Luckily, the rest of the journey to school went without incident. We got off the train before anyone could question us about the mount of broken glass, and continued about the rest of our day as normal.
Of course, the students at our school were anything but normal.
“Tut tut, Sora. Just what should I do with you?”
“Kei. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Before our first period began, I was immediately accosted by a classmate with a motor mouth that spewed nothing but gossip.
“I asked you to keep these girls out of trouble because I thought you had your head screwed on right. Imagine my shock when I hear that you were spotted in the shady parts of Shibuya, battered to hell and out cold on Saki’s back.”
“Kh-“ I knew this girl was a drama fiend but even for her this was fast. Gossip spreads faster than I expected. “We were just there to visit a friend of Saki’s but I took a bad fall and hurt my head pretty bad. Saki carried me home cos I had a concussion and couldn’t really walk straight. We weren’t getting involved in any shady business or anything.” I spun a lie on the spot, and though I felt I delivered it convincingly, Kei raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
“Well I suppose I have no reason to assume you’re lying. Still, you’re supposed to be the sensible one, dammit. Don’t go getting yourself in trouble like that, someone’s gotta keep the idiot trio safe.” I chuckled awkwardly at her comment, but it seemed to partially come from genuine concern.
“I’ll be more careful in future. I promise.”
“You better. Lotta bad things happening these days. Lotta girls going missing and the like. Hell, two of our senpai are apparently absent today after getting attacked by someone. Yokoshima and Shiko, I think were their names? Two girls I’ve never met, but they sound like good students. Just goes to show that no one’s safe these days.”
A rare solemn look took over Kei’s usually bright expression. It seemed even a gossip-obsessed airhead like her was concerned by recent events.
Still, it irked me slightly that Yokoshima and Shiko had spun their injuries to be the result of an unprovoked attack. Should have know those assholed would play victim for sympathy.
“Y’know those girls or something?” Kei must have noticed my grimace, because she suddenly enquired on my relation to those two treacherous senpai.
“Ah- not exactly. I knew of them both, but I didn’t know them personally or anything. Pretty scary that girls from our own school were targeted though. Seems like you can’t trust anyone these days.”
“Definitely seems that way. Well, I’ve kept you long enough, so I’ll let you off for now. But don’t go getting yourself bashed up again, you hear me?”
“I got it, I got it. And thanks for the concern, Kei.”
As I turned back to rejoin my friends, I made a mental note - never underestimate a gossiper’s ability to find information.
***
The school day passed without incident, and the four of us prepared to make for the chemistry lab. As the school’s star chemist, Nao had as much sway over its use as the actual chemistry teachers.
Mai, Nao and I were waiting a tad impatiently while our fourth was chattering away, until eventually she joined us and we began the short walk to the lab.
“What kept you, Saki?” Asked Mai
“Ah, just Kei asking if I wanted to join her and some of the other girls for Karaoke this evening. I told her we were helping Nao out with a project so I’d have to take a rain check.”
“Hey, no fair, why didn’t they invite me?”
“Most of them don’t like you.”
“Yeah, that’s fair.”
As no one used the science building in the afternoon, Mai and Saki’s banter was the only sound resounding through the hallways other than our light footsteps. We were slow and quiet as we moved around, owing to Nao’s still sprained ankle.
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After a slow and steady walk across the school, we eventually found our way to the lab, at which point Nao starting giving us all orders.
“Mai, Sora, grab me everything on this list from the main cupboard. Saki, help me bring my apparatus out from the locked cupboard in the back of the room.”
“On it.”
“Aye aye, cap.” Mai and I took the list from her hand and began collecting equipment.
“It’s nice to Naochan so assertive for once. Seems like she really breaks out of her shell when she’s doing something she’s confident in.”
“Yeah, it’s a nice change seeing Saki follow her around for once. Kei would kill to see a dynamic swap like this.”
Mai and chuckled at the idea of our gossip-loving friend foaming at the mouth over this new dimension to Saki and Nao’s relationship, before bringing over all the equipment we had gathered.
It was mostly the sort of things you’d expect for an in-class chemistry practical. Beakers, heat mats, bungs and stoppers, all the usual hits. The real kicker, however, was just coming into view.
