After School — Third Floor, Sobu High School.
"Ready?"
Miura Yumiko blinked in confusion.
Before she could ask what he meant, Gojo Satoru slightly raised his eyes and looked down the corridor.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"It seems your friends have finally found you."
"My friends?"
Yumiko turned around instinctively and looked toward the classroom door.
At first, she didn't hear anything.
Then— to clear her confusion.
Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!
A series of hurried footsteps echoed through the corridor.
The sound grew closer and closer.
A few seconds later, the footsteps stopped outside the empty classroom.
The door slid open in a hurried manner.
Standing there were Yuigahama Yui, Ebina Hina, Tobe Kakeru, and Hayama Hayato.
All four were breathing heavily.
Apparently, they had been searching throughout the school.
"Haa... haa..."
Ebina Hina bent over slightly, trying to catch her breath. Her glasses had become crooked from running, but she didn't even have the energy to fix them.
The moment she saw Yumiko safe and sound, she finally relaxed.
"Yumiko... so you were here..."
Yuigahama Yui immediately rushed inside too, her expression was filled with guilt.
"Yumiko!" She stopped in front of her friend. "I'm sorry! I really am!"
Yui bowed deeply.
"It was all because of me! If I had explained things properly, you wouldn't have misunderstood Yukino!" She said with visible guilt of her face.
Yumiko froze.
Seeing Yui's guilty expression made her feel slightly embarrassed.
After all, the one who had acted impulsively was herself.
"Tsk!"
Meanwhile, Tobe Kakeru folded his arms and clicked his tongue.
"Seriously, Miura. You scared everyone. Hayama has been searching all over the school. He almost twisted his ankle running around."
"Oi." Hayama who was beside him pulled his "good friend" and motioned to stop talking, before he could protest, then looked at Miura Yuiko, and said with concern in a gentle voice.
"Are you alright, Yumiko-chan? We were worried." His voice was sincere, "Actually, Yukinoshita didn't mean it, so don't worry about it."
Looking at her friends, Yumiko's heart suddenly felt warm. For a moment, she almost wanted to cry again.
Fortunately, she managed to hold it back.
She straightened herself and returned to her usual confident posture. Crossing her arms, she spoke proudly resuming her usual way.
"I'm not that weak. Do you really think a few words from Yukino could defeat me?"
The familiar tone instantly reassured everyone.
Yuigahama Yui let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness..." She placed a hand over her chest. "If something happened because of me, I'd never forgive myself."
Steping forward Yuihama Yui wanted to hug Yumiko Miura, but as she looked away from the corner of her eye, she realized that she was not alone in the room.
"Eh?"
She froze. Only now did she notice the tall white-haired teacher standing nearby.
"...Gojo-sensei?" Her eyes widened. "Why are you here?"
The classroom became awkwardly quiet as they too finally realize the person who was in the classroom the whole time.
Gojo Satoru stared at her. Then pointed at himself with a look of exasperation.
"...I've literally been standing here the entire time. Am I that invisible?"
The others immediately became embarrassed.
Now that they thought about it, ever since entering the classroom, all their attention had been focused on Yumiko.
Nobody had even noticed him.
"Haha..." Yui scratched her cheek awkwardly. "Sorry..."
"Sorry, Gojo-sensei."
The others hurriedly apologize for ignoring his presence.
Gojo sighed dramatically, before he turned towards Yumiko and spoke.
"Looks like your rescue team arrived."
Yumiko nodded proudly.
Then she looked at him. A trace of reluctance flashed through her eyes.
The feeling of safety she had just experienced was difficult to describe.
For some reason, she didn't want the conversation to end so quickly.
Unfortunately— Gojo had already begun walking toward the door.
"I'll leave you guys to it. I still have something to do."
Yumiko hesitated. Then nodded.
"Be careful on the way, Gojo-sensei."
Gojo smiled.
After waving casually, he left the classroom.
The moment he disappeared around the corner, Yumiko unconsciously watched the direction he had gone.
Hina noticed immediately, as a suspicious smile appeared on her face.
Yumiko instantly glared.
"Don't look at me like that. He helped me calm down, that's all."
"Mmhm." Hina nodded exaggeratedly. "Of course."
Yumiko's eyebrow twitched.
...
Instead of returning to the teachers' office like plan, Gojo Satoru headed toward the Service Club room.
...
Meanwhile—Inside the clubroom.
Yukinoshita Yukino sat quietly by the window, an open book rested in her hands.
Normally, she would have already finished several chapters.
Today, however—Not a single page had been turned in almost fifteen minutes.
Her eyes remained fixed on the same paragraph.
Yet none of the words entered her mind, whenever she she tried to focus a certain image appeared.
