I was not the only one who noticed that something was wrong.
It has been three days since he —- Shuya Kitami —- stopped coming to school.
To those who don’t know the details, it would seem that he has been absent a lot lately, and his absence from school is even more noticeable than I had imagined.
It is somewhat disconcerting to say that it is officiall, but anyway, in the short time he has been away from school, people have noticed.
They realize that he is not in poor physical condition by any means.
Or if he is unwell, they are dimly aware that it is due to something.
He was never brought up for discussion. At least not around me.
It is no secret that I had contact with him. I guess they are afraid of getting involved on that basis.
If I do poorly, I will be the perpetrator. From an uninvolved person’s point of view, just touching him is dangerous.
And above all, if this was bullying against him, the main culprits are obvious. Shinohara and Shirakawa.
These two are the so-called upper caste. Even if it was just a rumor, just imagining that it leaked out and the target would be him would be the worst thing that could happen. It would be like asking a god not to be touched.
I’m sure Shirakawa and the others can read that kind of atmosphere. And it would be hard for them to move. They can’t spread rumors as easily as they have in the past. Because now Shirakawa knows. And Shinohara must have heard about it.
And, by all rights, it should have ended like this. With time, the rumor fades away and disappears naturally. The appearance of things are back to normal without incident.
This must have been the end of Kitami’s goal.
—But he has transformed… In other words, he changed.