Thursday, 4 PM, Tadamori was driving towards Noda PC, he had so many questions in mind that he couldn't imagine where to start. Everything that was happening in just a day was overwhelming.

When Tadamori approached Mizuho's shop, while he was parking the Mark II out front, he saw that Mizuho was already out of the shop and was looking at him as Tadamori got out of the car.

"Good day, Noda-sensei." Tadamori greeted Mizuho, trying to sound upbeat like usual, hiding his doubt and confusion.

"What is it, Tadamori? Didn't you improve your time recently?" Mizuho greeted him back like always, without showing any emotion.

Tadamori just realized that the run he did last night was somehow quicker? He hasn't checked the application since then.

"I did?" Tadamori was genuinely confused.

"Yeah, about 0.5 seconds quicker, I believe." Mizuho just told him.

"That's surprising."

"What's surprising is that you didn't know yourself, Tadamori." Mizuho looked genuinely perplexed as to why Tadamori didn't know.

At that moment, Mizuho walked back into the PC shop, which made Tadamori quickly rushing inside following him. By the time he got there, Mizuho was ready to sit back on the workstation chair.

"Errr..." Tadamori wasn't sure if Mizuho was behind everything that happened today.

"If you have something to ask, don't hesitate, it's annoying when people act like they have to keep something a secret all the time." Mizuho said again, ready to go back to what he was watching before.

"Okay, sorry, Noda-sen." Tadamori understood the annoyance when it's pointed out to him, "Were you behind the lobbying group of Tsukuba mountain residents?"

Mizuho stopped looking at the computer screen then, and turned to Tadamori, still showing no emotion that even Tadamori could notice.

"I might have been." Mizuho replied simply, but cryptically.

"How?" Tadamori was befuddled, "How did you do that? I saw the group at the Ibaraki government complex, there must have been 50-60 people there!"

"A little bit of social media post... all the truth they needed to know. I had to ask a girl I knew in the prefecture government for more details though. You were right."

"I was right?"

"The Sawataris did start an effort in government re-evaluating the Fruits Line as a safe and viable road. There was indeed a risk in it being closed, even if temporary."

"They got that far? I thought it'd have gone nowhere."

"If it wasn't, it definitely would not be now. The Sawatari might be influential, but if you were right that 50-60 people were there, there's no chance it's going to fly now."

Tadamori was amazed to hear all of this, but there was still another matter that bothered him.

"Did you know what happened last night?" Tadamori asked again, to which Mizuho lurked back at him.

"You being arrested? Yeah I know that." Mizuho replied.

"Did you spring me off from jail?"

"How the hell would I do that? That's silly, Tadamori."

Well, Tadamori didn't think it was much of a possibility, but Mizuho seemed to have done so many amazing things and knew so many people that it was not a total impossibility. Yet, how did Mizuho know Tadamori was stopped and arrested? Truthfully, Tadamori was too afraid to ask.

"I won't have a direct report from you anymore, huh... That's a shame..." Mizuho was musing, sounding a bit disappointing but Tadamori didn't think it was sincere.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Tadamori said.

"Don't worry about it. I just have to get it illegally..."

Tadamori thought that the way Mizuho was saying that was very blasé, also prideful with a hint of mocking. Clearly Mizuho had something even Tadamori didn't know about.

"You can get the report of whether or not there would be a checkpoint without me?" Tadamori's curiosity got the better of him.

"Yeah, I've been able to do that for a few years now." Mizuho replied nonchalantly.

"How?!"

"I would not be able to explain to you in simple terms..."

"How illegal is it?"

"It might be considered terrorism if anyone from the police force knows about it."

Fucking hell, Tadamori thought. If Mizuho told him that he was the one behind his release from the cell he'd have believed him.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Tadamori was worried about Mizuho.

"Unless you grass on me, yes, it is very safe." Mizuho was still being nonchalant.

Tadamori would never grass on Mizuho Noda, not in a million years. He's too amazing, and too scary.

—

Iori was bracing for the worst, as the result of Ryoji Sasaki examination arrived this afternoon, she was summoned to the school clinic with Isao and Yumi-sensei, the school nurse, along with the vice principal who was there in person.

