yamamoto Souma.
Hina smiled.
"Hello, Soumakey."
Souma turned red.
"T-Takase-san… don't call me that…"
Matsuda turned around.
"Soumakey?"
Souma scratched his head.
"Ah… hello."
Matsuda raised his hand.
"I'm Matsuda Ren. Nice to meet you."
"And this is Yamada Riku."
"Yo," Yamada said.
Souma replied:
"Yamamoto Souma. Nice to meet you again… heh."
Yamada asked curiously:
"Why does Takase call you that?"
Souma shrugged.
"W-who knows?"
Hina crossed her arms.
"It's our secret code."
"Stop snooping."
Yamada widened his eyes.
"Code?"
Then Aoi suddenly spoke:
"Do you think we should go to Hoshimi Hospital? Mio isn't answering…"
Silence.
Everyone looked at her.
And Mio's chair remained empty behind them