*****
Hisao
*****
So, I'm sure you're all wondering what happened on my end after that time Shikouyama went wild, so let me fill you in.
First, after parting ways from Kyouko, I returned to the clubroom with drinks. The others wondered what took me so long, so I filled them in on what happened. You can imagine the shock and disbelief on their faces when they heard that Shikouyama had acted like a rabid animal and attacked Yamimura and me. Yuna asked if I was okay, but there was nothing to worry about since my Psy-Armor gave me perfect defense stats. Totally no damage.
After telling her so, Mirai butt in and said, "That's good to know."
"Still, it's weird how Shikouyama's been exploding like that a lot lately," Isaneko said. "He never had such a temper when we were kids. And to cause a fight at school of all places, even during summer vacation time when there are scarcely any students around. That's not what you'd expect a member of the student council to do."
"He's not the only one exploding a lot," Omoyo said. "I've been sensing rage and anger flaring up all over town, some of them from people I know who can usually reign in their temper."
"Aren't you overthinking it a bit?" Mirai asked. "It shouldn't be a surprise that everyone's been a bit more moody than normal lately, what with the Piper coming to town and now all these fires."
"Moody enough to be at each other's throats almost every other day?" Omoyo asked.
"There's no mystery behind that," said Isaneko. "We all know that the Shirogami Clan's been pulling strings from the shadows to pit the Soushu Group and the Yamimura Group against each other. It's why Naoko wanted us to help find the arsonist, after all."
"Exactly," said Mirai. "The faster the fire demon is caught, the faster peace returns to my domain. To me, my familiars! My eyes in the sky!"
He suddenly sprang to his feet and spread his arms apart as if calling down lightning from the sky. We all glanced at him briefly and then turned away.
"By the way," said Omoyo, "I get how that idiot (Shikouyama) would go crazy over you and Yamimura just talking, but why were you hanging out with him anyway? After that duel you two had a few months back, I got to thinking that you'd rather keep away from him, six feet minimum. That's the vibes I keep sensing from you every time we spot him."
"Oh, we just happened to run into each other and then Shikouyama showed up," I said. I had decided to keep my meeting with Kyouko to myself. In case you're wondering, there was no deep meaning behind it. I just didn't want to add to the ginormous hassle of explaining everything to the others.
And . . . that was about it. The next couple of days, I haven't heard anything about Shikouyama or the fuss he kicked up. As far as I knew, Yamimura was still going to school like normal, and the student council went about their own business as usual. It was as if the battle that day never happened.
I was pretty peachy about things going back to normal in the blink of an eye, but I couldn't help but wonder how Soushu could sweep everything under the rug to that extent. After all, even during summer vacation, there are people coming and going from school, including teachers. It was probably better for me that I never asked.
Well, I say things have gone back to normal, but that just applied to me personally, and only on a surface level. There have been more fires popping up around the neighborhood and it's getting people mighty frustrated. My own parents have been really snappy at each other and me a lot more than usual, and I'm constantly nagged to be more careful outside as if I wasn't cautious of the outside world already, being a self-admitted scaredy-cat and all.
Overnight, if I looked out my window, I could see a group of people marching down the street carrying flashlights and long poles. They were the volunteer night watch formed by members of the neighborhood who couldn't take the fires anymore and decided to take matters into their own hands. Even without powers like Omoyo's, I could feel the tension in the air whenever they were around. It was so intense, I was afraid that they'd jump me if I ever got too close, which was why, whenever I saw them, I always kept my head down and keep as far away from them as possible.
All in all, the situation in my hometown has been downright depressing. It was never like that when I was a kid and got me thinking that things have been getting worse and worse as I got older. Either that, or the town had always been this bad and I only just started to really notice.
As a result, I've started to read more and more fluffy, cute slice-of-life comics to stave off the insufferable weight of reality on my heart. I was in the middle of reading such a comic in the club room when someone knocked on the door.
I looked up from my phone, but Yuna had already gotten up.
"Yuna!" Omoyo suddenly cried out. "Wait!"
What's got her all bothered? I wondered. But my question was soon answered when Yuna threw the door open.
Standing outside was Kyouko. As soon as she appeared, the air became heavy and thick, thick enough to cut with a knife.
What did she want? I wondered.
Frankly, I was a bit surprised she knocked on the door like a normal person, instead of stalking us with her invisibility power like usual.
"Well, well, well," said Mirai. "If it isn't the mischievous ghost. To what do we owe this pleasant surprise?"
He sounded pleasant enough, but that didn't stop Kyouko from acting all nervous. She rubbed her upper-arm while casting her gaze to the floor. After pausing for a second or two and then taking a deep breath, she spoke.
"I'm here to talk to Yuna," she said. To Yuna, she asked, "Do you mind if I talk to you in private?"
She spoke softly and hesitantly, which was out of character with how I've seen her behave so far. It was so awkward that it made me feel awkward.
I've never been good with that kind of feeling, so, out of reflex, I glanced at my phone. But I quickly forced myself to pay attention to Kyouko, keeping one eye on her in case she pulled any mean pranks again like before. Even though she tried to save Yuna that one time at the shrine, that didn't mean she had suddenly reformed from her bad ways.
Omoyo probably felt the same way I did, because she got up from her seat and said, "After everything you did, there's no way we're letting Yuna go off alone with you."
Yuna, however, raised her hand at Omoyo and shook her head. After that, she faced Kyouko again and took out her phone.
"It's okay," she typed for the phone's voice box to say. "I don't think she means any harm."
"But Yuna!"
Omoyo raised a protest, but Mirai got in her way.
"Let them be," he said. "Don't worry. Nothing bad's going to happen, so my Third Eye decreed. Trust me on that."
Omoyo had a really troubled look on her face, but after a bit of deliberation, she sighed and hung her head in defeat. That was all the permission that Yuna needed, and she followed Kyouko out of the room.
After the door was closed, there was a moment of silence. And then Omoyo turned to Mirai and asked, "Hey, just what did you see with that so-called Third Eye of yours? You saw into the future right?"
Mirai stroked his chin thoughtfully while going, "Hmmm." He seemed to be pondering something. "Well, it would be rude to our third seer, but I suppose I can let you know what I saw."
And then he closed his eyes and held out his hands, waving them around an imaginary crystal ball while he mimicked the demeanor of a typical fortune teller. We were all ears as we watched and waited.
"I see . . . I see . . . " he moaned. And then his eyes flew open and he immediately dropped the act. "Well, actually, I already saw."
Omoyo and I lost our balance.
Ticked off, Omoyo shouted, "Cut the crap already and tell us! What did you see?"
With a grin on his face, Mirai said, "I saw a misunderstanding being cleared up."
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