It could not be helped, as Yumi-sensei was just doing her job, even if Iori wanted her to keep quiet about this, the information would've found its way to the higher up regardless. It really was wishful thinking on Iori's part.

"It's not good." Yumi reported, which confirmed Iori's worst fear.

"So the first test was right then?" Iori asked, even if any attempt otherwise would be moot.

"Yes, it was correct. It's clear that Sasaki-kun used methamphetamine very recently, last week at the latest."

Iori nearly cried once everything sank in for her, and she noticed it was pretty much the same for Isao. The vice principal was concerned as well, but Iori couldn't really tell what he'd decide to do next about this matter.

"Sasaki-kun has been discharged, right?" The vice principal asked in a sharp tone, which made both Iori and Isao shudder.

"Yes, that's right." Yumi was the one who replied.

"I'm sure you know it's a very severe offense for school rules, the usage of drugs" The vice principal said in a stern tone.

"Yes, vice principal." Isao replied, looking down as he couldn't face the vice principal.

"I don't want to be prematurely judgmental. As I understand, Sasaki-kun is a very good student academically, and it would be bad for both himself and the reputation of the school. But the result is pretty clear cut." The vice principal continued.

Everyone there knew what exactly the vice principal meant by saying all of that.

"Have you managed to contact the parents?" The vice principal turned to Isao and asked.

"No, sir." Isao replied.

"That's unusual. What's the matter?" The vice principal raised his eyebrows.

"I've tried to contact the given phone number, and no one picked up. Sasaki got out of the hospital without reporting."

"Have the police got involved?"

"No, sir."

"Well that's good." The vice principal seemed relieved, "That way there's still a chance to help him."

It seemed that the worst fear of Iori would not materialize by the way the vice principal was talking, but she was still uneasy about it, unlike Isao who appeared like he just solved a massive issue.

"I take it you're already planning a welfare visit?" The vice principal asked Isao.

"Ah yes, sir, Sasaki-kun lives in 2-chome." Isao replied.

"Good, when are you planning a visit?"

Isao had not planned that yet, so he didn't have an answer. So he just umm for a bit which the vice principal noticed.

"Do it as soon as you can."

The vice principal ordered, and then left the room. Leaving the teachers and the nurse to reconvene by themselves.

"I wouldn't go there alone if I were you." Yumi told Isao, who appeared surprised.

"Is the 2-chome area that bad, Yumi-sensei?" Isao was scared, which made Yumi and Iori chuckle a little.

"No. The area is perfectly pleasant. It's the welfare visit that could be bad." Iori answered.

"But I thought that sort of thing only happens in fiction?" Isao was confused.

"I wish it was..." Yumi said, almost endearingly, by this fresh-faced teacher's innocence, "A kid with a drug problem? Visiting him in Akasaka would still suck, let alone Manabe."

"I'll go with you, don't worry."

That reassurance from Iori did make Isao a bit more relieved. She's always a great senior to him. Isao considered himself quite lucky he didn't get some power hungry jackass uncle as a mentor.

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"The vice principal was right though, we have to get this done quickly. Today, preferably. Is Rumi-chan with you tonight?" Iori asked the question that always makes Isao quite anxious.

"She is..." Isao replied honestly.

"Hopefully nothing bad happens then, and I sincerely hope you don't have any special occasion like an anniversary or something."

"I don't think so..."

—

It was 3 PM, in the school courtyard behind the building, Ippei was sitting alone on the bench, watching other students playing badminton casually. Today was weird because Tanigawa-sensei told everyone in the computer club that there would be no meetings. Ippei guessed that it was because of Ryoji.

Ippei was still worried about Ryoji, despite having time to consider everything that happened. The others like Akira did not suspect a thing, and he did not tell anyone about the suicide attempt. Surely someone would've guessed it even without him saying it, right? That was what Ippei thought. He didn't want to be the bearer of bad news alone.

Ippei couldn't help but feel guilty about it. He did not notice anything wrong with Ryoji until Akira pointed it out, and it was way too late by that point.

