~ Monday, the twenty first of October, 14:30 ~

The last class wrapped up as Melliacci Tratto walked out of his classroom, pulling up his glasses as he looked around the hallway in confusion. A key-person in his recent life hadn't shown himself at school all day, his mind wandered back to the second time he'd confronted Kaharu as he thought about it.

"Who does he think he is?"

A whisper from the corner of his earshot interrupted his speculation, as he turned to a small group of male students silently staring at him. Changing his neutral face into a frown, Melliacci turned around and said

"Me? I'm Melliacci Tratto, from class 1-1 and vice-president of the student council. But I'm sure you were already aware of that. I was simply standing here and thinking, did you want something?"

Melliacci had a serviceable smile on him as he squinted his eyes, looking at them.

The students got flustered as they scrambled from their weaker position, whispering quiet apologies as they went. Melliacci sighed heavily as he commented to himself

"Araki Kokuou, class 1-3; Akamu Rin, class 1-2; And Jouji Nurigo, class 1-3, huh…

I suppose I'll add them to my watch list later."

But Melliacci didn't have much time to return to his activities as a surprise blockade appeared in front of him, like a great wall to stop invaders, as he turned around and faced the principle. That wall was quickly torn down as a bright light could be seen around the principal in Melliacci's eyes.

"I would like for you to come with me, Melliacci"

"Yes."

He was taken to the principal's office, where he'd been before, and as it always did, it glimmered in his eyes with all of the documents and books displayed throughout the office. The principal didn't dawdle around, and told Melliacci with a serious face

"You're close with the student Kaharu Kahari, right?"

Melliacci bit his lip for a moment as he responded

"I don't know if you can call us close, but I am certainly an acquaintance of him."

The principal pulled a sullen look as he continued

"Well, he's skipped school today as well…

I'm not going to detail everything specifically, but I wish for you to try and see what Kaharu was doing, and to try and make sure he comes to school regularly like he's done for a bit now.

You're allowed to refuse, Melliacci. I just chose you because I trust you, and you have a certain proximity to the person we're talking about"

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Melliacci shone brightly as he appreciated the comment of trust, which made his heart turn in a strange way. Enduring the comments he heard every day from the people at school, that nuance made him somewhat relieved. Without thinking about it too much, he replied

"Leave it to me, principal."

"Alright, I'll entrust it to you. If he gets into more trouble, we may have to punish him more."

Melliacci left the room with high spirits as he felt as if he'd gotten a role to fill as a proper student of Akumu High. He was working for a greater goal of bringing peace and prosperity to the school, and the book in his pockets would show the way to that goal.

Dealing with Kaharu was like stacking a house of cards, making sure that stability was ensured in its construction. So when it was completed, it looked great, but as soon as one card fell, it seemed like everything came down with it. Melliacci had often thought back to his interactions with Kaharu, both in the serious engagements and the light-hearted ones.

To make sure that stability would stay by Kaharu's side, Melliacci wanted to make sure that that house of cards he had responsibility for would never be toppled. Melliacci made it his goal to fulfill the mission he was given, and 'research' more into Kaharu.

But he was already off to a bad start as he didn't know where Kaharu was.

As he caught sight of Amaimono, he dropped the thought. He knew where he could find him later on in the day, so there was no need to fret over it too much.

The fiery eyes of Amaimono met with Melliacci's as she quickly approached him and said

"Where'd you go!? We have to go to the club room soon!"

Melliacci just put his hand lightly on her shoulder as he smiled and said

"It's fine, let's go."

Amaimono went suspiciously quiet for a moment as steam was exiting her body. She stood up straight again and just started walking towards the club room, as Melliacci followed her in confusion. Passing by the two was Naomi Shirazawa, who started scratching her pencil against her notebook as she looked at the two and said

"That'll make a good reference..."

…

"Future… day…?"

Kaharu Kahari had managed to shake off Amatsuyu as he'd come back to home from the other part of the city. It was a noticeable difference between the two parts of the city, not only in how urban Kawaburaku was compared to his home, but also the feeling he had gotten when coming back home, the slight sense of dread.

Kaharu didn't know whether that was a reflection on the thing he'd experienced in that part of the town, or whether something bad was awaiting him.

As he read the sign that had been placed in front of the usual torii gate he passed, Kaharu decided that the feeling he had gotten on the way back to the town had been the warning that something bad was about to happen.

With a bent face as he went through the gate, Kaharu grew grumpy at the thought of the 'future day' that awaited them.

The head priest of the shrine was excited to find Kaharu on time at the shrine and invited everyone working there to gather around him for some information to be dealt.

A group of roughly six people gathered around him as he started talking

"As you all are probably aware, we're having a future-themed day on Friday. This is for the younger people who visit our shrine, whom it is important to consider the future and to find prosperity at shrines like this.

We will be preparing for this day during this week's activities."

Kaharu had gotten a couple of looks from both the priest and Tsukino as he presented the day's theme, but he didn't notice it at all. He was already caught up in his emotions about the theme, the future was one of the subjects that brought him the most anguish as he thought about it.

Suddenly, the careless days he'd spent at the shrine felt odd to him. Like they were all a set-up for this situation, which he disliked. As they were released from the information grouping, Kaharu grit his teeth as he grabbed a line of colored stars to do the job he was given. He stretched his neck as he walked, and caught sight of Tsukino Scott who'd gotten a job close to his. She was surprised to see him there, as he hadn't been to school, and she said

"Why weren't you at school today?"

Kaharu sighed as he started doing his job, letting out

"I..."

Standing far away from the two, Melliacci nodded slowly as he prepared to listen to his explanation.

…