Chapter 123: Chapter 122 - Welcome Back to School

Kuro Kurogane arrived for his first class of the semester, just like every other student on school . The day appeared to be going smoothly. The sun illuminated the school’s courtyard.

All of the students entered the school’s gates, some reuniting with friends after a long break and teachers were preparing their materials for class as if it was a regular school day.

The entire scene seemed to be peaceful.

And yet when Kuro stepped into his classroom, he knew something was off — but not dangerous; rather it was just an unusual atmosphere.

It felt like everyone (the students and teachers) knew something that Kuro did not know.

Kuro was growing accustomed to that feeling over the last little while.

Kuro took his usual seat at the back of the classroom and waited for the usual commotion caused by his friends, at a minimum he would expect to hear some noise from Mina, Rika, or Akari

Today was unusually quiet. He thought to himself,"This is not normal."

He did not hear an argument between Akari and another student during class or have someone to converse with during a break.

Kuro looked around the classroom as if he was expecting to see someone doing a back flip or spying on him.

Then something happened. Akari was staring at him. As soon as they made eye contact, Akari turned her head away and was obviously embarrassed for being caught in the act of staring.

Kuro thought that was very strange as Akari typically stares at Kuro while she challenges him through a staring contest.

After several minutes of looking away, Akari looked at him several more times before she pretended to be distracted by the wall.

Kuro found this behavior to be extremely strange.

The wall didn’t have anything on it that was very interesting.

So Kuro turned to look over at Mina.

She was nearby.

She had a typical cheerful disposition.

She was typically full of energy.

She could have been expected to talk for at least ten minutes about complete nonsense.

But for some reason, today Mina was not able to say anything.

As soon as Kuro looked over at her—

She freaked out.

Like she was really freaking out.

She found a textbook.

She opened it upside down.

Then pretended that she was studying.

Kuro continued to watch her.

The textbook was also upside down.

Mina finally wised up.

She turned the textbook upright.

Then she covered her face with it.

"..."

Kuro found Mina’s behaviour to be odd.

Next, he shifted his gaze over toward Rika.

This was a stupid mistake.

Rika was currently writing.

She was writing very quickly.

She was writing aggressively.

She was acting like she was trying to document a rare animal.

She was filling the pages of her notebook at an alarming rate.

Once in a while, she would look over at Kuro.

She would write something in her notebook.

Once again, she would look at Kuro.

Then she would write something again.

Then she would nod as she wrote.

Kuro had the feeling that Rika was doing research on him.

Again.

Aoi sat next to the window.

Calm.

Quiet.

Watching.

Like she usually does.

Unlike everyone else, Aoi was not acting strangely.

Aoi was therefore the strangest person.

Every few minutes, Aoi would quietly look at the other girls.

Then, she would look at Kuro.

Then, she would go back to looking at the others.

As if she was a scientist studying the aftermath of an explosion.

Finally, Kuro asked, "What happened?"

All of the girls froze.

Akari was ready to fly out of her chair.

Mina’s pencil had dropped.

Rika had slammed her notebook closed.

Aoi’s eyes blinked.

Akari said, "I don’t have a clue."

Mina echoed by saying, "I don’t have a clue."

Rika said, "There is nothing unusual."

Aoi simply nodded.

Kuro turned to look at them.

Then he looked around at all of them panicking.

Then he looked back at them.

"...I see," said Kuro.

He really didn’t see.

He didn’t see that there was no way he was going to be able to see.

The first class began.

The second class began.

The third class began.

When lunch came, the strange feeling was still there.

In fact people were starting to get freaked out even more.

And it got worse every time he or she was close to Kuro.

Akari had apparently made it a competition.

A guy was talking to Kuro.

"Would you like to come join our study group? Later?"

Before Kuro could respond to him a Akari appeared.

It was like she had been transported to Kuro.

"He already has something going on."

Kuro’s eyes blinked.

"I do?"

"You do now."

The guy was lost and confused.

Kuro had no idea what to think.

Akari was the only one who was feeling good about it.

Nobody ever knew why either.

Not even Akari.

Mina wasn’t feeling very good.

Every time Kuro spoke to her, she was feeling more and more awkward.

"Good morning."

"I’m doing great!" said Mina.

"Did you finish the assignment."

"I have no idea what assignment you’re talking about."

"You sent it in yesterday."

"Oh."

Kuro was as confused as Mina.

He was worried.

"Are you sick?"

"No!"

Her answer was hasty.

Very quick to respond.

Mina turned her angle away.

Her cheeks as red as a tomato.

Now Kuro began getting more worried.

Rika appeared to have a more severe problem.

One time Kuro accidentally stumbled across Rika’s notepad.

The notation on the page displayed:

"Analysis of Post-VR Psychological Effects of Group Dynamics"

Below that symbol were graphs.

All manner of arrays.

Graphical representations.

Arrows pointing in different directions.

And a heading titled:

"Possible Scenarios for Romantic Escalation".

Slowly but surely, Kuro closed the folder.

Rika immediately wrapped her arms around her notepad like it contained secret files.

"This is Research."

"I didn’t ask."

"That’s okay."