Then again, were the signs so subtle that he did not notice anything, or was it that he didn't care enough? That's the main gripe Ippei was having right now.

"You still haven't gone home?"

Ippei was absent-minded when Sachiko walked up to him and asked. This did startle him a bit, but it then turned to a little joy of seeing her there.

"No. I don't want to right now as I probably don't know what I'd be doing." Ippei replied to Sachiko who's now sitting beside him.

"So you're now ogling junior girls playing badminton?" Sachiko pretended to say in a jealous tone, which made Ippei mortified.

"Eh?! No!" Ippei quickly denied, which made Sachiko laugh.

"I know it's getting warmer so people are wearing thin summer uniforms now..."

"I don't want to look at that!"

As soon as Sachiko heard that, she started looking down at herself and pouting, like she felt hurt by those words.

"I see... if you're insensitive to all those cute girls, what chance do I have right..." Sachiko continued the jealous girlfriend act, which triggered Ippei even more.

"I mean...! I'm not looking at juniors in summer uniforms!" Ippei kept explaining.

Sachiko couldn't hold her laughter anymore and blurted out. Ippei knew she was just messing with him anyway and was kinda mad about it.

"You know you probably have more fun with that than I do, right?" Ippei asked in a serious tone.

"I know, but you being mad is better than you being sad. Why the long face?"

This made Ippei realize that Sachiko was only worried about him, even if she's doing it in a very roundabout way.

"Ah..." Ippei paused, but his face was turning sad again, "I'm just... worried."

"What are you worrying about then?"

Sachiko reached for Ippei's hand and looked him in his eyes. There's a definite anxiousness oozing out right now from him which of course also affected her.

"You can always tell me, right? I don't know if I'll be able to help, but I'll try my best." Sachiko continued.

Ippei considered if he should be telling the truth about what he's worried about, because of Yamada-sensei's word about him keeping quiet about it. But Ippei also knew that if he lied, Sachiko would know, and if he didn't tell her, she would not let it go either. Ippei could only weigh everything in his mind of what he should do next.

"You know... about Ryoji..." Ippei was still hesitant saying this.

"Ah. You're worried about him." Sachiko said, nodding to show she understood.

Ippei stared at Sachiko for a moment, while thinking if he should continue explaining, would she be satisfied with only that?

"But he's already recovered, isn't he? We've seen him and he's fine, right? I'm sure he'll come back to school soon..." Sachiko continued, and Ippei couldn't resist shaking his head in denial.

"You know what really happened to him?" Ippei asked, worriedly.

"Yeah come to think of it I was thinking it was weird no one was saying anything... I thought it was because everyone was happy seeing him being fine again so didn't pry..."

"If I told you," Ippei stuttered, "would you promise to not tell anyone else? Especially not Akira?"

The look Ippei was giving made Sachiko worried. It's almost like Ippei wanted to cry, but holding it in on principle as he didn't want to show her the sign of weakness. It shook her seeing him like that.

Sachiko quickly pulled Ippei in, and hugged him.

"If you don't want to tell, you don't have to." Sachiko quickly whispered to Ippei, while also stroking his head with her hand.

"But I have to." Ippei couldn't hold his tears anymore, "He's my friend."

Sachiko realized that whatever was worrying Ippei right now, was definitely too much for him to bear, and that she was lucky to have been here with him. She had an inkling, but not sure as to what it actually was.

Sachiko kept comforting Ippei, lurking around and seeing that no one was paying attention to them, not that Ippei would care right now.

"Yamada-sensei found Tramacet packs in that bathroom." Ippei finally told the truth.

"Tramacet?" Sachiko was not familiar with what she assumed to be some sort of drugs.

"Ryoji attempted, Sachiko. More than 20 pills. He didn't just faint, he had his stomach pumped."

Sachiko finally realized what Ippei was holding in, indeed, was definitely too heavy for him to bear alone. To be honest, it shocked her as well once she realized the truth.

"Shit." Sachiko couldn't help but exclaim that.

"I mean, I know his mother is always hard on him to do well. He always did though so I never thought the pressure would get to him." Ippei continued while still sobbing in Sachiko's arm.