“Christ alive. How did you even get hold of something like this?” I asked incredulously, as Nao and Saki slowly wheeled out a trolley full of expensive-looking equipment. Among them was a Bunsen burner that looked orders of magnitude better in quality than those we used in class, and a distillation column that was relatively small but clearly made of a very expensive and durable glass.
“Simple. I ask, the school buys. Half the time they don’t even ask why I need it. I could be using this lab to cook the cleanest amphetamines on planet Earth and I doubt they’d even notice.” Nao shrugged off my question with an admission that had me genuinely concerned, before giving us more orders on how to get everything set up.
The distillation column set up was reasonably simple. There were two tubes leading out of the column into beakers: one in the centre, and one in the top. The column was made to conduct only a limited amount of heat, allowing one to control the temperature of different sections. Nao would find the boiling point of one of the chemicals, hold it there until it all boils away, continue increasing the temperature. When the boiling point of both liquids was found, a steady temperature would be found that separated the higher and lower boiling point chemicals into the sections. The tubes would then be opened and both chemicals would be filtered into their respective beakers.
There were also a number of other typical chemical tests laid out, such as a pH indicator and a chromatography set up. With any luck, Nao would be able to identify the chemical makeup of the drug. Such information would be vital if we were serious about fighting back.
From within her backpack, Nao pulled out a pad and pen and began scribbling down basic notes, most notable a table for both chemicals to record each test’s results. Despite her usual self doubt and anxiety, she had an unwavering confidence in every action she performed.
“I think I really like this new side of you, Naochan.” As if reading my very mind, Mai piped up through the near silence.
“Huh? W-what does that mean?”
“This way you get when you’re doing chemistry. This more confident and assertive attitude. It suits your pretty well.”
Nao immediately got bashful at the sudden compliment, but she also smiled slightly to show her appreciation.
“A-Ah. I don’t think I’m all that, really.” At the mention of her sudden character shift, Nao’s speech returned to its usual stuttery self. “It’s just… when I try to carry a normal conversation, there’s… so many things I could potentially say wrong. I could say something stupid or hurt someone’s feelings without having an idea why. It’s so hard to tell what’s right to say. But with chemistry, I always know what’s right. There’s always a well defined solution, something tangible and real. So when I talk about chemistry, all my fears about saying the wrong thing go away.”
I was momentarily taken aback at Nao suddenly speaking from so deep in her heart, but I was also glad to hear her talk so candidly about her own feelings for once. As someone who struggled with social interaction in all facets, Nao had a tendency to get swept along for the ride without getting a word in edgeways. If this was an opportunity to get her to open up to us, it was one I was glad to have.
“Well then, let’s put that big brain of yours to work and get moving. These chemicals ain’t gonna separate themselves, after all.” Saki kicked us back into action, reminding us all that we were actually here for a reason. As tactless as it seemed, Saki knew Nao better than anyone else alive, so I didn’t doubt that she had a reason to cut that conversation short. Most likely she knew Nao would grow uncomfortable with the focus squarely on jer for too long.
“Hey, Nao, I’ve had a thought.”
“Slow down there, Mai, I’ve heard the first one can be pretty intense.”
“Bite me, Sora. Anyway, aren’t all the gas taps off? How are you planning to light the bunsen?”
“The school Bunsen use methane, which isn’t really suitable for the temperatures we’re gonna be using. That’s why I have this.” Nao pointed out a bottle of butane on the lower level of the trolley.
“You just… keep a bottle of highly flammable gas on standby at school?”
“Sora, we have pipes filled with flammable gas throughout the entire science building that we can just release through taps. Are you really worried about my little butane bottle?”
“Touché.” I was taken completely off guard. It was the first time Nao had ever snarked. I felt equally stupid and proud of her. “So there any more setup needs doing or are we ready to go?”
“I just have to connect up the Bunsen and we should be good to start.”
After a moment of fiddling around with her equipment, Nao stood up straight, put the flask of solution over the Bunsen burner, and made a declaration.
“Test one on the magical girl formula is a-go. Let’s find out what they’re hiding.”