Yumiko Miura crying.
Again.
And again.
And again.
"...Tsk."
Yukino clicked her tongue in annoyances before she she closed the book with more force than necessary.
Thud!
The loud sound startled Hikigaya Hachiman who nearly dropped the novel he was reading. His eyes widened slightly as he question.
"What happened?"
"Nothing." Yukino didn't even look at him while answering, which meant it was definitely not nothing.
But Hachiman wisely chose not to push further.
Experience had taught him that curiosity often shortened lifespans. So he turn his focus back to the novel.
Several seconds later—Yukino suddenly stood up.
"I'm going out."
"Eh?" Hachiman blinked. "Where?"
"To look at the scenery."
"..."
He stared at her.
Then looked at the window.
Then looked back at her.
The entire wall beside them was basically a giant window.
There was plenty of scenery already.
Why leave?
Unfortunately, Yukino was already gone.
The door closed behind her.
"...Women are difficult."
Hachiman muttered to himself.
...
The sounds of club activities echoed throughout the school.
Basketballs bounced.
Voices shouted.
Footsteps ran through corridors.
Compared to the quiet Service Club room, the rest of Sobu High was lively.
The noisy sound made Yukino felt even more irritating, as she eventually stopped at the end of the staircase and sat down after dusting it with her handkerchief.
The noise became distant enough for her to think.
Which unfortunately was exactly the problem.
Because the moment she started thinking—Yumiko's crying face returned.
"..."
Yukino lowered her gaze as she hugged her knees.
For perhaps the first time in a long while, she genuinely felt conflicted.
"Was I too harsh?"
The question escaped her lips before she realized it.
She wasn't someone who regretted speaking the truth and she was the type of person who rarely apologized about what she had or have done.
Yet—Today's situation felt different.
Because Yumiko hadn't come with malicious intent.
She had simply misunderstood and Yukino...had completely destroyed her without caring about clearing the misunderstanding.
The reason being, Yumiko was always the one who pick on her...so she return the favor.
The realization made her chest feel uncomfortable.
Step! Step! Step!
Suddenly— Footsteps approached from behind breaking her thought.
Yukino didn't react immediately as she assumed it was another student and didn't wish to interact with anyone at the moment.
Then a familiar voice spoke.
"So this is where you were hiding."
Yukino froze, she visibly flinched as she turned around. Standing on the stairs above her was Gojo Satoru.
Holding two bottles of iced black tea and a smile rested on his face.
"Gojo-sensei?"
Gojo walked down the steps and sat beside her without saying anything, as he handed her one bottle.
"I bought two by mistake. I figured someone would help me finish the second one."
He didn't ask why the other party was here as he offered the drink.
Yukino hesitated for a moment before slowly taking the beverage from his hand.
"...Thank you." She said in a whisper like voice and unscrewed the cap and took a sip.
It was cold and sweet, a little sweeter than the tea she usually drink.
Yet surprisingly pleasant.
"I like that brand." Gojo smiled. "Sometimes I'm too lazy to make tea. So I buy this instead."
Yukino nodded silently.
Holding the black tea drink in both hands, her gray-blue eyes stared at it for a long time lost in thought.
She was in the mood of self-blame.
Sensing the atmosphere. Gojo put away his grinning expression, put the unscrewed black tea aside and said plainly.
"I met Yumiko earlier."
Yukino's fingers tightened around the bottle, as she tired to ask in a calm voice, "...How is she?"
"Crying."
The simple answer struck harder than expected.
Yukino words were struck in her throat as she tightly held the drink in her hands with both hands.
"I see" Finally her voice reach out in a plain tone.
Yukino looked at the black tea in her hands. Her reflection wavered slightly on the bottle's surface.
"If you have something to say, say it." Gojo said in a plain tone, similar to hers.
Yukino remained silent.
Then—
Very quietly—
She began explaining.
"After lunch...Miura-san came to confront me, accusing me of making Yui cry. I didn't understand what she meant."
Her voice was calm but there was obvious frustration beneath it at being at the receiving end without reason.
"I thought she was simply attacking me. Like she and many others had done before. So..." She paused."...I responded."
Yukino looked away not wanting to faced him.
"It took less than ten minutes. Then she started crying."
A trace of guilt finally appeared at the thought of maybe she shouldn't have done it.
"I didn't expect that. I really didn't."
She lowered her head slightly.
"I wasn't trying to make her cry."
For the first time all day—Yukinoshita Yukino honestly admitted what she was feeling.
Regret.
And uncertainty.
...
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Bonus Chapter:-
4 Bonus chapter at 100 powerstone
6 Bonus Chapter at 150 powerstone
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Word Count — 1,662