It was at this point, Sachiko pushed Ippei and held him from the shoulder, she looked at him straight in the eyes which baffled Ippei.

"Look, what's happened, happened, alright? Don't beat yourself down on the what ifs. What's more important right now is that you have to make sure you support him to the best of your abilities, okay?" Sachiko was saying in a pretty authoritative tone, making Ippei think she's pretty knowledgeable about this.

She was right though, Ippei conceded that. Still, it didn't quite sink in just yet, and Ippei still couldn't hold his true emotion in.

"You think he's discharged from the hospital already?" Sachiko asked, as she released her grip from Ippei's shoulder.

"Possibly, yeah?" Ippei didn't know for sure, but he imagined it'd make sense for that to be the case.

"Why don't you... I mean... we visit Ryoji with a nice gift? To say to him that he's not alone in this world? Do you know where he lives?"

"That's..." Ippei paused for a moment while gathering himself up, "...not a bad idea, actually"

Sachiko suddenly stood up, which startled Ippei.

"Okay, let's go then." Sachiko announced, which surprised Ippei.

"Right now?!"

"Yes!"

Sachiko pulled on Ippei's arm quite rigorously, so he quickly got up and followed her as they walked towards the school gate.

—

Iori was driving her FN2 with Isao heading towards the address that was in Ryoji Sasaki's school registry. It's a low cost apartment very close to the school.

Isao, being a person not from the local area and without having a car, was not familiar with the area at all, even if it's only a few kilometers from the school. It's outside the Tsuchiura city center, and was full of... generally nothing. A few agricultural fields, a few small industrial businesses, a few warehouses, and some houses. Generally not decrepit, but definitely not having a new luster either. When Isao moved here, he used to think, was Manabe really 2 km from central Tsuchiura?

It was not a bad, dirty, or dangerous looking area, no. Iori actually thought that compared to Nishinari, which was the neighbouring neighbourhood from her native Abeno in Osaka, this area was outright middle class.

"Where is it, huh?" Iori was musing as she tried to find the place.

"Dreamer Palace Building 2, I believe?" Isao tried to help find it by looking around.

The noisy FN2 rolled around the neighbourhood, and it was attracting some attention from a few of it's residents, mostly older local people who were wondering if this very antisocial car was lost or something.

Isao noticed a light pink apartment building in front of them, and both saw the sign saying 'Dreamer Palace Building 2' on the side.

"That's it!" Isao shouted eagerly, as Iori quickly drove there.

The FN2 got into the parking lot opposite the building, in this rural area the parking was plentiful so there's no worry there. A few people, mostly parents taking their kids home from school, were on the pedestrian path that crossed the road, and they were all looking at Iori's FN2, wondering why such a car was making a racket in this quiet neighbourhood. It made Isao want to disappear immediately.

"How do you drive this car everyday?" Isao asked, which made Iori confused.

"What's wrong with it?" Iori asked, genuinely baffled.

"It's the most vulgar, antisocial, miserable car I've ever been in!"

At that point, Iori turned to Isao and looked at him, clearly showing her very obvious, yet tranquil fury with raised eyebrows and a death glare. This made Isao know that what he blurted out was out of line.

"Oooh?" Iori didn't even raise her voice, but Isao was terrified, "That's rich from a junior who doesn't drive..."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Isao sat there shaken for a straight minute as Iori stared at him without blinking once. Isao could almost see the bulging vein in her forehead through the bangs of her bob hair.

"Shall... we... go in?" Isao was genuinely scared he pissed Iori off for real this time, not knowing that Iori was actually messing with him.

"Yeah."

Both teachers walked towards the building, and didn't know what to expect. It's an affordable apartment, but was well maintained and clean. It seemed the place's populated mostly by a younger person, not unlike Leo Palace Park Hill which was where Isao lived with his girlfriend.

"Be prepared, Tanigawa." Iori suddenly said almost as if they were going into a battle, and unnerved Isao so much.

"Eh?"

From looking at the directory, the apartment in Ryoji's address was on the second floor, so they both walked upstairs there. When they reached the second floor, both noticed an old lady standing out in front of one of the rooms. As they walked closer, it was clear that the old lady was looking for the same person as them, and she already noticed.

