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When they arrived at school, Eru’s eyes were red and puffy, as if the act of blinking will push tears out.

Kana held her little sister’s face and said, “I think you would break the heart of every boy in the school if you keep looking as if you are brokenheart,” Eru looks is of a sweet girl, and she also has gentle and soft disposition, which naturally attract more than a few to have a crush on her. The number of love letters she received every semester would be enough to be bound together into a coming of age novel and be published.

Eru puckered up and reached out to Kana’s chest ribbon, looking as if she is a young wife that still have to take care of her unkempt husband even after a fight, “Sis, why can’t you talk peacefully with dad?”

“Well, I don’t know what to say to him,” Kana confessed.

Kana wasn’t angry with her father. She didn’t expect anything regarding her birthday, so she naturally wasn’t disappointed either. It’s just that his habit of using business negotiation tactics in father-daughter conversation has bored her out like a master magician watching a novice trick being played in front of her. She didn’t reveal any of his tricks was already because she’s being considerate to Eru’s feelings.

“Do you not feel like going to Okinawa?” Eru asked quietly.

Kana thought for a moment, and then answered, “I considered it, and it is just so far away…”

Eru rolled her eyes. She knew that Kana considered anywhere that can’t be reached in 30 minutes to be the remotest places in the world.

“Good morning, Chi-chan,” a classmate greeted Eru.

“Nn, good morning, Mayaka,” the girl being greeted at nodded, and then Eru passed a lunch box to Kana, “It is sweet dango for lunch, you can buy the red bean soup yourself. I will head off to class first, see you later.”

“Nn, see you this afternoon,” Kana waved at Eru, and then trod to her own class.

While walking to her class, she coincidentally saw the blond Kirisaki Chitoge and the girl with colorful hair, Koichi Ai, talking at the corner of the stair landing. The atmosphere around them didn’t suggest that they are close friends; Kirisaki-san’s face were murky, while Koichi-san’s face were ireful.

Kana thought that they were fighting, that one of them was about to shout, however, it didn’t develop the way Kana expected. Both of the girls quickly walked separate ways, Koichi walked up the stairs, while Kirisaki turned around and returned to her class.

She looked a little distracted when she passed by Kana, and then she glared at Kana. It appeared that she was still angry about yesterday.

Chitoge definitely looked like she had went through some trouble, as she looked preoccupied in class. During mathematics, the homeroom teacher, Yamada-sensei, scolded her. Yamada-sensei has short temper lately, a blister at the corner of his mouth supported this. While being scolded, Kirisaki retorted back, and he sent her out of the classroom.

After sent out, she asked to take a rest at the infirmary, and she didn’t return for the afternoon gym class either.

Actually, Kana’s behavior in class were more brazen than Kirisaki’s. During the gym class, Kana simply stayed in class, Eru’s dango on hand, and red bean soup on the table, sitting on a table beside the windows. She was eating her dango while looking out the windows at the boys playing basketball. The class B boys were playing against their seniors from the second year.

The boys from second year enjoyed slight advantage from being taller. However, the class B has the outstanding gymnastic class’ representative, Orehikou Tarou. His dribbling techniques were seasoned, and his shots were also accurate. He alone managed to even the playing field of both teams.

Suddenly, a girl entered Kana’s field of view, while the girl was also looking back at her. That girl was surprised at first, as if she didn’t imagine anyone would be in the classroom. She then took a half-step back, as if she would like to leave, but after hesitated a bit, she made up her mind. She forcefully smiled and greeted Kana, “Chitanda-san, so you were here.”

“Who are you?” Kana asked.

It was awkward.

“I’m Yano Kyouko,” she exasperatedly introduced herself.

“Ah, so you are miss class president,” Kana suddenly connected the dots.

The girl nodded, “Chitanda-san, it’s okay to call me Kyouko.”

Yano Kyouko was wearing the school’s unisex track suit. She wasn’t tall, has short hair, her looks can be called delicate and pretty. However, she was wearing a round, thick lens glasses, which obfuscated her beauty, making her look a little dumb. Kirisaki’s note about her, “an unfashioned beauty¹” was an apt description of her.

“Oh,” Kana nodded, and said, “Kyouko, are you here to secretly slip a love letter in someone’s table?”

“E, eh… n-no…” Miss president’s face was as red as a tomato and she held a fist.

She was someone who wore her heart on her sleeve. Kana could even see a corner of a pink paper protruding from under her clothes. Walking into an empty class, and then secretly slip a love letter in her crush’s bag or table. This must be what it means to be young.

“I will give you one,” Kana offered her a dango.

The president, shaking in her shoes, accepted it.

Kana jumped off the table, stowed the remaining lunch, and clapp her hand, “I’m going to the restroom. Good luck to you, miss president.”

“No, I’m not, I’m not going to…” the president were at the verge of smoking up.

Kana walked out of the classroom out of consideration for the maiden in love and voluntarily walked to the restroom earlier. Kana only go to restroom during class, because the girls’ restroom would be bustling otherwise. You heard that right, it’s like that. Girls who are going to restroom always call their friends, form up a group, and then because there aren’t many stalls in the restroom, they were bound to wait. They would chat while waiting, and they would chat like they were in a restaurant. Only during class session was the restroom quiet.

Obviously, that’s not always the case. Kana walked to the girl restroom’s entrance, and unexpectedly hear a broken voice that can only be produced by a boy in puberty from inside.

Kana was immediately alarmed. She cautiously peeked in with one eye and saw Kirisaki was inside with a boy and a group of girls filling up the place. Kana didn’t recognize the boy, but the girls were led by Koichi Ai.

“Kirisaki, I really love you!” the boy extended his hand to touch her cheek.

“Don’t touch me!” she slapped his hand.

“You play so hard to get,” Koichi Ai hold up Kirisaki’s wrist, “you don’t even have an eye for the seniors!”

Kacha

A camera shutter suddenly sounded out, and everyone jumped in fright. Everyone turned their heads together, and discovered a girl was behind them, capturing their act of bullying in a physical record.

“Kana…” Kirisaki shuddered.

“You, what are you doing!”

“Get lost!”

“Put your phone down!”

The group was demanding Kana in a panic.

Kana turned a deaf ear however, still taking picture after picture.

“Put your phone down!” the boy suddenly pulled out a black gun, pointing it at Kana’s head.

A gun…

Kana suddenly zoned out, the view turn blurry, the sky was dark, the street was illuminated with white light, the sight of fresh red blood…

“Forgive me, please die!”

Reality and dream suddenly intertwined.

Plop.

The phone fell down.

Kana started hyperventilating, her whole body shook slightly, as if a true terror was in front of her eyes. The boy smiled delightfully and stoop down to take Kana’s phone. However, a crackle of electricity can be heard. The boy turned numb in half of his body, and then he collapsed.

Kana was holding her electric baton like a sword. Koichi Ai and the girls stared at her dumbfoundedly, their mouths hanging. They still can’t believe the event that started and ended in a flash.

“Get lost,” Kana said quietly, showing the crackle of the baton.

The girls ran in a flurry. They practically ignored the senior year boy that’s lying on the ground.

“Is he okay?” Kirisaki kicked the boy, who did not even twitch.

“He shouldn’t be dead,” Kana stowed her electric baton, her dizziness didn’t subside, and instead she felt more nauseous.

“Just because he isn’t dead doesn’t mean… hey, Kana…” said Kirisaki before she saw Kana fainted on the ground.

1. TL: I translated it differently in chapter 2. I simply didn’t think of translation before.