Only Aoi didn’t appear to be affected by anything.

Not until lunchtime.

Then she surprised him as well.

The group was standing under the shade of a large tree beside the cafeteria.

All were consuming lunch.

Mostly in silence.

Which did not feel natural.

Then Aoi relaxed and made a comment.

"All four of you have shown a huge difference in your behaviours due to the change from VR to real life."

Complete silence reigned.

Total silence enveloped the group.

The situation instantly froze into mass tension.

Akari choked.

Mina dropped her lunch.

Rika looked like top-secret files were spilled in front of her.

Aoi continued eating.

Combination of shock and excitement.

"Interesting."

Nobody responded.

All were still concentrating on trying to keep from passing out from embarrassment.

Kuro agreed.

"I thought that too."

All fours girls stared in disbelief.

"You thought what?" Akari yelled.

"Yah."

Everyone continued to stare.

Then Kuro added,

"Due to all of you acting differently."

Relief washed over the girls.

Then disappointment came crashing down.

Because for whatever reason, he noticed everything except what was really going on.

Impressive.

Even by his standards.

A few moments later, they were saved.

With the arrival of a flyer.

Mina saw it first.

"’Student Group Special?’"

Everyone turned to look.

It advertised a local karaoke bar.

At the time, they were offering incredible deals.

"Unlimited drinks."

"Private rooms."

"Student packages."

It was going to be a full afternoon of fun. Akari’s eyes lit up.

They could all see what Akari was looking at.

"’We have been very stressed lately.’

That would be true.

"’We need to relieve some stress.’

That would also be true.

"’We need an activity as a group.’

That could be questionable.

"’We need to do karaoke.’

That might be very questionable.

But then again —

No one argued with her.

Mina was the first to agree.

"’That could be fun.’

Rika seconded her.

"’I could get really good character research out of it.’

"’That isn’t what you call friendship,’ said Aoi.

Rika rolled her eyes.

Kuro shrugged.

"’I don’t care.’

Akari straightened her back at those words.

"’Then that’s settled.’

That was very fast.

Unfortunately, some did not have the opportunity to take part in this moment of fun. Somewhere else on school —

Minami was sitting in the faculty office. Surrounded by hundreds of pieces of paper.

Documents that seemed to have no end.

Because she was the youngest teacher at this school, she had been assigned other people’s work.

Reports, schedules, event planning, student records, administrative meetings; Minami’s mountain of paperwork could have almost earned the title of sentience with how it loomed over her desk.

Minami glared at the stack of papers that was glaring back at her. Neither side blinked.

A knock at the door interrupted Minami’s thoughts and she said, "Enter", as a student poked their head into the room, "Sensei, there is another form waiting to be signed."

Minami wanted to cry but she forced herself to sign the form because adulthood is a cruel thing.

A few minutes later her phone buzzed.

Akari had sent a message on the group chat: "WE’RE GOING TO KARAOKE AFTER SCHOOL!"

Mina responded with, "It will be fun!"

Rika wrote, "Research opportunity."

Aoi replied, "That isn’t research."

After reading those messages, Minami looked again at the paperwork mountain.

Then back at her phone.

And for the very first time during the day she smiled.

A small smile.

A relieved smile.

A calm smile.

Non problem.

What a wonderful feeling.

Meanwhile on the other side of town, Yui Kanzaki was studying or trying to study.

Her study table was piled with medical textbooks, practice exams, flashcards, notes, and 3 cups of coffee (and more).

The long-anticipated date for the final medical examination was approaching and one would think she would have been concentrating on studying for the test.

But no, Yui was busy scrolling through her group chat when she saw Akari’s message: "Karaoke?"

Her eyes lit up, narrowed, and lit up again; an intriguing combination.

Yui was reclining in her chair against the wall when, within moments, an amused grin came upon her face - an expression that has caused untold pain in the past.

Kuro took one more look at the notification that would not open for him and laughed out loud.

"Oh boy is this going to be fun."

Minami, from a distance, suddenly got cold chills run down her spine.

The last bell rang and school was finished for the day, and students began leaving their classes.

All the girls were talking about how excited they were for karaoke, especially since Akari was literally bouncing with excitement.

Mina looked extremely excited as Rika seemed to fill up with three notebooks for some unknown reason.

Aoi was the voice of reason and brought along "emergency" snacks. Kuro was just quietly observing.

"You all seem a bit too excited about this," Kuro said.

The girls froze then all immediately turned and looked away...again.

Kuro sighed and sensed he would likely never get an answer to what was going on until some unspecified time in the future.

The group of friends left the school and started walking toward the school gate.

The afternoon sun made their campus appear as if it was painted in gold.

The campus was filled with students and the laughter of all students echoed across it as if it was just another normal school day and would therefore be ending normally, but ,

What they didn’t realize was that back inside the faculty office, Minami was buried alive in paper work.

At another location...

Yui Kanzaki had a villainous smile while she was on her phone creating a master plan.

These two women are in two completely different circumstances. Both of which will ultimately cause chaos in the future.

Neither has yet realized this...

Starting tomorrow...

Much worse will happen than today.

For now...

The karaoke trip has officially begun.