"Oh hello," The old lady said to the teachers, clearly looking irate, "you two don't look like creditors."

"Good evening, are you looking for the tenant?" Iori was the one leading the conversation, as Isao was too frightful.

"Yeah. I've been knocking for a while now, I don't think they're in." The old lady replied, before turning away, and turning back because she realized something, "Who are you guys? Do you know Sasaki-san?"

"Err..." Iori actually had the same question, "We are Ryoji Sasaki's teacher."

"Ah! The son, right?" The old lady exclaimed excitedly, "That boy is a good kid."

"Why are you looking for them?" Iori asked.

The old lady turned facing the teachers now, looking very angry, not at them, but at the Sasakis.

"I'm the landlady here. They're 6 months behind in rent now. I've been lenient because I knew the mother was in a difficult place." The old lady replied.

The mother? Iori turned to look at Isao, perplexed. Both Iori and Isao actually saw in the student registry that Ryoji's parents were divorced. It made sense that he lived with his mother alone. Apparently she worked as a shop assistant in some stores. Possibly clothing.

"What do you mean?" Isao was the one to ask this time.

"Earlier this year, the mother broke her back in a traffic accident. She got hit by a bicycle that ran away. The hospital bill was covered by insurance, but she had to miss work for months. They aren't the sort to have savings you see..." The old lady told the story, "Even Ryoji had to start working part time at Yakiniku King AND Eneos station."

It was at that moment, it hit both Iori and Isao. Every piece of the puzzle was going into place.

"I just pity the kid, to be honest," The old lady continued, "I know he wanted to get into Tokyo University, but it's unlikely with their financial situation. The mother wasn't that good, if we're being honest here."

That did rub Iori the wrong way, even if she didn't know Ryoji's mother personally, but she kept quiet and let it go.

"So are you going to evict them?" Iori asked, thinking it may be a bit obvious once she heard herself.

"Well. 6 months behind is pretty extreme, right? I just hope they don't trash the place." The old lady answered, "I'm ready to go in, to be honest."

"Ah." Iori thought about the privacy law for a moment, but considering that they were also looking for Ryoji, they didn't want to antagonize the landlady.

"Would you take a peek with me?"

Iori considered for a moment about breaking the law, and decided that if it helped with Ryoji's situation, it's probably worth it. At the same time, Isao was telling himself, god, no, please, stop.

"Oh well." The old lady said, once she saw neither of them reacting clearly. She announced very loudly holding a spare key, "I'm going in!"

Iori and Isao only watched from a distance away, as the old lady opened the door into Sasaki's apartment room. The old lady disappeared inside and didn't have an obvious reaction. Iori and Isao couldn't help but follow.

The teachers peeked from behind as they hesitated, but there was no obvious sign of anything wrong about the apartment. It was actually clean and... empty?

"Well." The old lady sighed, "They left."

"What do you mean they left?" Iori wondered out loud, as she was now stepping inside the room, Isao kept repeating trespassing in his head.

"They left. They're gone. All their personal belongings that's easy to carry are gone."

Iori observed the room, and realized that the old lady was completely right. The room had nothing the Sasaki would leave behind if they couldn't carry it away easily.

"Ran away in the night... What a pity..." The old lady continued, as she inspected a few things inside.

Isao was still outside, while Iori took a look at a few things inside. She saw nothing obvious either. They did not leave in a hurry that's for sure, as everything was tidy and nothing important was left behind. Only a few bigger appliances that they've bought and couldn't carry.

At that moment, Ippei and Sachiko, who were holding a bag from the local cafe, got up the stairs onto the second floor, and noticed Tanigawa-sensei standing there very awkwardly and clearly frightened. They were expecting the worst at that point and quickly ran to him.

"Tanigawa-sensei?" Ippei called for him.

"Ah..." Isao turned to look, and was surprised, "...you guys?"

Ippei turned and saw the inside of Sasaki's apartment, and realized immediately what happened. As a person who's been in there before with Akira, working on their joint homeworks, he was familiar enough to notice the stuff missing.

All gone.